Winckles Family Update

Back in the USA for 2 months

We arrived back in the USA on Tuesday, beginning a two-month home assignment. We'll be traveling throughout Southern Michigan and Ohio, meeting with partners and visiting partner Free Methodist churches. Our current schedule is as follows:

January 29: Albion, Michigan 
February 5: Spring Arbor, Michigan (pm)
February 12: Battle Creek, Michigan
February 19: Jamestown, North Dakota
February 26: Columbus, Ohio
March 4: Chelsea, Michigan
March 11: Cincinnati, Ohio
March 18: Open
March 20: Return to Hungary 

We look forward to reconnecting with many of you over the next few weeks.

A Visit to Johannesburg

Two weeks ago Larry traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa to attend a Community Church Planting conference held at the OMS South Africa offices in Roodepoort (a suburb of Johannesburg). 

He arrived early for the conference, and had one free day for sightseeing. Larry and Josh Fajardo (our colleague from Spain) made arrangements to tour the black township of Soweto and to visit the local Lion Park. Soweto stands for South Western Township, and is the principle residential area for black South Africans in Johannesburg. The area was originally developed for temporary living quarters for black miners, but soon squatter villages sprang up. It was the site of many protests, strikes, and other political actions over the years, including the infamous Soweto Uprising of 1976. Both Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu were residents of Soweto, Bishop Tutu still lives there. Their two homes were located only two blocks apart, and the road connecting them is know known as the Nobel Laureate Walk. This is the same area where the Soweto Uprising occurred.

Their guide has lived in Soweto all of his life. At the time of the Soweto Uprising he was seven years old. On the day of the uprising one of his older teen-aged brothers was killed and two others were arrested. They spent the following 18 years in prison. In spite of all these hardships, our guide presented a hopeful picture for the future of his own family and the future of South Africa.

They concluded their visit to Soweto by touring the Hector Pieterson Museum, created to commemorate the horrific events of the summer of 1976, and named after a thirteen-year-old boy who was among the first to be killed.

In the afternoon they were handed over to a different guide, a white man from Zimbabwe, who took them to the Lion Park. He introduced himself as being a “when-was,” meaning that he was from Zimbabwe when it was Rhodesia. His perspective on the current situation in South Africa was rather more pessimistic than that of our morning guide’s. He had nothing good to say about the situation in Zimbabwe, and felt that South Africa was heading in the same direction. 

The Lion Park contained free ranging ostriches, zebra, springbok, gembok, giraffes, and black wildebeest. In separate enclosure were groups of lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, jackals, hyenas, and meerkats. It was a nice way to get a taste of the African wildlife without going to one of the large game parks.

The Community Church Planting Seminar began on Saturday morning at the OMS South Africa Office. Participants in the seminar came from the USA, Jordan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Spain, Hungary, and of course, South Africa. The principle presenter was Bruce Bennett, the Director of OMS South Africa.  He was assisted with some presentations by Warren Melnick and Theo Burakeye.

The Community Church Planting (CCP) model is based on seven undergirding biblical principles, or cornerstones.

1. Vision
2. Call
3. Faith
4. Faithfulness
5. Exhortation / Encouragement
6. Hospitality / Love for Strangers
7. Planning / Administration

Over the course of the three days of the conference each of these cornerstones was developed in detail.

CCP is a training center-based model of church planting. A trainer is sent out to establish a training center, recruits 15 students to come to the center, and then sends the trained students back to their villages to start churches. Training while in ministry is the underlying philosophy of the program. The students gather to study and go out to put what they have learned into practice. This cycle of study and practice is repeated frequently during the prescribed 40-month process. In addition, the “student pastors” find three other people who they will also train, staying at least one step ahead of them in the process.

Following the conference Larry was able to visit the Apartheid Museum before going to the airport for his return flight. Of special interest was the exhibit on the life of Nelson Mandela.  

