The Hungary Wilsons

The End of our Blog

2011-02-25T00:07:00.000+01:00

Well, the time has come to finally pull the plug on our blog. In the words of Heraclitus, "There is nothing permanent except change." And though our blog enjoyed a long, happy life, alas, Facebook has become the tool of choice for us as well as the vast majority of people who follow us.

Therefore, if you don't follow us on Facebook already, please check out our HungaryWilsons' page. As with our blog, Zsófi is the one who does most of the posting and I do most of the joking. But you never know. As Heraclitus testifies, "You cannot step twice into the same stream..."

Our Email Update - September

2010-09-09T11:47:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends,

After 8 months of living out of suitcases, it is good to be back home. And now that we've got our phone and internet hooked up and the mound of suitcases (mostly) unpacked, the major remaining project is for John to find a suitable home for the stacks of books that continue to mysteriously multiply.

The plan for the next couple weeks is to meet with teammates and ministry partners to hear what God has been doing while we were away, including meeting another couple how recently joined our UWM team here! So the next couple of weeks will involve lots of discussion over coffee, prayer, and strategic planning for this next phase of ministry in Hungary.

Support Update

We are blessed to have such a great team of supporters behind us as we enter our second ministry term. Thank you for your prayers, your contributions, your encouragement, and all the other ways you have joined us in God's mission for Hungary!

Currently, we are still $300 short of our monthly support need, which will impact the types of ministry projects we'll be able to engage in. If you are interested in joining our support team, either just one-time or on an ongoing basis, please visit UWM’s online giving site (click here).

Thanks again for being part of our journey! We look forward to sharing with you the results of our upcoming strategic planning.

With our love,

John & Zsófi

Human-trafficking, Prostitution, and the Church in Hungary

2010-09-03T16:57:00.000+02:00

This post might not be appropriate for some of our younger readers. If you are under 16, please talk to your parents before continuing to read.

Prostitution (along with alcoholism, substance abuse, and corruption) is an issue in Hungary that has been on my heart for some time. Last week, while talking to a colleague about ways for the church to become more proactive in addressing various social issues I discovered two things. First, a huge number of prostitutes in Amsterdam are Hungarian. Second, many of these women are forced into prostitution against their will and yet because of a lack of safe-houses in Hungary, even if they try to "get out" and come back to Hungary, they are quickly picked up and sent back to Amsterdam. It is a vicious cycle, and without anywhere else to turn, these women are genuinely enslaved.

To make a long story short, I'm beginning to seriously think and pray about ways the church in Hungary might begin to address this issue (develop a safe-house ministry, etc). However, in all honesty, it is a bit terrifying since there would certainly be some push-back from those that profit from the human-trafficking. Therefore, I ask for your prayers. The idea is still nascent, and nothing might ultimately come out of it. But if this is a direction God is leading us (and perhaps some of our teammates and national partners), then we will need a lot of wisdom, courage, guidance, and perseverance.

Here is a recent news article on the issue (click here).

Furlough 2010

2010-08-10T06:47:00.009+02:00

We had the nomadic life for 8 months. During our furlough in the Us we traveled thousands of miles, met new and old friends, experienced much of God's goodness and provision through His people. We came back to Hungary enriched by many books (mainly from John's studies), new experiences, a sit'n'stand double stroller, clothes... and most importantly a precious growing little one in Zsofi's tummy. Here is a slide show from our time.

Our Email Update - June

2010-07-05T17:51:00.004+02:00

Dear Friends:

Today when I asked Eszti if she wanted to take a walk with me, she replied “No mommy, I want to stay and play. I will take lots of walks when I will be in heaven.” What a cute comment, and as I reflected on it, I realized that God has been teaching me about heaven too. All the changes and transitions that come with serving as a missionary has deepened my understanding that our earthly homes are just temporary and our real citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).

Support Update

Thank you all for your prayers and many times sacrificial giving. Here is an update on how our raising support is coming along. We still need $470 in monthly support to continue our ministry in Hungary. And since our return tickets are for August 7th (6 weeks away!), it's now crunch time.

If you are interested in giving you can contribute online via UWM’s secure site (click here). You can even set up automatic monthly transfers, view your donation history, and more. Please make sure to include “John & Zsofi Wilson, Account #31253” in the comments section. For other ways to contribute, see our website.

On the Road Again

Recently we visited a supporting church in NC. Our hosts were wonderful, and along with reconnecting with friends and supporters, we even had a small taste of a family vacation. The girls' first baseball game as well as a trip to the beach were definitely highlights! Then we made the trek

back out to Wheaton, where John will be taking more classes throughout July.

Another Little HungaryWilson!

The biggest news is that Zsófi is pregnant! The new little HungaryWilson continues to grow inside her tummy and we are looking forward to welcoming him/her in December! Please keep mommy and baby in your prayers, as being pregnanct while on furlough has made Zsófi quite homesick.

Thanks for being part of our journey!

With our love,

Zsofi & John

Our Email Update - May

2010-05-12T21:42:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends:

Okay, the historic event took place and John wrote a real blog entry (putting our video up doesn't count!), so I will keep my end of the deal and write this month’s email update. John is a much better writer in English so I prefer him to write the email updates, but maybe some of you will enjoy the female perspective of the HungaryWilsons, so here it comes. :-)

One thing I experienced here in the US and have grown to appreciate is gathering around the dinner table and sharing the highlights and the lows of the day. So I reflected some on our 4-month long furlough in the US and here are some of our highs and lows:

Highlights:

• The biggest one for me are all the wonderful, inspiring people we stayed with as we were going from home to home, city to city. These friends have been like family to us. Thank you all again for opening your homes and hearts to us. God has blessed us richly through you!

• Elizabeth and Eszti doing fantastic on the long road trips (much better than I anticipated) and the exciting things they have been experiencing, like living in a house with Olive, a potbelly pig.

• Spending time with John’s family. Eszti and Eliza love playing with Nanna and Grandpa. They also have spent time with cousins, aunt, uncle, and other family members they don’t see often.

• Experiencing God’s provision, protection, and constant companionship as we live this nomadic lifestyle.

Lows:

• Having sick kids with no doctor we know in an unfamiliar environment.

• Constant leaving and transitioning, living out of our suitcases, and always being dependent on other people (sometimes this is a very humbling experience).

• There are days when we really miss our home, friends, and family in Hungary--or just some normalcy, however that looks :-)

Support Update:

First of all thank you for being interested in our journey, for reading our updates, and for praying. Also thank you all who financially support us. We couldn't do it without you!

Our remaining support need is $850/month, so if 17 people would start supporting us with $50/month, we would be ready to return to Hungary. Would you please join us in prayer that God would provide for this need and lay it on people’s hearts to join us in bringing more of God's Kingdom to Hungary?

Staying in touch:

We value your communication with us and are always delighted when you respond to our email updates or send an email or card sharing about your lives. Probably many of you don’t know how encouraging some of your notes have been to us. Thank you so much!

For those of you who would like like to follow our missionary journey even closer, we have created a Facebook page: HungaryWilsons. So if you use Facebook, check it out!

With our love,

Zsofi & John

Justice, Unity and Spiritual Formation

2010-04-27T21:03:00.004+02:00

While in the shower today, I had a few minutes to reflect on some of the things I've been reading recently. And it occurred to me that, broadly speaking, there are three major shifts taking place within Protestant churches, particularly among evangelical congregations: a shift toward greater focus on social justice (caring for the poor and powerless), ecumenism (once a four letter word for most conservatives, but increasingly being redefined as denominations work together with other denominations to achieve various missional objectives with greater frequency and depth), and spiritual formation (exploring the use of historically practiced spiritual disciplines for greater spiritual transformation and maturity).

For some denominations, these are merely shifts in emphasis; for others, they are major shifts in the very culture of the denomination, which, in turn, creates cultural conflict (framed in terms of "theological" battles) between the emerging generation of Christians and their parents. Interestingly, the emphasis on evangelism is not being sacrificed in the process, but rather, evangelism that ignores the poor, other Christians, or deeper personal transformation is viewed as anemic.

For an example of what I'm talking about, look around the Evangelical Free Church's website here.

Or watch Bill Hybels' interview with Bono regarding the church and social justice:

HungaryWilsons' Promotional Video

2010-03-20T21:03:00.001+01:00

In case you haven't had an opportunity to see the video we've been showing at churches yet, here it is. Enjoy!

This blog has moved

2010-03-20T06:50:00.001+01:00

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Email Update - March 2010

2010-03-20T05:14:00.007+01:00

Dear Friends:

Zsófi has been making some jokes recently about how often I post to our blog (not often!), so here's the plan: I will post to our blog in exchange for Zsófi writing the email update next month. Consequently, you will be our witnesses as to who keeps their part of the bargain! :-)

Last month we had a great time visiting friends and supporting churches down in San Antonio, TX! As always, the time was too short and there were some people we either weren't able to visit or who we wish we could have spent more time with.

After Texas, we drove up to Wheaton (near Chicago) for another round of classes. Many of you have asked what kind of classes I'm taking, so here are this semester's course titles:

The Emerging Generation, Popular Culture, and the Gospel
Unity in Mission
Leadership & Evangelism
Developing a Missional Church
Theology of N.T. Wright
Spiritual Formation & Witness

So far this MA program has been impactful not only on my thinking in terms of our work in Hungary, but also has given me a much richer understanding of the Gospel - something that is bearing fruit even in my own heart and spiritual formation!

Our itinerary for the next month:

3/15 - 4/1: Des Moines, IA
4/2 - 4/5: Memphis, TN
4/5 - 4/19: Wheaton, IL (Chicago)

Financial Update

Another important purpose of our time here in the U.S. is to raise additional funding. In order to continue serving in Hungary, we need to raise $1000/month. One way this might work out would be for 20 people to commit to contributing $50 each month for the next 3 years. Would you prayerfully consider joining us in what God is doing in Hungary?

If you already partner with us, thanks again for your prayers and support! We couldn't do this without you!

With our love,

Zsófi & John

Prayer Corner:

Thanks: For your prayers concerning travel. Eszti & Eliza have done amazingly well!

Prayer: For 5 new supporters to join our team in the next month

Prayer: That I will be able to put into practice all the ideas I'm learning through this MA

Olive the pig

2010-02-10T21:46:00.005+01:00

Hi dear Family and Friends! Greetings from Sping Branch, Texas!

Here is a little update from us: We survived the 5 days long road trip, which actually turned out to be much better, than I anticipated. We got to the land of milk and honey or in our case more avocados and salsa and are enjoying the wonderful hospitality and love from one of our supporting churches. Currently we are staying with Evans and Esther, who are such wonderful hosts and friends. They have 3 dogs, 1 pig and about a dozen deer in the house. Yes you heard me right. :-) Okay, the deers are all dead and are just looking down on us from the walls, but everyone else is alive and well (although one of the doggies, is pretty sick so Eszti and I are regularly praying for her). It has been lots of fun for all of us to be in this house and I am sure it will be hard to leave.

When we started this journey with John, I never imagined that being on furlough, or home ministry assignment as it is titled in our mission organisation, would enable us one day to spend 2 weeks with a cute little pig... but more importantly I never imagined that through these journeys we would meet so many inspiring people and make wonderful friends. And yes there are challenges and hard parts too, like living out of your suitcase for months, not having a daily routine or being sick in an unfamiliar surrounding and all these with two little ones. But looking back and looking ahead I know it is all worth it... just as our organisation's motto goes. So true.

Our Email Update - January

2010-01-25T22:57:00.004+01:00

Dear Friends:

Next week we hit the road for our family's first 3-month road trip!! Hungarians love the idea of Route 66 and the open road (or so I keep trying to tell Zsofi!), and who am I to stand in the way of our daughters' yet undreamt dreams?! :-)

We will be visiting supporters and supporting churches in Texas and the Midwest, and in the midst of all our travels, I will also continue pounding down the coffee while taking more classes at Wheaton. It will be a crazy but wonderful time, and we are looking forward to connecting with you at some point during the HungaryWilsons' North American tour.

