Adora-calves

Adora-calf: n. A young version of an adora-bull.

Óvoda Évzáró

Yesterday Nate's óvoda (preschool) had their end of the year show for the parents, in which the kids performed songs and nursery rhymes.

Nate loves these programs, and we love going to them.

We were very proud of our little boy :)

The teachers said that he loves to perform, and sometimes stands in front of the other kids and sings songs in English for them.

Here's a video of yesterday's performance:

Perspective

There are quite a few Dutch people in Hungary, and the other day I was talking with one of my Dutch friends, and asked him what exactly it is about Hungary that attracts people from Holland to move here.

I found his answers very interesting, because what he told me about what Dutch people see in Hungary - although valid - for me, coming from the US, many of these things were just the opposite of my perspective on Hungary!

Here is what he said Dutch people see when they look at Hungary:

1. A Big Country.
   Hungary is 3 times the size of the Netherlands, so I can see why they would see Hungary as a large country.
   Coming from the States, obviously I saw Hungary as a very small country.
   
2. Low Population Density.
   There are less than 10 million people in Hungary - the Netherlands has a population of 16 million in a country one third the size of Hungary.
   For me, however, coming from Colorado - Hungary seemed absolutely packed with people.
3. Mountains!
   I've never been to Holland, but according to my friend, they don't have any mountains there. Here in Hungary, however, there are mountains!
   Obviously, for me, coming from Colorado, I would be hesitant to use the term mountains in regard to Hungary - although I must say that I do love the Mátra and the Bükk very much!
4. It's Not Sinking.
   Ok, I have to agree with this one. Hungary is not sinking - and that is good!

I guess it just goes to show that how you see things depends a lot on your perspective.

Laura

The other night at dinner I was telling Rosemary about this article I read on Time talking about the benefits of staying married.

Nate was at the table and asked what "married" meant, so we started talking about it.

We explained marriage to him, and what a wedding is like - and then asked him if he wanted to get married, to which he said "Yes!"

So, we asked him who he wanted to get married to, and started with his friends from church (we want him to marry a believer :)

"Do you want to marry Lídia?" "No, I don't want to marry Lídia."

"Do you want to marry Korni?" "No, I don't want to marry Korni."

"What about Adél?" "No, I don't want to marry kids!"

"Oh, so do you want to marry an older woman?" "Yes, I want to marry an old woman!"

"Someone from church? Judit? Kati? Réka? Ilona?" "No, no, no!"

"I want to marry Laura!"

Who is Laura? At Nate's óvoda (preschool), a little girl walks up to me and says - "Engem Laurának hívnak" (My name is Laura).

Nate is one of the youngest kids in his class, but I don't think Laura is too much older than him, but apparently in his mind, she is mature enough for him.

Yesterday Rosemary went to pick Nate up at óvoda and asked which little girl is Laura - she just happened to be walking by at that moment and Nate told Rosemary: "I like Laura!" "Oh, her hair!"

I don't know if Laura knows how Nate feels yet, but I just hope she's a believer :)

How to Use a Dacia

A while back I wrote a post called "Why I Love My Dacia".

Over the past few weeks my beloved car has been put to the test, and I am more satisfied with it than ever.

A few weeks ago I got a call in the middle of the night from a friend whose car had broken down in Füzesabony and needed me to tow him to Debrecen. His car had actually broken down while he was towing someone else. Dacia did great towing his car 100 km to Debrecen.

Last week we took a family trip - and put almost 3000 km on the car.
It ran great and fit all our stuff comfortably. It had no problem in the alps, even with 6 people and a bunch of stuff weighing it down.

Here's how the trip went:

Day 1: Eger - Millstatt, Austria. 775 km.



Day 2: Millstatt - Freilassing, Germany - Millstatt. 312 km.
Went to pick up my friend who came by train from Germany.



Day 3: Millstatt - Gmünd, Austria - Tarvisio, Italy - Millstatt. 191 km.
We went to a Porsche museum in Gmünd, and then went to Italy to eat lunch and visit a scenic lake in the mountains.



Day 4: Millstatt - Salzburg - Millstatt. 317 km.
Taking my friend back to the train station.

Day 5: Millstatt - Grado, Italy - Millstatt. 448 km.
Went to the beach in Italy. Had a great time, with great weather.



Day 6: Millstatt - Eger. 775 km.

Total: 2818 km (1751 mi.)

It was a good trip, but we're glad to be out of the car...

Felicia and Her Airplane

Laghi di Fusine, Italy

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GOOD Morning

Any morning that begins with this view is a good morning.

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An Interesting Day

Today I was at McDonald's with the kids, and when we were getting ready to leave, a parade started going by, with a marching band and all, filling up the whole street. We were in a bit of a hurry, and I could see that it was going to take a while for the parade to pass - and it was going in the same direction as where my car was parked - so the kids and I joined the parade!

People were taking pictures and video of us walking in the parade - and for the first couple of minutes I didn't even know what kind of parade we had joined; I was just hoping it wasn't a "love parade"!