 

Joint Baptism Service

Today we held a baptism service jointly with OMS (One Mission Society), at the OMS center in the 14th District of Budapest. Our two fellowships joined together to celebrate the work of God in the lives of Ildikó (from our congregation) and Fanni (from OMS). Sándor (pastor of the OMS church) and Péter (our assistant pastor) led the service. Péter preached the baptism message. Both women shared their testimonies of conversion and faith prior to their baptism. It was a wonderful time of celebration!

As an added bonus Ildikó's daughter, Petra, was able to view the entire service from California by means of Skype and share in her mother's joy. 

We hope this is the first of many joint services and celebrations between member organizations of the Hungarian Wesleyan Alliance!

 

Epiphany - Christus Mansionem Benedicat

20 + C + M + B + 12

The custom of "chalking the door" on 12th Night, or Epiphany, with the above notation is still practiced throughout Europe in many observant Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran homes. The first and last numerals signify the year (2012) and the three letters stand alternately for Christus Mansionem Benedicat ("Christ Bless this Home" in Latin) or for the three traditional names of the Wise Men (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar). The chalking is part of a house blessing, seeking God's protection and blessing for all who enter it in the new year.

If you do an Internet search for "Epiphany house blessing" you will find a number of liturgies. The one we like is from the Church of the Beloved, which can be found here. This liturgy concludes with the following prayer:

"O God, you once used a star to show to all the world that Jesus is your Son. May the light of that star that once guided wise men to his birth, now guide us to recognize him in the epiphanies of the daily experiences of our lives.  As we go about our work, our study, our play, keep us in its light and in your love.  May all who enter here find your gracious hospitality, for Christ has come to dwell in this house and in these hearts."

Starting the New Year Right

As is our custom here in Budapest, on the first Sunday of each new year we hold a John Wesley Covenant Renewal Service. This service dates back to 1755 when John Wesley entreated his congregation to join  "in a covenant to serve God with all our heart and with all our soul." 

In the service we are reminded of our condition as sinners and of our need to reaffirm our covenant relationship with God. We pledge to serve Him will all that we are and all that we possess. The service concludes with Communion.

You can find many versions of this service on the Internet. Below are links to a few of them.

For various versions from the Wesley Center Online click here.

For a version in modern English from the Sherwood, Michigan Free Methodist Church click here.

For a version nicely formatted to print in booklet style, from the Zephyrhills, Florida Wesleyan Church click here.

For the Hungarian version that we use click here.

 

 

Happy Christmas from Budapest!

Happy Christmas to everyone from Budapest! It's been a bright, clear, and sunny day here. Since our church leadership team decided to hold our Christmas service in the afternoon, we took advantage of the beautiful morning to talk a long walk in the Castle District.

This afternoon we gathered together for a special Christmas service. We sang carols and songs, lit the Christ candle on the Advent wreath, enjoyed a song by the Colemans (Jerry, Jan, and David), had "The Tale of the Three Trees" read to us by the children, listened to the story of the Wise Men's visit to the Christ Child, and shared Christmas thoughts and prayers. It was a wonderful conclusion to a month of Advent and Christmas activities, programs, and messages!

 

Celebrating together at the Budapest Ministry Center

Today was a special day at the Budapest Free Methodist Church. It started off with our regular Sunday morning worship service, celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent. We had a full worship team today, with Jan at the keyboard, Péter on mandolin, Láci on guitar, Jerry on bass, and Larry on drum. Katie served as the moderator, and she helped us all prepare our hearts to reflect on God's Word. The Verebi family did the Advent reading and light the Advent candles.

Larry preached an a-typical Advent sermon, based on the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10. He challenged us to consider that the problem that Martha was dealing with was not one of service vs. devotion, but rather one of priorities. Martha wanted to be recognized for the work that she was doing. Jesus told her that she needed "one thing." Larry proposed that this "one thing" was really contained in the greatest commandment -- "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Only after this comes loving your neighbor as yourself. Martha had the order reversed.

