Russell- “Suffering, Perseverance, Character, and Hope!”
The HEAT is on… Although the weather is cooling off, the ability stay afloat on the stormy seas has been a real challenge.
Orphanage – Miskolc – one of our 19 year olds committed suicide. A while ago I remember talking about the story of Jesus telling the fishermen to put down their nets. The amount of fish they caught was staggering; they had to call in partners to pull up the net! Despite this great example of listening to Christ’s direction and the need for partners in our mission work, I cannot help but see those fish that slip out of the net- swimming away into the darkness….. The orphanage staff asked us to come to talk to the kids about hope. So we did talk - about HIS hope.
Orphanage – Berretyoujfalu – Our visits to this orphanage were SHUT DOWN. One of the orphanage staff said there was no benefit for us visiting them anymore! In the heat of anger, he forgot about the kids we brought to our English summer camp. the teams from Ohio and Germany who visited an played with the kids, the ongoing piano classes every Friday, the food, clothes and other supplies brought by our visiting teams. Hopefully we have calmed things down, but relationships remain fragile.
Baseball – Mikepércs Mosquitoes – “Go Away,” was the message we got from the village soccer coaches. Apparently, they received a grant from the government that allows them to rebuild! This means they no longer desire to share their field. Homeless in Mikepércs? We are speaking to the village Mayor next week to ask for a chance to remain.
Language School – Our Logos Language School is in a major downsizing mode. A bad economy means less students, fewer students means less teachers and our goal to hire Hungarian Christian Teachers is in question.
Concerned but not worried!
Despite the rollercoaster ride of October events I am bolstered by the passion an eagerness of our GoodSports Team. Kara Mckenzie is forging ahead with taking over the University Coffee House Outreach. She is back at the Berretyoujfalu orphanage and has invited MORE children to participate in her music program. Phillip Hildebrand in Miskolc has decided that sitting down for dinner is a waste of time…..He is constantly on the go with either the school basketball team, the American football teams in Miskolc, Nyireghaza and Budapest. He tops the charts with English class charts with over 250 plus students!
What a team!
Romans 5: 2--6 „And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Phillip
Football
Every other Tuesday I travel to Budapest where I am consulting with the Budapest Rebels as the install their new offense. Things are going great as we have about half of the new playbook in and they won their scrimmage against the Szolnok soldiers in dominant fashion.
Every Wednesday and Saturday I have been traveling to Nyiregyhaza where I am the acting head coach of the Nyiregyhaza team who is participating in fall tournament. We have had a great month beating the 3rd best team in Hungary 20-16 and then two weeks later beating the 2nd best team in Hungary and the current central European inter-league champions 35-33.
Basketball
I am also the assistant coach to the Avasi Gimnazium (the high school that I teach at) boys basketball team. We had our first games in October and although we were routed the first game 56-12 we bounced back the next to win 36-22. The kids are really improving and practices are beginning to be more fun as the players skills improve.
Miskolc Orphanage
With the help of Alyssa and Abby we started our Thursday night English class at the orphanage which has been a blast. So far it is going better than I ever imagined. We have had very good numbers and the kids are very enthusiastic smiling, laughing and joking, plus I think there is a little learning going on as well. This is a great fellowship tool.
Monday night Bible studies are still going on. It has been a challenge to work out the schedule with the interpreters as well as who is doing what (will Russ or I teach) and what kind of lesson will it be. But I feel we have a good system in place or at least a good idea in place now and will see how it works this Monday (with Russ coming earlier and doing his game and parable or bible story like he used to and me coming later and doing more of a discipleship class for the older kids that are new believers).
The once a month kids service was a little interesting as one of the older boys committed suicide and we were asked to do his memorial service. However, I think it went very well and Russ’s lesson on hope is exactly what the kids need to hear. So while it was a dark and depressing thing I believe there was tons of light. We still brought small gifts and food and played with the kids after the service. As a result the older kids have been coming and hanging around the orphanage more so that is good that they can be around a positive environment.
Avasi Gimnazium
Work…..well work is work. I have some very good classes and then I have other classes where I make teenagers stand in the corner. Because as the coach says if you act like a 3 year old…well I will treat you like one. However, I reached fall break with only positive comments from students, colleagues and my boss, PRAISE JESUS. I am in the process of finishing my fall grades which when you have 267 students can be a bit difficult.
All in all I think it was a great month for me personally and for God. There are tons of things happening in Miskolc. The only problem is I am only one man and cannot do all of them L. For example along with everything mentioned above there is also the possibility to have a baseball team in Miskolc; and by the end of November there will be a new American football team in Miskolc J, which will consume a lot of time.
Kara: Remény – Hope
Honestly until we sat down to work on this blog I had not realized just how tough October had been. It really was a beast of a month, but there were some very special moments.
At LOGOS there was a student who requested to work with me again. Her name is Virág, and we’ve worked together off and on since I first came to Hungary in September of 2010. She is not saved, but she knows that I am and she requested to work with me.
In Berettyóújfalu we’ve had some interesting times yes, but some small victories as well. My first piano student out there is a guy name Tomi. He gave his life to Christ at one of the summer camps in July of 2010. He is very close to a couple of people who came with some short-term teams from the USA. Just this past week he finally gave me permission to record him playing so we could send it to these people.
In Miskolc we spend our first hour or so there simply playing with the kids. Phillip went to get the smaller “sick” kids from house 3 so they could come outside with us. As soon as the door opened Gergő came bolting out and ran straight for me. His smile was bigger than his face as he jumped into my arms. This precious little boy will most likely never live to see adulthood. For more about him see this video put together by Russ’ wife Trudy.
Also in Miskolc, I had a short conversation with Dora (with the help of one of my amazing translators – Russ’ 10 year old daughter Niki). Dora seemed to be down in the dumps, but did not want to talk about her problem. Then, seemingly out of the blue she asked Niki if she believed in God. Niki replied in the affirmative, and told her that I also believe in God. We then asked if Dora believed, and her response was, “csak kicsit” (just a little).
There are some “dragons” in my life, but I have taken up offensive measures in the form of American Chocolate Chip cookies. The goal is to kill them with kindness. Thus far 5 batches of cookies have been made and dispersed – thankfully with very few of them hitting my mouth!
These are all small steps, but they are the reason God has us here. This is where we begin. Meet people where they are, build relationships with them, and show them Christ through word and deed.
