If you know Oliver, you know that he has a little doggy friend. Here, he is getting his fur styled after a bath.
Incidentally, this is the most important item that we own. Guitars, cars, computers and Dr. Seuss books can be replaced easier that this. Even losing our passports would be a minor inconvenience in comparison to losing this doggy!
Dear all,
Hope you are all well. Today and tomorrow are holidays in Hungary - All Saints Day. We are still enjoying the beautiful sunny (albeit cold) fall weather.
A few people have mentioned how they check our blog and pray for us regularly (thank you, dear Granny Sally from Northern Ireland and many others! :-)).
You may have noticed that we kept this web blog more family and fun focused and don’t mention specific prayer requests or names of people we are ministering to, etc. (though Hungary is not closed to the gospel, we do want to respect the people’s privacy). For those who are interested in ministry news and prayer requests, we send out e-mail updates once or twice a month. All you have to do is e-mail us.
However, in this entry, we wanted to write a little bit about what we are doing "over here" and how you can pray for us.
Ofalu bible study: Matthew leads worship and teaches (in Hungarian!) at this church-plant in Ofalu Tuesday evenings. Please pray for many more people (especially adults) to come, meet Jesus and grow!
Tatabanya: We go down regularly to the Tatabanya Bible studies on Wednesday and every second Sunday. Please pray for this little flock and wisdom for us and Jani & Kata (the pastor and his wife) as to when to move to Tatabanya.
Friday children's club: Melinda is involved in this Bible club for children (ages 6-12). Please pray for the children and their parents!
Basketball ministry: Matthew takes part in this outreach to young boys (ages 10-14). We need a lot of prayer as to how to share the gospel with these boys, who are rough on the outside, but hungry for love on the inside!
Odd Jobs: We try to help out however and whenever we can. For example, this week Matthew is leading worship every morning for a group of missionaries attending a training conference in Hungary and Melinda is cooking lunch a couple times for them.
Hospitality/networking: We have had the opportunity and privilege to share meals and cups of coffee with past, present and future ministry partners, as well as friends and family. We are letting God weave us back into the fabric of Hungary. How's that for a metaphor?
OM's various ministries in Hungary: Church planting, mobilizing Hungarians to missions, village ministry, baseball outreach, English classes and training.
Thank you so much for praying! Please keep the news coming from Stateside (or wherever you are! :-))
M&M&O
Well, it’s been six years since we started saying, “I do.” For those who are married, you know what I mean. You don’t just say it once. You say it everyday if you want to enjoy the passing time and not just endure.
We were able to get away for the weekend. While Oliver was being well cared for at Grandma’s, we visited my favorite Hungarian city, Eger. We enjoyed relaxing in the sunny, but cool fall weather.
The picture above is taken from the fortress at Szarvasko, about 10 miles north of Eger and below is a picture of a few of the sights of Eger. If you want to see more, check out www.egeronline.com.
~matthew
I always thought it would be important to get a ball and gloves to teach Oliver about baseball. We wouldn't want him to be in the dark concerning this all -American sport. And besides, when he's older and throwing rocks at the sea side, I don't want him "throwing like a girl!"
Joska, an American-born Hungarian is on our OM team with his wife Sandy, who lives in the apartment behind ours, just happened to have the smallest baseball gloves I've ever seen - one for a righty and one for a lefty.
At this point it is difficult to know what Oliver's dominant hand will be, but I won't be surprised if he's a lefty. All the more reason to teach him to pitch. If he makes it as a lefty, he could take good care of us in our old age!
So bring your ball and glove and meet us in the park. We'll be ready. Exciting, huh?
~matthew
We just wanted to show a picture of our new car. I hate even writing this, as it is only a car. But it was something that we prayed about, asked about, looked about, etc about, a lot! We believe the Lord provided just this car for us. It was the only one that we saw on the market with low miles within our budget. Another selling point, for Melinda anyway, is the color.
I don't know if we explained before how dependent we are on a car. If we were living in Budapest, or a bigger city, there would be buses and there would be little need for a car. But Erd is a big suburb, or I should say it is a big village attached to Budapest. We have found that we are as dependent on a car here as we were in the States. This is a bit of culture shock for us.
We still have to register it, but we are glad the process is coming to an end. Now we can go and come as we please and take a lot of gear (baby/music) with us.
If you would like to suggest a nickname for the car, please post it here, or send us an e'mail.
~matthew
Hi there!
Just to add somehing new, some of you may have heard how the Lord protected our team last week. Six of our team members were in a car accident on Saturday and the Lord miraculously saved them. An update on this is that Alma (Germany), who was driving the car had some pain in her neck (no pun intended!) and numbness in her fingers. She is still undergoing tests (MRI and the like) but for now she has to wear a neck support, which can be pretty uncomfortable at times, considering that she is the lady who takes care of all the administration around MTS and does a fabulous job! Her attitude is great though even wearing the neck support thing! :)
Then on the same day Victoria (Northern Ireland) was reading in her bed and she fell asleep. The book she was reading fell on her lamp and almost caught fire. She did not wake up and the room was starting to fill up with smoke!!! Her roommate (who happens to be Alma - what a day for her!) came into the room just before the book would have caught on flames!!! Victoria (who is affectionately called "Doria" by the children, including Oliver, whom she watches during the sessions) shared her testimony at Moszkva Square yesterday and did a great job! :)
The outreach (where Victoria shared) was at a square in Budapest, and it went quite well. Matt played his guitar and I translated (surprise!! :) and we sang, shared testimonies, did a drama, handed out books, etc. We invited people to a Christian coffee shop which is on tonight (Matt and the team are there so no updates yet on how this went).
