A Time To Connect

Precious moments, all pieced together, make a beautiful quilt...

These past few months since we last wrote have been made up of moments which have shown us the beautiful patchwork quilt the Lord is designing from our lives.

Some of these moments were joyous, as in the case of our friends dearly awaited first child being born 3 weeks early, and in perfect health. Another joyous memory was sharing a week-long driving trip with my beloved sister, Georgia, visiting our cousins, brothers, and father. Another memory making moment was having the opportunity to attend a week-end women's retreat where my friend and mentor, Carol Porter, was the guest speaker for the retreat. A special joy because it was shared with my sister Georgia and also her first women's retreat.

Never give up praying...after more than 9 years of prayers, one of our long-held dreams was answered when our home church, Valley Bible Church, Pleasanton, California, brought 28 people to come and minister among our Hungarian brothers and sisters. During their 10 days in Hungary, they were able to visit a hospital for newborn babies in Ukraine, minister among Gypsy brothers and sisters in Hungary and Romania, hold a 2-day retreat for the young people of the church as well as orphans from the ministry in Miskolc. There was also a time of meeting and encouragement of a pastor's wife from Romania and a gathering of the women from the Debrecen church.

Finally, after many years of praying, God has provided an answer to our long-held wish to have a more permanent church home. We have now been able to purchase a property with two buildings on it. The larger of the two will be used as the sanctuary once it is renovated and the smaller will be used for the children's ministry, coffee house ministry, and a wonderful area for the youth group to meet.

Praise God for the perfect solution to our housing situation. We can now begin the remodeling, and even do some much needed modification to the current garden area, creation of a play area for the children, and construction of a deck area for the coffee house.

Of course, all of this is dependent upon the Lord's provision to cover the expenses involved. The great thing is that the Lord's wallet is unlimited. We just need to wait upon His timing.

As always we are so grateful for you and continue to covet your prayers for the Lord's work here in Eastern Europe and especially our beloved Gypsy brothers and sisters in Hajduboszormeny.

Be blessed dear ones as the Lord helps you construct your own "quilt" of life.

A Brand New Year

With the holidays behind us and a fresh new year ahead, we are seeking God's guidance and wisdom in the days ahead.

While reading a devotional recently, I came across this thought and have been pondering it, a lot!!!

God in His mercy brings us comfort in our trials, not always to remove our struggles but rather to give us strength through the trial...His idea is that if we accept and receive His comfort, we will then be able to offer His comfort to others and become comforters. Nothing is wasted with God. He can and will use everything in our lives to accomplish His good and perfect will.

A Gift of Food And The Promise Of Hope Through Jesus Christ

Most of us can go into the pantry and select from a variety of choices for our next meal. Not so for our Gypsy brothers and sisters. Poverty is a way of life and the next meal is not always a sure thing.

God once again moved hearts to partner with us to provide a variety of food staples, cleaning products, and a treat or two for the families who attend the Gypsy church in Hajduboszormeny. Saturday, December 22nd, a team of volunteers had the privilege of being the Lord's helpers and seeing the joy on their faces when we brought large bags of much needed and appreciated food.

As we were invited into each home, we were once again struck by the poverty we encountered. For some, whole families live in one small room which serves as kitchen, living room, and sleeping room. At one home, there was only one bed for 4 small children and the mother and father. In another home, their two small rooms both had dirt floors. Hygiene is nearly non-existent since it is necessary to walk to the community well and haul their water home and cleaning products are definitely a luxury.

Leaving bags of food, cleaning products, toothpaste and toothbrushes along with sharing a prayer of thanksgiving to God filled us, the volunteers, with a heart of gratitude. Gratitude for being allowed to be a part of His ministry and gratitude that our small congregation once again, saw how much the Lord loves them and was showing it through His provision for them.

Hope for the unsaved was high as Pastor Dani prayed and offered words of encouragement with each family we visited. At one home an unsaved family member sheds tears of gratitude for God's goodness towards her family.

For all those who have joined us in praying for our brothers and sisters in Boszormeny and provided financial support so that the ministry among the Roma people could continue, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We pray the Lord has added another jewel to your crown in heaven.