Here is our itinerary for the next two months:

• 2/1 - 2/14: Spring Branch, TX

• 2/15 - 2/28: San Antonio, TX

• 3/1 - 3/14: Wheaton, IL

• 3/15 - 4/4: Des Moines, IA*

• 4/5 - 4/17: Wheaton, IL

Viki's Experience on Alpha

In closing, we wanted to share with you something that really touched our hearts. Before the end of each Alpha Course, we ask the guests to fill out a short feedback form concerning things they liked about the course as well as ways we can improve it. Responding to the question, "What effect has Alpha had on your life?", one of the young mothers on our most recent course wrote:

"Finally I understood who Jesus was and this changed my life. Until now I thought I was a Christian, but in reality I wasn't. I went to church and hoped that there was a God because many smart people told me so, but deep down in my heart I did not believe. Through the Alpha course--the excellent teaching and the wonderful people--now I truly know that there is a God and that He loves me."

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Through it, you are impacting people's lives!

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T09:05:00.007+01:00

We would like to wish you a peaceful, joyful Christmas. Tomorrow our little family will sit on a plane and we will fly to Washington DC to celebrate with John's family. Thank you for your support, prayers and love for us in 2009. May your 2010 be filled with God's blessings!

Love,

John, Zsofi, Eszti and Elizabeth

T.I.M. = This Is Mission

2009-11-30T14:33:00.004+01:00

What comes to your mind when you think about mission?

Long trips...?
Eating something weird...?
Serving Christ in a different culture...?
Being blessed and to bless many...?

It would be really interesting if we could collect all the associations because I am sure we all have a little different ideas, pictures but let me share with you what it meant to me during the week we served together with a wonderful mission team from the US.

We spent a lot of time together and it was a joy to get to know the team better. The friendships that were formed and deepened are an extra bonus to the many wonderful things that were accomplished during our joint service. The team consisted of 12 amazing people, with open and willing hearts to bless and pass on what God has been teaching them throughout the years. I have seen God using them in many people's lives, they encouraged, built up and brought healing to so many. I drove them around, translated for them and together with John tried to take care of the logistics of their stay here and we ourselves were ministered to and so blessed by experiencing how God meant his children to work together in unity.

Here is a video of the trip Mercy, one of the team members put together. Enjoy!

Cheeese!

2009-11-04T10:14:00.005+01:00

I recently updated our web gallery. Check out some new pictures of our ministry and family.

http://www.hungarywilsons.com/photogallery/index.php

Enjoy and we love to get pictures from you too!

Go Johnny go!

2009-10-17T09:13:00.005+02:00

I have been asking John hundred times to write a blog entry, he seems to be willing but rather slow accomplishing this (my mom-in-law whose maiden name is Quick always says Wilson has s-l-o-w in it :-). But so here am I again giving you a little update about our ministry and hopefully we can all enjoy John's perspective sometime in the near future. (I hope you are reading this dear John. :-)

So we have 2 Alpha courses running. One in the morning designed for mothers with small children and an evening course. I am involved with the morning one as a table leader and it has been a stretching but good experience so far. The evening course is running smoothly too. We have lively discussions after the teachings. Last time one of or guests who is a Buddhist asked why is it if Jesus came to overcome sin, that the world is still in such a sinful state. Pretty good question, don't you think?

An other update on the ministry front is John's summer interim pastor role. Before we joined this church, our prayer was that God would use us to strengthen this body of believers. It seemed like this summer this is exactly what happened. The end result of our summer service is that we have gotten to know many people, were able to serve in different capacities (e.g. making sure the service would run smoothly, discipleship, teaching, prayer ministry etc.) and now John has become a very valued adviser, helper to the pastor and the elder board.

So go Johnny, go! :-)

Happy Birthday sweet Eszti!

2009-09-26T21:44:00.007+02:00

Eszti turned 3 today. What a nice thing to celebrate that God made her and gave her to us! She wanted some trains and a bear on her cake. So that is what she got. :-) My favorite part of the day was in the morning when after Eszti's favorite breakfast (pancakes), John and I prayed for her and blessed her. It was such a precious time. In the afternoon we had guests and some nice presents, like the little house you can see below. The building together process was hilarious.

Our Hungary Team

2009-09-01T21:24:00.002+02:00

Here is our United World Mission Hungary Team. They are a wonderful group of people and we feel blessed being able to serve with them. One part of this group works at a Christian School, where the children of the missionaries study and the other group is the church planting facilitation team on which John and I serve.

The making of our newsletter

2009-08-16T22:13:00.002+02:00

Here you can see some of what goes into making a newsletter.

First you write it...

Then you make it ready for the long journey over the ocean...

It is all about team work. :-)

Quotes from the Cutie Pie #3

2009-06-29T07:12:00.003+02:00

One of Eszti's favorite games nowadays is putting Daddy to sleep. Eszti pretends to be Daddy and Daddy is Eszti. Daddy gets the normal bed time routine. He gets something to drink, Eszti tells him a story, she prays with him, holds his hands and then sings to him. Then she leaves the room. Daddy is peacefully sleeping on the couch. Eszti gives him further instructions from the other room:
"Now you need to cry!" :-)

Eszti fell asleep by herself the other night and we gave her a piece of chocolate in the morning to celebrate it. Sharing the big news with Daddy:
"Daddy I went to sleep by myself!"
"Good job Eszti, how did you do that? You just closed your eyes and went to sleep?"
"Yeah."
"That is how daddy goes to sleep too."
"And then mommy tells you a story?" :-)

We are coloring and solving exercises in a booklet. One page has different things that need to be paired. For example a cow and milk. I am explaining to Eszti.
"See Eszti here is the cow and it has an udder, which can give milk. It is like when mommy gives milk to Eliza."
Eszti looks at me surprised and asks:
"Mommy, are you a cow?" :-D

Eszti looking at the fan:
"Mommy this is the fan, that turns the cold louder?" :-)

Eszti, Eliza reading with Grandma

Video shooting

2009-06-08T08:19:00.003+02:00

This is a picture of our UWM team video shooting. The video is going to be a brief introduction of our work and team here in Hungary and I am really curious how it is going to turn out. I told John, that I am probably gonna be horrified when I will hear my own voice (you know... it sounds so different than what I hear on the inside :-). But the shooting was a lot of fun and I am thankful that we will have a short video about us, our great team and work in Hungary.

Our Email Update - May

2009-05-27T22:00:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends:

We have big news to share with you--John has been accepted into Wheaton's M. A. program in Evangelism and Leadership on a full-ride scholarship!! Even better, it is a program specifically tailored for people in full-time ministry, allowing him to take classes while we are back in the U.S. on home ministry assignment while completing the other courses from Hungary. Here is what this program will mean for our family and ministry over the next year.

Summer/Fall of 2009

With the exception of a few extra trips to the swimming pool (summer started really early this year!), the only major adjustment we might need to make to our summer plans has to do with the church we attend. The pastor and elder board approached John about stepping-in as the interim pastor for a couple months while the normal Hungarian pastor is on a short sabbatical. We need to make a decision this week, so we would appreciate your prayers regarding whether this is something he should take on.

Then later this fall, John will spend his evenings reading and doing advanced coursework while preparing to fly back for an intense two weeks of classes in Wheaton at the end of October.

Home Ministry Assignment

It is hard to believe that we have been in Hungary almost three years already! Time has flown by and we are due for our first home ministry assignment (furlough), so we are planning on flying back to the U.S. for six months, starting around Christmas-time and lasting until summer 2010. Because of John's classes, we will be based in Wheaton, but will also use this time to visit family, friends, supporters, and give reports to our supporting churches. And after forty years in the desert, John will accept any/all invitations to go golfing! :-)

This will be our first furlough--something that is both exciting but also scary when we think through the logistics. We are hoping to find a finished basement in Wheaton that we can rent out, as well as to buy a cheap, reliable used car. Please join us in prayer about our furlough and if you have any creative ideas, we would love to hear them.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Alpha News

2009-05-11T21:20:00.003+02:00

We are going on an Alpha weekend again. For those of you who would like to, please pray that God will work in all of our hearts, that the guests who come will know God's love and will have a fantastic time.

The last course was such an encouragement to all of those involved. We had a great team debriefing afterward and it amazes me how God not only blessed every single guest but also every person who served.

Praise God that one lady who was a guest this last course is serving as a table helper during this course. God is so good.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. We appreciate each of you who follow our lives, ministry and pray with us.

Some pictures from an Alpha evening:

Eszti and Eliza having fun. :-)

Home sweet home - pictures

2009-05-01T07:44:00.004+02:00

Some of you have been patiently waiting for the pictures of our renovated flat. Here they are!!!
Make sure you leave a comment and let us know which room is your favorite. :-)

Our living room

The bedroom

Our kitchen... once the hall.

For more check out our web page gallery:
http://www.hungarywilsons.com/photogallery/?album=Home_Sweet_Home

Our Email Update - April

2009-04-14T21:44:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends:

One of our most affecting experiences since moving into the heart of Budapest was hearing the church-bells resound late Saturday night followed by the candlelight Easter processional. What a beautiful (and powerfully symbolic) announcement of Christ's resurrection in the midst of this darkened world!

Second Round (of many...)

Shortly before Easter we held a celebration dinner for the 8 guests who completed the first Alpha Course in Torokbalint! It was a bittersweet finale, given the many friendships that had developed over the 10 weeks, but it was encouraging to hear how the course had impacted each of their lives. One lady commented that it was the best experience she had in years. Others shared about how it had caused them to take a step closer to God. But most encouraging of all was being able to pray with our neighbor (whom many of you prayed for) when she decided to surrender her life to Christ!

Without missing a beat, we've already launched a second round of the Alpha Course in Torokbalint with a new set of guests and a slightly different team (our neighbor decided to come back as a helper on this course!). Please pray that God would continue to bless our time together each Wednesday night.

Unexpected Challenges

On a somewhat more discouraging note, one of the pastors that John works closely with has been going through a difficult period as a result of his wife's severe health problems. He had to almost completely step back from ministry to care for her along with their 4 kids, something that has obviously brought challenges to the church he pastors. Consequently, we are recalibrating our plans for the year given his situation.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T22:27:00.007+02:00

Big News!!!

2009-03-31T19:41:00.004+02:00

Well, I have some exciting news. First of all we moved into our new flat!!! I have been wanting to take pictures to show you, but then I always think about all the things I would like to decorate or add. But I realize that it might take some more months if I wait for everything to be exactly how I imagine so I have decided that I will share the work in progress. So keep looking for some pictures of our beautiful home. They are coming soon!

An other exciting news is, that we will start another Alpha course this coming Wednesday. The one we are just about to finish has been a great success (I will share more about that later) and there are several people interested in being new guests and helpers as well. So it feels like God is behind us and we give thanks for lives being changed and Him allowing us to be part of it.

This Sunday at church, sharing about the coming Alpha Course.

Eszti... I just had to show you this picture. :-)

Alpha Weekend

2009-03-18T21:28:00.003+01:00

John, his mom, Elizabeth and me went to the Alpha weekend. For those of you who don't know Alpha, it is a 10 week course introducing Christianity. It is a wonderful way of reaching people with God's love and to have in depth discussions about the Christian basic teachings. The weekend was great. John did a good job leading it and it was a pleasure for me to be part of it. During this course I was only able to participate a little because I stayed home with the girls and so it was a joy to get to know the guests better and to see God working in their hearts during the weekend. An extra bonus was to have my lovely mother-in-law with us. She has been always so supportive of me and John and it meant a lot to me, that we were able to share this ministry experience with her. Here are some pictures from our time.

Check out that good looking man in the back. :-)

Nanna and Elizabeth.

Dinner time

The cutest weekend participant.

Quotes from the Cutie Pie #2

2009-02-04T14:59:00.002+01:00

John is leaving in the morning. Eszti follows him to the entrance door and tells him:

“Daddy you need to put on your coat and hat so you don’t get cold.”

John is a good daddy and does what Eszti asked him to, but Eszti is still not through the list:

“Daddy did you eat?” :-)

Eszti is helping to burp Eliza and is patting her back a little harder than mommy would prefer, so I ask her to be a little more gentle, to which Eszti replies:

“I have to hit her like that otherwise she is going to cry.” :-)

We are talking about going to the US one day. Eszti explains how it is going to look like:

“ You will go with one plane and visit Nanna and I will go with another plane and visit Patrick (=her uncle).”

