Winckles Family Update

Happy Christmas to All!

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

Andrew, Christy, Katie, Larry, and Peter

Christmas Eve

Due to some last minute changes of plans, Andrew and Christy are able to spend Christmas with us. Peter also came down, so the five of us are enjoying a couple of quiet days together as a family. Tonight we attended the Christmas Eve Service at the Holland Free Methodist Church.

Sunday morning in Holland

While Katie is in the first stages of her recuperation we are able to spend a few weeks with Andrew and Christy in Holland, Ohio. It was nice to be able to hear the Holland Free Methodist choir on Sunday morning. Can you spot Andrew?

Christmas at Holland

Tonight was the first of two presentations of the Holland Free Methodist Church's Christmas program. The program featured dance, songs, stories, and dramatic presentations. Stephanie Hulbert directed the church choir, and a number of people spoke about their memories of Christmases past or about their family's Christmas traditions. It was a simple, yet meaningful, program.

Andrew performed as King Herod. You can see his performance in this excerpt from the program. He did a fantastic job!

Please Pray for Katie’s Recovery

After some last minute complications, Katie was approved for surgery this morning. She came through it well, and has been admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, Ohio. It is expected that she will be in for two or three days before being released, and that she will have a 6 to 8 week recovery period.

We’ll be staying in Holland, Ohio until she is released for travel, at which time we will relocate to Jackson, Michigan where we will stay with Katie’s parents until our return to Hungary at the end of March.

Thank you for your prayers on Katie’s behalf.

[Sorry, Katie has prohibited any photos being taken during this time. :-) ]

UPDATE: Katie came through the surgery successfully and was released from the hospital on Wednesday night. She is now recuperating at Andrew's and Christy's home and is doing well. She is tired, sore, and feels like a captive in the house. Pray for her continued healing and for her sanity!!

Back in Holland, Ohio

Yesterday we took part in the morning service at Holland Free Methodist Church in Holland, Ohio. We consider this to be our “home church” and it is also the church where Andrew and Christy currently attend. We gave a brief update on our work in Hungary and were able to reconnect with many dear friends. It was also great to be able to hear Andrew sing with the worship team and with the church choir. You will also note that Larry got to wear his new Hungarian shirt and vest for the first time.

This church is one of our largest supporting churches, and we are thankful for their love and faithfulness over the years.

A Short Visit to North Dakota

  Larry spent a few days in Jamestown, North Dakota last week, visiting his mother and sisters and brother-in-law. They were able to have important meetings regarding establishing guardianship for Nancy in North Dakota. Unfortunately, during his time there Larry was fighting a bad cold. Eventually he broke down and went to the walk-in clinic and got a prescription for anti-biotics. He’s feeling much better now, but not yet back to 100%

In Detroit with Peter

We arrived back in the United States on Tuesday and have been staying with Andrew and Christy in Holland, Ohio. On Saturday we drove up to Detroit to visit Peter. He's living near the campus of Wayne State University (where Andrew studies) and is working in Detroit as a software developer (J2EE).

Peter took us to visit the Eastern Market, Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team), and Hart Plaza. It was a cold, grey Michigan day and very few people were out on the streets. At night, however, things came alive.

December 5 was Noel Night in Detroit, where many shops and museums stayed open late and had special Christmas events and music planned. Peter took us to visit a few of his favorite places and we ended up at the Detroit Institute of Art, where they were hosting an ice sculpture competition. We enjoyed hot apple cider and kettle corn, and then made our way back to Peter's urban apartment.

Peter has a cozy little apartment that is just right for him and his cat, Lily. Peter has had a lot of big changes in his life over the past few months, and it was great to be able to catch up with what is going on with him.

The First Sunday of Advent

 Today is the First Sunday of Advent and our last Sunday in Hungary for this year. Following the lighting of the first advent candle, Larry gave a message on hope. After the service the fellowship gathered around us for a prayer of safety and blessing. We return to the States on Tuesday and will be there for about 4 months. Please keep us in your prayers as we visit family, take care of medical concerns, speak at churches, and connect with friends and supporters.