Turns out the parade was for alternative energy vehicles, and once we got closer to where our car was parked, we ducked out and went on our way.

Other things that happened today:

• The screen on my computer died...which was really bad timing as I have an assignment due for school next week and all my notes are on this laptop. Thankfully I was able to get it fixed right away...but it wasn't cheap...
  I've had quite a few problems with this Toshiba laptop in the short 2 years I've had it.
  

• They recently introduced paying for parking by text message in Eger, so I tried it, and then when I came back to my car I had a big red parking ticket waiting for me. Hopefully I can get that worked out.

• At one point today I told Nate that I am going to take him to Austria and we will see a castle in the mountains. Later on I heard him talking about how excited he is to go to the castle in the mountains where there are ostriches :) Hopefully he won't be disappointed on our trip - or else, hopefully we will happen upon some ostriches!

Miskolc Zoo

We kept Nate home from óvoda today because we were planning to go out to a village (Feldebrő) where a friend of ours is from, and take the kids to see some farm animals - something they absolutely love doing.

But when we called that we were ready to go, our friend said it wasn't a good day for her. So, since we had already kept Nate home from "school", we were determined to take the kids to see some animals.

We had heard about a small zoo in Gyöngyös, and thought we might go there, since it's not too much further than Feldebrő - but then we realized that Miskolc is just as close as Gyöngyös, and they have a zoo that we'd never been to.

So we went. And it was good.
It wasn't the biggest or best zoo I've ever been to, but for little kids it was perfect, and it is in a great location in the forest.

Here are some pictures from the zoo:

Life in Eger

Some recent pictures and videos taken here in Eger.

Camping in the back yard:



Balázs and Nate with the Lego Buzz Lightyear in the Agria Park:


Köcsög fa. Hungarian tradition to decorate a tree with clay jars.


I realized the other day that this drainage pipe on my house is NOT connected to ANYTHING:


Taking the kids out to a coffee shop:

Felicia Body Building:


Nate telling how old people are:

Benefits of Being Bilingual

National Public Radio (NPR) posted this interesting report on being bilingual, a topic which is obviously close to our hearts.
Among others, they interview a Hungarian-American family who speak Hungarian in their home.



Nate has been going to óvoda (Hungarian preschool) for two months now, and we have found that the way he learns Hungarian best is by learning Hungarian nursery rhymes (mondókák).
Like the parents in the radio report, people have also criticized us for not speaking to Nate in Hungarian at home. For us, that is just something that isn't natural, and we trust that he is going to learn Hungarian in school, and will be better off for it.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

It has been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure.
That is certainly true during Lomtalanítás (Spring Cleaning) in Hungary.

Lomtalanítás is the one day of the year in Hungary, when you can put as much garbage out on the street as you want, of any size, and the city will take it away - but before the city comes to take it away, they give people a chance to rummage through it and take what they can find.

I have heard one person call this "a form of socialized refuse distribution".

At this time of the year the streets are filled with garbage - everything from green waste to broken appliances to old clothes.

And there are groups, which almost qualify as gangs, for whom lomtalanítás is better than Christmas. They are fairly well organized, knowing when different parts of the city will have lomtalanítás, and they will mark their territory by putting their people at different piles of trash to guard them. They even spend the night out on the street guarding their "property" until morning. There are even some people parked on the pile of junk opposite our house right now.
When we lived in our old place, once we were bringing a broken fan out to the street when someone ran up and asked if they could have it. We gave it to them, and then the person who had been sitting in front of our building for hours on a bucket started yelling at him, and demanding that he give him the fan, because that was his territory!

I must admit that we have actually gone "shopping" during lomtalanítás - we went to a local kindergarten last year and found a dump truck toy for Nate to play with in the sand box. It was a good find.

Here are some pictures Rosemary took today of the people who are guarding our street's pile of junk:

Why I Love My Dacia

We have had our Dacia Logan MCV since June of last year, and we love it.
In fact, we even often tell each other how much we love our car, when we are getting into it or driving it.

When we started shopping for a car last year, we didn't plan to buy a Dacia, but after weighing our options we found that it was exactly what we needed and the best deal for the money. I don't regret it at all.

Here are some reasons I love my Dacia:

• 7 full-sized seats.
  We looked at a few cars that had 5+2 seats, with those ones that fold down in the back - but those seats are usually quite small and uncomfortable. I actually find the 3rd row of seats in our car to be one of the most comfortable places in the car, and sometimes choose to sit back there on long trips so I can relax.
• Off-road Capabilities.
  The MCV is not a 4-wheel drive car, but it was designed for Eastern European roads. So, it sits up quite high off the ground, and it has 16 in. wheels with 185 cm sidewalled tires. Sleek design was obviously not the main priority - but I love that I never have to worry about driving off-road with it, or on bad roads. I have taken this car to Ukraine a number of times, and on many bad roads and dirt roads in Hungary and have never bottomed out - whereas the others with me driving Fords, Peugeots and Opels bottomed out and got racked by pot holes.
  