An independent little girl, hu? :-)

Hoooray!

2009-01-23T14:35:00.004+01:00

Thank you all who thought of us or prayed for the second Alpha evening yesterday. It went great. I (Zsofi) stayed home with the girls and kept praying for the evening between diaper changing and book reading. I could not wait to find out how it went and was so happy to hear how nicely everything turned out. The dinner was delicious (Hungarian gulyas) with good table conversations, the teaching seemed to capture the attention of the guests and the discussion time was filled with good questions. Sadly the older couple I was telling you about did not come back but we had several new guests. One lady liked it so much last week, that she even brought a friend this week. So we are very pleased how the second evening turned out and look forward to see how God will work in the hearts of our guests. Thank you all who are praying with us.

First Alpha Evening

2009-01-16T14:44:00.009+01:00

After much planning and work, Thursday evening we launched the first Alpha course in our neighborhood. The Alpha team has done a great job with preparing the place, the food and creating a very warm, welcoming atmosphere. We had 11 guests and we expect more to come next week.
There was an older couple, both above 70 years old, who seemed to really enjoy themselves. Before they left, they assured us that they will be back next week. A 16 year old teenager had great questions and comments during discussion time. Another lady said that the reason why she came was because of our Christmas caroling 2 years ago. She figured this must be the same group of people who went caroling and wanted to meet us again. She also wants to bring her teenage son next week, who is interested in spiritual stuff. So it is exciting to see how God is working.
During our Alpha leaders training, it really touched me when they spoke about the importance of prayer. They said that the success of Alpha, how many people encounter God during the course, is absolutely dependent on the prayer behind it. So if you like, would you please pray for the guests who come to this course, that they would experience God's love and understand God's truth?

Next week I will try to post some pictures of the evening. Thanks for joining us on this journey!

Launching an Alpha Course

2009-01-07T22:20:00.004+01:00

This coming Thursday we are going to launch our first Alpha course in our neighborhood. For those of you who don't know Alpha, it is a 10 week course with basic Christian teachings, shared meals and discussion groups. John has poured a lot of his heart and energy into starting this course and so I hope it will be a great success. I will try to keep you up to date throughout the course about how it is going or share special prayer requests with you. So if you like join us on this journey as we are trying to reach people with the good news in our neighborhood (about 500 homes).

Here is the invitation we are sending out:
And this is the banner we are going to put tomorrow at the main street.

Please pray with us that people whose hearts are ready will sign up for the course.

Merry Christmas! Boldog Karácsonyt! Frohe Weihnachten!

2008-12-21T14:55:00.003+01:00

Well, our advent season has been really busy but thank to God I had the time to do some creative things too like making some Christmas postcards. I hope you like it. Thanks for reading our blog and please if you have a Christmas letter send us a copy if you have not done so yet. We love to hear from you. Merry Christmas!

Update on the charity sale

2008-12-19T14:22:00.002+01:00

This year we helped again organizing a charity sale. The sale turned out to be bigger than last year, more people donated things and more people came to buy. The income from the sale is going to be given as Christmas gifts to poor families.

Elizabeth was the joungest and cutest (next to Eszti) charity sale helper. :)

Our Email Update - November

2008-11-30T15:01:00.004+01:00

Dear Friends,

Breaking one of the fundamental rules of Thanksgiving, we roasted a duck instead of a turkey (turkey is expensive here, plus it's hard to find a whole bird). However, Zsofi's homemade pecan pie more than made up for it and was a big hit with our neighbor who joined us for dinner!

Two things that we are particularly thankful for this year are the birth of our second precious daughter, Elizabeth, as well as what God is doing here in Torokbalint.

Christmas in Torokbalint

This winter is an exciting time for our team in Hungary. First, on Dec. 14th, we are going to host another benefit sale for the poor in our community. Then, a week later on the 20th, we are holding our annual neighborhood Christmas party. Last year we had a great turn-out, and this year we are expecting even more.

We are also really excited about a kind of mini-labyrinth we are planning for the Christmas program. In medieval times, labyrinths served as external representations of an inward journey (toward God), and recently have seen a resurgence in popularity. So we thought, what a great way to stimulate the guest's thoughts about whether there is more to Christmas than this, and afterwards, for those who want to explore more, invite them to the Alpha Course that we are launching on Jan. 15th!

Finally, we are truly blessed to have such a great group of supporters behind our work here in Hungary. Thank you so much for your contributions that enable us to serve here as well as your prayers that enable us to succeed.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

One month, two cuties, three hours of sleep

2008-11-24T12:55:00.002+01:00

It has been over a month when we brought Elizabeth home from the hospital. Sometimes I look at them and think how blessed I am to have two beautiful daughters. They are great sisters too. Eszti fell in love with Eliza and even though Eliza is not showing many signs of affection yet, I am sure she will love her older sister. Eszti helps with changing her diaper, burping her, she sings to her, when she cries and is delighted when Eliza smiles or makes a cute little sound or face. The other day she breastfed her little brown bear just like mommy does Eliza. It was sooo cute! And if you wonder if I only get three hours of sleep per night… thankfully I get more but not in one stretch. The joys of motherhood. :-)

My mom, with Eliza and Eszti. My mom is such a big help to me. :-)

Eliza in her snowflake outfit. This weekend it snowed for the first time this winter, which John is super happy about. :-)

Eszti loves holding Elizabeth's hand. Aren't they cute?

Website Outage

2008-11-23T22:26:00.002+01:00

After some technical difficulties, HungaryWilsons.com is back up and running! Sorry for any inconvenience (especially to those of you who check it everyday). Our monthly email update will be forthcoming.

Here I am!

2008-10-19T18:33:00.009+02:00

Hi Everyone!

My name is Elizabeth Johanna Wilson, I am six days old and I want to share with you the story of how I entered this world. I was getting ready on Sunday to make my big trip, so I packed all my stuff and was kicking mommy a lot to let her know that it was getting time. We had a little sleep first and then at 2:33 a.m., I kicked so hard that mommy’s water broke. She woke up, but didn't realize at first what was happening. Then she had her first contraction, which was not very strong, so she was still unsure if this was the big day or not. Then she had some more contractions--so she woke daddy up, telling him that it was time to go to the hospital. Daddy and Mommy took some time and prayed first--something I really enjoyed. I think there were some angels around us too. Then we woke up grandma to take care of Eszti and we left for the hospital.

I think I picked a good time because there was no traffic at all. By this time mommy had regular contractions every 3 minutes and she rested in between. I was pretty excited that I will see Daddy and Mommy soon and could not wait to see everything else that was out there. When we got to the hospital, the doctor checked Mommy and said that I am ready to come out. My Grandma says that I have some of her Quick blood in me too and that is why my birth was just as fast as my big sister’s.

I entered this world out here at 5:16am. My Mommy did a good job pushing me out. She says it was really really painful but definitley worth it to be able to hold me. The doctor and the nurse were really kind to us all and they put me on Mommy’s tummy right after I came out. It was my best experience so far, just to lay on her tummy and rest a little after my big trip. Then a nurse and Daddy took me away and they dressed me up. I must say I liked it without clothes more. Then Daddy brought me back to Mommy and I got some nice food from her.

There were a lot of mothers with babies in the hospital that day so we had to wait in the birthing room for 8 hours before Mommy and I were brought into our room. Mommy says she does not mind at all, because Daddy could stay there with us and we had a nice family time together. Since then I sleep a lot, eat the yummy milk my mommy gives me whenever I want it, and look around for short times to check out what is going on. My big sister keeps kissing me and wants to hold my hand even when I am asleep. By the way I got a nice present from her and I also gave her a surprise when I came home from the hospital. So I think we will have a good time together. Well, I need to go now and get some more sleep.

Quotes from the Cutie Pie

2008-09-16T15:40:00.009+02:00

Here are some of the cute things Eszti said recently.

I stand in the kitchen, preparing something, she runs to me and says:
"Mommy, I grew up!"

She is talking to Grandpa and tells him that she is going to "Auchan" (a big shopping mall close by). My Dad asks back:
"What are you going to do in Auchan?"
"I am going to study." says Eszti
"What are you going to study?" asks Grandpa.
"The Bible" was her response. :-)

Eszti calls her little boyfriend on the phone:
"Hi Alika (the nickname of her friend), I am here with daddy and mommy in the living room and I love you very much!"

Mommy: "What is your name?"
Answer: "Eszti"
Mommy: "How old are you?"
Eszti: "Twenty-two" (My sister is 22 by the way.)
Mommy: "Eszti, how old is Grandma?"
Eszti: "Twenty-two." (Grandma is very happy about that answer.)
Mommy: "And where do you live?"
Eszti: "At Torokbalint (the city where we live) in the other house."

We pray before going to sleep. Eszti closes her eyes and prays too:
"My God, bless our day. Bless the playground, the slide, the children. Amen."

Mommy's last question for today: "How can kids be so cute?!"

:-)

My creative brother

2008-09-08T12:41:00.003+02:00

Lajos, a pastor we have been working with, called me last week and asked me if I could make a poster for a Friday afternoon teenager club. So I talked to my brother who is really gifted in web design and together we have created this poster. I am so proud of my brother. Don't you think it looks great? He is also the one who took the picture that is in the background.

Our Email Update - August

2008-08-27T12:32:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends,

As summer winds down and we prepare for an action-packed autumn here in Hungary, we took some time to reflect on the highlights of our summer.

Here are a few of them:

English Camps
Recently John started helping out with a church in Bicske and had a great time working with the pastor planning and organizing an evangelistic English language camp. And since the team of American teachers was able to stay for a whole month, they were able to serve in 3 other camps too! Eszti, having learned "Jesus Loves Me" from one of the teachers, now calls the song, "Chelsea's song." :-)

Our Neighbor's Spiritual Journey
After coming to our grill party, our neighbor, Margit, asked to come with us to church. Having never been prayed for in person, she came away with a lot of questions like, "How do you pray," "How do you read the Bible," and "Do you really hear from God?" As a consequence, Zsofi has been regularly going over to talk with her, pray with her, and help her take the next steps in her journey with God!

Grandpa Wilson's Visit
One of the biggest highlights of our summer was an unexpected visit from John's dad. Perhaps feeling sorry for John, who opted to skip the Seres (Zsofi's family) vacation in order to get some work done on our flat, he decided to fly over for some father/son bonding time involving power-tools. :-) By the end of his stay, an awful lot of progress was made in the flat, and he was proud to have mastered the complex public transit system here in Budapest!

Brief Break on the Beach
Last but not least, we were able to spend a few relaxing days at a Wellness Hotel on the bank of the Danube River while participating in UWM's regional conference. And though the Danube wasn't so "blue," the swimming pool sure was!

We hope you've had a great summer too and would love to hear what some of your highlights were.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Newest picture of baby Wilson!!!

2008-07-29T14:49:00.002+02:00

Isn’t that a cute little baby? :-) What do you think is it going to be a girl or a boy? We still don't know so we are counting the guesses. :-)

Camp Update

2008-07-23T17:54:00.005+02:00

This week we are at a Children’s camp with the group of teachers I was telling you about in the previous post. This is Eszti’s first camp experience by the way, and she is loving it. Today when I went to pick her up at the toddler’s group, she said she wanted to stay with the children instead. :-)

The camp is going really well. It is an English-Bible Camp and there are a lot of kids who have never been to church before. They are having a lot of fun, the teachers are wonderful, and John and I are blessed by working together with such a good team.

The camp will end on Sunday with a church service. The kids will perform skits, then the teachers will give their testimonies, and after that John will give the sermon (with me translating for him). We are inviting the parents of the campers to the service and for many of them it will be the first time coming to a church, so it is a pretty exciting opportunity. If you would like to, please take a minute and pray for the rest of the camp as well as the Sunday service. Thank you!

Having lunch break with the teachers

Ladies, how do you like this picture? :-) Men at work.

One of our young campers working on an art project.

