Our 1st Home Assignment…Questions Asked Us

Hooray!! It's building up!!  Thank you to all who are helping to increase our funding so we can stay on the field!! 

Question:  "How are you supported? Does a 'mission' finance you or what?"  

  Answer: We are supported primarily by monthly support - most of what is given by individuals, like you.  A few churches elect to support us monthly as well, usually through their missions committees, but the majority of the funding for us is through individuals. Gone are the days when an organization would just self-support people, since many people currently don't want to just support a fund, they want to know the people who are receiving the money.

Question:  "Can anyone support you?"  

   Answer:  YES!!  You can do so today - just click on one of the 'give' highlighted areas to the right on this blog and it can be set up in less than 5 minutes:)

Question: "Are you planning on going back to Hungary?"

    Answer: YES!! We are spending an awful lot of effort to learn this language and the hearts of the people through immersing ourselves in the culture. God is still calling us there.

Question:  "Do the Hungarians feel like you are making an impact?"

   Answer: YES! Many were telling us as we said good bye …"PLEASE tell the Americans we want you back! You are needed here! Please come back!!

Question: Why Hungary?  Why not someplace that has such obvious physical needs as well? (Africa, Haiti, India, Mexico, ETC?)

   Answer: God is reaching out to a lost world. Some cultures lack the message/hope of salvation as well as food, water, and healthcare. Others appear only to be lacking the Good News of salvation through "Christ Alone". Jesus calls all believers, you and I, to spend ourselves on behalf of the expanding Kingdom of God. God is just as concerned about a well dressed/fed person going to hell as He is a person who has enjoyed nothing good in their entire lifetime. LESS THAN 2% of Europe are evangelical Christians!  Hungary is right there with them. All of Europe is back to being considered an Unreached People Group(s)! God directed us to have a heart for the Hungarians, so there we are.

Question: "How do you find places to speak?"

   Answer:  YOU! Most places have no interest in having someone just come and speak unless they have a personal recommendation from someone they KNOW. That is where you come in - they know you! So, if you think it would be a great idea for us to come speak to your group/church/service organization, ask them! We can make time, but often we can't make the connection that you can. You can be our best resource!

There are many more questions we are asked, so we will give those and our answers in another blog later. Meanwhile, feel free to contact us with any of your questions! 

Life back in the USA & Reverse Culture Shocks

Reverse Culture Shocks

   Wow, since being back in the States, we have had a number of things to adapt to. Probably the hardest one has been all the customer service that is available here!  I am SO used to the feeling that I am bothering people when I come into their stores in Hungary.  Then when I enter a store here in the states, we are nearly accosted by someone welcoming us and asking if they can help.  Sometimes I just start looking for a grumpy clerk to feel ‘more at home’ with!

   Another thing that is so surprising - but yet it’s wonderful - is that I can have a complete load of laundry done in one day, and it’s DRY! Wow! How cool is that??  I am used to getting a load from the Hungarian washing machine (an American ¼ =1/2  load) done in the washer,  then hanging it up to dry. A day or two later it is dry enough so I can take it down and put it away.  I shouted with glee the other day getting three complete loads taken care of at my mom’s house!

   Physical homelessness has really hit both of us as we came back to the States.  We have no actual home here in the States anymore, and no actual house/apartment to go back to in Hungary, yet, since we moved out of where we were because we don’t know when we will be back.

   Spiritual homelessness has not really been an issue – we celebrate each day with God, no matter where we are.

   It has taken some getting used to driving over here in the States again – people take the driving thing WAY too personal!  We are used to people passing us either because they are in a hurry or they need to turn off, no biggie.

   I was expecting stores to completely overwhelm me with the choices, but that has rarely been an issue. What has overwhelmed me was how Much of each choice there is, and why it may be necessary to have that many.  I am starting to understand my husband’s more pared down approach to choices that he has always had, though.

All in all, it feels like we are adjusting fairly well. Isten jo, mindenkor! (God is good, all the time!)

So, what do you DO during the week????

The interior of a bus in Budapest

Meeting with others - this is at English Bible Study

Somethings aren't as easy to figure out what they are...

The inside of a street car - some are newer, others aren't

Well, often our weeks are filled with meeting people - on the street, in the shops (we need to shop 3-4 times a week here since there aren't preservatives in foods or sprayed on the veggies and fruits), and in many of our outreaches.  There are ministry events at least 2-3 times a week, every week, and each one lasts a minimum of 2 hours +.

  When people come to visit, we serve as guides to Budapest and beyond (bring your walking shoes!) We are often out for 8-10 hours a day on those days!
 