We all need that "one thing." Love for God must be first and foremost in our lives. We only know what love is by reflecting on how God has demonstrated his love for us, and we need to experience his love so that we, in turn, can show his love to others.

Following the service we all took some time to get ready for our Christmas lunch. Everyone brought something to share, and the church provided the meat. Everything was delicious, and the desserts were phenomenal!

Afterwards we celebrated the December birthdays and then had a Christmas gift exchange. This gift exchange was special, in that everyone received not only a physcial gift from someone else, but also a gift of words of encouragement or affirmation.

It was a wonderful day for everyone!

Christmas at the Budapest Ministry Center

Last night many of the friends of the Budapest Ministry Center (Közhely) joined together to celebrate Christmas at our annual Christmas program. We ended up with standing room only, so many people came. Our final count was 72 children and adults!! This was our largest ever attendance at one of our church programs!

Christmas music was of course one of the highlights of the program, both in English and in Hungarian. Jan and Jerry Coleman led a medley of familiar English Christmas carols early on in the program, and the program concluded with a medley of traditional Hungarian Christmas carols. The evening concluded with "Silent Night" sung by candlelight in English and Hungarian.

Another special part of the evening was two songs presented by Péter Tóth, Zsuzsanna Donáth, and Zsuzsanna's son. The combination of voices, mandolin, recorder, and guitar gave a special feeling to the evening. You can enjoy one of these songs in the video below, even if you don't understand Hungarian.

Ildikó, Júlia, and Larry recited Christmas-themed poems and Ákos read out the Christmas story from Luke. Péter gave a short Christmas sermon, and clearly presented the reason that Christmas is so important to all of us -- the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord!

The formal program lasted about an hour, but people stayed around for more that two hours afterward, enjoying each others' company and enjoying the wonderful Christmas treats that everyone brought to share!

 

 

New Church Law soon to come into effect in Hungary

Churches in Hungary face an uncertain future with the new church law that is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2012. On that date over three hundred churches that had been officially registered with the government will lose their church status, with only 14 churches being able to keep their identity. These churches, with one exception, are considered Hungary's "historical" churches. These include the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformed Church, the Lutheran Church, five Orthodox Churches, the Unitarian Church, the Baptist Church, and three Jewish communities. The only "new" church to be recognized is the Faith Church, a large Pentecostal church established in 1979. The law further provides that recognition of additional churches in the future will be at the sole discretion of the Parliament, requiring a 2/3 majority vote for recognition and with no possibility of appeal.
 
The Hungarian Parliament has been urged to repeal this law, or to make extensive modifications to it, but seemingly to no avail. At present it does not seem that the affected churches will necessarily have to stop functioning, but they will no longer be able to use the term "church" and will not receive any of the benefits and protections afforded to the recognized churches. Instead, they must transform their identity into some sort of foundation, company, or other organization.
 
Prominent denominations losing their church status in Hungary include: the Assemblies of God, the Salvation Army, the Hungarian Methodist Church, the Vineyard Church, Calvary Chapel, the Church of the Nazarene, the Church of God, the Evangelical Free Church, the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and many others. Muslim, Buddhist, and congregations of other faiths will also lose their church status. Many "cult" groups are also affected, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, and the Mormons.
 
In addition, the new law prohibits the establishment of associations of churches. This means that the Wesleyan Church Alliance of Hungary must also cease to exist in its current form. 
 
The Free Methodist Church had been counseled to hold off on official registration, as rumors of these changes were circulating well in advance of the law's passage. Our work in Hungary can continue under the auspices of the presently existing Bread of Life Foundation, which provides the legal identity for the Free Methodist Mission in Hungary.

NOTE: We originally made this post in our weekly Budapest Prayer Letter, which goes out to those interested in praying faithfully for the ongoing work in Budapest, in Hungary, and throughout Europe. Please contact us if you would like to be added to the list.

Congratulations, Péter!