• Cargo Space.
  By removing the 3rd row of seats, I have had 5 adults and 6 full-size suitcases in the car before - comfortably.
  I often also take 6 people with luggage, comfortably.
• Shelf.
  This may seem trivial - but it is one of the things we like about the car: The ceiling is high and there is a storage shelf above the back seat. It's the little things...

What do I not love about the car? Only a few things:

• The fuel consumption isn't great: 8-8.5 l/100km (28 mile/gal). It's not the best, but it's not that bad either.
• The button to roll down the window is not on the door, but on the center console. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

We have put about 17,000 km on it, and are really satisfied with it, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a maximally practical but yet affordable car.

I Heart Revolution

Last Thursday, together with some other churches in town, we promoted a showing of Hillsong United's documentary film, "I-Heart Revolution".

To summarize the film, it breaks down into 3 parts:

1. Injustice, poverty and human suffering that is rampant in our world.
2. The solution, the remedy is Jesus Christ.
3. Because #2 is true, we as the body of Christ can and should do something about #1.

The film actually had very little to do with the Hillsong United band and their music and was more about what God worked in their hearts over 2+ years touring around the world, during which time they became aware of many significant world issues such as poverty, human trafficking, and other human suffering - and how this stands in such great contrast to those who live in abundance and have little or no awareness or concern about these things.

The film is essentially their message which they seek to communicate, which is that caring about individuals and showing them the love of Christ is something that is revolutionary, something which honors God and is an essential part to our calling as the body of Christ.

There were parts of the film, when they were talking about human suffering when I was on the verge of tears, and I could hear people around me in the theater crying. As a parent, the idea of children suffering is something that makes me very sad, and I know that for some people, the film would be too intense for them to handle. In fact, in the film, one of the things they mentioned is that we have a tendency to harden our hearts to the suffering around us, because if we would empathize with all the suffering in the world, it would simply be too much for us to handle; we would go mad - and in a way, this film was a small window into that feeling. In light of this, you realize how amazing it it that God does exactly that.

Here are some quotes from the film which sum up its essence:

• "You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know" - William Wilberforce
• "Injustice and indifference go hand in hand"
• "The church is known for what we are against. The problem is that too often the things we are against are petty compared to the incredible suffering and injustice that takes place in the world. We have a tendency to make a big deal out of small things, and a small deal out of big things."

I am studying the OT prophets this semester in my theology studies, and Amos especially deals with how much God cares about human suffering and injustice, although these are topics which are dealt with a lot in the prophets. So, for me personally, this film resounded with a lot of things I have been reading lately - including other books like Crazy Love and Generous Justice - and a general movement I see in the Church towards caring about social justice and caring about people who are suffering, realizing that the Gospel is more than just a "get out of hell free card", and that walking with God is about more than just reading your Bible for 5 minutes a day and praying and going to church, but actually being part of God's mission here on earth.

I you have the chance to see it - I would definitely recommend it. It certainly changed how I think about Hillsong, in a positive way. It is 2 hrs long, and some parts might be a bit self-indulgent - but it is definitely worth watching.

Have you seen the film? What did you think?

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8 ESV)

Morbid Angol Mondókák - Morbid English Nursery Rhymes

Rájöttem, hogy sok angol mondóka van ami eléggé morbid. Mi akik ezeken nőttünk fel ritkán gondolunk arra, hogy igazából mennyire negatívak a jelentései ezeknek a mondókáknak.
I realized that quite a few of the English nursery rhymes are pretty morbid. We who grow up with them are so used to them that we rarely think about the negative meanings that they have.

1)

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Körbe a rózsa, zsebek tele bokrétával,
Korom, korom, mindannyian leesünk.

Ez egy több száz éves mondóka, ami állítólag a bubó pestisre utal. Morbid.
This is an old nursery rhyme which allegedly refers to the black plague. That's morbid.

2)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty ült a falon,
Humpty Dumpty nagyot esett,
A király összes lova és összes embere
nem tudtak újra összerakni Humptyt.

3)

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She fed them some broth without any bread,
Kissed them all soundly and put them to bed.

Volt egy vénasszony aki egy cipőben lakott,
Annyi gyereke volt, hogy nem tudott mit kezdeni velük.
Adott nekik levest kenyér nélkül,
Megpuszilta őket és letette őket aludni.

Szegénység: Minden gyerek kenvenc témája!
Poverty: Every kid's favorite topic!

4)

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bow breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Ringatózik a baba fenn a fa tetején,
Amikor fúj a szél, ringatózni fog az ágy,
Amikor eltör az ág, a kiságy le fog esni,
És le fog esni a baba, a kiságyával együtt.

Ezt a mondókát szoktak mondani az anyukák a gyerekeknek amikor lemennek aludni. Semmi nem nyugtatja egy gyereket úgy mint egy történet egy kisbabáról aki kiesett egy fából. Jó éjt kicsim!
Mothers sing this to their kids as they put them to sleep. Nothing is more calming to a child than a story of a baby falling out of a tree. Good night little one!