Everybody needs a good friend. :-)

Summer Adventures

2008-07-09T14:12:00.004+02:00

This is a picture of a group of young people, who came on a short-term mission trip to Hungary to serve in 4 different summer camps. John has been helping organizing 3 of these camps and we had the pleasure to get to know this group. Some of them stayed with us this last weekend and I am really glad they could come and serve Hungarian local churches through these camps. It is great to see these young people so willing to be used by God and who are searching His guidance to know how to use their talents for the glory of God. If you have a minute would you please pray, that they will have a great time here in Hungary, that God would use them and shape them through the process.

Their names are: Tim, Christianna, Amy, Sharon, Chelsea, Adrienne.

Thank you!

Our Email Update - June 2008

2008-06-28T10:04:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends,

Before jumping into all that is happening this summer, we wanted to say thank you for such an amazing response to our email update last month! Whereas our ministry account was in some trouble at the beginning of May, people began praying and we were shocked at how many people made special contributions to our ministry. Consequently, though we will need some monthly commitments to keep it stable, as of today we currently have a surplus in our account! Thank you so much for your special one-time contributions as well as your faithful monthly support! We are truly blessed by you!

Children's Day at the Playground

Working together with the housing association in Tukorhegy, we helped plan and organize a community-wide event at the playground for Children's Day. Our goal was to develop relationships and serve the community, and it turned out amazingly well! Complete with face-painting, music, carnival-style game booths, a sidewalk chalk drawing contest, and many other fun things for the kids to do, so many people came out that the playground was barely able to hold everyone.

Our Neighbor

Two weeks ago we hosted a grill party for those who might be interested in helping out with the church plant in Tukorhegy, and God put it on our hearts to invite one of our neighbors. Margit is a really sweet, single young lady, and we have gotten to know her better this past year.

In short, she came to the grill party, met quite a few other Christians, and decided to come to church with us for the first time this Sunday! We are really excited about what God is doing in her heart and ask you to keep her in your prayers, that she might come to know God's love and mercy.

Summer Plans

John is helping organize three English summer camps, where students will be able to study English as well as hear about Christianity. These camps are wonderful opportunities to introduce Christ's love, form friendships, and have a lasting impact in young people's lives (Zsofi became a Christian through one such camp 15 years ago). Please pray for these camps as well as for all the preparation that goes into it.

With our love,
John & Zsofi

Father's Day thoughts from Eszti

2008-06-16T13:29:00.003+02:00

Here you can see the gift that I made (with some help from mommy) for Daddy. For me he is the best Daddy in the whole world because he is so big and strong and smart and he loves me so much. He always shares his food with me and even gives me yummy things that mommy would not. He takes me out on special daddy-daughter dates and shows me things I have never seen before. He loves to hold me and kiss me and make me laugh.

I love you Daddy!

Children's Day

2008-05-27T18:41:00.003+02:00

In Hungary the last Sunday of May is Children's Day. It is a day when kids can do all kinds of fun stuff. Our church planting team organized together with a housing association a Children's Day festival in our area. It turned out to be a great event. We had wonderful weather and were pleased to see how many children came. They had so much fun playing games, listening to a concert, getting their faces painted, goofing around with a clown etc. At the end of the day I was totally exhausted, my whole body ached but I was thankful that I could be a part of this event. Seeing so many kids being blessed was a joy and seeing what a great job our team has done made me feel proud to be part of it. Here some pictures from the day:

Preparation work before the kids came

And they came, and played and played and played some more...

A drawing contest

Heidi, Kati and little Sari (isn't she cute with her little basket? :-)

Heidi and me doing some of face painting

Szozo was the clown, he was really funny

Alpha course finished

2008-05-17T18:21:00.002+02:00

A closing update on the Alpha course. We have finished our 20 week course not so long ago. The final session of Alpha is a Celebration Meal where the guests can share there experiences, testimonies from our time together. It was very encouraging to hear the stories of those who were strengthened in their walk with Christ or even started it at some point during the course. An extra bonus to our involvement beside the relationships that were formed and the opportunities we had to minister was the much practice we got in giving a public speech. John was the funniest speaker of all. He had a great mix of being serious at times and also to lighten the atmosphere with jokes. (I am sure you know what I mean if you have ever spent more than an hour with him :-). All together it was a great experience and we are planning with a little team to possibly start an other course in our neighborhood this coming fall. We would appreciate your prayers about that. Thanks for being part in our journey.

John, me and Jon, the pastor who organized the first Alpha ESOL course in Hungary.

A Sweet Apple :-)

2008-04-28T17:46:00.006+02:00

Today I read on my baby site that our little one in my tummy is the size of an apple this week. Being an apple lover I asked myself what kind of apple it would be, since there are considerable differences in the size of apples. But no matter what size, it is surely a sweet one. :-) Here is the first picture:

And also some from the big sister:

My good friend Ali

I love to work in the garden with Grandma.

World, here I come...

Waiting for grandma to plant some more.

Church Planting Conference

2008-04-24T08:06:00.002+02:00

I recently attended a Saturation Church Planting Conference that John organized (thanks to my mom for taking care of Eszti so I could go!). We had missionaries and nationals from different countries. Some have been on their field for over 10 years some just arrived less than a year ago. We shared our experiences, had good discussions and tried to figure out how to better fulfill the Great Commission. I have enjoyed being part and to meet new people with great hearts. I have been especially encouraged by the stories of those who have been on the field for many years. I am blessed by knowing these men and women who have been faithfully working in some difficult countries to help churches grow, multiply and fulfill their calling to win the lost for Christ.

Update from Eszti

2008-03-27T15:17:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone! Here is a little update from me. Well, I am 1,5 years old now and I feel like a big girl. I say more and more words, some of them only understandable to my family or even just to myself. I enjoy spending time with other children and can't wait to see all my friends on Sunday at church. Since my grandpa talks so much on his mobile phone I started to use everything that looks similar to a phone and pretend it is one. I say hi, okay and tell all kinds of stuff on the phone. I guess the adults think it is pretty amusing because they always laugh when they see me doing it. I think someone is calling me right now, so bye for now!

This is why I feel like a big girl, I can pick up my little car and carry it around.

I can also clean my high chair, help daddy and mommy unpack the dishwasher, mop the floor etc.

So I think it is slowly time to get ready for my first date... :-)

Jeff's Visit

2008-03-19T12:05:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was a mournful day in the Hungary Wilsons' household. Not because Zsofi couldn't find any chocolate or I couldn't watch Tiger's putt at Bay Hill, but rather because my brother Jeff had to fly back to Los Angeles after his 2-week visit. Even little Eszti was heartbroken, calling out all afternoon, "Je-sss, Je-sss," hoping that somehow he would come back. (She hasn't learned how to make the "f" sound yet, so Jeff became "Jesss," with a drawn out "s"...)

Driving back from the airport, I also once again realized how valuable my family is to me and how much I miss being able to spend time with them now that we live overseas. So I shut off the radio, gave thanks to God for blessing me by putting Jeff into my life, and prayed for another opportunity to spend time with him again soon.

Here are a couple pictures from his time with us:

What about Bob?

2008-02-21T20:27:00.001+01:00

John told me the other day that I should write an entry about something psychological. I told him, that I was not sure who would be interested in reading about that, but he encouraged me that there would be some people and he also said that a blog is more a self-disclosure than a dialoge anyway. Then he launched into a longer explanation about how self-disclosure (rather than a dialoge) has been a characteristic of modern European literature and how it became a prevalent part of our society. So all that said, I thought I will give it a try.

I had 3 conversations in the last weeks, that I would like to share with you. The first one, a lady asked me if the schizophrenia of her father is mainly a brain disfunction or if it has a spiritual component as well. The second, an other lady called and asked me if there is anything she can do for her son who has severe epilepsy besides giving him drugs. The third, was a conversation with a handsome young man (namely my brother :-) who asked me what my perspective on positive thinking was.

All these questions once again showed me how influental psychology and especially secular psychology has been on our society. Many people I talk to believe that most psychological disorders are exclusively a product of our brain, a chemical inbalance or some hormonal disharmony. Unfortunatly this causes them to neglect addressing the emotional and spiritual component by solely focusing on the physical.

These were my answers to the 3 questions above. To the first lady I said, that I believe most if not all psychological disorders have a spiritual component. I am convinced there are physical, emotional and spiritual roots behind schizophrenia. To the sencond lady, I said that surely there is more that can be done for her son alongside taking drugs and we explored some options together. To my brother, I told that I think positive thinking is nothing new. In the Bible there are many verses that encourage us to focus on what is good and uplifiting to our souls. One problem with positive thinking is if it is practised independently of God then I think in a way we are trying to be our own saviors through the power of postive thoughts. Plus even though the Bible gives plenty of examples for positive thinking it also balances it with a realistic picture of our sinfulness.

I am thankful for these conversations and how I can use my degree in Christian Psychology to help people who have questions like the above.

I hope you enjoyed reading this entry and even against John's arguments I keep up my hopes that it will prove to be more a dialoge than just a self-disclosure. :-)

Antique Wallpapers

2008-02-09T13:32:00.000+01:00

As many of you have probably heared we are in the middle of renovation crazyness. Both John and I are very excited about our first real home and can not wait to move in. This still might take a while because right now the flat more looks like a war zone. The building is 7 stories high and over 70 years old. When we started to take down the wallpaper, it has not been 1 or 2 layers but up to 5 layers thick! John took down the tiles (several layers on top of each other as well!), took out the old sink, toilet, bathtub, not to speak about all the furniture that came with the flat. It is hard to believe how much junk we have been taking out! John has learned a lot about Hungarian construction work, and knows some Hungarian words now I haven't even heard of before.
:-)

This is the living room. :-)

My brother helping us take down a few layers of wallpaper.

The kitchen how it looked before...

And this is the status quo at the moment... I told you like a war zone. :-)

Check out the man behind the hole (and the renovation)!

(If you want to see more go to our online gallery!)

First time Alpha ESOL in Hungary

2008-01-30T20:59:00.000+01:00

I wanted to give you a little update on the Alpha ESOL course John and I are part of. The course has been going really well, with 70 attendees at the beginning and 50-40 who became regular participants. This is a pretty large group for an Alpha course. We have a nice group of leaders (host in the Alpha vocabulary) and it has been fun to meet with them every week to prepare. Since the city, where the course takes place, is a little bit over an hour away from where we live, Alpha also has enabled me and John to have some nice car dates. :-)

The course is a blessing to me. I have grown to really like the people who are in my discussion group and the team we are working with. We are still just half way through the course but I am sure it will be hard to say good-bye at the end. I am hoping so much that those who are just getting to know Christianity through the course will have a very positive experience and will take their firsts steps in their journey with Christ. Thank you all who have been praying for us and the course. It definitely feels like we have God's blessing over us and we are very thankful for the fruits we have already seen and full of anticipation for what is still ahead.

The Alpha course this Tuesday evening.

John's group. John seems to be very relaxed in this picture. :-)

This is our -Alpha for ESOL Course Testing Team- shirt. Quite a mouth full, don't you think? :-)

Strategic Planning

2008-01-16T11:48:00.000+01:00

Have you ever taken some time to sit down and write out a vision statement for you life? Yesterday, Zsofi and I wrote six. That's because we have six competing visions for our lives. No, not really. We actually just enjoyed the process so much that we couldn't stop with just one...

Why all the vision statements? Well, one of the exciting developments this past year has been the addition of Chad & Serina Hollowell to the UWM team here in Europe (see a picture of their family on the right). Chad will be serving as UWM's Area Director for Central and Eastern Europe, and one of the first projects he initiated was to come up with a team vision statement for Hungary. Hence, Zsofi and my devolution into vision statement writing craziness...

The truth is, however, that Zsofi was right. We began by each of us composing a kind of vision statement for our lives--i.e. what we would like for our lives to have consisted of if we were to look back over it when we are 80 years old--along with 5-8 of our core values. From those two individual documents we forged a "joint" vision statement for our lives. This process, though not revealing anything that we didn't already know (at least in the abstract), was nonetheless really interesting to see on paper--especially in drafting the joint vision statement which is essentially our long-term goals for our marriage.

Now to the ordinary person, three vision statements in one day would be sufficient. Not for us! From our two individual personal vision statements, we each drafted individual ministry vision statements. And then from those two individual ministry vision statements, we forged a draft joint ministry vision statement. Once again, nothing terribly surprising or new to us if we would have spent some time thinking about it, but codifying it on paper turned out to be a really interesting/valuable process.