Melinda
Dear all,
Our apologies for not updating this site for such a long time (well, except the pictures...). Sorry especially to the faithful "web surfer" friends who check out our site regularly!
We are doing well. We are living in our apartment in Erd, Hungary and are attending MTS. Oh, and what is MTS? It stands for Missionary Training School. It is a four-week training for people who will be serving in various countries of Central Europe. The topics range from discussing cultural and language issues to ministering to children. Our group consists of 12 people and they are from all over the globe, from Canada to South Korea. They are people on fire for the Lord and doing His work, and they are a lot a lot of fun to be around!!! :)
Oliver is doing great. He turned 2 on September 8 and celebrated his big day with a series of parties! He enjoys his new home and his new little and big friends at the training. He is a cute little boy (except for the moments when his 2-year-old defiance "shines through") and loves to talk (mostly to people but dogs and cats too!) and sing. His number one hit these days is Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so...I have sung this song about a million times in the last few days...but hey, nothing is too big a price to pay for instilling these Biblical truths in his heart at such an early age...
We are sending out regular e-mail updates. If you would like to sign up, please e-mail us. We would love to hear from you! :)
Love to you all!
Melinda and the boys
Hello,
I finally uploaded 10 photos showing what our lives (or at least Oliver's) have been like during our stay at Bristol.
My parents live at Bristol Lake. It is a very quiet 30 acre lake. My appreciation of Indiana's beauty has increased during our stay in the cabin that sits only 10 yards from the shore. Living this close to nature, you begin to notice things that would be unimportant in the city, like which way the wind is blowing.
The sunsets have been wonderful and the storms incredible. We've seen lots of deer, even spotted wobbly baby deer, and now that it's later in the summer, we can eat out of the garden.
Bristol has been a great place to live. First off, there's cheep enthusiastic baby sitting available with grandma and grandpa. Next, is the water, which is always refreshing. Then, there is the peace.
But what I've enjoyed most about Bristol is the guests. It is a fantastic place to be hospitable. I only wish there was enough time to invite everyone out.
So check out the photos to see what summer has been like at Bristol.
~matthew
In case you haven't heard, we are officially moving to Hungary. We are inches away from being fully supported and will be moving on August 10th, that's two weeks. In other words, soon.
The basic plan is to stay with Melinda's parents in Budapest while we situate our apartment. We will be living initially in Erd, a western suburb of Budapest. That is where OM - Hungary is located. We will be living in a tri-plexed team house. But not for long. Early next year we will be moving to Tatabanya.
What an exciting, albeit nerve racking, time in our lives. We are anxious to be obedient to the Lord, but pulling up tent stakes again is no fun.
Please pray for us in the final days here. We have much to be anxious about - visas, passports, shipping and travel arrangements. And then there is the incredibly sad task of saying good-bye (for awhile!)
Tonight, some major thunder storms are passing through Indiana. It is always reassuring to me to hear the thunder. It reminds me of two things. The first is that God is powerful. The second is that cooler days are coming.
I'm looking forward to the cooler days. For a week now, we've felt like this snowman. He was formed from the frost in our freezer. We enjoyed his company, though he didn't stay around too long.
Don't ask me what this snowman and thunder storms have to do with moving to Hungary. I don't think they have anything to do with that, but if we figure something out, we'll tell you. I think, though, that after mentioning how sad we are to be leaving, I just needed to change the subject. So there you have it.
Be sure to check out the new photos!
~matthew
1. Stock your carry-on with LOTS of diapers, wipes, changes of clothing (both for Baby and you - you don't want to fly around the world in a shirt that has hmmm... smelly stains on it!). These are items you don't want to run out of.
2. When buying the ticket, confirming the flight, checking in, ask for the bulkhead seats. Then ask again. However, what we learned is that seating is actually decided on the plane! We have been given awful seats despite our requests on the phone and on the ground at the airport, then thanks to some wonderful attendants, we were moved to cool seats or given an extra seat on the plane.
3. Take LOTS of interesting, small, non-messy and relatively quiet toys. Put them in zip-lock bags or wrap them up separately and present them one by one to your Munchkin. Legos, books, play dough, and Daddy's earplugs have proved very entertaining for O. Also, a combination of his old and loved toys and a bunch of new ones works the best. Just don't spend hundreds of dollars on this project - borrow from a friend! (Thanks, Debbie Lemmon! :)
4. Snacks, snacks, and more snacks! There are no "mealtimes" on the plane for our family. Just snack away! Our strategy is to give Oliver goldfish one by one - the more time it takes, the better! They do give you food on the plane, but little kids typically don't get a separate meal; and by the time take off, security presentations, etcetera are done, your toddler may lose patience, which is the last thing you want to happen!
5. Last but not least at all: PRAY! We are always anxious about flying with Oliver, but somehow the Lord provides for us, whether it is an extra seat, a wonderful stewardess, or a long nap for Baby O! :) This last trip I had prayed that there would be other kids on the plane so they would entertain each other, share toys, etc. Guess what? We were seated next to a Bosnian lady whose younger son was 4 days younger than Oliver! Talk about answered prayer!