5)

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after.

Jancsi és Juliska felmentek a dombra egy vödör vízért.
Jancsi leesett és eltörte a fejét,
és Júliska jött utána bukfencezve.

6)

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

A londoni híd leszakad, leszakad, leszakad.
A londoni híd leszakad, szépséges hölgyem.

Did I miss any?
Magyarul is vannak morbid mondókák?

Reminiscent

Yesterday I met with a guy from church for coffee, and after walking from the church to the coffee shop we go to almost every week, we found to our surprise that it was closed.


Not only was I sad to see that one of the best small businesses in Eger had closed, but as I thought about it, I realized how many memories that place held for Rosemary and I from our time here in Eger.

It was in that coffee shop that we first met with 2 young women back in 2003 to talk about the possibility of a Calvary Chapel church in Eger. We borrowed our friend's car and drove up from Debrecen just for the meeting. In the end, nothing really came out of that meeting itself - but upon hearing about this meeting, and realizing that we were seriously praying about coming to Eger, someone else offered to let us hold Bible studies in her house.

After moving to Eger in 2005, we met with our church planting team in this coffee shop every week for prayer and planning. The four of us were regulars - every Tuesday at 10. The coffee shop was quite compact, and I will never forget one time when we were praying and I overheard the elderly woman sitting next to us say to her friend, "Look, they're meditating!"

I met with people from church in this coffee shop for years, had a lot of meaningful conversations, and went on dates with my wife here.

Café Arabica, this is a sad day. You were an Eger icon, and you will be missed.

Church Retreat in Nagybarca

This past weekend we had our annual church retreat. It was our fifth church retreat and our second time having it in Nagybarca.
This retreat is one of my favorite events of the whole year, because we go away as a church and spend a weekend together, worshiping, studying the Bible and seeking the Lord, and being together in fellowship.
Our goal with these retreats is to draw closer to the Lord and closer to each other. We often worship together, but things like cooking together and playing sports together and having time to talk and hang out together are things which help build community.


This weekend, instead of inviting a guest speaker as we have in the past, we had some of the men from the church share on the topic of fellowship and community - how God's design for the church isn't that it be a club or a support group in which a bunch of individuals who follow him gather together occasionally to study the Bible and worship and then go our separate ways, but that rather God's design is to create a people for himself (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:1-12, and many verses), a body. And therefore true fellowship (Gk: koinonia) is about community and about belonging to each other (Romans 12:5).

It was a blessing to see that message of community being worked out amongst us and people serving each other - watching each others' kids, taking turns cooking, cleaning, etc.

We also had a really blessed time of prayer together on Saturday night. I prayed for one young guy who afterward told me that in his entire life he had never prayed and had never been to church other than the one time he came to our youth group.

Nate also loved being at 'camp', and had a great time.
Last summer during the World Cup I told him about how soccer players fall down and pretend to get hurt, even when nothing has happened to them. Nate apparently took note of this, and his favorite game to play is that whenever we play soccer and the ball gets near him he pretends to fall down and get hurt.
It seems that he has really understood the most important aspect of soccer, and is potentially on his way to a successful career on the Italian national team!

God and Pop Music

In 1977 Aurthur Holmes wrote a book called "All Truth is God's Truth". The basic premise of the book is that it is not only Christians who are able to recognize God's truth, and that if someone recognizes some aspect of truth, even if they are not a Christian, that truth is still valid, as it is God's truth.

I find it interesting to observe how people who are not believers perceive God, especially when they have apt or profound perceptions.
And I think there is a lot of music and other forms of art which reflect spiritual truths even though they are made by people who have no commitment to Jesus.
There is also just as many - if not more - examples of popular art forms saying things about God that are wrong, sometimes even blasphemous.

Robert Frost once said: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
Discerning Christian people should be able to engage ideas, weigh them against God's truth revealed in the Bible, glean from the good and 'spit out the seeds'.

In a way, the whole genre of 'Contemporary Christian Music' is a bit odd, if you think about it. I love music made by Christians that communicates Christian messages and reflects Christian values, and I think that modern worship music is inspirational and even a great tool for outreach and evangelism. However, it is the whole CCM scene that I think is a bit odd.
For example:

• Before Christians started making their own 'pop' music - what music did Christians listen to? Did they ever listen to music that was not made by Christians - and yet continued to love Jesus and walk with Him?
  
• Why do many Christians trust that others Christians are capable of using discernment in regard to what Hollywood films and television programs they watch, but tell them categorically not to listen to 'secular music'.
• If the point of art is expression and communication of ideas and feelings - wouldn't it be more effective to have Christian art forms in the mainstream, rather than creating a sub-genre ghetto in which Christians are making music (and movies) which will only be listened to and seen by other Christians?

Anyway - here are some songs about God that I have run across lately:



This is Dashboard Confessional - one of my favorite bands:



Other examples of God in popular culture?

