Gandhi Ensemble Mid-Tour Update

The Gandhi Ensemble has taken the USA by storm. They've only been in the States for a week and a half but they have been singing their hearts out with eight concerts! The venues have been packed with supporters eager to hear this talented group. The standing ovations have been a great encouragement to these seven young people. The group not only sings, they also teach about the Gandhi School and their Roma culture. They've been reunited with many friends that have visited their school over the last 10 years. At FBC, Greensboro they sang with their new friends from the youth choir that visited this past spring. In Virginia they were reacquainted with the Latino friends they went with to the Baptist World Alliance Youth Meeting in Germany two years ago. Don't worry though, they are having fun too. Among several things, they've enjoyed the theme park, Carowinds, and touring Washington DC. Please continue to pray for them as they travel, sing, and teach others about their unique culture. Check out iamroma.com for information on the rest of the tour and the new DVD just released about Roma culture in southeast Hungary. Thanks for your support!
(Thank you Elaine Sarratt, FBC, Greenville, SC for the photo)

The Week Begins in Vacegres...

Flexibility, adaptability, and plain 'ole flying by the seat of your pants are words we all took to heart Monday. Our original instructions were to plan for a week of English-As-a-Second Language for teenagers. Instead we found ourselves entertaining about 15 elementary age kids. The lessons we had planned were instantly scratched and we began re-working our entire plan for the week. Team TAG jumped in and adapted quickly with games, songs, and fun activities for the kids. The English teaching went back to the basics. This group of kids had never experienced anything like this and are soaking in everything, especially the Bible story time. Please ask God to give us opportunities to share his love through the stories, the attention, and the hugs. We're excited about the possibilities for the rest of the week.
**Picture: Caitlin and Nina pose with the girls and their newly made "bandanna" purses. (Thank you Shirley Womble, Wilmington, NC for the idea)

Golden Cucumbers

Unemployment in northeast Hungary for Roma men is rumored to be around 80-90%. This makes life hard for so many. Tibi Lakatos, leader of the Roma Baptist Church in Szatmarcseke, decided to be pro-active and not be a part of that statistic. Last year, as an experiment, he planted cucumbers. Tibi and Natasha, his wife, planted, nurtured, watered, and harvested the green vegetable. The Lord blessed and they had a bumper crop! They managed to sell them and made a huge profit. Excitement over their success led them to plant cucumbers again this year. Through this effort Tibi showed a great entrepreneurial spirit and served as an example to his congregation. Several church members are raising cucumbers themselves this summer. Tibi is already working on a new idea of expanding their garden with peppers.

Join us in thanking God for His blessings in a good harvest and for Tibi who led by example. Now, go eat some cucumbers!

Student.GO Team TAG in Szatmarcseke

"Peel Banana, peel peel Banana..." was the favorite song of the week and "Praise Ye The Lord" was riotous as the girls tried to outdo the boys in volume. The weather was perfect and the kids soaked up the attention as we spent a week in the little village of Szatmarcseke. Each morning we were greeted by smiling faces ready to help act out the Bible story and eager to see what the craft of the day was. The boys were thrilled when our Hungarian translator got out his bow and arrows (practice arrows that are blunt on the end - safety first always!) to teach them archery. Life can be difficult for these Roma kids and they often grow up quickly. For this week they could relax and just have fun. I think I can truly say a good time was certainly had by all!

Thank you for your prayers. Now we are off to Vacegrasz for a week of English-As-A-Second-Language camp for middle school and high school age kids. Please continue to pray for safety and opportunities to share Christ.

Gandhi Ensemble Meets Student.GO Team TAG

It was hard to tell which group was more excited - the Americans just arrived in Hungary to spend six weeks among the Roma or the Roma heading to the USA tomorrow to spend three weeks among the Americans! We took our Student.GO team over to the hotel to meet the Gandhi School Ensemble for pizza and a little jam session. It was a perfect evening to sit outside, enjoy the cool weather, and watch Joshua, lead musician for the ensemble, try to teach, Kolby, uncoordinated American (his own words), to play the kanna (metal jug). The Roma students gave us a mini concert that had hotel guests coming out of their rooms to listen. Your prayers are needed for tomorrow, please. It is a big day for all. The Roma students fly out for Atlanta and their first night in Greenville, SC. The American students load up the van and head for the village of Szakmarcseke to do their first week of kids' camp. I doubt any of them sleep much tonight!

CBF's Silent Auction & Missions Marketplace

The Silent Auction and Missions Marketplace are just two of the fun events being held next week in Charlotte, NC at CBF's General Assembly. The Silent Auction has unique, often one-of-a-kind works of art from around the world. The Missions Marketplace has a variety of items, also from around the world, that offer opportunities to support people groups, mission efforts, and field personnel projects.

Ralph and I have three items in the Silent Auction: ceramic and uniquely Hungarian - a nativity scene, a colorful vase, and a black clay candle holder & basket. The proceeds from these items will help three of our projects: Hungarian Church properties (purchasing older homes to renovate into worship centers), Project Ruth (an elementary school, leadership training center, and medical service for Roma in Bucharest, Romania), and Roma Families (assisting families with their basic needs of clothing, food, and winter fuel). Have some fun by bidding on these beautiful hand-crafted pieces. You assist in our ministry and you get a little something to remind you to pray for the Roma (Gypsies).

In the Missions Marketplace you will find items our colleagues have provided from Slovakia: metal bottle holders & candle holders, wire work, Christmas dough ornaments, and handmade cards. You can also purchase the Gandhi Roma High School music CD and the brand new DVD, "I Am Roma." As with the auction, the proceeds from all of these items benefit the Roma and ministries for them.

Drop by the resource fair and see what's there. If you can't stand the suspense of the auction pick up a few items at the Missions Marketplace. It's a great way to help with CBF's Global Missions efforts!

Starbucks Arrives...

It's true. This week the first Starbucks will open at the West End Mall (the largest shopping mall in central Europe). Hungarians are coffee drinkers, as evidenced by the cafes scattered on just about every street corner. I think they will enjoy this new experience, if the prices are not too high. We shall see. Although I admit I'm not sure how I feel about it. Do we need yet another American chain influence? I like the European feel of living in Europe and am not fond of the American culture being imported so overwhelmingly (McD's is everywhere!). If the Hungarians choose to support it though, I guess that's a sign they want it and that's what matters.

Another random thought: We've lived in Hungary for over 15 years and just this week I drove an automatic car for the first time since moving here! We've borrowed a van for the summer to help transport our Student.GO team and it was a bit strange to drive without a clutch. Standard drive cars are the norm here. I found myself looking for the clutch several times.

Progress...

(picture courtesy of my friend, Shay Brannon)