Praises All Around!

This past week has been a week full of praises! Let us share some with you...

1. The picture to the left is from last Friday night's Young Adult meeting. We are so blessed to have such an amazing group of young people coming to our home for dinner and a Bible study each Friday night. Some of them attend the OMS church and others were invited by their friends or Jonathan and me. Praise God for their desire to know more about God and the crazy American family that moved in only a few short weeks ago!

2. This past week, Jonathan and I completed our first intensive language course. Fortunately we did learn some Hungarian, and we both passed our final exam with flying colors! Praise God! We will be taking a short break from language study so we can participate in the upcoming English camps and plan to continue courses in August and into the fall. We both have already had many opportunities to practice our new skills as we are out and about in the city.

3. Jonathan received a call last Tuesday that our residence permits had been approved for two years! (This is a huge praise, since often they will only approve one year at a time.) Thursday of last week we travelled back to the immigration office to receive our official "stamps" in our passports to say we are legally residing in Hungary. Praise God!

4. Just yesterday we received an email from our property manager (that is handling the home we own in Indiana) to indicate he had signed a lease with a tenant for our house. And much to our surprise she was beginning the lease on July 1st (only 2 days from the time we were notified). This is a huge praise as we were concerned the house would remain empty the entire month of July and thus burdening us with paying our house payment an additional month in the states. God does provide - even at the last minute!!

5. On a personal note, we have been blessed this week with the visit of Jonathan's brother and family to Budapest. They were able to join us for the Young Adult group on Friday night and for church on Sunday morning. It has been such a joy to share with them the beautiful Hungarian people and their culture. Carter has especially enjoyed the visit of his two older cousins.

Only a couple weeks ago, I struggled to see how God could provide for us in all our areas of need. I was reminded during my devotional time that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37) Through Christ we cannot be defeated! Praise God! What a reassurance we have. When trials seem to get us down, God has already won the battle and we will overcome! He has proven this to me once again!

Still conquering,

Corinne

It's All Hungarian to Me

Learning Spanish came easy to me.  Growing up in Colombia, my earliest days were filled with the Spanish language.  I guess that probably calls in to question the C+ in Spanish I at Greenwood High.  As my mother would put it, "I just didn't apply myself". Sorry Mrs Brown.  

I like Spanish. Spanish is easy to learn.  I already speak Spanish. So why on earth did God call me to Hungary??  Lord, Costa Rica was already taken?  

I'm kidding of course, but with a new country comes new challenges, and right at the top comes language study.  Hungarian is an intensely complicated language, with nuances and such, and more exceptions than actual rules.  Learning hungarian is like smacking yourself in the face with a sock full of quarters, it's hurts really bad, so it feels good when you stop.  Every day Corinne and I leave language school with a head full of tapioca that used to suffice for brains.

But God is faithful and we've been told by several Hungarians that they are surprised with how well we're doing.  I don't see that, but they seem to.  Ok Lord, I'm over the Spanish thing, how about some divine language knowledge??  Please??

One great thing about learning the language is that it already feels like it's opening up the world to us.  Corinne came home recently all pumped up because she was able to read a sign hanging in a car window.  I've been trying to read the advertisements on the subway walls.   During a recent picnic I was actually able to carry on a simple conversation with several non-english speaking Hungarians who were more than gracious with me.  It's amazing how much being able to talk with someone, albeit in a foreign language makes you feel at home.  

How we took for granted something so simple as walking up to someone and being able to speak to them.  Now I get excited if I recognize the TV show name on the TV guide paige. 

We've also been able to get out some and try out our hungarian with good friends. The above picture at a picnic in Vac (pronounced Vautz) was a tremendous experience.  Rupi and Eva, are host couple, are precious Christians and we truly enjoyed our time there.

Of course our ultimate goal is to be able to share the good news of Salvation  with precious Hungarians in their heart language, Magyarul.  But as we learn the language, we are finding out that though challenging, it can be a lot of fun, and an experience we won't forget.

Getting Settled

In the past three weeks, we have spent many hours unpacking, assembling, and settling. When we first arrived in Budapest, we were greeted with a wonderful apartment (that our landlord has held for us the past year) although sparsely furnished. The first days were filled with shopping for furniture and household items, organizing our belongings and familiarizing ourselves with our neighborhood.

It was rather tiring work, but now that we have mostly finished the tasks, we can sit back and see how God has blessed us even in our short time here. The boys have transitioned amazingly, getting over jet lag and sleeping well even the first night we were here. We have quickly learned the local bus routes and the good places to buy groceries. We have met several of our neighbors, two of which are young adults who speak some English. We have been blessed by new friends in our church community who make us feel so welcome and even translate the Hungarian lessons for us. God has been so good!

Slowly we are starting to learn some Hungarian phrases and vocabulary, which will hopefully improve with our language classes beginning this Monday. Also starting soon is a Friday night Bible study at our home for young adults. We have already enjoyed hosting some of the young people in our home and look forward to getting to know them better and sharing with them how God has changed our lives!

We are preparing for English Camp which begins in just a month. And we are praying that God would supply all that is required for camp. We look forward to working more with our OMS team as well!

We wanted to share a few pictures with you of our apartment and neighborhood. Also a few fun items from the Hungarian grocery! (See slideshow to the right) Also, we have added a link for family videos under the "Link" section to the bottom right. Thank you for your continued prayers. God is working in our lives for sure!

In Christ,

Corinne