In the end, when we sat down with Chad on Wednesday to go over our (draft) ministry vision statement, I think he was a bit shocked to discover that we actually had six. :-) But I suppose it means that at least we are not people who lack vision...

For any of you who are interested, the final version(s!) should be ready in a couple weeks and we would be happy to send you a copy.

An unorthodox way of making the Hungarian Christmas rolls

2007-12-25T20:08:00.000+01:00

Both the maker and the way of preparing are unorthodox by the way. Normally here in Hungary around Christmas time grandmothers make all kinds of home-made sweets. One of the favorites are the Hungarian walnut or poppy-seed rolls. They are actually kind of hard to make. It is almost an art to get the dough to the right consistency so that they don't explode and look like volcanoes. John definitely mastered the Christmas roll making art. It is hard to stop eating them because they are so delicious. Even a broken mixer was not a reason for my man to give up, he just took out the drill. (I guess you have to be a man to come up with that idea... :-)

My trip to the US

2007-12-12T14:55:00.000+01:00

Grandpa and Grandma invited me to come to Texas for Thanksgiving. So Mommy and Daddy packed the suitcases, I packed my sheep and dolly and there we were ready for taking off for the big adventure. The travel was long almost a whole day, but I got to know many people at the airports and planes and had fun running up and down the ail on the airplane (with mommy or daddy trying to keep up with me). Then we were there in Texas! I played with my Grandma and Grandpa and even my Grandparents, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kelly, my Cousin Soren. I went to different churches with Mommy and Daddy, where they shared about how things were going in Hungary and somebody said that I was stealing the show. I met many big and little friends and everybody was very nice to me and I got quiet many compliments. I also had many firsts, like playing with the goats, the donkeys and the rooster PC (= Prince Charming) at the ranch, eating my first tortillas and riding on my Great-grandpa’s back. I also enjoyed learning new songs with grandma, meeting Jadon who is my friend since I was in mommy’s womb and to meet people who have been praying for me since I was a tiny little one in my mommy’s tummy.

Grandpa's nose beeeeeps!

Hi Donkey, would you like to have my rock?

Here you go, have some dinner!

Maybe one day I will be a sheperd.

Grandma knows so many stories and songs.

Jadon and me learning how to share a toy. :-)

Some of my friends

2007-11-07T14:03:00.000+01:00

My little sheep.

My friend Alika.

And the sweet doggy.

A Pleasant Irony of Life in Europe

2007-11-01T15:33:00.000+01:00

Growing up in the midwest, All Saint's Day, an old Christian holiday, had absolutely no meaning for me. It was akin to Columbus Day--a holiday in name, but devoid of anything distinguishing it from any other day. We didn't even get the day off from school.

Halloween, on the other hand, was a completely different story. My brother and I had it down to a science: Streets with bigger houses = better candy (i.e. Snickers & Reese's Peanut Butter Cups). It was a day that involved anticipation, preparation, and pay-off in the form of tupperware containers holding all the surplus candy bars in the freezer, separated out by type. On a good year, Halloween could supply my candy bar needs for the next six months.

This year, things were pretty different. All Saint's Day is still an important holiday here in Europe. Beginning the weekend before and continuing until the weekend after, everyone visits the graves of their deceased relatives, bringing flowers or lighting candles. In fact, it is such a significant holiday, people even get the day off from work/school.

Halloween, on the other hand, passed almost without notice. Granted, I was in bed sick with a fever yesterday, but if it wouldn't have been for two small groups of 3-4 kids who came to the door asking for money/chocolate and singing a song in return, I would never have even realized it was Halloween. No decorations, no costumes, no parties, no jokes, and sadly definitely not any Reese's PBCs...

It is interesting though, that the culture in which Christianity has become little more than a footnote, still retains and celebrates the Christian holiday, yet almost completely ignores the pagan. On the other hand, the culture in which Christianity still plays a major role celebrates the pagan holiday, yet almost completely ignores the Christian.

English, Christianity and a Pioneer Project

2007-10-03T11:55:00.000+02:00

John and I are really excited about a door that opened up in ministry a couple months ago and so I wanted to share about it with you. Jon Palmer, a pastor and friend of ours who lives in a city in Western Hungary, has been looking for volunteers to lead Alpha groups.

You might have heard about Alpha, which is an introduction to Christianity in a very relaxed, friendly environment. It started in England and had a huge success, even in our postmodern European culture, where most people shot down immediatly as soon as they hear words like Jesus, salvation, heaven or hell. But so anyway, the special thing about this Alpha course, is that it is designed for English speakers of other languages. This means that the course will be held in English for Hungarians who speak English. It is a really exciting opportunity, since many Hungarians are eager to learn English and I am sure will love to be part.

This type of Alpha course (ESOL) has not been around for very long. Actually Hungary is the first place where they test it in a country where English is not the main spoken language. So it is kind of a pioneer project and John and I love to be part of it. We are currently being trained by Jon Palmer, this pastor I mentioned before and are even part of contextualizing the course so that it will be culturally and linguastically adjusted to people in Hungary.

We would appreciate your prayers and will keep you updated how things develop. Please pray that our team would do an excellent job preparing and leading the groups and that we would be worthy witnesses of Jesus to every person who will take part.

Statues of the Past

2007-10-03T11:41:00.000+02:00

Interested in a short virtual guiding tour through the statue park near Budapest? Check out our photo gallery.

http://www.hungarywilsons.com/photogallery/

It is hard to blow out your first birthday candle... :-)

2007-09-28T14:51:00.000+02:00

My first air-show

2007-08-24T08:36:00.000+02:00

This past Monday was a big day for me. After my morning nap I put on my nice shoes because mommy said that we would do something special. She explained to me that it was the day when a king, a very long time ago, made Hungary a nation--and people like to remember and celebrate that. So we drove downtown to watch my first air-show. There were so many people on the streets! We walked around, watched the planes and I was not scared of them at all, although they were pretty loud at times. I even took my afternoon nap in the midst of all those people and airplane noise. Then we walked around some more, watched more planes and I made some new friends. One of them was Evelyn. She was 5 years old and asked my mommy why I had so few teeth, she thought the rest has fallen out. :-) I really liked her and when it was time for her to go, I wanted to go with her. Mommy did not let me, she said she still wants me for herself for several more years. So I stayed and enjoyed some more of the celebration until it started to rain and we had to go back home. But Mommy and Daddy said that they will bring me again next year!

Books, Love and Marriage

2007-08-02T16:26:00.000+02:00

My grandparents used to read books together. My grandmother would read it out loud and my grandfather would listen. They have gone through many books like this and it has always been very enjoyable for me to watch them. John and I are reading the book Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas together. John reads it out loud and I listen. I think reading a book together with him is one of my favorite things to do. Yesterday we were sitting outside on the balcony, enjoying the cool of the evening and John read a chapter about how loving God is closely tied together with loving one’s spouse.

Here is a thought from Dr. Barger quoted by Gary Thomas:

Consider the virtues I have recommended as necessary to a deep relation with your wife: patience, listening, humility, service, and faithful tender love. I hope it is not heretical for me to claim that in his dealings with us, God acts in many ways like a woman. Women are capable of and sometimes commit magnificent acts that manifest incredible power and awaken in us men a profound awe... Yet when they love, they love quietly; they speak, as it were in whispers, and we have to listen carefully, attentively, to hear their words of love and to know them. Isn’t God also this way? … The virtues necessary in truly loving a woman and having that love returned – the virtues of listening, patience, humility, service, and faithful love – are the very virtues necessary for us to love God and to feel his love returned.

The author then continues with saying that he believes the same principle is true for women. I liked these thoughts and for me it adds a richness to marriage, that non-believers cannot have. Not only loving and learning to love my spouse but also loving and learning to love God through my spouse.

After we were finished with the chapter John was sharing some of his thoughts about what we read. As I was looking at him, my heart was overflowing with thankfulness to have a husband like him and a God like I do.

I look forward to the next chapter.

The Elephant and the Dragon

2007-07-28T12:09:00.000+02:00

Last night I watched Charlie Rose's interview with Robyn Meredith, writer for Forbes Magazine, as well as author of, The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China, and What It Means for All of Us. Fascinating piece, but also a deeply troubling one. And although the individual components of the story have been out for awhile, somehow it wasn't until last night that I connected the dots.

Everyone is aware of the rise of China in recent years due to massive economic growth and development, and consequently as more MNC's build factories in China, more and more manufacturing jobs are moving overseas. Similarly with India, though it has developed more of a service economy than a manufacturing economy, it is also experiencing rapid economic growth. But what I didn't realize is that due to various reasons, China and India withdrew from the global markets for the past 50 years, giving us what Meredith calls a "free pass." However, because of the possibilities opened up through technology, both of these countries are rapidly engaging in the world markets and 1 billion new workers are now entering the global workforce. In other words, it hasn't been a slow, gradual change, but rather the impacts of this entrance into the global economy are going to be concentrated in a short timeframe.

Additionally, it is not just the size of the increase in the global workforce that will be competing with American and European jobs, but the quality as well. Meredith cites that there are around 1.3 million U.S. college graduates each year, whereas there are 2.6 million college graduates coming out of India each year, and 4.1 million Chinese graduates. Therefore it is not computer programmers vs. tennis-ball makers, but computer programmers vs. computer programmers. If you do the math, in a competitive global market, the forecast doesn't look good for American and European workers. As Meredith points out, it is simply not realistic for Americans to continue to earn 10 times more than the rest of the world. The global market will move towards equilibrium, and therefore the standard of living in the U.S. and Europe will look dramatically different in 30 years from how it is today.

What's more, if you add to this equation the global shift in Christianity's "center for gravity" (see Alister E. McGrath's book, The Future of Christianity) from the North Atlantic (between North America and Europe) to the Indian Ocean (between Africa and Asia), the implications are enormous. The world, both economically as well as religiously, will be radically different one generation from now.

Consequently, in terms of global missions, both the focus and strategy will necessarily change, as well as the ability of North American churches to support missionaries since the available financial resources will be much smaller. And that has big implications for us, the missionaries. The good news in all this, however, is two-fold. First, there will be millions people in India and China who will finally have an opportunity to come out of abject poverty and enjoy a reasonable standard of living. Secondly, in Europe where people have grown accustomed to their standard of living and have largely decided that God is irrelevant to their lives, the coming radical and rapid economic changes might give them pause to reconsider.

Hungarian Heat Wave

2007-07-26T12:00:00.000+02:00

Quite a few people have written and asked how we were doing with the heat wave, so I just wanted to assure you that we are doing well. The Hungary Wilsons are now just thirsty too... :-)

Actually, on the bright side the recent warmth has been reminiscent of our time in San Antonio (just without A/C) -- so although uncomfortable at times and H.E.B. Dulce de Leche ice-cream is not to be found in Budapest, the past week has also been connected with a lot of enjoyable memories!

Is this it?!

2007-07-16T11:05:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, after driving around the area, sort of window-shopping for houses while Eszti finished up her morning nap, we made our way to worship at one of the churches in Budapest that was started by missionaries ca. 10-15 years ago. By most measures, this church is doing fairly well; they successfully transitioned from an American missionary pastor to a Hungarian pastor, there were 50 or so people there (though regular attendance might be more, since it's the summer and most Hungarians are on vacation), they have small groups, a great facility, church plants in the works, etc. All in all--and certainly compared to the vast majority of other Hungarian churches--a pretty decent church. And yet, for some reason as I participated in the service I couldn't help but become disappointed.

After spending some time reflecting on the experience, I've come to two conclusions. First, no doubt due to my recent interest in and reading the writings of the Early Church Fathers (1st & 2nd Century), our modern Protestant/Evangelical Church seems to be a far cry away from how it all started. And though the issue goes much deeper, the Sunday morning service is the most visible representation of the distance separating the early church and the modern. Did Jesus intend for our Sabbath to consist primarily of singing songs and listening to a sermon, interspersed by some announcements and short prayers, along with the occasional celebration of the Lord's Supper? I don't know. Somehow my heart/spirit longs for something more.

