Christmas Day in Szeged

What a great surprise to get snow Christmas Eve and enjoy a White Christmas in Szeged with Dad and Louise here. We had a special day of celebrating, present opening, walking to Mátyás tér and pictures with Saint Francis of Assisi. Donna made many wonderful dishes and we ate very well!

Pre-Christmas Events

We had some fun pre-Christmas activities, including Sarah singing solos at the Szeged Christmas Market and in the Kübekháza village Christmas event. Her choir also sang in the Cathedral downtown. There was the annual Zion Church Family Christmas service, which the kids especially enjoy. We were very glad to have Dad George and Louise here to be a part of our Christmas preparations as well.

Girls' Fall Fun Party

We helped Sarah and Hannah host a fun Fall Party with all sorts of games and American style activities, including pumpkin carving and bobbing for apples, which are new endeavors for Hungarians. Sarah made each of the girls take turns sticking their hand in the pumpkin to help clean it out. That was great to watch! The girls who came were a mix Hungarian school classmates, neighbors, and church friends. These kinds of events are some of our favorites ways of connecting. It was good to have Csenge there too, as she is a university student helping Donna with a new church pre-teens class Sarah and Regina (Regi) really enjoy together.


















1. Hannah the pink cowgirl

2. Sarah the angel princess

3. Regi's turn with the pumpkin!

4. Hannah and her friends get a good laugh!

5. The whole group together

Hope Together Trip - Serbia and Hungary

End of September we had a special visit from the Hope Together team, connected to New Covenant Church from Rochester NY. Rev Malcolm, Dr Puddicombe, Paul and Shawn were a special team, coming to learn and participate in our life here.
Malcolm and Emmanuel in the impromptu Subotica, Serbia dental clinic. Some patients were nervous, but Emmanuel won them over with his great bedside manner.

We had good interactions with various church pastors and leaders.

There was a new connection built to the John Wesley School for educationally challenged kids. We see great potential to partner with friend Ede and the school leadership to help the support these kids and local outreach grow.

There were good meetings with friends from Zion Church - Malcolm with Pastor Botond and family, with the young musicians Istvan and Peti, and we even went out with several guys for a good, authentic "bacon roasting" event - see Rob and Bela with their meat on a stick over the fire!








Donna and Rob were happy to visit their favorite neighborhood pizzeria with the team too!

Kübekháza Village Development

Over the past several weeks, we have discovered an exciting movement among a few people who believe their village outside of Szeged can really make an impact. At the center of the story is Róbert (Robi) Molnár, mayor of the village, and more importantly, at the center of Robi's story is God. Although he grew up "religious," Robi came to a much deeper faith and commitment to follow our Lord 5 years ago at a retreat with Reformed Church leaders. And some exciting, providential things have been happening since then....including the construction of a new Health and Social Welfare Center for the development of community. Donna and I went out to visit, and in November Donna will be able to use the facility for a women's conference, inviting 25+ women out for fellowship and prayer and solace in this beautiful little village.


I have also had the opportunity to sample some fellowship events they have hosted, including a students' weekend with Christian Motorcyclists Association, and I went out with friend Ede from Szeged Cornerstone Church to participate in a Christian film and fellowship evening with them. It is a blessing to see that both Reformed and Baptist fellowships in the village are working together in the Lord......hoping for greater transformation to come to Kübekháza and this region! We hope too that we can be an encouragement to them and find ways to partner with these new friends in their ministry and outreach.

Start of New School Year

At times, our girls seem to be growing in front of our very eyes! We are always amazed as we look at Sarah and Hannah's first day of school photos-compared with the previous years. This year, Hannah and Sarah continue with Hungarian school in the art and music programs. Sarah was excited to move upstairs with the older students AND get a locker this year. Hannah was thankful to have her same kind, soft spoken teacher from last year. (In Hungary, elementary students keep their teachers for two years in a row.) At home, Sarah enters 6th grade and Hannah 3rd.

At the Hungarian School opening ceremony, the headmaster announced, much to the dismay of students, "Only 55 days until your first holiday!" I think we'll be ready before that!

Summer Camps at Lake Balaton

For several summers now, we have enjoyed being with our Hungarian fellowship friends for "gyüli tábor" - church camp. Cornerstone Church has now had their 4th annual camp, and this August we were able to take Zion Church for the first time to our CRM Barnabas Group retreat house near Lake Balaton, the largest fresh water lake in the region. It is a beautiful setting, and everyone enjoys the extra time for fellowship, ministry discussions, and just hanging out around the retreat house or by the lake.