Reminder

I found this sign on a building in Budapest today:
Ezt a kiírást találtam ma egy budapesti épület falán:



In English it says:

"In this building operated the State Office of Religious Affairs.
In remembrance of the victims of the Communist religious persecution
Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the truth"

That last line is something similar to something Jesus said - but here is the real thing:
Az utolsó sor olyasmi mint amit Jézus mondott egyszer - de itt az igazi:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:10-12 ESV)
Boldogok, akiket az igazságért üldöznek, mert övék a mennyek országa. Boldogok vagytok, ha énmiattam gyaláznak és üldöznek titeket, és mindenféle rosszat hazudnak rólatok. Örüljetek és ujjongjatok, mert jutalmatok bőséges a mennyekben, hiszen így üldözték a prófétákat is, akik előttetek éltek.
(Máté év. 5:10-12)

A lot has changed in Hungary and in Eastern Europe since the end of Communism. Religious freedom is a blessing and something that we should be thankful for. This is a good reminder that we shouldn't take the freedom we have for granted.
Sok minden megváltozott Magyarországon és egész kelet Európában a rendszerváltásóta. A vallásszabadság egy áldás és egy olyan dolog amiért hálát kellene adnunk. Ez egy jó emlékeztető a számunkra, hogy ne vegyünk természetesnek azt a szabadságot ami van nekünk.

However, we should not forget what Tertullian said: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". Persecution is thus, not only something which the Church can overcome - but it is in fact something we NEED in order to grow.
Obviously official persecution by the state is not the only form of persecution that Christians can experience, and 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us, 'Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted'.
Azonban, ne felejtsünk el Tertulliánus szavait: "A mártirok vére az Egyház magja." Az üldöztetés így nem csak egy olyan dolog amin a Keresztények tudnak felülkerekedni - hanem valójában olyasmi ami szükséges a növekedésünkre.
Nyílván, a hivatalos állami üldöztetés nem az üldöztetés egyetlen formája amit a Keresztények megtapasztalhatnak, és a 2. Timóteus 3:12 azt mondja nekünk, "mindazokat, akik kegyesen akarnak élni Krisztus Jézusban, szintén üldözni fogják".

Opposition to our faith is not just something we can overcome, it is something we need in order to grow. May God help us that the opposition we experience to our faith would lead us closer to Him and out of complacency.
A hitünk ellen való ellenségeskedés nem csak egy olyan dolog amin felül tudunk kerekedni, hanem olyasmi amire szükségünk van ahozz, hogy növekedjünk. Adjon az Úr, hogy a minket érő üldöztetés közelebb vigyen minket hozzá és kirázzon bennünket a 'nem-törődöm' vagy 'nem érdekel' hozzáállásokból.

Special Ingredients

Found this in the menu of a restaurant in Mukachevo, Ukraine:


I have a few questions:

1. Bathing? On a pizza?
   
2. Do hunters really bathe so often, that it belongs on a pizza that bears their name?
3. What is this supposed to say?
4. This was approved? What was approved? By whom? Was the the translation approved, or was the use of "bathing" as a special ingredient approved by the public health department?
   

In Hungary I always want to read menus in Hungarian, because more often than not, the English translations of the menu are strange, if not incomprehensible.

I don't say this to criticize the people who translate the menus - I know that it can be hard to know how to translate specific dishes - and I also know that most restaurants don't have the money to pay for an expensive professional translation, and so it usually gets done by the owner's nephew who speaks a little English, mostly learned in high school and from watching TV and playing video games.

Every now and then we run across some really funny translations. Our favorite was at one of the nicest restaurants here in Eger, the menu featured "cake with scum on top" (HU: scum = salak, söprödék).
Obviously, what it should have said was "whipped cream", but when the person translating the menu looked up the word "hab" in the Hungarian-English dictionary, there were many options, and he/she guessed that scum would be most appropriate to describe a desert.

Nonetheless, I did not order the Hunting Pizza. Mostly out of fear that it would have scum on it. The pizza I did order was scum-free and quite good.

Published

There are many reasons I love Flickr. One of the reasons it is great is that photos posted on Flickr are copyrighted, and you can also decide whether you want to allow people to be able to download your pictures or not.

For this reason, there are a lot of both professional and amateur photographers who use the site and post high quality images. Because of this, Flickr is a place that people like journalists and newspaper writers will go to search for images to illustrate articles, travel guides or websites.

In the past few years I have had 3 pictures published, and I got an email yesterday requesting my permission to publish another one.
For an amateur photographer, the recognition feels great.

Here are the pictures I've had published. I don't actually think these are my best photos, but they were what these people were looking for.

This one of the Denver City and County Building was used in a travel guide:


This one of Bill Clinton Street in Prishtina, Kosovo was used in a French news article about the unveiling of a statue of Clinton in Prishtina:


This one of Nessebar, Bulgaria was also used in a travel guide:


This photo from Sirok, Hungary will be published in a German economic journal:

Pray for the Children of Juarez

Ciudad Juarez is the most deadly city in the world, and known as the most violent place in the world outside of a declared war zone.