Two weeks ago in Madrid, Péter Tóth was received as an European Ministerial Candidate (the equivalent of a Conference Ministerial Candidate in the USA). Today was his first Sunday back at church, and just before Péter began his sermon for the First Sunday of Advent, Larry officially announced that Péter is now the Assistant Pastor of the Budapest church. Congratulations, Péter!

Thanksgiving in Hungary?

On Sunday Larry and Péter were invited to come to the Budakeszi Methodist Church to give a presentation about Thanksgiving in America. The pastor of the church, Gábor Szuhánszky, started the practice of having a day of thanksgiving in the church on the Sunday prior to the American Thanksgiving holiday. He said that Hungarians need to learn to be thankful, rather than dwelling on past injustices or offenses, whether real or perceived. This is also biblical (see I Corinthians 5:18). In fact, Gábor's brother, István, preached on this passage following the Thanksgiving presentation.

Church Leaders Conference Wrap-Up

The past week has been incredibly busy and we haven't had time to update our blog with reports about the Church Leaders Conference. But we've kept the official conference blog, clc2011.blogspot.com up to date. Visit that site to view photo galleries, find links to photostreams, and read brief reports of events as they happened.

FM Church Leaders Gather in Madrid #fmceurope #fmchurchusa

FM Church leaders from around Europe gathered at Hotel Las Provincias in Fuenlabrada, a suburb of Madrid, Spain. This Church Leaders Conference takes place every two years at one of our ministry locations on the continent of Europe. The theme of this year's conference is "Fruit." Church members from our Madrid churches helped in transporting the conference participants from the airport to the conference center.

Júlia, Margaret, and Joe supervised the registration process. Many joyous reunions were held in the hotel lobby as friends and colleagues in ministry came together once again.

A wonderful inernational worship team has been organized by missionary Dick Dickinson, which includes members from the USA, Spain, Hungary, and France. Following an opening worship set, Jan Coleman began a series of interviews that will take place during each evening service. Tonight she interviewed Pastor Angel Gargoles from the Madrid - Rivas church. She asked him a series of humorous questions, concluding with "Barcelona or Real Madrid?" Angel's answer? What do YOU think?

Jerry Coleman started off the conference with a message entitled, "The Paradox of Growing Fruit." He showed the video testimony of Ildikó, a Hungarian woman whose life has been transformed by Christ. This was given as a sign that the Gospel is bearing fruit. Jerry then used actual examples of grape vines and branches (provided to him by Ildikó from her garden) to illustrate his point of the necessity of abiding in Christ, the true vine.

As is the custom in Spain, the evening meal took place after the evening service, at around 9:00 p.m. The good fellowship continued into the wee hours of the morning for many people. All in all, it was a great beginning.

Missionary Meetings Continue

The missionary meetings in Madrid continued throughout the day on Thursday. During the morning session we considered the question of how do we "count what we value, and value what we count." The discussion started with a presentation about how our traditional metrics of Sunday morning attendance, membership, and baptisms do not convey the entire scope of what is occurring in the life of the church. In small groups we considered how we could create meaningful measures that would help pastors and local congregations in evaluating their ministries and their effectiveness. Larry and Al Mellinger were commissioned to create a working paper on this subject, drawing from the input from the group.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch together, and while we were waiting for the meal Dick Dickinson entertained the group by teaching Eduardo, Cindi, Al, and Grace some very interesting sign language.

In the afternoon we considered the question of ministry partnerships. The group determined that there were various types and levels of partnerships possible, and our commitment to any partnership should be dependent upon how the partnership contributes to accomplishing our ministry goals. Larry, Al Mellinger, and Lynette Sykora were commissioned to create a working paper on this subject as well.

Light and Life Christian Community

On Wednesday night our group visited the Light and Life Christian Community (Comunidad Cristiana Luz y Vida), the Free Methodist Church located in the Madrid suburb of Rivas. Pastor and missionary Josh Fajardo was pleased to welcome us to their new facility, which the church has been using since summer. We were happy to participate in the Wednesday evening prayer and healing service.

