Tuesday, November 1, 2011

November

Captains Log:  Kalocsa Date:  November 1, 2011...
…after over two months of living in Hungary, our family continues to explore the shockingly sunny city of Kalocsa.  After six years of living in western Washington, our skin is not accustomed to this strange warm sensation we constantly feel.  The trees are changing colors, and the air is crisp and wonderful.  Our mission this past month was to settle in and get acclimated to our new home here.  Mission accomplished!  Muriel commented to us this past week that already Kalocsa feels as much as home now as Mount Vernon.  While we continue to miss family and friends, we are finding the pace of life increasing. 
This past weekend, we had the principle of my school and her husband over for lunch, and had a wonderful time.  They are a sweet couple, and have four children, the youngest of whom are twins and just a couple years older than Cal.  We spent four hours visiting with them, speaking mostly in Hungarian, so my brain was exhausted, but it felt good to be communicating and practicing the language.  That evening, we were invited to another teacher’s house, and spent three hours with them over dinner.  It was a delightful time, and again we spoke a lot of Hungarian.  Last night, we were invited to Muriel’s teacher’s home for dinner, and had a feast of homemade ham cordon blue, venison, french-fries, cream cake, and much, much more.  It was so delicious, and we got to practice speaking Hungarian for several hours.  The kids also watched Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in HD on a huge flat screen tv, and ate about three kilos of candy.  They enjoyed their first Halloween outside the States just fine.  Today, I am taking a reprieve and only thinking English thoughts.  Tonight we will go to the cemetery and see it lit up for All Saints Day.  We are feeling so welcomed here, and I’ve started learning how to do a Rubix cube thank to Muriel‘s teacher‘s very patient son.  Not to boast, but I think I’m a pretty fast learner.  The children are doing well, and seem to be adjusting to school, and both are enjoying their extra-curricular activities.
Two weeks ago, we took the three hour bus ride to Budapest on Saturday and spent the night with the Winkles, some of the Free Methodist Missionaries there.  I preached at FM church in Budapest on Sunday and then had lunch with Jerry and Jan Coleman.  Jerry is the area director for Free Methodist Missions in Europe.  We had a great time and were very encouraged.
We are still waiting on our residency permits, so we are hopeful they will come this next week, but are not betting our life savings on it.  God has been so good to us here, and so faithful.  While my school continues to be challenging, God  continues to give me strength and I know I am where I am suppose to be.  We know that God has called us here, and that we are to wait on Him.  We wanted to start an English Bible study in October, but that door closed, at least for now, and so we are continuing to seek opportunities to serve here.  We know that God is faithful and will continue to open doors, and for now are excited that we are making new friends, and enjoying His favor.
We thank you for your prayers, and want you to know that we are missing you, but thankful to be connected through Christ.
God Bless,
Eric