CNN posted these videos about the children of Juarez, which, as a parent, broke my heart.

Please join me in praying for the children of Juarez and of Mexico in general, that God would watch over them and give them peace.

Farsang

Farsang is a Hungarian folk holiday, which takes place before the beginning of lent, and is celebrated somewhat like Carnival or Mardi Gras, with dressing up in costumes and large feasts.

It is a big deal for school kids in Hungary, where they have an event at school where they get dressed up and put on a performance.

Nate has only been in óvoda (preschool) for 2 weeks, but he participated in the Farsang celebration this past Saturday.
He dressed up as one of his favorite characters: Woody the Cowboy, and performed along with the kids in the show that they did.

He had a really good time, and we were so proud of him that even though he doesn't speak Hungarian he was able to learn a lot of the hand motions and the words for the show.

Here's a video:

Happy Birthday Rosemary!

Happy Birthday to my lovely wife Rosemary!

You are a blessing to the lives of so many.

Here's wishing you a blessed birthday!

Halacska - Little Fish

Nate hétfőn elkezdte az óvit. Halacska a jele. Mi más illene egy pásztor gyerekének? Nate started óvoda (preschool) this week. His symbol (every kid is assigned one) is a little fish - quite fitting for the son of a pastor.

Igaz, hogy csak 2 napja jár - de eddig nagyon szereti! És ennek nagyon örülünk.
Although he has only been twice - so far he really likes it, which we are really happy to see.

Nate, ahogy reggel készül elmenni az óviba: Nate getting ready to go to "school" in the morning:


Nate óvija: Nate's óvoda:

Felícia's Story

This slideshow was made by our very talented friend Joel for Felicia's birthday party. It tells the story of Felicia's first year.

Angry Bird

If you have a smart phone, or know anyone who does, you have probably heard of Angry Birds.

Nate loves playing Angry Birds on my phone, and he is actually pretty good at it.

The other day he got an idea, and came to me and said, "I want to fly like an angry bird!" Then he went and stacked up some pillows and wanted me to throw him into them and knock them over.

Here's the video:

Felicia is ONE Year Old!

Last year on this day, we awoke to labor pains, and excited expectation, that our little girl was finally coming.
That excitement quickly turned to fear, sadness and worry when we got to the hospital - and for weeks as Felicia's life was in the balance between life and death.

Here are my blog posts from this time last year.

Now, one year later, we are so thankful for God's grace, that in His kindness He healed our little girl. She gives us so much joy, and her life is a testimony to God's power and grace.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy

John Piper has a series of biographical presentations on noteworthy Christians called "Men of Whom the World was Not Worthy"

Rosemary and I have been very blessed and encouraged listening to these presentations, and I would heartily recommend them.

You can find them here and here:

We were particularly touched by the story of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma. He was the first American missionary to leave North America, and he served almost 40 years in Burma and left a significant mark on the nation.

At the same time, his life was marked by great difficulty.
He had 3 wives, who all died. Except for one son, all of his children died - most as infants, one as a toddler.

What he wrote about how he made it through such difficulty is powerful:
"If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings."

These were the words of Ann, his second wife, after her second child, the toddler, died:
"Our hearts were bound up with this child. We felt that he was our earthly all, our only source of innocent recreation in this heathen land. But God saw it was necessary to remind us of our error and to strip us of our only little awe. Oh may it not be in vain that he has done it; may we so improve it that he may stay his hand and say, 'it is enough'."

I am impressed and encouraged by faith like that - faith that does not get angry at God in the face of difficulty, but trusts in His knowledge and love even when it doesn't have answers to the question of 'why?'.

Kibbles

Nate has a stuffed dog who he likes to cuddle while he sleeps. His name is Kibbles - and the other night Nate asked me to take a picture of him and Kibbles.
Nate is doing his best American "toothy smile".

Felicia Behind Bars

For a while I have been wanting to put up a gate at the bottom of our stairs so Rosemary have Felicia down in the kitchen without worrying about her climbing up the stairs when she is not looking, but the problem was that our stair case is very wide at the bottom.

Last week I used my favorite power tool - the angle grinder, or "flex", to modify 2 gates, making them one.
Nothing relieves stress like using and angle grinder to cut metal.

Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

Seriously? / Komolyan?

2 things that made me ask the question "Seriously?" in the past few days:
2 dolog ami engem arra indított, hogy azt mondjam, "Komolyan?" az elmúlt napokban:

1. On Tuesday, when Rosemary and I were doing the religious ed. class that I wrote about in my previous post, we were introducing ourselves to the kids, and we asked them if they know how to say anything in English. 2 of them knew something in English - one was "boombox" and the other one was "go and die!".
   Seriously?
   Kedden, amikor Rosemaryvel tartottuk a hittan órát amiről írtam az előző bejegyzésemben, bemutatkoztunk a gyerekeknek, és megkérdeztük tőlük, hogy tudnak-e valamit angolul. Ketten tudtak valamit angolul - az egyik szó az volt, hogy "magnó", a másik az volt hogy "menj és halj meg!".
   Komolyan?
   