I have known a few churches that were focused on growing, at least with regard to corporate worship. In one case, the pastor and many of the members were pursuing the Jewish roots of Christian worship--attempting to to learn how Jesus worshipped with the disciples, and since he is the model for our lives, follow his lead. For some, that might be appealing, for others, maybe not. But the point is that the were not content with the status quo worship service, but rather were focused on the process of "becoming"--growing beyond where they presently are and moving towards becoming Christ's perfect bride. Sadly, however, it seems that the vast majority of churches here, as well as back in the U.S., are content with the modern conception of what Sunday morning looks like--sometimes tweaking parts of the service depending on the context, but leaving the overall framework the same. I don't, however, pretend to know the answer or have a complete vision of what that kind of service would look like. All I know is that many times I walk out the door after the service wondering, is this it?!

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, in the same way that I'm dissatisfied with the Sunday morning status quo, I'm dissatisfied with my own life, vis-á-vis what Christ desires/requires of me. Life is too short and there is too great a gap between where I'm at and where I am called to be(come), to keep drinking milk and taking baby steps. And I'm growing desperate to find a group of people (read "church") where we can help each other make significant strides in becoming the people God intends us to become. Who knows, but perhaps this potential church plant we are planning in Törökbálint will be part of the answer.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2007-06-30T10:26:00.002+02:00

Well, you know when you are 9 months old, there are so many firsts in your life. For example I have been swimming in a pool the other day. It was a lot of fun even though I have never been in such a cold water before. Having daddy and mommy around makes me feel safe when I try out all these new things. Life is pretty exciting.

Guess what my other first was this week? I went golfing! Daddy turned 30 this week and so we celebrated him with a round of golf. He has not been playing for a year and he enjoyed it so much. He said it was the best birthday present. I am really happy when daddy smiles a lot. I even tried to help him to put the ball into the hole. The ball tastes alright too (just in case you wonder how a golf ball tastes.) At the end of that day after all that walking on the golf course, we were really tired so we had a good night sleep.

I think mommy and daddy could have slept longer the next morning but I had to wake them up after the sun came out. You never know what other first you will experience that day. :-)

"Life Comes at You Fast"

2007-06-21T12:54:00.001+02:00

The older I get--and since my 30th birthday is next week, I suppose I really am getting older--the more truth I find in Nationwide Insurance's "Life comes at you fast," ad campaign (see videos here, here and here). Though the ads are fairly humorous, their central message is that of the parable of the rich man with very prosperous investments in Luke 12--though life might be going pretty well for you now, things can change overnight. And it seems like for many of the people around me that I care about, that is exactly what has been happening the past few months; their lives have been rapidly falling apart.

Perhaps due to the fact that God really seems to be blessing Zsofi and I (and Eszti!), there has been a lot of dissonance for us recently, almost like we are living on a little island in the eye of a hurricane. On one hand we are full of joy, excitement and contentment, but on the other hand, our hearts are simultaneously broken and full of empathy for the people we love who are in the midst of profound struggles. And perhaps the greatest challenge for me is that there's not a whole lot more I can do, except pray, be an encouragement, and try to help bear their burdens.

In any case, it caused me to spend some time reflecting on a favorite poem of mine from my student days by John Donne. Donne begins by praying the following:

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new...

Those three words always struck me, "break, blow, burn," both because of the harshness as well as the seemingly totalizing destruction involved--a process that seems to be all around me. And it has left me with one hope; that it is God who is seeking to mend, and that through all the battering, He will make us new.

"Conversion" (of Someone's Loves)

2007-05-30T19:55:00.000+02:00

Reading John G. Stackhouse's essay in the recent edition of Books & Culture, I was struck by the following thoughts:

Jesus called us to be his witnesses, not his experts in comparative religion. We cannot prove that Jesus is the world's one Savior and Lord, or that the Bible is alone the Word of God written. Only the Holy Spirit of God can do that. What we can and must do is what Christians can uniquely do: Testify to our experience and conviction that Jesus is indeed Savior and Lord and that the Bible is the Word of God written, and invite men and women to consider those startling propositions for themselves on the way to encountering Jesus himself. No other religion in the world places Jesus Christ where he belongs: in the center. That is our uniqueness, by the grace of God, and therefore our responsibility, by the command of God. That is all we must do—and we must do it.
. . .
Conversion is the hardest work in the world, since fundamentally it means to change someone's loves. (Have you ever tried to change your child's values? Have you ever tried to change your own?) Such change is literally a miracle of transformation each time, and thus the special province of the Holy Spirit. Yes, let us marshal all the tools and skills and energy we can, but let us use them not anxiously nor proudly, but in the humble confidence that comes from doing God's work in league with God's Spirit, under his direction and in his own good time, in his truly global mission.

Stackhouse was addressing what he felt to be an over-emphasis among some missionaries on conversion, focusing too much on an "Us/Them" or "Lost/Saved" type mentality that has produced some unfortunate consequences in various cultures around the world. However, whether or not I fully agree with all of Stackhouse's analysis, the thought that conversion has less to do with changing one's "beliefs" and more to do with changing one's "loves" was a surprisingly refreshing thought. Perhaps I've become a bit tired of a Christianity that emphasizes right belief as the primary framework for a relationship with God, resulting in an overly cerebral faith. Conversion of someone's loves seems to put the emphasis of faith back into the heart (as opposed to the head), which also just happens to be where all my Sunday-school teachers told me Jesus should live.

Moses and the Hungarians

2007-04-26T18:09:00.000+02:00

Have you ever moved to a new placed and missed the old? I have; many times. But it really took me by surprise when I moved back to Hungary last year and realized how much I missed my previous home in Texas.

When John and I went through missionary training we had of course classes about how to deal with culture shock, how to transition well, plus I've already had quite some experience in these areas after living in four countries. So at that time, I thought that when we will move back to Hungary, it is going to be John who will have a harder time adjusting...

I guess I was wrong. He has been doing remarkable well and I have struggled much more with transitioning to life in Hungary. Part of it was probably all the friends, family, our spiritual home, etc, we had to leave behind in Texas. I missed these more than I thought I would, and on the other hand, I also started to see many unpleasant characteristics of my own people. Hungary has changed a lot in the last few decades. Politics, the economy, and the people in general have changed, and I feel like these changes have been to the worse. I feel like people became more greedy, less patient, less caring, and normal everyday activities - like going to the grocery store - became a source of frustration for me because I was often confronted with someone acting inconsiderate or just plain rude.

One time on a walk with with John, I told him that I felt like Hungary is not worth our time and energy. Seeing through to the heart behind my question, he asked back gently: "But Zsofi, which place is?" I was not sure what to say, but his question helped me remember that sin, sinful people are everywhere, and it was also encouraging to hear that John still very much felt like we are at the right place.

A few days later, one of those light bulb experiences happened to me, when it feels like suddenly things make sense. My mom was watching a movie on Moses, and though I did not have time to watch the whole movie, it captured my attention and so I watched it for a little bit. Moses was already up on the mountain, and the people down below started to become uneasy and wanted to offer sacrifices to their old gods from Egypt. As you know they built the idol and bowed down before it just as Moses was having an encounter with God on the mountain. When he came back down, he became so frustrated with his own people that he threw down the Ten Commandments. Then the next scene in the movie was Moses praying alone, pouring out his heart to God and asking that God would be merciful to his sinful people. He even went so far to ask God to rather punish himself instead of his people.

That is all I watched, but it made a huge impression on me. I was struck by the love Moses had for his people. I felt like here I am, frustrated with my own people, not even wanting to serve them and here is this godly leader who had much better reason to feel discouraged or even to give up and walk away from his people. Instead of that, however, he was begging God on their behalf... I was deeply touched and humbled by this example of love. It was an inspiration for me to start asking God to fill my heart again with love for my own people. I probably will never get as far as Moses, but I feel like I am on the way and I am so thankful for Moses' example.

Resurrection Power

2007-04-08T07:07:00.000+02:00

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen, indeed!
Unfortunately, this morning Eszter has risen quite early as well. And though her dad has gone decaf during these last 6 weeks of Lent, today it is a different story. As John Chrysostom said in his famous Easter sermon, "Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages!" And believe me, this morning I was definitely weary, but I received my much needed wages in the form of a warm, dark-brown liquid. Therefore, dad is now fully risen too!

The potential spiritual metaphors from this are numerous, but instead I will leave you with another thought from Chrysostom that I found incredibly profound (as well as poetic):

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Here I am!

2007-03-26T18:40:00.000+02:00

Today I am six months old! Mommy wanted to make a half cake for me to celebrate my half birthday, but then somehow she never did. Oh well, I guess I can wait six more months for my first birthday cake...

These first six months have been very enjoyable by the way. Here are some of the things I enjoy doing: I love to wake up in the morning and start my day with great big smiles. I am not sure why mommy and daddy always want to sleep some more, but I am pretty good with waking them up so that we can start the day together. My favorite book is "Guess how much I Love You". Maybe it is also my mom's favorite because she always reads it to me. She especially likes the last part "... I love you right up to the moon and back." I like it too and the pictures of Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare.

Besides smiling and reading books with mommy and daddy, I also enjoy taking walks, the fun bath times, watching the fish in the big aquarium, kicking my legs as fast as I can, discovering and tasting everything. Oh, I almost forgot, my favorite color is blue, because my eyes are blue and my daddy says that I am beautiful. I still have a little bit less hair than daddy, but I am catching up with him :-) and one day maybe my hair will be as long as mommy's. Well, it is bed time so I better go and check out what Little Nutbrown Hare is doing...

Cars, Church and More School

2007-03-16T09:09:00.000+01:00

(Posted by John)

The other night I had a kind of epiphany. For the past decade (give or take a few years...), I've been wrestling with two seemingly irreconcilable passions of mine. On one hand, ever since I turned my life over to Christ at Wheaton, I've desired to employ whatever talents God has given me to further His Kingdom here in this broken and fallen world. On the other hand, unlike most people who on the spectrum between heaven and hell, place school much closer to hell, I happen to really enjoy it. In fact, you could pick just about any subject and I would enjoy spending time studying it.

Not surprisingly, when I was graduating from Wheaton, a considerable number of my professors strongly encouraged me to go on to graduate school. However, at the time I felt like going on in school would be more of a selfish decision than anything else simply because it was something I really wanted to do and not really connected with my other passion -- striving to bridge divisions between Christians and to help those who are broken and searching for something more in life to encounter the love and saving grace of God.

It's not that these two ideas are in themselves mutually exclusive -- my professors at Wheaton as well as many of the books on my shelves prove just the opposite -- higher learning can serve the Kingdom of God in powerful and tangible ways. For me, however, I felt like my motives for continuing on in school had little to do with serving God and much more to do with personal enjoyment, comfortableness, and perhaps even pride. So I turned my back to pursue a different course and now, almost ten years later, I find myself in a coffee-shop in Budapest, Hungary, serving as a missionary in Central Europe and realizing that I really need to go back to school. Why? Well that's a longer story, but I'll begin with a metaphor.

Ford Motor Company and the Church

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Ford Motor Company isn't doing so well in the U.S. , nor is Christianity doing so well in Europe. Toyota and Honda are accomplishing in the U.S. what Islam is accomplishing in Europe -- gaining serious market-share. In short, if market trends continue as they presently are, very soon the majority of Americans will be driving Toyotas and Europe will be a predominantly Islamic society.

Why are Americans turning away from American cars? Well, the answer is pretty straight-forward: Japanese cars a built better, last longer, and are more fuel efficient. (If you don't believe me, compare the ratio of American cars in Consumer Reports' list of the best and worst used cars.) But why is this true? Surely American car manufacturers could produce some of the best cars in the world, or at least be highly competitive with the best. But they aren't. In fact, they're not even close (see link above).

