From "Three Cups of Tea"

I recently finished reading the book "Three Cups of Tea". It's a true story of a man, Greg Mortenson, who has dedicated his life to building schools, mostly for girls, in Pakistan and now also in Afghanistan.

Interesting and very, very thought provoking book. I recommend it. Here is a passage from the book, which may spark some response/discussion. I had to re-read it a couple of times.

"You know Greg, I have to thank your president," Bashir, said, paging through flight schedules on his high-tech flat-screen computer monitor. "A nightmare was growing on our western border, and he's paid to put it to an end. I can't imagine why. The only gainer in the whole equation is Pakistan."

Bashir paused to watch a live CNN feed from Baghdad. Staring at a small video window inset into the flight manifests scrolling down his monitor, Bashir was struck silent by the images of wailing Iraqi women carrying children's bodies out of the rubble of a bombed building.

As he studied the screen, Bashir's bullish shoulders slumped. "People like me are America's best friends in the region," Bashir said at last, shaking his head ruefully. "I am a moderate Muslim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?" Bashir asked, struggling not to direct his anger toward the large American target on the other side of his desk. "Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years."

"Osama had something to do with it, too, " Mortenson said.

"Osama, baah!" Bashir roared. "Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America, Osama is in every home. As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy's strength. In America's case, that's not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever." (from "Three Cups of Tea" p. 310)

Here's my personal conclusion after reading this passage: We need to pray, to the only wise God, whose Son is Jesus Christ and who has given us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us as followers of Jesus, and ask our God to give leaders across the globe HIS wisdom, show them HIS ways, and pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Amen.

Some thoughts from the conference

Here are just a few thoughts I am pondering and praying through from the conference I attended in Belgium.

"We (followers of Jesus) need to stop having these battles with one another! We have to stand as an army of the Lord. Let's put aside our differences so we can worship the Lord together! One of our greatest weapons is LOVE!"

Conference in Belgium

African brothers and sisters sang a song during worship!

Dan Fernandez teaching the Word!

Linda, Jill Austin's 'right-hand woman' at the book table.

Jill Austin teaching and ministering.

The whole earth is full of His glory!

During the summer, I attended "The Call" in Washington, DC and happened to "run into" Jill Austin. I'd heard her speak in Rotterdam, Holland last May and so introduced myself to her in DC. I asked her if she would be in europe sometime this fall, and she said, "Yes, check my website...www.masterpotter.com". Sure enough, she would be in Belgium along with a wonderful couple, Dan and Carole Fernandez, ministering, and the conference fell exactly during my fall break from school. God provided so I was able to go and enjoy a very good conference where many, many were blessed, including me, and I made some new friends!

May God water all the seeds planted and cause MUCH fruit to grow throughout europe as a result of the ministry which took place this weekend!

More conference pictures...

Dan and Carole Fernandez, minister inner healing and deliverance. Carole has an incredible voice and sings to God's glory!

Yes, I attended the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship National Convention! I just knew I wanted to go hear Jill Austin...and actually, it was a blessing to be with all these men and women from around europe who love Jesus! I "accidentally" met a couple who make trips into Hungary to minister to gypsies near Debrecen! God connections!

Worship was wonderful, in English and in Flemmish!

The advertising poster for the conference!

The conference location...a lovely hotel/conference center within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean in Blankenberg, Belgium!

Here are more pictures from the conference....and if you want to see an album of pix and are on facebook, click on "My facebook page" to the right on my blog and go check out my new albums!

Brussels

St. Michael's Cathedral in Brussels, Belgium.

The Royal Palace in Brussels.

Amazing skyline in Brussels!

I was blessed to be able to spend an extra day in after the conference I attended in Blankensberg, Belgium. Brussels is a thriving, interesting looking city with amazing architecture!

From "Three Cups of Tea"

"Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything." (Mother Teresa)

I've always loved Mother Teresa. This quote, found in a book I just finished called "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, is one for many of us to ponder and pray through, recognizing the biblical Truths found therein.

For me, the past 13 months have been a time of tremendous transition. How very true MT's words rang and still ring....what about for you?

