Retreat!

What a great week! Glenn and I had our own little mini-retreat on Tuesday and the week just got better from there. The day was warm enough to sit out in our yard comfortably and there was a nice breeze blowing to keep us cool.


Who took this picture while we were praying?

We spent several hours just being quiet before the Lord and talking to one another. (I did wonder what the neighbors were thinking about us with our heads bowed for so long.) I had been feeling we needed some time before the Lord, just the two of us, for several reasons.

For me, it was a time of confession and repentance, asking forgiveness of both Glenn and the Lord, for my sins. Ah, the cleansing that comes is indescribable! It was also a time for refocusing on the work that Lord has called us to do, asking for His wisdom in working with our co-workers. We prayed specifically, name by name, for the families with whom we've recently been in contact.

We also asked for His leading and guidance for a seminar we are supposed to be leading at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June. The topic is on developing personal relationships, and Glenn wants to call it Why Can't We Be Friends? I am waaayyy out of my comfort zone here. Public speaking is not one of my strengths so it is not one of my favorite things to do.

When you think of Glenn and me, would you pray for us? Pray that we will find great information that will be very helpful to our families and that our presentation will be clear and concise. Pray also that when we are standing up at the podium folks don't see us, but instead, that they hear God's words on how to have healthy relationships.

I'm really counting on your prayers!


A gallon of cabbage soup

With all this traveling that we do, I am really struggling with my weight. We usually stay in homes instead of hotels, and most families like to fix us big meals. Three big meals a day do terrible things to my pants!

So... I talked Glenn into doing the Cabbage Soup diet with me for a week. One week. This is a diet that is used in hospitals for obese people who need to lose a lot of weight rapidly before having surgery. According to the instructions, if you make the soup following the recipe and stuff yourself with all the soup (which has almost no calories) you can possibly eat along with certain nutritious foods on certain days, you will lose 10-15 pounds after 7 days.

We have done the diet faithfully, no cheating at all, and at the end of the 6th day, I have lost a whopping 5 pounds. Tomorrow morning I will step on the scales for the final weigh-in, and then we leave for a week again!

This is not the healthiest way to lose weight, but a drastic weight gain calls for desperate measures. Hopefully, this will jump start me to being more careful about what I eat in the future. If nothing else, the fear of needing to do the diet again might stop me from putting that cookie in my mouth.


Spicing up my life

In an effort to make our food more nutrious, we are going back to less processed foods, and using herbs and spices to add flavor instead of butter and oil. I've got parsley, rosemary, basil and chives growing on the steps into the house, conveniently located near the kitchen! Now all I need is dill, don't I?


Cherry trees in bloom

Of course, we are increasing our exercise level, which is already pretty high. We've been taking hour long walks most every day, either to church, the mall, or into downtown Budafok to catch the tram into town. We've enjoyed looking at all the trees and flowers in bloom at this time of year. Our own trees and flowers are doing quite well, too!



Shoes for pick-up on the curb

While we were out walking, we came across these two pairs of shoes on the curb next to the recycling bins. Here in Hungary if you have clothes or shoes that are still in good condition that you no longer want, you are supposed to put them in a bag and place it near the recycling bins for others to go through and get what they want. I've seen this before by the recycling bins near our house, but this was the first time I had my camera with me. By the way, they removed our recycling bins! Now we have to walk down the street about 2 blocks away to recycle our paper, plastic, aluminum and metal cans and glass. And clothes that are too small.

Well, we are off again. This time to Geneva, Switzerland to attend a conference on Crisis Intervention. Sometimes I wish I had something exciting to share with you via this blog, like...we just got accepted into a graduate level program like our son, or something humorous or insightful and well-written like our daughter's blog rather than it being our travel itinerary. Don't get me wrong. I love the traveling we do, and I personally think traveling is exciting, but for you, unless you are living vicariously through us, this blog must be pretty boring. (I tried to get my daughter to ghost write for me all the time, but she said no.)