To oversimplify a much more complex situation, one of the leading causes for this disparity is the doctrine of "planned obsolescence," whereby American car manufacturers started designing cars to actually break-down after a certain period of time, thereby necessitating repairs and spare parts, and eventually a replacement of the vehicle. And if people need to replace their cars every 10 years instead of every 20 years, the car manufacturers essentially double their profits. Fifty years ago, this strategy made of lot of sense and proved very profitable for many years. However, in the 70s, the tide started changing. Once known for producing cheap, low-quality products, Japan decided to forge a new path and set about transforming their economy from making cheap, low-quality products to producing very competitive, high-quality products. And as the rift in quality between American and Japanese cars widened, people began buying more and more Japanese cars -- so much so, that last year Ford posted a net loss of a cool $12.7 billion.

Adding GPS Navigation or is a Deeper Change Needed?

Here's where the metaphor converges: What should Ford do in the face of such losses, and likewise, what should Christian leaders do in the face of such losses in Europe? One solution might be for Ford to give the Focus a facelift, add GPS navigation and an iPod interface for the radio. Although the new bells & whistles might attract a few new customers, my guess is that since this solution doesn't address the underlying issue of why so many Americans are looking across the ocean for their next car purchase, it's not going to make a significant dent in Ford's $12.7 billion losses. It would take a lot more than simply tweaking the forms to redress the disillusionment with American cars. And my guess is that it's a battle that's going to take a lot longer than simply a few years.

So too with Christianity in Europe. However, the current situation and reasons for Europe's disillusionment with Christianity are a lot more complex than the troubles Ford is facing, and I have a lot more questions than answers. But I'm pretty sure the solution is going to require something deeper than simply changing to more contemporary worship styles; hence the desire to do some more studying. Because in order to understand how to address the problems, we first need to understand how we got to this situation in the first place.

I'm currently interested in two major topics: historical theology/Church history, with a desire to look at the modern Church through the lens of the ancient Church, and secondly, the intersection between Christianity and European culture (in particular the last two hundred years). I'm still praying about how and when to study, but I think in a year or two I'm going to start taking night classes or do some correspondence work toward a Master's degree. We'll see, and I'll be sure to let you know how things develop.

Valentine's Day Traditions

2007-02-15T09:07:00.000+01:00

Yesterday John and I celebrated our love and also the fruit of our love, little Eszter. :-) It was a lovely day. First of all I had time to take an afternoon nap with Eszti, which was refreshing and then we had a nice home date with John. We ate icecream, watched some old family videos and then had time to just talk and pray.

Lately I have been thinking about what family traditions I would like to start with John and Eszti. For us I think it is going to be a mixture of Hungarian and American ones. So I am on the quest to learn more about family traditions and to choose which ones I would like to start. If you have any ideas or own traditions you do on Valentine's Day, I would love to hear.

I hope you had a wonderful day as well.

A Taste from Home

2007-02-03T15:11:00.000+01:00

A picture story:

A package from Texas. What is in it?

Does not look like clothes for Eszti...

Chips and salsa! I think I might hide this under my bed.

Why is daddy so happy?

If he is happy, I am happy too!

Chips and salsa and a special letter...

... a great way to start your day!

Christmas

2007-01-09T21:18:00.000+01:00

Our Caroling Adventure

2006-12-28T18:25:00.000+01:00

(Posted by John)

I was around 8 years old the last time I went Christmas caroling, so as the group gathered together on Saturday night (12/23), armed with lanterns and lyrics, I admit I was a bit nervous. To make matters worse, out of our 6 song repertoire, only one was in English ("We Wish You a Merry Christmas"), and I had never even heard several of the other Hungarian songs. But I figured that if at Pentecost the townspeople thought the Christians were drunk, perhaps the neighbors would just chalk up my strange sounds to some spiked eggnog...

In the end, however, the evening went great. Though it took several days to regain feeling in my toes, the reactions we received from the people more than made up for the numbness:

Several familes with small children asked us to wait while they bundled their kids up so they could listen to all the songs, and then even requested an encore.

One mother commented that she was more touched than we could imagine and thanked us for making this Christmas a lot nicer for their family

An older Russian lady (who spoke neither Hungarian nor English) was touched to tears, and after thanking us profusely, commented that I had a really nice voice (or so I assume...)

A family with several children tried to give us 5000 HUF (Hungarian Forints) for our performance; another family gave us a few boxes of cookies.

One family even invited us in for some Tea/Hot Chocolate

But the most precious response of all, was one father who was home alone with two small children, and after listening to our songs, we each received a gingerbread Christmas-tree decoration made by the kids! So like many other times in life, though we intended to simply bless others in a small way, we ended up being quite blessed ourselves.

Caroling, Christmas, and Church Planting?

2006-12-16T23:30:00.000+01:00

(posted by John)

How do you lay the foundation for planting a new church in a neighborhood without many Christians? Well, that’s something that we have been thinking and praying about. And one of the ideas that we came up with is a kind of Christmas Eve outreach.

Working with another missionary family in the area (the man that Zsofi mentioned), our plan is to go Christmas caroling on Dec. 23rd, around the neighborhood where we live. It should be a great opportunity to get to know more of our neighbors, plus we plan to leave them a little bag of treats with an invitation to come to a short, candlelight service on the 24th.

For the candlelight service, since most of the people coming won't be Christians, our plan is to keep it short, enjoyable, and friendly. In fact, it's not even going to be in a church. We will just read the Christmas story (excerpted from Luke), sing a few Christmas songs, and then have a short time of fellowship over a warm drink and traditional Hungarian Christmas sweets! Our goal is simply to create a warm environment where people can get to know each other and in some small way connect Christmas with its spiritual roots.

We would also really appreciate your prayers, both for the actual events as well as the relationships that might develop out of it.

Roses

2006-12-15T18:07:00.000+01:00

(posted by Zsofi)

Recently Eszter got her first roses from Grandma. She also got her first letter written by her Great-Grandma from Arizona. Plus we read her first book together a couple days ago... I guess there are quite a few "firsts" when you are two and a half months old. :-)

Eszter has received lots of cards, emails, packages with gifts celebrating her arrival. She is a precious little girl and is blessed by having so many people who love her. Thank you!

Being a mommy is an incredible experience. It would be hard for me to express how much it has changed me and my life and probably to fully understand that you have to be a mommy (or a daddy) yourself. So if you are one, then you know what I am talking about. And if you are not yet one but plan to be in the future then you can be sure it will be one of the most incredible things that can happen to you.

One other thought: lately it has been faith building to watch God-sent people enter our lives. For example one morning a man stood at our door, who had been walking around in this neighborhood, praying and hoping that he would meet some Christians. God put it on his heart to plant a church in this area.

But more on this soon from John...

The Church in Eastern Europe

2006-11-23T15:56:00.000+01:00

(Posted by John)

Last week a colleague and I enjoyed a short 7 1/2 hour train-ride down to Ljubljana, Slovenia. There we participated in a conference focusing on church planting in Eastern Europe, and in particular, the various challenges that churches face in this region. (If you are interested in reading the paper I presented at the conference, "Toward Improved Contextualization and Acuity in SCP Strategy," click here). It was a fascinating set of discussions, with quite a few differing viewpoints represented, and was something that I walked away with more questions than answers. And for me, that is something really positive.

The other thing I've been chewing on recently, is a comment a business partner of my father-in-law made in a conversation a couple days ago. After describing some of the heartache he has in life these days following a family tragedy, he went on to say that my father-in-law is one of his best friends--no, not just one of, but truly his best-friend. And the reason he supplied for András being such an important friend was because, "In over 20 years of knowing him, he has never cheated me; not even one forint [cent]!"

Obviously, not cheating someone is an important part of a good friendship. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that an important cultural difference lay in the background of that sentiment. For me, my expectation is that my friends wouldn't cheat me. And if one of my friends decided to cheat me one-day, he would cease to be a friend. But for a Hungarian, that's not necessarily so. Perhaps due to the corruption and dishonesty that pervaded the old Communist system here, and it's still lingering effects, it seems that most people expect that at some point in a relationship the other other person will deceive them, cheat them, or deal underhandedly with them in some way. And for a person not to do that is remarkable; an exception to the norm. Which explains why it seems to take so much longer to develop trust in a relationship in this part of the world.

Eszter is one month old!

2006-10-26T15:18:00.000+02:00

Our Precious Star

2006-10-05T19:31:00.000+02:00

Our little daughter, Eszter Anna Wilson, was born on the 26th of September at 7pm.

Both mother and baby are doing well and we are delighted by God's gift to us. Eszter means "star," Anna means "gracious."

If you would like to see more pictures of this precious star, check out our new photo gallery at HungaryWilsons.com.

Violence on the streets of Budapest

2006-09-22T19:18:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

Thank you all who have written us and asked if we were safe because of the ongoing riots in Budapest. We are doing well. The riots haven't been very widespread, and since we are staying just outside the city limits, they really haven't affected us much.

For those of you who haven't heard about the political scandal here in Hungary, a tape recording was leaked to the media, where the prime minister said some things that really upset several of the opposition parties (Hungary has a multiparty system where there are more parties, not just two big ones like in the U.S.). Since the release of the tape there have been daily demonstrations, which John has eye-witnessed several times on his way to his language class. Unfortunately, there are also some violent people who have used this situation to group together and riot during the night, which has caused lot of damage in Budapest. Several policemen and civilians have been seriously injuried in these street fights. Please take a minute and pray that God will move in this situation, and for all those violent ones and victims who have either a great anger or fear in their hearts.

News from the little one

2006-09-08T11:50:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

This week I had a CTG (Cardiotocograph) check up, which Hungarian hospitals do every week during the last month of pregnancy to make sure the baby feels well. It messures the heart beat frequency in correlation with the movements of the baby. John came with me and put his hand from time to time on my tummy. Whenever he put it there the little one’s heart beat slowed down and when he took it away, it went up a little bit. Isn’t that amazing how sensitive such a little spirit is and how calming daddy’s hand can be?

"Welcome Home" Party

2006-08-30T17:02:00.000+02:00

(Posted by John)

The past weeks have been pretty crazy for us. In between unpacking the rest of our stuff and looking for a good doctor/hospital (Zsofi is just about to enter her 9th month!!), we've also spent quite a few hours waiting in various governmental offices here in Budapest. Apparently some things (e.g. Eastern European bureaucracies) haven't changed much since we've left...

But the good news is that yesterday, Zsofi and I met with the doctor who we've decided will be the one to deliver our first child! Pretty exciting, and also a welcome relief from what was becoming an emotionally mounting pressure on Zsofi.

Also, one other highlight of our time here was a huge "Welcome Home" party that Zsofi's parents threw for us. Here are some pictures:

Baby Wilson wanted to greet the guests too!

A multi-media "quiz" about what we've been up to the past 18 months.

"For 5 points... What were we doing at 2:30pm on the night of October 22, 2005?"

"I'll give you two more minutes, otherwise, no dessert!"

A Welcoming Rainbow

2006-08-17T18:29:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

As we were driving back from Slovenia / Germany to Hungary we were listening to a worship CD and then saw this gorgeous rainbow. It was visible for a long time and so I was even able to tape it (check it out here broadband only!). It felt like a welcome sign from God to our new home / ministry / phase of our lives. It was the best welcome we could have asked for. :-)

An Exciting New Beginning

2006-08-07T15:24:00.000+02:00

Here we are in Hungary, blowing kisses to you, which is the Hungarian way of greeting friends (not just blowing kisses but kissing each other on the cheek)

(posted by John)

We arrived in Budapest on Thursday, safe-and-sound (with all of our luggage!). It's been pretty incredible to be back in Europe, and my Hungarian has gotten a quick dusting-off... :-) But the food, mmm mmm... I'm going to have to watch it the next few weeks. We also had to dig through all our suitcases to find some cooler-weather clothes, since the past few days have been relatively cool here compared to the warm San Antonio summer we were used to.

And now, after a few days of unpacking in Hungary, we traveled down to Catez, Slovenia (SW of Hungary) to attend United World Mission's bi-annual Euro-Conference, where we are enjoying getting to know all the other UWM missionaries working in Europe and hearing about their respective ministries. It should be a fun week, and then after attending the wedding of one of Zsofi's close friends in Germany, we'll be back in Hungary to finish unpacking! :-)

Many good-byes

2006-07-31T19:03:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

As you might know, we are leaving for Hungary this Wednesday! It is an exciting, yet sad time for us because there are a lot of good-byes to be said and our hearts are heavy from having to leave a lot of beloved people behind. In these last few days, there have been so many of our friends and family who have blessed us in such ways that I feel overwhelmed by this love and I feel like we don't deserve so much goodness. However, we know that God is the source of goodness, and it is a comforting hope that if we are in Christ, there is never a good-bye that lasts forever. Thank you to all who have showered us with your love and friendship, and we look forward to seeing you again!