Leaving town.....for the break

Each year we get a fall break...this year it is "extra" long! I'm heading out today to a Christian conference in Belgium where Jill Austin will be one of the main speakers. I'm very excited to be able to go and look forward to all God wants to do! Needless to say, I won't be blogging for a few days! Catch you next week, and I hope to have lots of pictures!

How many times?

I was swimming today and thoroughly enjoying only having one other person in my lane who swam nearly the exact same speed I did, so we were a good pair.

I usually swim 1000 meters each time I go. Today, I lost count. "How many laps have I done? Is it 18 or 19? How many times have I touched this wall? How many times....how many times?"

As I continued swimming, the Lord reminded me of a story in the New Testament where a man comes to Jesus and asks Him, "How many times must I forgive someone? Up to 7 times?" Jesus rocked his world and ours as well by saying, "You must forgive 70 times 7"; in other words, there is no limit to forgiveness.

We all have people we have to forgive; and we are people who need to be forgiven by others. When biblical forgiveness takes place, it is sweet, and there is always hope, even if it takes time, for restoration in the relationship(s). However, if people are unwilling to forgive, and choose other paths, then hurt, wounding and unforgiveness remain, and there is no sweetness, grace, mercy or healing.

I swam an "extra" lap today, just to make sure I'd gotten my 1000 meters in. Maybe I swam 1100 meters, or maybe just 1000...either way, because I lost count of how many times, I wanted to "make sure." Do any of us need to make sure when it comes to forgiving or asking for forgiveness? The Lord knows, so go to Him and ask Him!

Lady bug...or Lady bird

On a walk recently, I saw this beautiful lady bug, or as Hungarians call it, lady bird. Immediately, I thought of the book "The Shack" by William P. Young. If you've not read it, GET it and READ it!

Frustrations.........

In the 8+ years I've lived here, and earlier summers from 1996 on having come with teams to serve, there has been an ongoing frustration with the "system" regarding kids who are either orphaned or grow up in children's homes because their parents are unable to raise them properly.

The frustrations are many...one is that when these kids reach age 24, they are completely "on their own"...and if they don't have a proper education or have any "disadvantages" mentally or physically, it is nearly impossible for them to find work...which means that they end up in homeless shelters. Right now there are two precious boys I've known for years, both of whom live in homeless shelters...one is 24 and the other one is 19. Both want work, but neither can find a job and hold on to it.

There are three boys who have emerged "successfully"...all three of them now live and work in England...there is where they are scraping out an existence.

Another young man planned to be a soldier, but didn't pass the psychological test; so now what does he do? He's searched high and low for work...

I could go on and on....one boy just showed up at my front door this morning; I've not seen him in probably 2 years. He's looking for work...apparently, no one will hire him...they look at his clothes and send him away...most of his clothes were stolen from him at a homeless shelter he was living in in a neighboring town. He gets one hot meal a day.

However, the biggest frustration is with the core of the children's home/orphanage system here in Hungary. If THAT doesn't change, then these homes will keep "raising" these kids, and sending them out when they are 18-24 and who knows what will happen. The core of the problems lies in the fact that when parents/families put their kids in these homes, they have the option of NOT signing release papers for their kids to be adopted. In other words, the parents are still their "parents", but the state is raising their kid. Why don't parents sign release papers for their kids to be adopted into other families so they can have a more "normal" life? Because when these kids turn 18, they get a very large amount of money from the national government...and the parents tend to "show up" again, right before the kid turns 18, and start "building a relationship" with the kid in order to get that money!

My proposal is that parents must be required, after 2 years, to sign the release papers for their kids to be available for adoption if they have put them in these children's homes.

Every one of the young adults that I am friends with who came through the children's home system would have benefitted greatly had he/she been adopted by a family, either here or abroad.

Frustrations..................the system needs to be changed! Praying my Hungarian friends will read this and pray and ask the Lord to give them wisdom as to how they can be a part of lobbying their politicians to change these ridiculous laws....sorry if I sound a bit frustrated, but I am.

ICF on Friday!

The worship team from the Baptist Church leading us into worship!

Fellowship time! Love the Hungarian hat!

Fellowship time!

Edith and Timi!

