Going Home!!!

After living and ministering in Hungary for nearly 10 years, we were content thinking we would spend our waning years serving the Lord in Hungary. Whenever Rob was asked how long we planned to be here, he would always answer...forever. When Carol was asked, she responded, as long as God wants us to stay.

God in His infinite wisdom knows the number of hairs on our heads, the number of days each of us will have here on earth, and He knows the number of days we are to stay in His service in Hungary.

For nearly a year, we have been praying and asking God to make His will known to us as it related to our service in Hungary. Little by little, changes began taking place that showed us God was moving to pick up the slack that our leaving would cause.

Carol also began experiencing a need for more contact with members of the family, to be available to and for them in their daily lives. At the same time, we both began noticing health issues which needed to be addressed. Rob, not wishing to avail himself of the Hungarian health system, decided to wait until a permanent move before addressing his health issue.

All this led up to an intense period of prayer at the end of 2008. With like minds, both Rob and I felt God was showing us that the time had come to begin the process of leaving Hungary. This means praying for workers to come alongside the ministries we support, financial support raising to continue so that the ministries can continue to function at the same level, plus we also need to sell the property housing the mission and guest houses.

God has allowed us to see a great deal through these nearly 10 years. We have seen the growth of His church through the planting of churches in Miskolc, Hajduboszormeny, Eger, and Nyiregyhaza. The ministry to the orphanage in Miskolc has grown and been enhanced through the partnership of GoodSports Ministry. There is now an annual English Camp which was solely supported by our sending church for the first two years. There are now numerous sports camps throughout the summer months. The local church with it's focus on evangelism is actively working to start a church plant in Ukraine.

The Gypsy Church in Hajduboszormeny which began with just one couple 8 1/2 years ago, now has a weekly attendance of 8-12 adults and anywhere from 15-25 children. The church has purchased a house which serves as their place of worship. Teams from Germany have come to build fences, build a soccer field at the rear of the large property, built a 4-seat outhouse, and lastly, they have painted the outside of the church building and built a large covered patio for fair weather outdoor activities.

The guest house ministry has had the privilege of hosting an untold number of teams who have assisted in ministering at English and Sports Camps, and evangelistic outreaches to the Gypsy population in Hungary and Romania. We have had the privilege of housing pastors and their families who have never had the opportunity to take a vacation. We have been a home base for several families needing medical care at the local Medical Clinics. And, we have been a home for several families who found themselves "homeless" for a period of time.

We have seen our church grow from a hand-full, meeting in the basement of an old building, to where we are now...with our own property and a growing body of believers. We have been blessed these nearly 10 years to have teaching in English by godly pastors who have had a hand in growing our faith and trust in the Word of God.

With each activity we've been a part of, with each person God has put into our lives, we have been the ones blessed. It never ceases to amaze us that whenever we think we are doing something for the Lord, He turns it around and gives us the blessing.

The emotional attachments we have developed with the people and countries of Hungary and Romania is overwhelming. The idea of never seeing the faces of the people we have come to love and consider as our own family, is overwhelming to us.

Please keep us in your prayers, for continued ministry support to cover the expenses until we can sell the property, for the winding down of our day to day activities as the time draws closer to our leaving, and for mutually encouraging closure with the many people we may never have the opportunity to meet again.

Where we go from here is a mystery. God has yet to reveal those plans to us.