Ippistle 35

Ippistle 35
November 11, 2011

In this issue of the Ippistle:
Fall finally comes to Budapest
Christian Reformed World Missions retreat in Vajta
How we spent our Fall Break
A sad time at Trefort Agoston High School
Thanksgiving in Czech Republic
Our financial situation and your help

Dear Family and Friends,

We always enjoy brainstorming together about what should be included in the next issue of the Ippistle. And, as is usually the case, a few stories are lined up and ready for your information. We hope that our telling these stories brings you closer and helps you feel a part of our ministry in Budapest.

The city crew of roving rakers just came through our neighborhood yesterday for the first time, but many trees are still hanging on to their leaves. After a warm and dry September and October, the leaves did finally show some color. On a hike in the Buda hills on the last Sunday in October, we declared that the colorful leaves were at their peak, and a beautiful hike it was! Now the temperatures are below freezing each night, and frost is showing itself on the car windshields. No snow yet, however; we don't mind waiting a while for the white stuff.

The Christian Reformed World Missions missionaries of eastern Europe and Central Asia came together for a four-day retreat at the end of October. The location was a Bible college about ninety minutes south of Budapest. It was a great time of meeting new friends, worshiping together, sharing in each others' ministries, and having a little free time for walks in the woods and hanging out. Our speaker for the four worship sessions was former Calvin College chaplain Dale Cooper, who delighted us with his personal stories and encouraged us with his devotionals. We really felt revived after that long weekend.

Fall Break in Hungary is week-long and normally includes two of Hungary's holidays. But this year we had the week of All Saints' Day (November 1) for our vacation. During the first half of the break we saw a jack-o-lantern display at Heroes' Square, took a long hike in the woods, accompanied some friends on a walk through a large cemetery at dusk to see all of the lighted candles, and hosted a former Zeeland Christian School student for a day. Our Tuesday night “house church” also met here in our flat; many of the regular attenders were traveling out of the country, so we enjoyed hosting for a change. The last half of the break we spent in Leuven, Belgium, where Cindy organized things before and during the annual meeting of EDYN. There were EDYN partners representing different diaconate organizations from France, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, UK, Ukraine, Finland, Denmark and the USA. For more on this, check out our recent blog post at http://www.hopeinhungary.blogspot.com/.

As school resumed again at Trefort, there were many hushed conversations taking place as word spread of a student having committed suicide during the autumn break. The student was a member of the 12B class, half of which Jack teaches, but he was not in Jack's class. He had attended the English Club at one point last year. It came as a shock to everyone, so the natural reaction was “why”. Jack was able to talk with his twelfth grade class about the situation and encourage them. Please pray for the Trefort students as they deal with Pat's death and consider the impact on their own lives.

Next week we take the train to Czech Republic for our annual TeachOverseas Thanksgiving retreat. It is the only time in the year when all the TeachOverseas teachers from Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary get together—about thirty-five of us. We will have time to worship, get some review of teaching techniques, and get in some outdoor fun. Of course, a real turkey dinner with all of the trimmings is in the forecast. Plus, everyone brings desserts, which amounts to tons of pumpkiny things. But oh so delicious! Please pray for our retreat—for safety in travel, valuable learning from each other, and meaningful times of worship and communion. For many of our TeachOverseas colleagues, this weekend is a key time in overcoming loneliness and homesickness.

We really need your help with our financial situation. In a previous Ippistle we talked about a number of reasons why we are unable to meet our costs. But at this point we are over $8000 in the red. When we first embarked on this ministry in 2008, we were amazed with the amount of money that came in for us; it was a tremendous jump-start and provided us with a sizable cushion! But since that first year we have relied primarily on the support of our regular givers, and that cushion has been gradually depleted. Please, if you have never contributed to our ministry, or it has been a while since you helped us financially, consider making a Thanksgiving donation or year-end contribution for our work here in Hungary. If you are unfamiliar with the system, go to www.teachoverseas.org for giving options. We earnestly desire your partnership.

Blessings!

Jack and Cindy