   It is said that here in Hungary (in the city), if you get two (2) things accomplished, that's a really successful day! Things take longer here. Sometimes you have to go from one building for meat, another building to buy milk, another building to get something made of plastic, another store (in another building) to buy twine…. you get the idea! There are more and more supermarkets/markets coming up all over, but many are small little mom/pop stores that may have a great variety of items, or may not. Having owned a mom/pop business, we try to help them out as much as possible.  At the piac (pronounced Pea-atz, which is a farmer's market), there are many of these small mom/pop places in one area. Some will just sell plastic bags for trash, some will sell kitchen items, others sell flowers, others may just sell what they have - random things, but you can feel the oppressiveness of poverty around them. God sometimes nudges us to get something from them, or something from some other vendors. In many ways, the piac is like a regular farmer's market, too, though ours has a few booths of our famous Vecsesi Kaposta - YUM!! (It is a sweet/sour sauerkraut with many veggies in it - gorgeous and delicious!)

   Maybe another reason that things take so much longer is that if people have a job, they aren't in a real hurry to serve you most places. The markets may have up to ten people in a line, and only one or two check stands open.  Customer service desks are incredibly slow on the average. One time it took me an hour to get a warranty validated!  Other reasons may be the travel between where you need to go, and how to get there. Main streets in the states are usually full of stores with advertisements drawing you in. Not the case here - often you will find a store in the middle of a neighborhood with a small sign. If you didn't know that store was available, you never would have found it!

  Today, we were true overachievers! We got five things done! We had the privilege of mailing our ballot at the Posta (Post office); going to the ATM; Shopping for some things we needed; Arriving at our team meeting; and Kurt is even now helping a brother in Christ with a car while I am working on this blog.

   That also brings up more things that we do - paperwork/ computer work and LOTS of acts of service! Kurt has been enjoying the chance to change up the way neighbors look at one another. Normally, everyone takes care of his own sidewalk/lawn. Period. Don't step over the line of the property. Well, when we moved in, I baked cookies to take around and Kurt started shoveling snow for neighbors; sweeping snow; weed whacking for them… all sorts of things! Now it is kind of a game - see if you can beat the neighbor trying to pay you back for your help! The help is tremendously appreciated, even though many don't want to say, you can tell.
 
   Kurt has also been able to be a blessing to others with some vehicle problems they may have, or to help mow the lawn at the Barka, as well as regularly set up chairs while I (Carrie) am often making coffee for the people that will be coming and setting out snacks.
 
    So, weekly our goals are to be a blessing to others - maybe in ways that can surprise them or just to lend a listening ear. Even though we may not understand everything, many heart issues can be understood, and prayer requests encouraged. We are here, after all, to show others through your help, what a wonderful, tremendously loving God we have and we try to do that nearly any way we can.

One of the informational tables you may have seen for us

Kurt mowing at the Barka

Dancing with the Trees

   The fall here has been beautiful. The other day I was off to encourage some friends & after I spent some time with them, I drove up the road a bit towards one of my favorite places that reminds me of being in the mountains, somewhat.  On the way there, the road twists and turns on itself quite a bit, (which is another reason it is my favorite), and with every bend, the trees were lined up alongside the road, one color after another - some plum, some yellow, some red, some still green, some brown and nearly bare. It was like watching a fancy ball with all the ladies' dresses passing by as they swung around the room!
    The sun kept playing hide-and-seek, highlighting first one tree, then another with no rhyme or reason, other that to have a special show of the glory of God for me as I drove along the road.
    Curving around another bend, I slowed as I came upon a gorgeous red fox with it's big, bushy tail straight out behind as it crossed the road. The colors of the fox picked up the color of the trees on either side of a yellow one it had just passed, making the fox look like yet another decoration for this beautiful autumn day.
  Up a hill, down into a hollow, a thatched roofline over an old, long, house - a style they call "peasant house" that has a long covered porch along the side. The place offers food and a place to sleep as the owners try to make ends meet on a road that tourists or locals living there drive along, yet don't often stop until they get to their destination. Hope still lights the man's eyes as he walks out, hearing a car coming up the road, then passes on like so many others. People don't stop like they used to - stop to breathe the air, stop to take photos from certain places, stop to just gaze at valleys or hillsides or just to give thanks to the One who created it all. I am guilty of that, though I gave plenty of thanks as I drove along looking at the colors of the hillsides changing and the way the light played and the structures of the trees really starts to show again after the leaves fall.
    How many of us are those who hear and hope with anticipation, yet once again others are too busy to stop and talk to us?  Or are we the ones who have the Hope of Christ within, yet zoom by, 'too busy' or too afraid of being rejected, or too afraid to try?  People are stopping, people are noticing that we have something NOTICEABLE within us... and hope....will you take time to stop?