We'll be back on Friday night, late. Guess you know what pictures will be on next weeks' blog! Hey, while we're at the conference, would you mind praying that they will serve nutritious, non-fattening meals? I'd appreciate it!

Remembering Romania

Glenn and I made it back to Budapest just fine, but not without a little mishap...I'll tell you more about it at the end of the blog :)

Our last few days in Romania were spent on a retreat with our co-workers who live in Romania and Moldova at a beautiful hotel called Casa Elim, way up in the Carpathian mountains in the town of Bran. We did not realize the mountains would be as large as they were so it was quite a nice surprise!


Carpathian Mountains peeking from behind the houses


The drive up was breathtaking!


The higher we went, the more the houses looked like Swiss chalets


Worshipping in English (always a treat!)

The messages were given by a pastor, Norm Howell, from Missouri and the worship time was led by Chris Ramsey, also from Missouri. It was only a two day retreat (48 hours from beginning to end), packed with 8 messages, short breaks and a little free time on the second afternoon. Most of the folks went into the nearby town to do some souvenir shopping, but Glenn and I decided to stay at the hotel and just talk (and rest!). Even though we had been together 24/7 for the past week, we were always with someone, and so this was an opportunity for us to just be together and talk. It was nice. Glenn also took a short nap and I read some. Like I said, it was nice.

Now, the hitch came in on our last morning. Due to misinformation from the web site, we missed our train from Bran to Budapest by just a few minutes. (Our web site information said it left at 10 am, and we got there about 9:05, and we thought we would be really early!)

Here in Europe when you buy a train ticket, the ticket is good for about a month and you can catch the train any time you'd like during that time period. However, if you want to make sure you can get a seat, you have to buy an additional "seat reservation". We had bought a reservation for the 9 am train, which we'd missed, so we bought another seat reservation for the "overnight" train that would be leaving at 7:45 pm that evening. So now we had a whole day ahead of us to spend as we pleased! How wonderful!! We said good-bye to our friend Duane who had dropped us off at the train station in Brasov, and with a city map in hand we walked to the center of town (a good 3 miles away). We spent the day wandering aimlessly, browsing in shops, sitting on park benches, people watching, eating the best pizza ever at one of the little hole-in-the-wall places, and catching a lift up to the top of the nearby mountain to look out over the entire city. We had a great day!

We walked along the pedestrian street

The weather was perfect for strolling

Women selling flowers to eek a living and beggars asking for help

We sat in the plaza and people-watched

Watched the pigeons and listened to their cooing

Enjoyed the warm sunshine on our faces

"The Black Church"

A short distance from the plaza is an old church. It is called The Black Church, I kid you not! It is not black in color, nor is the congregation a black one. It got it's name from a fire in the tower back in 1689. We did not go inside, but walked around it and were awed by it's architecture.

The side streets were interesting too!

Bob, Marjorie and Stanley

We decided to catch a cable car up to the top of the mountain that overlooks the city, and as soon as we got inside, two of our co-workers walked up. We rode up with them, chit-chatted a bit at the top, rode down together, and then we went our separate ways. It was nice to get to spend a little more time with them. They were taking "Flat Stanley" up to see the city. In case you don't know who Flat Stanley is, ask any second grader and they will tell you. I don't actually know the story, but the idea is that school children will cut out and color this paper doll named Stanley and send him to friends and family members who are traveling across the U.S. and around the world, and take pictures of him during their travels. Glenn and I had the pleasure of taking Flat Stanley to Poland with us for a friend of mine at NCCS, Adam Doughty, in 2006.

Overlooking the town of Brasov

We walked from off the right side of this picture to the plaza that is sort of in the center of town (the big open space with the church in the middle). Just off to the left is the HUGE Black Church, which is taller than any building around it (and looks like it has 3 sections: the tower, the sanctuary, and then the educational space???) Then we walked to the base of the mountain to catch the cable car, and then back to the train station. I'd say, in all, we walked about 10 miles.