Thanksgiving in Hungary

T hanksgiving is, of course, not celebrated in Hungary. Thursday was a regular work day, and we held the English class as usual and performed our regular activities. However, on Friday night we gathered with the Colemans and the Tanners for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at the Colemans' flat. Everyone chipped in with something. It was a great time of fellowship. We truly are thankful for our many friends around the world, for our families, and for our wonderful supporters who make our work in Hungary and throughout Europe possible. May God bless you all abundantly!

Last English Class of 2009

 Katie led the final English class of the current year today. We stopped the class a bit earlier than usual this year because of our upcoming trip to the United States. As usual, we enjoyed good fellowship and good food! What a great group of people!

Sunday in Budapest

Larry concluded the series "Simple Faith in a Complex World" this morning by speaking on the subject of holiness. Peter's friends Tim and Greg visited the fellowship today, and we had another guest, Katie, who is currently working in Linz, Austria. These three young people seemed to connect well with Rashi.

Following the service we celebrated November birthdays. Péter and Zita shared their birthday cake with everyone. It was a delicious Eszterhazy cake!

In the afternoon we went to the Budapest Christmas Market, which opened this weekend. We always look forward to the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that can be encountered there! Rashi, Greg, and Tim came along and joined in the fun.

Creative Afternoon

Hard on the heels of the Men's Breakfast came the Creative Afternoon, which was organized by Katie. This event was originally intended to be another ladies' gathering, but was expanded to include any men that were interested in participating as well. About twenty people turned out for this event and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of crafts, conversation, and refreshments.

Most people worked on a decoupage project that had been suggested (and demonstrated) by Judit last spring. A few people worked on some other simple crafts that Katie had prepared in advance.

In stead of working on crafts, Larry joined with Zoli, Ádám, and a visitor named Katie in playing table games. They enjoyed playing "Hey, That's My Fish!" and "Cafe International." Zoli ended up being the champion of the afternoon.

Everyone stayed around to help clean up afterwards. Judit even began dancing with the broom! It was a wonderful afternoon.

Men's Breakfast II

Larry hosted our second men's breakfast this morning. On the menu this time was breakfast burritos, which was once again something new to most of the men. One man asked if they were having donkey meat this morning, because he recognized the Spanish word burro in burrito, and of course a burro is a donkey! He was relieved to hear that breakfast burritos contained no donkey meat!

At the end of the breakfast Larry spoke on the upcoming advent season and of our reason for hope. He mentioned a play on words that he has been thinking about recently -- the goodness of God and the God-ness of good. This is a simple reminder that all that is good comes from God.

Many of the men who came to the breakfast are not currently attending church anywhere, so this was a great opportunity to speak God's truth into their lives.

Where are we now? The FMC in Europe

Marvin Klein prepared this presentation for the Church Leaders Conference. It gives a 5-minute overview of the various work that is taking place in our churches across the continent. Thanks, Marvin!

Screencasts and videos online

Aspirations

Al Mellinger and Dan Balzer put together this video of the aspiration statements from our European congregations.

Tuesday at CLC 2009 - Heading for Home

The journey home from CLC 2009 began early Tuesday morning with the departure of the Spanish delegation. Throughout the rest of the day others slowly departed by car, bus, taxi, train, and plane. Here are some parting shots.

CLC 2009 Highlights Video

Thanks to Dan Balzer and Al Mellinger for putting this highlights video together!

Monday Night at CLC 2009 – The Finale

The time has gone by quickly, and the Church Leaders Conference has drawn to a close. The meeting rooms have been cleared, the equipment has been packed up, and folks are making their way back home. The conference ended on a high note of excitement and anticipation!

Near the beginning of the final service Jerry Coleman expressed his appreciation to all those who helped with the conference – from the worship team, to the workshop leaders, to the program hosts. He gave special thanks to our wonderful assistant, Júlia Tóth, for her extraordinary efforts in making the conference run so smoothly. He also recognized Larry’s organizational help, and made a special presentation to our invited guests – The Bates, The Thompsons, and Stephanie LeVan.

Jan Coleman concluded her series of on-the-spot interviews by speaking with Pastor Vito from the Canary Islands and Pastor Eduardo from Lisbon. These men share a common passion for the Lord and for reaching the lost. When asked about how long they have known Clancy Thompson, Eduardo responded with “about eight years,” whereas Vito replied “It’s nice to meet you, sir!”

