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. :)

Esztergom

We spent the weekend in Esztergom, a town north of Budapest. We attended a "mini-conference" on the topic of revivals in church history and the work of the Holy Spirit. Matthew lead worship and Melinda translated some of the sessions (while Oliver was being spoiled by the grandparents :). It was a great time. We also got a chance to spend some time with our friends Jani and Kata (who live in Esztergom) and to visit Slovakia, which is right across the River Danube! The picture is taken from the Slovak side and you can see the beautiful basilica on the Hungarian side.

On our way home after picking up Oliver we had a strange adventure. As we were following a car, we noticed that it kept swerving into the oncoming traffic lane and was very close to causing a head-on collision several times. We were sure that the driver was either drunk or stoned! So we called the police on our cell phone and gave them the car's license plate number. Unfortunately all their patrol cars were busy with accidents (it was a nasty day, terrible weather for driving, let alone if you are drunk!). So we didn't know what else to do but kept following the car and honking at him when he swerved into the wrong lane. Then it pulled into a parking lot by an apartment complex. We both got out and knocked on the window (God gave us the boldness I guess - but don't tell our moms! :). The guy opened the door, and indeed, he was totally drunk! We told him in no uncertain terms that he is insane driving like that and he is endangering lives such as our precious son on the back seat and other children on the road. He first was very defensive, but then got very humbled. He told us that he is a university professor and lost his wife a couple of years ago, and now his girlfriend left him. It was shocking to see such an intelligent man completely broken and aimless in life. As we were standing in the rain in front of the apartment complex, we thought surely there is a reason why God put us right there right then! So we shared the Lord with him, and gave him John's gospel, along with our phone number and some fresh rolls. Please pray with us for this man's salvation!

Well, hope your weekend was as good (and safe) as ours! :)

Thanksgiving in Hungary

In case you're wondering . . .

We celebrated Thanksgiving in the usual way. We roasted some turkey (though not a whole one, just two thighs and a breast), mashed some potatoes and squash, baked a blueberry pie, and even made something like cranberry sauce out of red currants.

But before all that work, we invited two friends, Arpi and Kata. We tried to spoil them as best we could.

We had a great time. Arpi and Kata are fun guests to have. I met Arpi when I first came to Hungary in 1993 and learned all sorts of useless slang from him, like "belcsavaroan undorito." (Intestine-twisting disgusting)

That phrase, by the way, was not used at all during the course of the evening. Everything was delicious and tasty. To add to the feeling, we even ate on my grandma's vintage crazy daisy Correll ware.

But just three hours before dinner we weren't so sure that things would turn out so nice. We had no gas, which meant no heat, no hot water and no stove - all of which are important for an enjoyable evening.

The only thing missing, obviously, was our American family.

One more observation by Melinda who just celebrated her first Thanksgiving in Hungary. It was strange to celebrate a holiday without anyone around us being aware of it. We wanted to great everyone with "happy thanksgiving" but for them, it was just another Thursday in November.

We hope you, at least you who are Americans, had a happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.

~Matthew and Melinda

Washing the dog

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!

So what are you guys doing "over there"?

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

Six Years

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