Glenn on the bottom bunk of the overnight cabin

We caught the overnight train back to Budapest. The only other time we took a night train, we were in seats in a little cabin with other people we didn't know. I was miserable all night, sitting up and trying to sleep without drooling or snoring. I swore (okay, I don't swear, but I emphatically told Glenn) that I would never again do the night train without reservations in the sleeping compartment!

The sleeping compartment was cute. (My dad taught me the word "cute" is real estate lingo for "small".) It had two bunks that open, suspended from the wall, a corner chair that was round, and a little table that lifted up to expose the tiny sink underneath! With all our suitcases and bags on the floor, only one of us could stand at a time; the other had to be on the bed. It was quite quaint and a wonderful experience. We were woken up at midnight on the Romanian side for them to check our passports and then again on the Hungarian side for them to check our passports too. I barely woke up since Glenn had the passports. There must have been a problem of some kind at the border because we were there a very long time, and our train got into Budapest 3 1/2 hours late the next morning. I would do the overnight train again.

We are home for a week. We leave next Sunday for a conference on Crisis Intervention at a town on the Switzerland/France border. I am looking forward to learning about how to help families that are in crisis so please pray that I can absorb all that is offered!

Where in the world is Moldova?

Glenn and I live very comfortably here in Budapest and can certainly find everything we need, but sometimes we think of a few things we "want", such as books, magazines and devotional materials. There are a few folks in America who have been so faithful to provide us with care packages that mean the world to us, and this past week we received a blessing from our friends, the Harryman's.


Thanks Kesha and Darin!

Kesha and Darin were good friends of ours who lived down the street from us here in BP. They returned to the States at the end of their term of service last year but promised to keep me supplied in reading materials, and have faithfully kept their word. Thank you!


What is Thunsulete? What is Therm Reservation???

One of the things I've started collecting is poor translations and funny imitations, and loved this one. We found it on a pair of gloves for Glenn, thinking they were made with Thinsulate until after we'd paid for them and Glenn looked more closely at the tag! Hee! Hee! If you know what Therm Reservation is, please let us know!


Working in the garden

It seems spring has arrived in BP with 80 degrees last Monday, but when I talked with my Dad in Marietta, he said they were expecting snow that night there in Georgia! If it isn't going to snow a lot, then I am ready for spring.


All those going to Moldova, line up!

On Tuesday Glenn and I flew to Moldova, reportedly the poorest country in Europe. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau, but we were headed "up country" for most of our visit. We visited with two of our families in Moldova and then on to Romania, which is probably the second poorest.


The Vandecars

Mike and Myra picked us up at the airport and took us to their house in Chisinau for a couple of hours while we waited for the other family to come from up country to get us. We could not go into the downtown area because of rioting. On Sunday the Communist Party "won" the majority of votes to gain control of the Parliament. They will now choose the new President. As there is much speculation of unfair voting, many are reacting with violent protests. So far the rioters have invaded and burned the Presidential Palace and the Parliament Building.



They took us to eat dinner on the outskirts of town at a place called Andy's, and it had the best pizza, calzones and lasagne we've had overseas so far. And in Moldova, of all places!


The Russell's

We spent two days up country with Nancy and Chris and their two girls. You may remember Nancy from a former blog entry: she's the one who had knee surgery in BP and we wrote NEM! (NO!) on the good knee to make sure the doctor didn't operate on the wrong knee.



The Russell's have temporarily taken in two Moldovan girls, Lilia and Elana, who are orphans. They are the sweetest girls and were a joy to be around.



There were a lot of things in Moldova that reminded Glenn and me of Ivory Coast in West Africa, such as this sign painted on the concrete wall around a yard.


Ice cream in a bag

Glenn celebrated his 54th birthday while at the Russell's house. I had brought with me the makings for his favorite cake: German chocolate. Nancy provided the candles and ice cream. In Moldova, their ice cream comes in plastic bags!


Cutting the ice cream and cake!