Europe Country Leaders Meeting

Our country leaders from around Europe have gathered in Madrid for meetings prior to the Church Leaders Conference, which begins on Friday. In addition, Jason Archer, Executive Director of Free Methodist Communications, has joined us in order to become familiar with the work that is taking place in Europe and to help us understand recent changes that have taken place technologically and organizationally within the mission and the denomination.

Today's meeting started with Jerry Coleman reporting on the Reset Conference that he recently attended in Arizona. Reset was a gathering of over 400 mission leaders and in the course of the conference issues facing the future of the global church were addressed. Jerry was especially interested in discussions about "Jumping the S-Curve" and about future trends. After interacting with Jerry and his reports we then turned to consider the challenges of leadership development in Europe. Following a general discussion we broke up into small groups to grapple with issues of identifying, training, releasing, and empowering leaders at both the local and national levels.

In the afternoon Jason Archer spent a lot of time listening to the concerns that our missionaries had regarding communication, fundraising, reporting, and other pertinent issues. He provided us with important insights into the challenges of communicating in relevant ways to the broad spectrum of missions supporters. The official meetings concluded today with prayer for Jason and his daughter, Grace, who accompanied him, as well as for the entire communications staff.

Fall 2011 Literature Night

Our Fall Literature Night took place last night at the Budapest Ministry Center. A number of our friends from the church and the English class joined together to present dramatic recitations of Hungarian poetry and prose (with a few English selections as well). The theme for the evening was "Human Destiny."

Péter welcomed the gathered group and gave an overview of the programs and events that take place at the Budapest Ministry Center. Júlia then took over as MC for the evening. The program was divided into four blocks, with each block concluding with a song.

Ildikó, Sándor, Misi, and Katalin gave presentations in the first block. Selections included a verse from János Arany, a report on the historical settlement of Budakeszi, a poem by Helen Hunt Jackson, and a selection of humorous Hungarian folk sayings and folk songs.

The second block was presented by Erzsébet, Júlia, and Péter. Verses by Jenő Heltai and Sándor Petőfi were followed by a sorrowful folk song about the Hungarian highwaymen of the past.

Zsuzsa, Judit, Ildikó, Katie, Larry, Jan, and Jerry all took part in the third block. Miklós Radnóti, Johann-Ludwig Runebert, and Ernő Szép were the poets represented. Katie read Ernő Szép's verse, "This is How I Would Have Liked to Live" in Hungarian and Larry read his own English translation of the poem. This section of the program concluded with Jerry singing "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie, accompanied by Jan on the piano.

In the final block Júlia read a short story by János Szőczi, who serves on the Advisory Board of the Bread of Life Foundation. Larry and Katie ended the program by singing "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof, in Hungarian ("Hajnal, Alkony"). Everyone joined in on the chorus.

Júlia concluded the evening with a few words about the greatest of all human destinies -- salvation by faith through Jesus Christ.

People stayed for a long time after the program, enjoying the spiced tea that Katie and Jan made for the occasion of course, but enjoying each other's company even more.

Many  thanks to Júlia and Ildikó for organizing the event, to everyone who participated, and to all who helped out in before and afterwards.

Those who died for you...

October 23 is the day on which the failed 1956 Uprising is commemorated in Hungary. This year the organizers of the commemoration have chosen to place large posters at almost every tram stop, emblazoned with the slogan "Kik érted haltak...," which means "Those who died for you..." Many of the posters feature photos and mini-biographies of people who either died during the uprising or who were executed afterwards. Of course, according to the government of that time these people were traitors, not freedom fighters.

While appreciating the sentiment of remembering those who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom, we can't help but think of a better slogan, that is, "The One who died for you == Jesus Christ." Many people in Hungary and throughout Europe need to be freed, not just from corrupt or oppressive governments, but from the bondage of sin and death. There are many ways to think about this: the sick need healing, the lost need found, the orphan needs a family, what is broken needs to be restored.