Pathways We Are Leaving

Renaissance era gate in Zadar, Croatia

Old brick road in Zadar, Croatia

Slick-worn marble streets in Zadar, Croatia

 Working and traveling this summer with camps and supporters gave us many chances to thank God for good roads and sidewalks.

    Looking at all these photos (Believe me, there are thousands!), I was thinking about the paths that we are leaving - and you are leaving- for others… Will they be straight? Will they be strong? Will others easily be able to follow them, or would they have to look through a lot of debris to even find such a path, hunting for the bent twig, or a fiber on a piece of grass?

  What kind of path do you want to leave? I know there are those who want to live 'under the radar'. But, is that truly LIVING?

  Jesus calls us in Matthew 4:19, "And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

and in Mark 1:2 "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way." (of course, he is speaking of Jesus here)…
  But how many people helped to prepare your way? it may be through a business, it may have been through the donations for grants or scholarships, it may have been through our Veterans (THANK YOU, ALL!!), or even as 'simple' as our parents, friends, relatives and mentors.

  When we were on those very slippery streets in Zadar, streets of marble that millions of people, horses & other animals have trod - not only was I very thankful it hadn't rained or was icy - but I was astounded at the realization of HOW MANY feet it took to get the marble so smooth! Imagine if you will, the cement sidewalks where you live so worn down and slippery that they look like glass, yet there is a lot of wear in them to go! This is one of many times it has occurred to me that we live in an old place, not new like the USA.  (By old, I am meaning the thousands of tribes, cities, civilizations, wars, etc over a relatively small part of the world).
  
  Then, I think of the millions of people who have gone before us with the Torah, then the Old Testament and then the New Testament - wow, what a HUGE, precise road they have prepared for all of us now! The Bible is still one of the most accurate and concise history books in the world! So many scientists, archaeologists and scholars have discovered new things, thanks to the words contained in the Bible.

  So, now this challenges me - what kind of path do I want to leave?….  (You can help us leave a great path! Do you know others who would be interested in hearing what we have to say? Who would like to know how people here think, or what they are thinking? We will be back in the States and available to speak starting in January. We would love to speak to a group of people you know!! Could you help arrange a time and place for us? It is only through your recommendations that it could happen...
  

Whew!!

   Wow - July flew quickly! We had lots of camps, a conference, a too quick visit with one of our sons and his wife and back for more camps!  Plus, we did our normal ministries of 'helps/service' and hospitality in-between.

Ladies' "Chat" at English Camp

Patchwork Camp

English Camp

  Now, Kurt is off for more kid's camps - minus a couple of soccer balls that only lasted two camps - the kids love to play SO much, and the chance to play with an actual soccer (futbol) is so rare, that they just plain old wore out in 3 days from all the use!

Kurt helping to rotohammer out some walls at a friend's home.

   Now, off to do some laundry before we head to more adventures! We covet your prayers and thank you for your financial support!!!  (If you would like to help - we could really use it! There are two links on the right:)

What Joy to be Gathered with the Brethren!

  We have been astounded and encouraged by meeting together this last week with other servants in many lands at a conference with International Ministries.  There are SO many God stories that we have heard and shared. Life that God has worked His heart into, weaving His compassion into compassion for others; Calling unbelievers into the Kingdom of Heaven; Special 'interruptions' into God appointments; Normal life into Life Everlasting; encouraging some who came for a music seminar into looking deeper into their lives and presenting different opportunities to allow them to catch a glimpse of what it's like to serve overseas. Plus, just thinking of the International Ministries' 200th year gathering celebration….. 200 years of missionaries being sent out from the US! Wow!
  This was just a small glance at this past week. Now we head back early to serve with Hungary's largest national outreach (English Camp), with people from Pioneers. It is a bittersweet leaving. We made a commitment to assist them, but we are leaving this conference at a tremendously crucial time for us. Next week is THE WEEK to be here at this conference at Green Lake! We would be able to mingle and meet many people from many churches and regions around the US and Puerto Rico, places that could provide vital prayer support and possibly financial support for us - and we have to leave, trusting God (once again) that He will provide places for us to speak, people for us to meet this coming December through March. This is frustrating, but we are called to honor our first commitment we made.
  Will you pray for us and with us that God will provide fabulous, miraculously wonderful appointments for us? We are below our minimum support, so you can see why this is so important. Language school has come out of our own salary for this last year, we need to upgrade old computer equipment when we go back among many other things, and it looks like Carrie will need to move up a time for her knee replacement.  So, please pray!