Chris drove us just across the border into Romania where we were met by another one of our families and with whom we spent the afternoon. I won't go into a lot of details about the specific families we have visited but ask you to pray for ALL of our families serving in these two countries. Moldova and Romania are not easy places to live.


Kind of reminded me of African engineering


Saw lots of women with skirts and head scarves


Many Romanians still use horse carts for transportation


Troy and Karla


Romanians eat a lot of soups such as meatball soup


One of the Baptist churches

One afternoon Glenn and I went with Tamara and Wes to a Youth meeting at one of the local churches in Braila. Definitely brought back memories of our days in Ivory Coast!! Glenn is standing on the porch of the church. Inside were about 10 backless wooden benches. Yes, it reminded me of Africa. Kind of choked me up.


Cile, Carmen and Tamara

Wes and Tamara work with the Roma people group, or more commonly called Gypsie's. Carmen's father is the pastor of this church. Carmen has a heart to be a preacher and a nurse but is waiting to see how God will use her desire in His service! Please pray for her!



Arriving at church on Sunday, we were greeted by a lot of Roma children, which also reminded me of Africa. The children are beautiful.


Going to house church, which is church in a house

It was Easter today in America and Hungary, but not in Romania. Romania is an Orthodox country and they follow a different calendar. Next Sunday will be Easter here and all the churches are having "clean up" days to get the church ready for next Sunday's celebration.

We went to a village worship service today with Gayle and Bob about 45 minutes outside Braila. We met in a Roma house, in a room about 10' X 12 with 14 in attendance. I "sat" on their bed.

As is typical, they called on Glenn to also bring a message so he whipped one out of his back pocket. Always ready with a timely word. He did a great job, especially on such short notice!

Women have to have their head covered, so I got to wear a scarf. Boy, did that remind me of Africa too!

We sang (well, they sang. We didn't know the words), heard a message, stood to pray, sang again, heard another message, stood again to pray, sang again, heard a third message, crawled off the bed for a third time to pray, sang, someone read from the Bible ,and then they called on Glenn to share a word. Actually, one of the young men read from Psalm 15 and then he gave a 5 minute commentary on it, and then, speaking to Glenn, said something like, "Surely you know more about this Psalm than I do, so why don't you share it with us", so shooting from the hip, he did and it was great! I was really impressed. After another song Glenn and I were asked to pray for 2 of the ladies that are physically sick and spiritually lost so all 14 of us stood-squeezed together-one last time and prayed for these women before ending.

Then, saying good-bye ("pah-chay", meaning "peace") to each one of them by kissing the women cheek to cheek and shaking hands with the men, we left. It was about an hour and 45 minutes long but also very interesting.


Gayle and Bob stand in front of property for another church


An Orthodox church-a bit bigger than our Baptist churches



We relaxed this afternoon by walking in a city park and down by the Danube River, the same river that flows through Budapest.

Tonight, we watched the 2005 Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee Easter Passion play (on DVD). It was incredible! The church puts it on every year, and if you've never seen it before, it is well worth the trip to Memphis to experience it! It was a blessing for Glenn and me to be able to see it today to help us celebrate the resurrection of Christ, our Lord. Perfect way to be reminded of the meaing of Easter!!!

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Medgidia for a few days and then on to a retreat in the middle of the country, in the Carpathian Mountains. It has been a great trip and we've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these families! We return to BP on Friday evening.

On the road again...

It is truly a small world, full of delightful surprises! We had Mike and Linda (guests at the Eden House) over on Monday and found out that they knew our co-workers, and next door neighbors,



the Pinkstons, in Daloa, Ivory Coast! Let's just say that they were "good" friends :).

Tuesday, we hopped on a train and headed into southwest Hungary to the town of Nagykanizsa to visit with one of our families.



Budapest is the yellow-orange spot, so following the train line southwest along the edge of Lake Balaton and going almost to the border of Slovenia, you will find the town of Nagykanizsa. We have never been to Lake Balaton, but it is where everyone in Budapest goes for their family vacation and as we passed by it on the train, I could understand why!!!



