Ippistle 30

Ippistle 30
March 11, 2011


Dear family and friends,

Our winter seems reluctant to give way to spring, but we know the warmer weather is coming as the days grow longer. Last week we had a wet snowfall that coated the trees quite beautifully, and by the afternoon of that day everything had melted. This week we have enjoyed sunshine and clear skies, but the temperatures are still in the lower forties. By this weekend we should see sixty degrees!

Work is going well for both of us, although each of our offices is experiencing some challenges at this time. Cindy's EDYN office colleagues are getting used to their new director who began his position at the beginning of the month. Everyone seems to be adjusting well to Feri's arrival, as they get to know him and learn more of the changes that are naturally going to come. Cindy is responsible for all the planning and arrangements for an EU mental health training that EDYN will be presenting in Poland in May, so that is taking most of her time, but it uses her abilities well. Jack's "kis tanari", or small teachers' room, has been dealing with a number of teachers with long-term illnesses. This situation then results in the healthy teachers having to fill in for the missing ones, and in some cases classes have to be doubled. It's a strange situation where the substitute teacher is not expected to follow any lesson plan, so there is no pressure to have to do any instruction. Jack, Justin and Sharon continue to meet eight to ten students weekly for conversation and fellowship. Their students often seem hungry for adult companionship!

Jack is one of those teachers who is presently on sick leave this week. He injured a rib last weekend while skiing and is in a lot of pain. On Monday a visit to the hospital for an x-ray revealed that nothing is broken, but the sharp pains in his chest might take a while to go away. As of yesterday, the sharpest pain was ebbing some, allowing Jack to move a lot more freely than he could at the beginning of the week. For the time being rest and ibuprofen in pill and cream form are helping the healing process. We would appreciate your prayers for good healing.

In spite of the fall(s), we had a wonderful weekend of skiing in Austria with our friends Balázs and Dori, brother and sister who came to Michigan through the Pannonia exchange program. We left on Friday just after noon and arrived at our "zimmer frei" in the early evening. Balázs made all of the arrangements and did the driving. For two days we enjoyed fantastic sunshine and blue skies at the mountain resort. On Saturday we tried cross-country skiing, but the conditions were less than good. It was then that Jack hurt himself. On Sunday we opted for the down-hill variety, and fortunately our minds and bodies were able to recall from ten years earlier just how it is done. But the extra exertion probably made Jack's sore rib worse. Nevertheless it was a wonderful treat for us to spend the weekend in the Austrian mountains.

This coming weekend is a long holiday weekend in memory of yet another Hungarian revolution that ended in failure. On March 15 Hungary "celebrates" the 1848 failed Revolution against the Habsburgs. After a year-long war, Emperor Franz Jozsef crushed the revolt, but we get a long weekend anyway. ☺ We have been invited to travel to Transylvania, now a part of Romania, with our friends Joco and Renata. Joco is originally from this area, so we will visit his mother and help with some repairs at his grandmother's house in Ozd. We look forward to staying at the home of András and Sarolta Visky in Cluj. András is a playwright and author of Juliet, a story about his mother and his family being deported and imprisoned in the communist gulag following his father's arrest as a Hungarian Reformed pastor. It is a wonderful story of love and faith. In past Ippistles we have recommended seeing this play when it was offered in Chicago or West Michigan. We have gotten to know András and Saci through our relationship with Joco. András had a one-year appointment as a theatre professor at Calvin College last year and our teammate Justin was privileged to take one of his classes. Justin will also travel with us for the weekend.

Others often comment, "You know so many people here!" We smile and explain how thankful we are for all the relationships that God has brought into our lives. It is a real delight. This past Tuesday, at our "meet-up" house church meeting, we talked about Jeremiah 29 and applied the teaching to our situation here. We don't consider ourselves exiles or captives but we are definitely foreigners in a strange land. Yet we sense God telling us to put down roots and to "work for the peace and the prosperity of the city". We know that God is using our investment in all of these relationships that He has placed before us. We are joining a "Serve the City" ministry here that will truly help us be "working for the peace and prosperity of the city". On March 25, we have our first "Serve the City" workday where we will be cleaning up neglected parks and public transportation stops that need some care. Please pray for this to be an effective display of our desire to bring "peace and prosperity to the city".

We wish God's blessings for all of you; continue to serve Him in all you do!

Jack and Cindy