Stuck in Slovakia

We had an interesting (and somehat scary) thing happen to us last week. We went to visit a town in Slovakia, Komarno, which is just over the border, close to Tatabanya. We wanted Matthew's parents to see this beautiful town and also to be able to add another country on their list - without even boarding an airplane! :)

Well, all went well on the way there. We crossed the bridge between Hungary and Slovakia, had our passports stamped, took a nice walk in Komarno, had lunch, and headed back home.

At the border we were told to pull aside and wait (which happens all the time because of foreign passports. Citizens of Hungary and Slovakia, like Melinda, can just fly through with an ID because of the EU! :) A few minutes later the Hungarian border guard came back and said, very nicely but firmly, that Oliver won't be able to cross the border because he only has an American passport (without a visa!), and no proof of his Hungarian citizenship! From their perspective he is a foreign citizen in the country without a visa! I guess we should have thought of this, but we hadn't applied for his Hungarian passport thinking he already has a US one and it would only be good for 2 years anyway. The guard said that he understands the situation and believes that he is a Hungarian citizen, but he has to obey the law. I (Melinda) thanked him for his understanding and told him in no uncertain terms that I am not crossing the border without my baby! :)

We continued to wait and wait, meanwhile several border guards came to us with sympathetic looks on their faces and asked more questions. I gave them all the papers I had of Oliver (TAJ kartya and lakcimkartya, if you're a Hungarian reading this :) and they disappeared with these. More wait and prayers. I was thinking up different scenarios of staying in a Komarno hotel room with Oliver and applying to the consulate for an emergency passport, etc. Then the first border guard came back and told us they found him in their data base and indeed he is a dual citizen, if without a passport. We may cross the border!!! The sign on the bridge welcoming us to the Magyar Koztarsasag (Republic of Hungary) never looked so beautiful before! :)

PS: The picture was taken on another visit to Slovakia. You can see Oliver with his favorite kind of transportation, with a Hungarian town (Esztergom) across the Danube (and the border) behind him.

Moving to Tatabanya

In moments we'll be packing up the computer along with the last of our belongings. Last Wednesday, we had a great day moving the bulk of our stuff to the garage in Tatabanya. Jani, Peti and Laci - the three stooges from Esztergom came and helped. Things went very smoothly.

Tomorrow, we will go to church in Tatabanya. Afterward, we will invite the church over for a bit of fellowship, if you know what I mean. We will move the furniture and boxes from the garage into the house.

We will try and post a few more photos when we have a some, but for now, check out this photo. The house is kind of like a duplex with a shared driveway and roof. Our portion is left of the gate. From the outside, it's not much to look at, but the inside is cozy and suits our needs well.

We are so excited, but our excitement comes out in funny ways while packing. Sometimes it's laughing at finding some insignificant item thought to have been lost. Sometimes it's moping around the house wishing to be beyond all the work of sorting and cleaning. And yes, sometimes it's arguing about which box to pack dishes in.

No, moving is not our favorite thing to do. But we are certain that the last move will be the best one. We won't have to sort and pack. We won't have to work the mover for a better price. There will be no worrying over scratched furniture or broken picture frames. We won't need all these books we've been collecting. We will simply leave everything behind, knowing that we won't miss a thing.

Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Have you heard?

We think we announced it to everyone around the world, but in case you haven't heard: we are expecting a baby!!! He or she will arrive at the end of the summer, a birthday gift for Oliver's 3rd.

We are thrilled about the new arrival and pray for protection and safe growth for the little one. According to the ultrasound, everything looks fine with the baby. We even saw and heard the heartbeat! Amazing!!!

Melinda is doing relatively well and Oliver talks about the baby quite a lot (he even says there is one in his tummy and sometimes when "his tummy hurts" he lays down with a blanket). :)

Thanks for rejoicing with us!!! 2006 looks like an exciting year for us! :)

Matthew, Melinda, Oliver and Baby

Waning Winter

It has been a long winter here in Hungary. For weeks it has been hovering around the freezing point, but we have had little snow. We like winter and all, but winter without snow is like pie without apples.

But this week it snowed a little every day. It is in the process of melting as I write - so I thought I'd better post this photo before it's too late. Spring will be here soon - so it's rumored.

