Relishing the moment

During my usual rush to school yesterday, I ran into one of my students who also attends a Bible study I hold weekly at my house. We proceeded to walk the last city block to school together, and when I asked her how she was doing, she responded: "Great! I love the fresh air, and the trees are so lovely! I feel like I'm walking along a beautiful tunnel!" I was caught off-guard by this comment as I hadn't really expected this kind of response to the simple question "how are you?" My heart raced a bit as I too joined her in relishing the moment of a crisp fall morning, walking along a path under the archway of tall leafy trees, announcing their glory to the Lord! Ah, that we would stop more often in the rush of daily life to cherish the natural beauty God has thrown right in our paths, and drink in His presence at that moment.

ceo for the kids

Funny things I get to teach

Teaching English as a second language has its funny moments. Sometimes they come when teaching words which are different in American English than they are in British English. One such word is "eraser"...you know, those little things at the end of a pencil which one uses to erase pencil-marks? In British English, this is a "rubber"....well, a "rubber" in American English has a very different meaning. So, when I explain this to my students, the snickers begin, and I "warn" them not to go to the U.S. and ask their classmate for a "rubber". The other typical "mistake" Hungarian students make is saying: "I feel myself well", instead of "I feel well." It's always great fun to "demonstrate" "feeling oneself." :-)


ceo for the kids

ceo for the kids

ceo for the kids

I'm continually struck by how easy my life is compared to the kids I work with at the children's home. As I sat talking with M. yesterday, asking her about when she planned to move out of the home and find a place of her own, the reality that this is not even an option at this point for her struck the familiar chord that rings every day for them. What we often "take for granted", getting a job, renting a place to live, going to school to get a higher education, are almost "out of reach" goals for many of these kids. They simply don't have the means to be able to think about such goals; survival is their mode of operating quite often. And even that is a learned skill for them. Yet tears welled up in my eyes as S. came and sat down next to me, 7 months pregnant, and asked me if I wanted one of her sandwiches. They've learned how to love in ways many of us can only imagine.

The need for the Gospel

As I sat listening to a sermon tape this morning in my living room on the sovereignty of God, my phone rang. A friend of mine on the other end said she had bad news to share. I braced myself for the worst, and when she told me that a young man from Germany who had been a part of a language studies program here in Hungary had jumped to his death from a window, my heart sank. I don't even know this young man, but the reality of life and death and the reminder that Hungary is near the top of the list of countries in the world when it comes to suicide blasted home to me again the need for the Gospel to go forth into this world. The "sad joke" amongst Hungarians is that if you ask nearly any Hungarian if they know someone who has commited suicide, nearly all of them will reply yes. This is a country and a people that needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, desperately! The air of hopelessness and depression that seems to permeate the very air here is crying out for the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow through and make all things new! May Jesus be lifted up that people like this young man will look UP to the Lord instead of DOWN at the concrete below them.

First posting from Hungary

This is my first attempt at making a blog! My good friend, and former student, J.R. Briggs has his own, and I was so impressed, I decided to try one for myself! This will be a good way for folks around the world to keep up with what is happening here in this small corner of the world called Szeged, Hungary, the city I now call home!