God Always Knows Best

Often we read in the Word that man's plans are not always God's plan. Once again we were reminded of this truth last night at the Gypsy Church. Thinking we were going to have a rather "intimate" gathering of our church family for our Christmas service, we were overwhelmed at the number of people waiting for us when we arrived.

Our plan was to have a small bonfire where our "little" family would gather around and sing worship songs and have a short message from Pastor Dani. Without a doubt, the gathering around the campfire was an overwhelming success and even more people were able to hear the message of Jesus! Just like God had planned!!!

We saw many new faces, both adults and children. God is working in the little Gypsy village, continually drawing new people to hear the truth of Jesus' love for them.

God must have been preparing us for this large event, even without our realizing it. While shopping for cookies and treats to share after the bonfire, I purchase more than I would have normally. It was a blessing to be able to share this little "gift" of sweets and hot tea with our new friends.

Later, our core church group motioned me to come inside...once inside I was surprised by a birthday celebration (my birthday is Dec. 21st). Another definition of joy is watching the faces of each child who came forward with a little treat for me. They were so excited and happy to be able to share something with another. As for me, I had to keep blowing my nose and joked that my tears were coming out my nose!

God has truly blessed us to be a part of His work among the Gypsy people. Year after year, God has grown our love and devotion to our brothers and sisters in the village. Our prayer is that one day, every single person living in the village will be a follower of Jesus Christ.

One Definition of Joy

Yesterday I discovered another definition for joy, i.e., watching little boys from the orphanage in Miskolc learn to make gingerbread cookies and one little girl who showed us her skill at making cut-out Christmas cookies that competed with the speed of sound.




As the children rolled out the dough and began cutting out the shapes, it was such a joyous moment for me. It took me back to the days when my own daughter Cheryl was first learning to cook and bake. There is something so satisfying in creating, be it food or a work of art. Maybe you will recall the time you created a "special masterpiece" you wanted your parents to display or if it was food, wanted them to taste, waiting expectantly for their smile of approval.

We are the creation of our heavenly Father, who looks at us through a Father's loving eyes, waiting expectantly for us to "taste" His love and accept the truth of His perfect gift, Jesus. What a joy it is for the Father when we finally accept the gift He so lovingly offers us.

Please pray for our little kids in Miskolc, that the truth of Jesus love for them would become real and a precious gift they willingly receive.

Blessings to All

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Mikulas Comes to Hajduboszormeny!

Mikulas comes to Hungary the night of December 5th, visits all the "good" children and leaves a treat in the shoes placed beside their beds before going to sleep. "Bad" children receive nothing or a twig indicating Mikulas is displeased with their behavior that year.

Well, no family left empty handed when Mikulas made his "surprise" visit to the little Gypsy Church in Boszormeny Tuesday night. Imagine our surprise when driving up to the church and spotting most of the over 120 children who heard that Mikulas might be paying a visit to the church that night.

Making room for everyone was a real struggle and ended up with people crammed into the larger meeting room, people standing in the entryway, and others who arrived late, standing outside under our newly built patio cover.

The evening started off with wonderful praise and worship music. Even those who had never visited the church were encouraged to sing as Pastor Dani shared the words and they were repeated in song.

Dani and Szundi both donned black attire with black stockings over their heads (the better to scare) and began reciting sins committed by all little children, telling them there would be no Mikulas for anyone found "guilty" of even one of these sins. Suddenly, an angel in white

appeared telling the children, wait...there is someone who paid the price for all these sins and if you believe, all of your sins will be forgiven. When asked who had paid the price, the children all chanted the name Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

By the time Mikulas arrived, the children were beside themselves with excitement. Our Mikulas this year was actually a young woman named Marti. She played her part to perfection, deep voice and all.

The looks on the littlest children's faces was a joy to behold. They were so grateful to see Mikulas, have "him" say a kind word to them, and give them a wonderful gift of goodies.

This is the 4th year a couple from our local church have put together goodie bags for the

children at the Gypsy village. We are so grateful to all who have prayed for this ministry and we seek God's guidance on how to further relationships with those who may have come for the first time.