2. Today I went to visit Shane and Marianna in Szolnok.
   By the way - if you live in Szolnok or know anyone who does, they are starting a church there. Here is their website.
   So on my way there and back I went through the Jászság - one of the poorest regions and least developed regions in Hungary. And as I entered the town of Jászladány, I saw this sign:
   Ma elmentem Shane-t és Mariannát meglátogatni Szolnokon.
   Amúgy - ha Szolnokon laksz, vagy ismersz ott valakit - Shane-ék gyülekezetet alapítanak ott. Itt van a weboldaluk.
   Szóval, Eger és Szolnok között van a Jászság - Magyarország egyik leginkább gazdaságilag elmaradt régiója. És ahogy bementem Jászladány községébe, ezt a táblát láttam:
   
   It says: "Jászladány: The Town of Opportunity." Seriously?
   I'm curious - opportunity for what? Not to have a job, that's for sure. The only businesses I saw were a few bars and a grocery store. So opportunity for what? To buy a cheap house? Perhaps.
   "Jászladány: A lehetőségek települése." Komolyan?
   Kiváncsi vagyok - lehetőség mire? Valószínűleg nem arra, hogy munkát találjon az ember. Egydül egy pár darab kocsmát és egy élelmiszer boltot láttam a községben. Tehát, lehetőség mire? Hogy viszonylag olcsó telket vegyen az ember? Arra talán, igen.
   

Have you had any experiences lately that made you ask the question "Seriously?"
Volt-e mostanában olyan dolog ami arra indított téged, hogy azt mondjad, hogy "Komolyan?"

Religious Education -- Hittan Órák

The Lord has opened up a great open door for us to teach the religious education classes in an elementary school in Eger which is almost exclusively attended by Roma (gypsy) kids. The school is known as one of the worst schools in town, and is located next to the largest Roma neighborhood in Eger. Even in the school there is a display with the Roma flag and some texts in Hungarian and Roma language.
Az Úr egy nagyon jó lehetőséget nyitott számunkra, hogy hittan órákat tartsunk egy egri általános iskolában ahol majdnem csak roma gyerekek járnak. Ez az iskola Eger legnagyobb roma negyede mellett van - az iskolában van egy kirakat egy roma zászlóval és magyar és roma nyelvű írásokkal.

Yesterday was our first time at the school, and we had a good time. Rosemary and I were able to go together, which was nice because she is very gifted at working with kids, and these kids really responded well to her.
Tegnap tartottuk az első órát, és nagyon jól ment. Rosemaryvel együtt mentünk, ami jó volt, mert ő nagyon áldott ilyen téren, és a gyerekek jól viszonyulnak hozzá.

At our first meeting we had about 15 kids, all Roma, and we had a very good time. The kids were super excited to be there and learn about the Bible - which most of them knew nothing at all about. Only a few of them said that they have Bibles at home, and when we asked them about Jesus had done, they all agreed that he came to help the poor people, and about 5 of them agreed that Jesus cut his hands with a knife and then rubbed it together with other people's cut hands to mix their blood, or that he squeezed out his blood into a bowl.
Az első alkalmon kb 15 tanuló volt, és nagyon jól éreztük magunkat. A gyerekek nagyon örültek, hogy ott voltak és hogy tanulhattak a Bibliáról - amiről a legtöbbjük nem túl sokat tudott. Csak egy páran voltak akik mondták, hogy van otthon Bibliájuk, és amikor megkérdeztük tőlük, hogy mit tett Jézus, mindenki egyetértett abban, hogy Jézus azért jött el, hogy segítsen a szegényeknek, és vagy öten azt mondták, hogy Jézus késsel vágta a kezeit és össze nyomta az ő kezét mások vágott kezeivel, hogy összefolyon a vérük, vagy hogy ő vágta a kezeit és egy tányérre nyomta a vért.

Each week we will be playing games with them and teaching them Bible verses and basic aspects of Christian faith. This week we talked about Jesus, next week we will talk about faith, and see how it goes from there.
Minden héten fogunk járni, játszani velük és tanítani nekik igeverseket és Keresztény hitnek az alapjait. Ezen a héten Jézusról beszéltünk, és jövő héten a hitről fogunk beszélni, és aztán meglátjuk.

We hope that this will give us the opportunity to impact both these kids and their families, and give us some open doors to minister to the Roma community in Eger.
Please pray for us!
Reméljük, hogy így lehetőségünk lesz nyomot hagyni ezeknek a gyerekeknek és a családjuknak az életén, és hogy ez által nyilnak majd ajtók arra, hogy szolgáljuk az egri Roma közösséget.
Kérlek, hogy imádkozzatok értünk!

