The End of our Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Email Update - March 2010

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