We are thankful for our faithful friends and partners around the world who help make it possible for us to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one who died for you, here in Hungary.

Congratulations Karcsi and Deborah!

Several of us gathered together at the Budapest Ministry Center this morning to join in the celebration of the wedding of Karcsi and Deborah. The only thing different about the wedding was that it was taking place in Kenya and we were gathered in Hungary. 

As you may recall, Karcsi served for seven months in Nairobi, Kenya working as a volunteer missionary with the Free Methodist Church there. While there Karcsi met the love of his life, Deborah. Karcsi returned to Hungary in August for two months, but went back to Kenya last week for the wedding and to take up his new life there.

We held a farewell service for Karcsi two weeks ago, and were happy to be able to partipate in the wedding today. Thanks to Mike Reynen in Kenya for working out the technical details of the transmission on that end!

May God bless Karcsi and Deborah and their new life together!

A Szabad Metodista történet (The Free Methodist story)

This is a 10-minute video presentation (in Hungarian) on the history of the Free Methodist Church in general, and the development of the Free Methodist Church in Hungary in particular. Larry and Péter (with translation help from Júlia) prepared this for the recent Wesleyan Alliance Theology Day.

Wesley Theology Day: From Wesley to the Wesleyan Alliance

Each October the Wesleyan Alliance of Hungary sponsors a Theology Day, with the goal of helping pastors, students, and lay leaders better understand their Wesleyan theological heritage. This year's event was a bit unusual in that its principal focus was on Wesleyan history, starting with the Wesleyan Movement in England in the 18th Century and tracing its history from that day to the present.

(The Wesleyan Alliance of Hungary is comprised of six organizations operating in Hungary that share a common Wesleyan theological heritage -- The Hungarian Methodist Church, The Salvation Army, The Church of the Nazarene, The Free Methodist Church, World Gospel Mission, and OMS International.)

As has been the custom during the past several years, the Salvation Army Band opened the program with several rousing hymns. Pastor Gábor Szúhanszky of the Hungarian Methodist Church, and director of the Wesleyan Alliance pastoral training progam, then offered a short devotional message. Hungarian Methodist Superintendent István Csernak presented an overview of John Wesley's life and work and recounted the story of the beginnings of the Methodist Movement in England.

Two academics then continued the history. First Dr. Judit Lakatos spoke on the development of the Methodist Church in the 19th Century and pointed out that the Hungarian Methodist Church, and indeed most Methodist Churches on the continent of Europe, trace their heritage to the United States through the Methodist Episcopal Church and its successor the United Methodist Church, rather than the Methodist Church in England.

Ph.D. candidate László Khaled then gave the history of the development of the Hungarian Methodist Church in the 20th Century. The great political upheavals of the past century had a dramatic impact on the health and vitality of the Hungariang Methodist Church. He identified four turning points in the church's history -- The Treaty of Trianon and Hungary's subsequent loss of 2/3 of its territory, the aftermath of World War II, internal church conflicts during the Soviet Era, and the new freedom found after the dissolution of the Soviet Empire.

At this point presentations were made by each of the Wesleyan Alliance member organizations. Meg Gettinger-Dul reported on the history of World Gospel Mission. Superintendent Imre Gusztin of the Church of the Nazarene showed a video that was made for the church's 100th Anniversary in 2008. He then followed this with a brief history of the development of the work in Hungary.

Larry then presented a video on the history of the Free Methodist Church that he and Péter Tóth had made especially for this occasion. [This will be available to watch in a separate post.] Captain Andrew Morgan, leader of the Salvation Army in Hungary gave the story of that organization's foundation by William Booth. He also spoke about the early work of the Salvation Army in Hungary, starting in 1924 and their subsequent explusion from the country after World War II. The organization was able to return to ministry in Hungary in 1990 following "the changes," that is, the fall of the Soviet Empire and the opening up of Hungary to the West.