The train was packed on the way to Nagykanizsa, but on the way back it was almost empty. We were able to get some real work done during the 4 hour train ride!



I love seeing all the little train stations along the way...



...and I enjoy looking at the various styles of houses out in the country!



Paul and Tena were a wonderful host and hostess. Their house has a revolving door that Hungarians come in and out of all day long, all week long for their various Bible lessons in English. I have found in our travels that some of our folks teach English using the Bible whereas the Brock's teach Bible using English. When folks ask the Brocks to teach them English, the Brock's tell them they are here to teach the Bible, and they do it in English. If the person isn't willing to use the Bible, then the Brocks don't teach them; this way, they aren't wasting their time teaching English to someone who isn't open to spiritual things. It made a big impact on me!



We did get to take a day off while in Nagykanizsa to go to another thermal spa. This one wasn't as big as the ones we've been to in Budapest, but it is every bit as nice and relaxing!!!



Paul and Tena prepared the most awesome barbeque one night and we totally "pigged" out. The next morning she fixed a wonderful breakfast, even though I was still full from the night before. I include this picture because it is a typical Hungarian breakfast with slices of cheese and sausage. The only things missing were the tomatoe wedges and slices of cucumber and peppers!

We returned to Budapest on Thursday to gorgeous spring weather! After working about 12 hours on Friday to get caught up on emails and errands, we took Saturday off to play.



We had the great idea of going to Margaret Island to walk and jog on their rubber track that follows the edge of the water.



Evidently, all of Budapest had the same idea as Glenn and me! The island was a mass of humanity that had been waiting for the first beautiful Saturday of the year so they could get out and enjoy the sunshine that had been missing for so long!

After we made the loop of the island, we decided to walk to Vaci Street to buy some souvenirs and these are some things we saw on our way:


A place where a movie was being filmed


Cafe's along the streets were open


Some cafe's were getting ready to open


The International Pillow Fight!



We've never heard of this in anything we've read about Hungary, but evidently 300-400 people had because they came out with their mother's pillows and were having a good time whacking anyone else with a pillow :).


Everyone uses feather pillows in the fight

Then we came to a square at one end of Vaci Street where we found the Spring Festival in full swing. That was a really nice surprise too! Great place to buy gifts and souvenirs, but it is usually the same things that we've seen before. :(


We enjoyed the street performers


We rested and listened to the concert


We enjoyed a typical Hungarian dinner

We love these kinds of festivals because we get a chance to eat the local fare. Yes, we could prepare them at home, but everything is fried in deep fat, so we try to limit eating it for when we go to the festivals. I got a chicken breast fried in oil (without breading) and Glenn got keblasza sausage with mustard and an order of french fries, and we shared a plate of vegetables. (I let Glenn eat all the brussel sprouts!) Something worth mentioning here: The cost of your food is based on its weight rather than by the slice or spoonful. For the vegetables that Glenn and I shared, we just had the lady heap the plate full and then she weighed the plate and told us how much we owed based on the number of grams. That way, if I get a small piece of chicken and Glenn gets a big piece, we pay different amounts, which is fair. I really like it this way.

I saw this reminder that while Budapest is celebrating spring and the newness of life that comes at this time of the year, there are people dying so that we may live. It was cool to see this little touch from America, but it was also good that I be reminded that there is still a war going on and that I need to be praying for those who are fighting for me. You see, in our world here we are very sheltered because we cannot read the newspaper nor understand the news on the tv, and even though I could get the news off the computer, I don't. (If anything drastic in the world happens, we hope someone will call us and tell us!)

We will be leaving on Tuesday for another trip-this one is a long one. We will go to Moldova and Romania to visit some of our families and to attend the Romania Team retreat. Please pray for us.

While on our trip, Glenn will turn 54. I can't believe how young he looks. He still has a full head of black hair with only about 6 gray ones mixed in. (He says I gave them to him.) What can I get for a man who has everything? (He doesn't need Grecian Formula, for sure!) Any ideas???