Ippistle 33

Ippistle 33

August 18, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

We find ourselves in the third week of August, which means summer is winding down. For many of you it is “back to school” time, and for us it means a return to our work in Budapest. We have really enjoyed a good summer of spending face-to-face time with our children and grandchildren. We have also been able to connect with many of you. What a blessing it is for us to have the financial support that allows us to come back to the United States to reconnect!

We are looking forward to our fourth year of living and working in Budapest, and are trusting that God will continue to bless us as He has in the past. We look forward to building on the relationships we have already started, as well as new relationships with students, colleagues, and friends that we will meet in this coming year. In the past year we have seen the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of several students and friends, causing them to move from an awareness of God to a desire to be in a relationship with Him--we are very eager to be with them again.

Most of you have been on this journey with us from the beginning—supporting us with your finances and prayers. Others of you have just recently expressed a desire to be a part of our support team. To ALL of you we say, “Thank You!” We could not do this without your help. We now ask you to re-commit your financial and prayer support for the coming year. We have additional expenses this year: a significant increase in our TeachOverseas program expenses, an increase in our health insurance costs, and some out-of-pocket medical expenses. We know that God will provide for our needs, but it is often hard to wait and be in debt.

Most of you know the routine, but for you newcomers, the easiest way to donate is to go to the website: www.teachoverseas.org. If you click on “contribute”, you will see options for donating online by credit card, with an electronic funds transfer, or by mail. The TeachOverseas address is on the website. Our account number is 208020.

We appreciate your prayers for our coming year of work in Budapest:

• a good beginning to Jack's teaching year at Trefort, meeting new students and reconnecting with colleagues and former students

• good relationships with our TeachOverseas team-mates, specifically Stephen who will be living in the adjoining apartment with Justin

• good working relationships within Cindy's volunteer job with EDYN (Ecumenical Diaconate Year Network)

• a good beginning for Cindy in her voluntary administrative role with Ministry Essentials

• a good restart of the English Club at Trefort for Jack and Justin.

• the Holy Sprit's leading us to individuals with whom we should develop relationships in the coming year

• open and responsive hearts in hear God's word at our weekly Bible study

• God's blessing in our “Serve the City” volunteer projects in Budapest.

We will continue to update you with our monthly Ippistles, and you can also see pictures and updates on our blog: www.hopeinhungary.blogspot.com.

Thanks for your love and care! Blessings!

Jack and Cindy