Clancy then addressed the group, speaking the picture that he has of the ministry environment in Europe – that of a shepherd seeking and gathering his lost sheep. He challenged the conference to move forward in faith, trusting God to supply every need.

Larry then announced that the 2011 Church Leaders Conference will be held in Madrid, Spain. In homage to the new host city we enjoyed a Flamenco dance presentation from Josh Fajardo’s two daughters and their dance instructor, who is part of the Rivas Free Methodist Church in Madrid.

Josh Fajardo then led the group in a ceremonial “passing of the flag” to the Madrid team and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Bates offered a prayer of blessing for the church in Madrid and the work in Spain.

Jerry Coleman gave the main address of the evening starting with an example from the game “Red Rover,” which served to demonstrate the strength we have in joining with like-minded individuals. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” This was shown visually by Eduardo and Ionuts running interference for Lynsey in order to break through the line created by Julie, Sheila, and Dan.

Jerry proceeded to speak about the fact that we have been given “the keys of the Kingdom” and that we do indeed have the power to bind and loose, in Christ’s name. The service concluded with prayer in small groups, focused on these concepts and applied to the particular situations in each church and each country.

And thus ended CLC 2009.

What an encouragement!

What a blessing!

Amen!

Monday Morning at CLC 2009

  The final day of the Church Leaders Conference began with a presentation by Larry and Jerry, reporting on the Appreciative Inquiry process and its implications for the future of the work in Europe. Larry began by give a brief overview of the findings, demonstrating that the core values of the church have been broadly accepted and imbedded in our local congregations.

A bit of comic relief took place when Pastor Vito (from the Canary Islands) was asked to come forward and show his idea of an alternate map of Europe. Up until now a small map of the Canaries has been tacked on to a large Europe map, but Vito suggested that perhaps it would be better for the Europe map be tacked onto a map of the Canary Islands!

Jerry then challenged each country group to develop and refine their own aspiration statements and to further develop a plan for taking steps to realizing these dreams. The morning concluded with meetings in country groups to discuss how this could happen in the coming year.

Sunday Evening at CLC 2009

Everyone had free time during Sunday afternoon, and various groups decided to tour the city, relax, or visit a thermal bath. The evening service began with a song from the Hungarian representatives that were present. Michael Long was the host for the evening. During the worship time Paula Dunn was assisted by representatives from each country in singing a song that contained lines sung in each language.

Jan Coleman continued her series of on-the-spot interviews by speaking with Svitlana (from Ukraine) and Marcie (from the UK). We learned, among other things, that the ladies had different tastes in ice cream. Svitlana prefers vanilla, whereas Marcie loves Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby! Following the interview Jerry Coleman presented Marcie a certificate of appreciation for her 12 years of service with Free Methodist World Missions. Starting next April Marcie will begin service as a full-time pastor at the Garstang Free Methodist Church in Garstang, England.

The service took a dramatic turn from the original plan when Stephanie LeVan (former Europe Area Director) began to speak. She shared a vision that she had received from the Lord about 13 years ago, and which had been confirmed again in her life the previous evening. This burden for Europe and for God’s children who are dying here touched the hearts of all those in attendance. Her testimony encouraged others to speak forth what God had been showing t hem. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident, and the evening concluded with Jerry asking each country group to pray for their own countries and people. Paula Dunn then led the group not only with testimonies, but also with significant songs of praise and worship.

Sunday Morning at CLC 2009 - Ordination

  Sunday morning began with three fellowship groups – for pastors, worship leaders, and church workers. Special guests Clancy Thompson and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Bates led the session for pastors, which had the largest attendance of the three groups. Paula Dunn led the session for worship leaders, while our guest Stephanie LeVan led the session for church workers.

While these sessions were taking place other conference participants from Hungary began to arrive. Many were only able to come for Sunday morning because of work and other commitments. A large group arrived from Győr in order to support Gerry McNamara in his ordination. Another large group came from the Budapest church. Our numbers increased from 90 to over 120 as the group gathered in the main meeting room for the principal service of the conference.