Following lunch the program continued with John Fraser told about on the foundation of OMS International (formerly the Oriental Missionary Society but now One Mission Society). Then Mária Gusztin spoke about the foundation of the Wesleyan Alliance in 1998. Larry read out a letter from Donnie Johnson, formerly with World Gospel Mission, in which Donnie reflected on the importance of the Alliance, not only to the member organizations, but to the Hungarian churches in general as an example of what cooperation between churches, foundations, and organizations can look like.

At this point four ministerial candidates were introduced and were given the opportunity to address the gathering. These men are enrolled in the Wesleyan Alliance pastoral training program and are nearing the completion of their studies. Two men are with the Salvation Army and two with the Church of the Nazarene.

This was followed with Éva Csernak reporting on the ongoing work of the European Methodist Council and the World Methodist Council. She commented that in her conversations with others at these council meetings she has discovered that only in Hungary does there exist such a close cooperation between Wesleyan groups on a local level.

The event concluded with Superintendent István Csernak giving a prospectus on what the future might hold for the Wesleyan Alliance. He expressed a desire to incorparate other Wesleyan groups into membership, such as the Holy Gospel Church (a Korean Methodist fellowship), the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, and the Church of God - Anderson. He also mentioned that no matter what effect the forthcoming church law would have on the Alliance as a legal entity, the member organizations would continue to work together.

We are happy to have been a part of the Wesleyan Alliance since its inception, and we look forward to many more years of working together!

 

 

 

Unrest

Last week we received a notice from the American Embassy that a series of demonstrations were being planned throughout the next few weeks. Because of the uncertainty of the times and a past history of violence associated with some demonstrations, American citizens were warned to avoid going to these areas. Well, we didn't read the notice too carefully, and last Saturday while on our way to a food shop we found ourselves in the midst of a trade union protest demonstration that was being held at the Parliament. Fortunately it was a peaceful demonstration and no one came to any harm. In fact, there was a carnival-like atmosphere. One enterprising fellow actually set up a beer wagon and was doing a brisk trade.

As the economic situation in Hungary worsens, and as the goverment passes troubling new laws that affect almost every sector of society, many people are becoming worried about what the future might bring. Pray that many people will put their trust in God and not in money or politicians during these times.

Men's (English) Breakfast

The fall men's breakfast was held this morning at the Budapest Ministry Center. This month the men prepared an approximation of an English cooked breakfast. (Those of you reading this from the UK can give us your opinion as to how it looks.) No, we didn't have streaky bacon or black pudding, but the basic elements were there -- a fried egg, sausage, fried mushrooms, friend tomatoes, beans, and toast with marmalade. As usual, the men were skeptical at first but soon overcame their skepticism and enjoyed the meal. Larry and Zoli were the chefs, assisted by Misi and Péter.

Following the breakfast Larry offered a short devotional based on Philippians 4:8 and asked the men to consider what they usually focused on -- the good things or the bad? This led to a discussion about how the generally pessimistic Hungarian culture makes it difficult for people to look positively toward the future. With God's help, we can choose to see the good, we can choose to focus on the positive, we can stop looking for the negative.

English Class Begins

Our 12th year of English at the Family Help Center began last week with a "Welcome Back" party. Today the classes started in earnest, with the added bonus of having two special guests. Marcie and Clive Potts from Garstang, England are in Budapest this week, and they dropped in to visit the class today. Katie incorporated their visit into the introductory lesson by interviewing them about how they met, what they do, and what they enjoy doing together. (For those that don't know, Marcie was our colleague here in Budapest for several years before she moved to England. She got married to Clive this past spring.)

Following the large group lesson we break up into small groups. Larry has the beginners, Katie has the intermediate group, and Jan has the advanced group. Next week reading groups will start up again, following the class. 

Traffic Jam in Töltéstava

Yesterday when passing through the village of Töltéstava we encountered their version of an afternoon traffic jam. All we could do was wait.