When Oliver is bundled up, he is capable of outlasting both father and mother. Thursday Melinda went sledding with him and yesterday I was able to teach him the word, "icicle." He loves to be outside.

Staying warm, ~matthew

Daddo, What Doing?

Take a close look at the photo. I know it looks like superman standing on the window ledge, but it's actually me. Last weekend I had to put on my superman cape to save our son in trouble.

Let me set the story up. We were visiting our friends Apri & Andi in Pecs, having a wonderful time catching up after years of being away. (It was all the more wonderful because they shared their Starbucks coffee with me!) We decided that Oliver should take a nap before we made the long drive back to Erd.

Oliver should have been taking a nap in the spare room/office, but he was not. I was going in to strongly encourage him to sleep for the third time when to my amazement, the door was locked.

If you look at the picture, the two windows on the right belong to the bedroom, the two on the left, the sealed prison our toddler was unknowingly trapped in. While Arpi was at the door, trying to coach Oliver to reinsert the skeleton key and twist it I looked for a phone booth.

The roller binds on the spare room were down and only one of the windows was tilted. So, while standing on 8 inches of ledge, I somehow pulled one roller up, opened the second window and pulled its roller up as well. All the while, Oliver asking the question, "Daddo, what doing?" I tumbled through the opened window and asked some questions of my own.

Because Oliver had no nap, he fell asleep in the car on the way home. Check out Melinda's creative resourcing to keep Oliver's head in place. Funny.

Total Abandon

Our friend Gary Witherall has written a book. Total Abandon is extremely personal and highly challenging. Gary writes about Bonnie and her martyrdom as well as their lives and ministry in Sidon Lebanon.

You can find this book just about anywhere. If you click here you'll be able to order it from Amazon.com. If you're not familiar with Gary's story, click here for an informative article.

I know that many of you reading this already have this book and have already read it. Well, we'd like to know your thoughts. Please use the comments feature at the end of this post to write about the book. This is a Blog after all. Share your comments for all to see and benefit.

Szilveszter

January first is Szilverszter's name day - everybody in Hungary has a name day. Because of this, New Year's as a celebration is called Szilveszter. People will ask, "where will you szilveszter?" or "how did you szilveszter?"

This year we accepted the invitation to celebrate with a few people at the Molnars' house. Oliver was left to celebrate with the Grandparents. Meanwhile, Laszlo and Eva Molnar, our hosts, pulled out all the stops. We expected finger food and balloons. Instead we had a gourmet meal with candles and crystal. It didn't hurt that Eva is a fantastic cook.

It was a great evening with lively and meaningful conversation. At midnight we toasted each other after singing the Hungarian national anthem.

We were prepared to play some games, but the conversation was so good we chose to talk instead. At about 5 am we returned to the dining table for the traditional first meal of the new year - hot dogs and lentils with fresh ground horse radish.

If I understand correctly, the hot dogs are eaten because of their meagerness. The idea is that things can only get better during the course of the year. Lentils are eaten as an omen of wealth. I was told after eating my portion that you're supposed to count the lentils before you eat them to know how much money you'll make in the coming year. Oh well.

Here's another superstitious tradition: In no way are you to eat chicken at Szilveszter because the chicken will "scratch away" your good luck. Consequently, there are no chickens butchered in Hungary between Christmas and New Years! This is something that not even all Hungarians know. You can thank me later!

Well, we are thankful that we do not have to trust in luck in the coming year. We have a Father in Heaven who looks out after us. So sharpen the ax and let the chicken scratch all he wants! Happy New Year!

~matthew, melinda & oliver

Christmas in Hungary

Ah, Christmas: a celebration of the mysterious incarnation. Christmas is a special holiday for us. We enjoy the focus on Jesus and we enjoy the deliberate time together as a family.