It was Katie's last time at ICF...she heads back to the U.S. at the end of the month! :-(

What a blessed evening we shared on Friday! The worship team from the Baptist church came to lead worship, and Edith Bond travelled from Debrecen to bring us a word from God about rejoicing always, even when everything in the world around is is crashing! As Franci put it at the end, "It's such a blessing to see different fellowships in the city coming together to worship the Lord in unity!" Amen and amen!

The old and the new......

A Lada and an elderly man on a bicycle...typical.

The rusted out old........

.....vs. the freshly built new, within one block of each other!

The old signs on the sides of trains.........

And the new signs.

A friend of mine, Edith, and I wandered around a part of Szeged for about an hour before her train left and found ourselves taking pictures. You'll see some of them here, but please go check out my facebook page to see an album I want to put up there.



We saw much, and it was fun to play "semi-professional" photographer and try to catch the best shots. The pics above capture the "old" and the "new".

A good reminder....

Stopping in the NOW to see the light cascading through the trees onto the fall leaves, and relishing this moment!

I'm sure all of us have heard this time and again, but it bears repeating:

"Wherever you are, BE there 100%!" (unknown)

This truth hit me really hard yesterday, again, as I spent time praying with a dear, dear friend and fellow missionary, via skype no less! We talked for about 40 minutes and then began praying, and through prayer, God set both of us free and for me, reminded me of the above statement. It's very easy for me either to live in the past (either in the muck or the glory), or focus so much on the future that I completely forget BEING right here, where I am 100%...consequently, I miss out on all that God wants to do both in me and through me.

Lord, the past is finished...nothing can be changed; Lord, You control the future, and only YOU know it fully, completely, and I release it into Your ever so perfect hands; Finally, Lord, help me to live in the NOW, 100%, focusing on today and ALL that You will bring my way!

Coming up on Friday at 7....

Ha ha ha, I just realized the title of this blog sounds like a commercial! I guess it sort of is! We will be welcoming the praise and worship team from the Baptist Church here in town to lead us into worship at our International Christian Fellowship this coming Friday evening! Thanks Franci and team!

Also, Edith Bond, our dear friend and wonderful teacher from New Zealand, via Debrecen, will share a word with us!

I always grow excited to see what the Lord will do on Friday nights!

Tired?

Ah, exhaustion again. Not fun. The only way out is rest. Figuring out what that looks like can be challenging. For now, it is sleep. Praying for God's perfect restoration.

Getting reconnected!

Not too long ago, someone introduced me to Facebook. At first I wasn't too keen on what I considered to be "yet another distraction", but as I've learned a bit more how to navigate it, I've found it to be a blessing! Probably the best part about facebook is that I'm getting reconnected with friends "from the past". Just today I got reconnected with an old soccer buddy from my university days. In addition, I am finding former students of mine, especially from here in Hungary....I still need to be careful not to let it become too time consuming, but rather let it be a place of blessing and encouragement!

The old and the new side by side

On the left, are the new flats and the new cars...in the background are the "old" flats from the communist times.

A friend of mine lives in these really nice new "suburbia" flats. I went to his house on Saturday morning and as I was waiting, I looked and saw this site....can you see the 1970 grey block buildings in the background? The old and the new, living side by side.

God is doing His work here in Hungary! He is making all things new...in the midst of it, there are those who are newly born in Jesus Christ, and there are those living side by side with them, who still need to hear the Good News!

Pray for us!

Fun weekend!

Tom and Joanna heading to the train station in Szeged!

We sent Tom off on the "silver bullet" to Subotica, Serbia! Yep, a one car train!

Saying "see you later" to Joanna Sunday afternoon!

I had a great visit from Tom Foley, the CEO of CEO and his daughter and my friend, Joanna! Joanna blessed me by staying til Sunday afternoon! I'm thankful for long-time friends, who love me no matter what!

ICF Friday night!

Erik leading worship.

Tom Foley teaching.

Eszter Szabo-Gillinger and Joanna Foley!

The girls enjoying Klari's wedding photos!!!

We had a wonderful turn-out on Friday! 35 people came together to worship the Lord from 9 different nations! Erik led us into worship and Tom Foley brought a message from 1 Corinthians...."Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

God's love in nature

See the heart?

Looking at............
.....a beautiful...........
.........bride!!!!