Redemption of Suffering

2006-07-27T05:25:00.000+02:00

(posted by John)

Unfortunately, Zsofi wasn't feeling so well today. And normally, I would feel pretty awful about her being ill. But I have to confess that when I walked through the front door of the grocery store tonight, I actually rejoiced a little bit knowing that Zsofi was at home in bed. And by-passing the beloved fruit & vegetable aisle, I instead headed straight for the bakery... Mmm, mmm... I'm looking forward to breakfast.

29 Candles, 18 Holes

2006-06-26T19:11:00.000+02:00

Today was John's 29th Birthday!! (Can you guess where he spent the morning???)

President Bush in Budapest

2006-06-23T00:56:00.000+02:00

It was pretty surprising to wake up this morning and find a picture of President Bush giving a speech in Budapest on the front page of the newspaper. It's not often that Hungary makes the front page, and I was pretty proud to see the beautiful panorama of Budapest there in the background... :-)

(Read a transcript of his speech here)

Hungary, the Cold War, and an American Disappointment

2006-06-21T16:44:00.000+02:00

(posted by John)

Below is an excerpt from a really interesting article in today's Washington Post. If you're not acquainted with the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet occupation, you can read more about it here:
"Testament of Revolution" (online book)
1956 Hungarian Revolution (Wikipedia article)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Come Clean in Hungary: Behind the '56 Revolt
By Charles Gati. Wednesday, June 21, 2006; Page A21

President Bush will be in Budapest tomorrow to visit a good ally -- a member of the coalition of the willing. The first item on his agenda, according to the White House, is to "celebrate Hungary's historic sacrifices in the name of freedom by commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution." Topics of mutual interest will follow.

The president should indeed join Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany -- Hungary's Tony Blair -- to celebrate that country's recent achievements. But commemorating 1956 is a different matter.

The truth is that at a critical juncture in the Cold War, when Hungarians rose against their Soviet oppressors, the United States abandoned them. After 13 days of high drama, hope and despair, the mighty Soviet army prevailed. For its part, Washington offered a sad variation on "NATO": no action, talk only. The Eisenhower administration's policy of "liberation" and "rollback" turned out to be a hoax -- hypocrisy mitigated only by self-delusion. The more evident, if unstated, goal was to roll back the Democrats from Capitol Hill rather than liberate Central and Eastern Europe from Soviet tyranny.

Until the Soviet tanks rolled in, the Hungarians believed what Washington had proclaimed. They did not know that the United States was unprepared to help them and that a few high officials even expected some political and foreign policy benefits from a Soviet invasion. Vice President Richard Nixon explained to his colleagues at a top-secret National Security Council meeting in July 1956 that "it wouldn't be an unmixed evil, from the point of view of U.S. interest, if the Soviet iron fist were to come down again on the Soviet bloc."

In a similarly cynical vein, American-run Radio Free Europe in Germany encouraged the hapless insurgents to go all the way against the Kremlin and even broadcast lessons on how to make molotov cocktails.

We now know from Russian archives that the Hungarians did have a chance to gain some of what they sought. For on Oct. 30, one week after the revolt began, members of the Soviet Presidium (as the Politburo was called then) unanimously voted not to use military force. Their decision came in the wake of a series of conciliatory, post-Stalin policies, such as the 1955 Soviet withdrawal from Austria and reconciliation with Yugoslavia -- both of which are neighbors of Hungary -- as well as the first summit with the United States in a decade. In the end, the Kremlin intervened because it feared that the situation would spin out of control both in Hungary and elsewhere in the Soviet bloc. Radio Free Europe's exaggerated rhetoric only amplified these fears.

The United States, according to the usual version of what happened, could not help the Hungarians because any action would have triggered a military confrontation with Moscow. This explanation misses the point: There were actions short of war that Washington might have taken. It could certainly have urged the Hungarians to temporize and pursue limited, evolutionary goals. It could have taken the issue to the United Nations before, and not after, the Soviet crackdown. In an imaginative move toward post-Stalin detente, it could have proposed immediate talks about withdrawing American forces from a small Western European country in exchange for Soviet withdrawal from Hungary.

Instead, Washington offered only hope, no help. "Poor fellows, poor fellows," President Dwight Eisenhower said privately as he campaigned for reelection. "I wish there were some way of helping them." (Read More)

Thank you!

2006-06-07T19:16:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

The other day one of our friends here in Texas called us and asked some great questions about raising support. Things like:
Where we are going to live in Hungary?
Are we going to have health insurance?
Is it a safe place for children?
Are we going to live completely off of support or also work alongside our ministry (tent-making)?
What kind of churches are we going to work with?
Am I (Zsofi) going to do counseling? If so, in a clinic or a church?
He was even interested in what theoretical approach my school in Germany had toward Christian Psychology.
It was really encouraging to see how interested he was and how much thought he has put into these questions. Thank you Ralph, if you are reading our post!

We also want to thank you all who have been encouraging to us in one or the other way. Your support means a lot to us. You know devoting our lives to serve Christ in Hungary is a great adventure but we definitely could not do it without friends and people of God along the way who believe in what we do, encourage us, lift us up in prayer, and are willing to help us with their resources.

The Little Hungary Wilson

2006-05-19T20:32:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

For all of you who have not heard yet, John and I are expecting our first baby! I am in my 20th week, which is the halfway mark of pregnancy. The site I check out for weekly updates says that by now the baby is about the size of a large sweet potato. Pretty funny. This morning I had a counseling session and although I had a good breakfast before, I got so hungry that I was thinking about asking my counselee to excuse me for a little bit so I could get some food from the coffee shop next to the office where I counsel. However I practiced some self-discipline and had a nice sandwich right afterwards. Lesson learned: next time I will take some snacks with me to counseling. :-)
Pregnancy is a really nice time for me and John (he might say except when I get my hunger attacks… lesson learned: you don’t mess with a hungry mama
:-) ). We both are so thankful for this little gift in my tummy and are excited about this new journey of parenting that God has put us on.

Counseling at Riverside

2006-04-10T20:51:00.000+02:00

(posted by Zsofi)

A few months ago, I met with Scott Heare, the pastor of a nearby church (Riverside Community), about the possibility of offering Christian counseling to some women. As you may know, I had the privilege of undergoing a 4-year Master’s program in Christian Psychology at IGNIS, one of the only institutions in all of Europe that offers training in Christian Psychology—a unique island in the otherwise secular European landscape. So while we finish raising support to serve as missionaries in Hungary, I thought that I would like to invest this training to help bring healing to women here in the U.S.

In any case, Scott was very excited and supportive about me offering counseling at Riverside, and after more talks, prayers and preparation, I began meeting with some of the women from the church. It has been such a rewarding experience! I believe God is the ultimate healer and I, as the counselor, can be a helper in the unfolding of His healing for my counselee… and this is for me one of the most amazing and breath-taking experiences--to see how God shows up in every counseling session and continues to pour out more of His love, restoration and guidance.

This past week, one of my counselees told me that she feels like our meetings have made a huge impact in her life and she is so excited about me offering this kind of counseling to women in Hungary that she and her husband decided to give us a $1000 check for our missionary support account! I was really touched by her generosity and even her appreciation of our counseling sessions, as well as by God’s goodness. God does not just allow me to be part of this lady’s journey of healing (which is one of the greatest experiences in itself), but He also inspired her to support us, something that both encouraged and touched me deeply.

The Lingering Effects of Stalin

2006-04-01T19:57:00.000+02:00

(posted by John)

Given our earlier post about Stalin's practices in Eastern Europe, we thought you might be interesting in reading "Stalinism Forever" -- a horrifying look at some of the still lingering effects of Stalinism in Russia today. (From this morning's Op-Ed section of the Washington Post.)
NOTE: This article contains a fairly gruesome and disturbing account of interrogations that involved torture. If you are a minor, please have your parent(s) read the article first to determine if it is suitable for you.

Self-deception vs. Self-transformation

2006-03-28T07:06:00.000+02:00

(posted by John)

Driving home tonight, I was struck by the thought that there exists another (invisible) danger in the modern splintering of the Protestant Church. Of course there is the John 17 unity issue, the lack of theological accountability, and good old-fashioned denominational (now even non-denominational) competition among other such challenges to being the perfect bride Christ calls us to be. But the thornier problem enters as a consequence of having many really good--though not perfect--churches. On my way home I drove by five, with a couple other maybes. So naturally I began contemplating how we, in America, decide which church to attend.

Back in the day (i.e. 500 A.D.), if you were a Christian, finding a good church to attend wasn't tremendously difficult; there was only one denomination--the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church"--the same one where Peter, James, John and the rest of disciples previously worshipped, and you could generally find it by looking for the large building in the center of the town. (If, by chance, you weren't in a Christian area, you need only to look for the guy in a brown robe who talked about Jesus and whom the rest of the town was trying to kill.)

Today, however, it's a different story. With over 33,000 Protestant denominations and 300 more added each year, there are quite a few large church buildings around town. So how do we pick the right church? For most people, that involves the process of church-shopping; visiting the various churches in one's area and narrowing it down to the one with the best pastor/teaching, music ministry, childcare and perhaps even the best coffee/donuts. But this is where the thought gets scary. How is it that we determine if the teaching and worship are good/bad? Given the status quo 33,000 denominations, there are obviously a lot of Christians with different beliefs as to what constitutes good teaching and/or worship.

In the end, our choice of church will inevitably reflect our existing set of preconceptions as to what a good church should be like. In other words, the church we choose will mirror our existing theological framework. Unfortunately, this can become a vicious circle. We choose the church that reflects our theological understanding, and then this church, through its teaching and worship, in turn strengthens our pre-established set of convictions that will later influence our next decision of where to go to church. Yet, if this is the case, how is it that we will ever truly grow or be challenged in our understanding of God (theology)? If life is a constant uphill battle of trying to become more like our Lord, where our vision and understanding is far from perfect (1Cor 13:12), it seems regrettable that the churches we choose to attend, in simply mirroring our pre-established understanding of God and what it means to live a Christian life, are probably the ones least capable of genuinely challenging us in the next steps of our journey.

A Book Review: Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago

2006-03-14T16:43:00.000+01:00

(posted by John)

I have always enjoyed reading the Russian novelists -- e.g. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn. However, since their writings often resemble phonebooks instead of novels, perhaps it is simply a disguised form of masochism. :-)

Whatever the case may be, recently I've really gotten into Solzhenitsyn, first reading The First Circle and now am working through The Gulag Archipelago. Both of these novels deal with Stalinist Russia and the islands of forced labor camps littered throughout the former Eastern Bloc. There millions of innocent people were either sent away for decades to perform hard labor and/or were executed.

One of the most shocking aspects of Stalin's terror was the self-propelling nature of the viscious cycle he created. Because of his own policies of massive imprisonment and murder (esp. of the working classes) that inevitably led to food shortages and economic devastation, Stalin blamed these problems on the continuing actions of ever-increasing "enemies of the State," and therefore arrested and sentenced/executed even more innocent people, torturing them until they signed false confessions, in order to prove the government's argument that the continuing economic problems of the Soviet Union were the product of saboteurs and not the result of a tyrannical government.

My interest in these books stems from desiring to understand--at least in part--what Eastern Europeans experienced as a result of living under Stalin's essentially malevolent dictatorship. For me, the difficulty with reading The Gulag Archipelago isn't due to its length, rather it is from the fact that it isn't really a "novel." As Solzhenitsyn notes on the first page,

"In this book there are no fictitious persons, nor fictitious events. People and places are named with their own names... If they are not named at all, it is only because human memory has failed to preserve their names. But it all took place just as it is here described."

And because of the horrible reality of the events described in the book, I've found that I can only take in so many pages before it becomes too much to deal with emotionally.

If you have ever read (or decide to pick up this book and read it sometime!), I would enjoy hearing your thoughts as well.