Before I write about how we spent our holiday, let me make a few observations about what is traditional here in Hungary.
The Holy Eve, as they call it here is Christmas Eve. This is the time when Hungarian families retreat into their smallest units. All day is spent in preparation for the evening meal and celebration. The 25th and 26th are days for visiting extended families and to eat each other's leftovers!
Decorating, likewise, happens on Christmas Eve. The house and tree traditionally stay decorated until January 6 - the day on the church calendar commemorating the visit of the Wise Men.
The meal on this evening is usually fish. Supermarkets in Hungary set up large aquariums and stock them with live trout and carp and people line up to pick out their holiday fish. I was in such supermarket on the 22nd and saw a line of about 50 people wrapping around the aquarium and stretching well into the produce area. As I looked on curiously, I saw a fish break the surface with his tail in protest and drench several people in line. I struggled not to laugh aloud.
Gift giving is a big deal. You greet everyone with at least a token gift of chocolate or something similar. When we went to church Sunday morning, Melinda's bag, like Santa's, was full of gifts. We even had extra, in case we met someone we hadn't counted on.
Speaking of Santa, he has a separate day. December 6th is Nikolas day. This is the day that children either get chocolate or coal in their shoes when they wake up. So then if Santa gives chocolate on the 6th, who then brings all the gifts on the 24th? Well, you have a couple options to choose from: there's the communist favorite, Father Winter (His popularity has declined rapidly since 1990), or there's the "little angel" or even the "little baby Jesus." We're not sure how we feel about any of these options and have chosen to tell Oliver than the gifts have come from Mama and Dado.

So, this is what we did: we decorated our tree on the 22nd, so we could enjoy it a little longer. We will probably take it down tonight. On the 24th, we baked and decorated something like gingerbread cookies to give to friends at church. For our meal, we chose to cook a turkey stuffed with chestnut bacon dressing. After our meal, we told the Christmas story to Oliver, sang a few songs and gave gifts to each other.

On Christmas day, I lead worship at the Budapest Calvary Chapel. So I rose early (5:30) to catch the bus into town. Melinda and Oliver came in later. We spent Sunday and Monday at Melinda's parents. Melinda's brother and family came on Monday and we celebrated with them Monday evening. There was lots of good food, conversation and cool toys for the kids.

Another part of our Christmas experience was watching a Christmas Choir concert put on by the Budapest Calvary Gospel Choir. It was fantastic. If you'd like to see the concert, click here and download it. www.gospel.golgota.hu Be warned that that these are large files and may take a while to download, even with a fast connection.

Please check out the photo album "Holiday" to see some photos of our celebration.

shreddin'

I remember the first time I heard a Californian use the word shreddin'. I had to ask the basic question, "it that a positive or negative expression?" I could imagine it either way and it was not clear by the context. Simply put, it is a positive expression. Someone is shreddin' when they're really cutting it up, as in cutting up the waves while surfing, etc.

Well I never thought I could use the term for worship, but last week while leading worship at a team meeting I was shreddin'! Perhaps more precisely, it was my guitar pick that was shredded. Check out the picture.

I have had picks that crack or break while playing, but I've never had a pick disintegrate in my fingers. But the end, I has having a hard time grasping what remained.

If you curious, the set was:
1. Jesus, Jesus: the Fa, la, la song (Thanks Rob Still)
2. Beautiful One
3. Oh, Our Lord and King
4. How Great is Our God
5. Manger Throne
6. Here I am to worship

Szenna

We haven't told you about an interesting weekend we had in November. We went to Szenna, which is a village in south-west Hungary. Szenna has a nice guest house we stayed in, a village museum, and several paths for hiking in the neighboring hills (yes, these crazy Hungarians like to hike even in November weather!)

The people we went with were the home fellowship group we hosted in our apartment before we left for the States. It has been lead by our good friends Zoli and Emo Horvath. Zoli and Emo used to be in the small group of believers Matthew was part of when he first came to Hungary (just like Arpi - see Thanksgiving entry). Many from that group of 15 became the first members of our home church in Budapest, which now has more than 600 attending.

The picture shows a tourist farm we visited. You can see Emo, Melinda, Oliver, and - no, it's not Matthew! - a type of pig called the mangalica. The interesting thing we were told is that its meat is actually good for you - it contains the good kind of cholesterol or something like that. :)

Please visit the photo album Farm life in Hungary illustrating other interesting species of Hungarian farm life. We actually know several people (especially folks in Indiana - go Hoosiers!) who would enjoy such a presentation. :)