A friend of mine and I were taking pictures in the "good light" we had today in Szeged. We happened upon this cool tree....check out the heart-shape at the foot of the tree. Sweet reminder of God's love for us as we enjoy His creation!



I also saw this sweet little girl who was very intrigued by something....the series of pix shows exactly what...every little girls' dream.

Food?

The huge "fish soup" pot on the bank of the Tisza River! It's nearly the size of that small car!

Yep, they actually cook a HUGE pot of fish soup in this!

In the late summer, early fall, here in Szeged, they have a big fish soup festival! They close the road which runs next to the river, and all kinds of stands are set up with various people selling their versions of fish soup, as well as other wonderful foods! It's a big, fun party for families and friends!



As I was walking a few weeks ago, I was crossing the bridge and saw that they had not yet removed the largest of the fish soup pots from the bank of the river. It's pictured above, and made me think about how many people could actually be fed with the soup cooked in this huge pot! Then I got to thinking about God's endless supply of food for us...not just physical, but even more importantly, spiritual food! He is infinitely able to provide ALL we need, but do we go and drink deeply and eat deeply from Him? Or do we at times...I know I do....look to other sources for my "food" and satisfaction?

Sleep Reading

Ok, we've all heard of sleep walking and sleep talking...but sleep reading???? Well, guess what? It exists!

My friend, Dori, has been staying with me for the past couple of weeks. Last night, I turned in to bed about 9:30 and was reading my book, as I usually do. I got sleepy and closed my book, put it on the floor, looked at my alarm clock and saw it was 10 p.m. I was sooooooo excited to be going to sleep so early! I turned off the light and curled up with my cat.

Well, this morning, Dori asked me if I had a tough time sleeping last night. Why? I asked her...."Well, because when I got up to go to the toilet at 12:30 a.m., your light was on; so I went up the stairs and there you were, sitting up straight in your bed with your arms outstretched and a book in them. Your eyes were closed, so I thought maybe you were praying."

I thought she was totally kidding!!! I have absolutely NO recollection of this "sleep-reading" incident! I did wonder why my back was a bit sore this morning when I woke up...must have been sitting up and reading in my sleep! Anyone else out there ever slept-read?

What comes out of our mouths....

The power of words is more profound than, I believe, any of us can ever imagine. In the book of James in the Bible...have a look at it sometime....James compares the tongue to the rudder of a ship. A small object which can steer the entire ship. Throughout the Bible one can read about how the words that proceed from our mouth are a clear indication of what is TRULY in our hearts. Our words are the fruit of the "tree" which is our heart.

So, it naturally follows that if bitter words are coming forth, then there is a bitter root from which those words are flowing. If loving words flow out, then a heart of love has taken root. If lustful words pour forth, then a root of lust is producing that fruit.

Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruit."

Paul, in Galatians, lists the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

"Create in me a clean heart O God..." is the cry of my heart today, so that not one bitter or fleshly root remains and my words are life-giving, life-producing, and filled with the Spirit of the living God!

Oswald Chambers

"The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man's sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away---an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god.""

Fun weekend

Author of "The Heavenly Man" speaking in Kecel, Hungary. There were about 500 people in attendance!

Dori and Judit coming out of church on Sunday morning in Kiskoros!

Arden, trying her hand on a 26 year old, east German motorcycle!

Dori's parents....sporting a 25 year old motorcycle!

I travelled to Kiskoros this weekend to hear the author of the book "The Heavenly Man" speak. It was fun to be with two dear friends, Dori and Judit, to hear this Chinese man who has been severely persecuted for his faith and has an amazing testimony, and to enjoy being with a Hungarian family and eating LOTS of great food! Praise God for good weekends like this!

ICF

Zsuzsa, Timi, Katie and Cathy.....a bit surprised by the camera?

Some of our Hungarian delegation!

Some of our Nigerian delegation!

Eszter teaching on Psalm 91!

Fellowship time!

We had a great meeting on Friday night at ICF! 20 of us gathered together for worship and a wonderful teaching by Eszter Szabo based on Psalm 91! She helped us to see through this Psalm God's protection, the dangers we face, and God's promises for deliverance!



As the various nations gather (7 different ones represented last night), continue to pray for us and these who are seeking to know Jesus more and more!