We were once again blessed by wonderful music led by Julie Allman and Paula Dunn. Scott Dunn served as the host for the morning, and our friend and colleague Josef Sykora was the main speaker. He brought a message from God’s Word that challenged us all to consider the concept of God and to realize that there are many gods that people worship. But to worship any but the one true God is idolatry, and will leave us with nothing but emptiness.

The highlight of the morning was the ordination service that followed. Greg Hendrick (Ukraine), Ralph Locke (Spain), and Gerry McNamara (Hungary) were ordained as elders in the Free Methodist Church. They and their wives stood before the gathered group and openly declared their intention to be a faithful minister of the Gospel. The service was led by Jerry Coleman, with assistance from Bishop Emeritus Gerald Bates, Scott Dunn, Josh Fajardo, and Jim Harbour (Assistant Superintendent from the Pacific Northwest Conference, where Greg Hendrick is from). By the laying on of hands Greg, Ralph, and Gerry were consecrated to and set apart for God’s service. It was a deeply moving moment.

At the end, the entire congregation came forward to congratulate these men and their wives and to express their love and support for them. It was a wonderful morning!

Saturday Evening at CLC 2009

The Saturday evening service was the occasion to celebrate and honor those who were instrumental in establishing the first Free Methodist works on the continent of Europe. The host for the evening was Richard Dickinson, missionary to Belgium, with Julie Allman again serving as worship leader.

Bishop Emeritus Gerald Bates addressed the conference, sharing from his first-hand knowledge and experiences from the early days of the work, which primarily began in Hungary and then extended to other countries.

Jan Coleman began the first in a series of “on the spot” interviews with some of the conference participants. The first people to be interviewed were Pastor Simeon Ruthazihana, who currently serves in Brussels, Belgium and Pastor Ralph Locke, who currently serves in Murcia, Spain. These two men stood in stark contrast to one another in many ways. Pastor Simeon has been associated with the Free Methodist Church for over 57 years, whereas Pastor Ralph and his congregation are associating with the Free Methodist Church only this year. When asked what Bishop Bates meant to him, Pastor Simeon responded, “He is my spiritual father.” (Bishop Bates served for 28 years as a missionary in Central Africa, where Pastor Simeon is from). When Pastor Ralph was asked the same question he replied, “Not much!” since he had only met Bishop Bates some four hours previously.

Jerry Coleman then shared some personal experiences from his family’s early experiences in Hungary, and told of times when they felt like giving up and going home. His point was that we all need to persevere in the hard times, or we might miss out on the blessing that God has in store for us in the future – such as the great gathering and celebration that we are experiencing this weekend at the conference.

Celebrate! The evening concluded with a cake, complete with a map of Europe and sparklers. We celebrate the past decades of groundbreaking and planting, and anticipate the next decade of growing and maturing that is yet to come!

NOTE: For more photos from the CLC 2009, visit the official conference site at http://churchleadersconference2009.blogspot.com

Saturday Afternoon at CLC 2009

Following an excellent lunch and an early afternoon break, the Church Leaders Conference continued with afternoon workshops. During each of the two workshop sessions conference participants had the opportunity to choose between three workshop options, each led by a pair of European leaders. Larry partnered with Gerry McNamara to lead a workshop on the core beliefs and practices of the Free Methodist Church.

In the second workshop session Larry attended a session led by Josh Fajardo and Peter Clark from Spain. These men shared from their personal experience about reaching out to their community. They had a number of good ideas and shared an excellent video about the work and needs of Spain.

Katie attended a session led by Richard Dickinson and Jackie Barbier from Belgium. Both of these men have practical experience in discipling new believers, and Katie found their insights to be helpful.

Mike and Maria Long, Marcie Huson and Josef Sykora, and Cindi Angelo and Junior Araujo were other workshop presenters.

Saturday Morning at CLC 2009

The first full day of the Church Leaders Conference began with a morning sessions presented by Jerry and Larry entitled "The Four Sides of a Triangle." Larry gave a brief overview of the past twenty years of work on the continent of Europe, and Jerry presented a new model for looking at leadership teams, focusing on foundations, expansion, leadership, and groups.

Following the session the conference divided into regional groups wherein the participants could discuss the implications of the morning session for their local and regional ministries. Good discussion and interaction was experienced in each group.