So This is Christmas...

The flurries are gently wafting through the crisp winter air in Eastern Hungary and the smell of burning wood and coal fills the village of Mikepercs where we live. While our girls squeal with excitement at their recently unwrapped gifts, many children at the Lakasotthon Orphanage in nearby Miskolc spend another holiday without warm feelings or family.
But thanks to our dear friend Christine Pegnoglou, their Christmas was not without cheer and little bit of laughter, perhaps even delight. Visiting from Dallas, Texas, Christine brought an array of Christmas knicknacks, including festive pencils, erasers, stickers and candy canes packaged beautifully in SnowMan bags for the children. But the Krem-de-la-krem of these Christmas packages were the ever infamous whoopie cushions which took the institution by storm when we delivered them on December 23rd.
At first the children were wary of the odd-looking balloons, but once demonstrated and the first unmistakable sound of intestinal fortitude echoed through the halls, the institution exploded into a veritable bower of giggles, gurgles and gastrointestinal pandemonium.
Gergely, the tiniest boy in the orphanage, was afraid the cushion would pop like a balloon so he just ran around holding his ears as Csaba and the other boys produced endless echoes of artificial methane emissions.
The sounds of children's laughter poured into the streets as Christine, Trudy, and our faithful translator Bogi (from the Debrecen church youth group) left the institution and headed to the boys transition house (for older boys preparing to be out on their own) in the nearby village of Pereces. There we delivered a Hungarian Christmas dinner as several of them had no place to go for Christmas. And Christine brought each of the boys a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap as a special Christmas gift.
Of course, gifts and visits from foreigners cannot make up for what these children lack this Christmas season. Still, perhaps the visit gave them a little sense that someone cares. And perhaps someday, if we can consistently show them love in some tangible, genuine way, they will come to know the One who cares most for them.

10 Years of Thanksgiving in Miskolc Orphanage

Thanksgiving may be over for this year, but our reasons for being thankful live on. This past Thanksgiving, we celebrated our tenth year of Thanksgiving at the Lakasotthon Orphanage in Miskolc, Hungary. I really cannot imagine spending Thanksgiving any other way. But just because this holiday is spent in such a remote area does not suggest it is stress free.

A team of around 40 people traveled from military bases in Germany to help sponsor the event. We are thankful for their love and commitment -- especially considering the toll the trip took on them. They traveled all night on Wednesday arriving at the Hungarian border early in the morning on Thursday -- only to find out Hungarian border officials would not let three of them enter -- two did not have passports but had military IDs and military orders which should have been sufficient, the other lost her passport and had a temporary passport and a letter from the German police validating it.

After much haggling and calls to the US Embassy, nothing could be done and the three were sent home on a train. The rest of the troupe continued the pilgrimage all the way across Hungary. Although fatigued, the group arrived ready to minister to the kids. The participants from the Gospel Chapel provided a gospel-styled concert of Friday night that left the kids rivited! These orphan teens are particularly enamoured with African Americans and felt privileged that these guests would want to befriend them.

On Friday night each of the four "homes" that are part of this orphanage celebrated Christmas and the children were each given gift. Many of the smaller children did not know what to do when the festively wrapped package was place in their laps. They just sat staring at it. One particular family has 12 kids (10 of whom are in this orphanage) and they were discovered by social services in abject poverty last summer. These children 4,5,6,7 years of age had probably never received a Christmas gift wrapped in fine paper before. The Hungarian translator told the children to unwrap the gift. They did, careful not to rip the paper as it was too beautiful to tear. And then their eyes lit up as they discovered something special inside for each of them. It was a treasured moment.

The children spent the three days playing frisbee, doing crafts, playing board games, and doing pinatas all with their American friends. And Saturday night everyone chowed down on a festive Thanksgiving meal. The kids sang and did skits at the event and everyone fell into relationship with each other. It was difficult to say goodbye.

But, unfortunately, for those who came from Germany on the bus, the adventure was not over yet. As they traveled through Budapest, the bus got into a small fender bender with a car. When the German bus driver got out to deal with the situation, four guys from the car assaulted him. It took 400 Euro to get out of the situation. Details are still sketchy. But the group made it back to Germany, despite the problems on Sunday afternoon.

It was a whirlwind of a Thanksgiving-- full of ups and downs. But God was present in it all. And by his grace we continue. Please pray for the children of the Lakasotthon orphanage in Miskolc, Hungary. It is full of children who have endured enormous suffering, and yet God's hand remains on that place.