May 21, 2011

For a long time people have been predicting the end of the world.
[The artist formerly known as] Prince did it in the song 'Party like it's 1999', REM claimed back in 1987 that it was 'the end of the world as we know it' and that they felt fine about it.

Many pastors and religious leaders have attempted unsuccessfully to predict the end of the world - perhaps most famously the Jehovah's Witnesses, who predicted the return of Christ and the end of the world would happen in 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994.

Right now in the US there is a movement - inspired by the calculations of radio preacher Harold Camping, who also predicted the return of Christ in 1994 - which claims that the exact date for the return of Christ will be on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world will happen on October 21, 2011.

Across the US, billboards and other advertisements are proclaiming the return of Christ on May 21, 2011. Here are some examples:





This prediction - like most before it - is based on 2.Peter 3:8, which says that 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.' Rather than an analogy explaining that God doesn't see time the way that we do, many people assume that this is a divine recipe for us to calculate the exact date of Christ's return.
Despite the fact that Jesus, in response to his disciples' question about WHEN he would return to establish his Kingdom on earth, told them that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons that the Father had fixed by his own authority, and that they should rather focus on carrying on Jesus' mission by being his witnesses in the world (Acts 1:7-8), these people refer to 1.Thessalonians 5:1-5 in claiming that we can in fact figure out the time of Jesus' return.

Personally, I don't think that 2.Peter 3:8 is a recipe for figuring out the exact time of Christ's return. However - if I am wrong, I'm ok with that. I'm ready to go at any time. I won't be surprised if Christ doesn't return on May 21, 2011, but if I'm wrong, that's cool too. Either way I say Maranatha! (Come Lord!)

Here is the website of ebiblefellowship, in which they explain why they believe Jesus will return on May 21.
Interestingly, they claim that the great tribulation started in 1988 and that the tribulation actually lasts 23 years, not 7 years like most dispensationalists claim.

Here is a video made last year explaining this claim:


What do you think?
Are you going to sell all your possessions and party like it's 1999 until May 21?
Is this just another misguided attempt to calculate the end of the world?

Taxing the Witches

CNN had a report today on a new law in Romania that will tax witches, fortune tellers and astrologers.

As of January 1, witches -- along with astrologers, fortune tellers, valets and models -- are officially named in the classification of professional trades, which means they may eventually have to declare their income and pay taxes on it.

Witchcraft is traditionally practiced by gypsies in Eastern Europe. I have heard of it being practiced by gypsies in Hungary before, but it seems to be much more prominent in Romania.

The witches are pretty upset about this, and are casting spells against the government - because they don't want to have to pay taxes.

The spell they are using involves mixing dog feces, black pepper and soil... I think I would rather pay taxes than spend my time doing that...

Here's what the witches had to say for themselves:

Old Friend / New Friend

There is a saying I always tell our church:

If your Bible is falling apart, then probably your life is not!

I guess that only applies to those people whose Bible is falling apart because they read it - not because they mistreat it, but I have really found this to be true, not only in my own life, but in the lives of others whom I have observed using Bibles with pages worn out from much use.

Not long ago I said goodbye to an old friend - and welcomed a new friend into my life.
In November 2002 I bought a Bible at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver for $14.95. I read and taught from that Bible for years. Two times I used superglue to reattach the binding; its pages have coffee stains, and were ripped and even eaten by both of my kids.



These are battle scars, and every good Bible should have some battle scars - they are signs of life, that that Bible is actually used and read. Bibles were not meant to sit nicely on shelves as pristine decorations.

When we were in the States, Rosemary bought me a new Bible to replace my old friend. This one is a big larger and has a real leather binding, which probably won't fall off as easily as the fake leather one I had before.



This one already has its first battle scar - an ink stain on the cover that I got while taking notes at a conference in Ukraine.
I plan to have this one for a while, and hopefully get a lot of mileage out of it.

Is your Bible falling apart? What battle scars does yours have?

2010 in Review

Happy New Year!
I hope that this year will be a year in which you walk closely with the Lord and know Him as your all-satisfying greatest treasure.

For us, 2010 was a year in which we experienced some great trials and also a year in which we experienced God doing miracles and answering prayers in amazing ways.

Looking back over the past year, the most predominate characteristic was grace. The blessings were all by God's grace - and in the difficulties it was God's grace that carried us through.

We're looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us in 2011. Last year at this time, I would have never guessed that those kinds of things would happen to us that did, and I'm sure that when next year I look back at 2011, I will say the same thing. No matter what, I know that God's grace will be sufficient for us.

Here are our top blog posts of last year according to Google Analytics; not surprisingly they are almost all about Felicia:

1. Problem with Baby - Please Pray!
2. Felicia Pictures
3. Our Day in Pictures
4. Krtek - A Kisvakond
5. Felicia Update 4
6. Hard Day / Egy Nehéz Nap
7. Trabant News
8. Felicia Update 2
9. Felicia Update
10. Felicia Update 3
11. She's Home!