Field Personnel Entertainment

Hungary is not a very attractive place in the winter. The days are short on daylight, drab, gray and wet. On just such a day, while visiting Glen and Clista Adkins in Pecs, we laughed and relaxed at the Pecs Marzipan Museum! Calling it a museum is being generous since it is really no more than a store lined with display racks. However, the displays were awesome! A life size Elvis all from marzipan! Models of the cathedrals of Pecs and Budapest. A desert scene. Models of Disney characters. Furniture with elaborate embroidery designs - all from marzipan! It was a delightful way to spend 30 minutes. Fun in Pecs.

Sneak Peek at the Gandhi School Choir

Double click on this web address for U-Tube to get a sneak peek at the Gandhi School Choir. CBF's newest staff person, Glen Adkins, is ministering among the students with music. Despite only having met a few times before Christmas, the group has a beautiful sound. Please pray for this ministry - Ask God to bring the students to the class, give Glen ideas and patience, and that through it all His name would be praised.

**If for some reason the video doesn't come up when you double click - go to youtube.com and put Gandhi Choir in the search box. It will appear then for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVtWwoxCycY

Happy Birthday Jesus in Csobanka!

What better way to celebrate Christmas than with a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party?!?! After lighting the Advent candles and listening to a sermon on Christmas gifts, we celebrated the greatest gift of all - God's Son! Ralph and I came prepared with a car load of balloons, horns, hats, drinks, yummy food, and a tray of cupcakes that spelled out "Boldog Szuletesnapot Jezuska". The children and adults donned the party hats and munched down on the food. It was a great time.

Once the party was winding down we sent the children out and brought in boxes sent by some of our partnering churches (see below). The parents could pick out gloves, hats, socks, toothbrushes, and toothpaste to take home for Christmas presents for their children. After all had gotten what they needed we sent the remaining items with a Hungarian friend who ministers at an orphanage near his home. (The children's homes here are filled with Roma kids who have very little hope of getting a gift on Christmas.)

The day before a Hungarian partner had brought a puppet show to Csobanka and invited the children to come. They were to hand out the Christmas child boxes provided through Samaritan's Purse. (We know many churches in the US that support this ministry) It was a wonderful experience. The children were excited, the parents pleased, and the workers relieved. We were unsure how many kids would come so it was difficult to estimate the number of Christmas boxes needed. God is in control - how could we doubt? There were 50 boxes and... exactly 50 children!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas in Szatmercseke.

In Hungary it is a Christmas tradition that Baby Jesus and his angels bring the Christmas gifts - not a jolly, fat man dressed in a red suit. Angels come in many forms and this year in the village of Szatmercseke they were named Ralph and Tivadar, who came in a Skoda car (no sleigh) loaded down with Christmas boxes and bags. They were not alone. Other angels assisting were the members of Westwood Baptist Church in Cary; WMU ladies with Felicity Gordan at Parkway Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC; the children of Northside Baptist Church in Bernie, MO, (Tammy's childhood church); and members in Meridan, MS at Grace Fellowship Church - who all contributed with different items for the bags. We were overflowing with hats, gloves, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and other hygiene items! The adults received gifts too thanks to the Wrights at Grace Fellowship who sent lots of candy canes.

The children were excited to get their boxes/bags and have something special of their own. We also stuffed inside a little toy, a notebook, crayons, cookies, and an orange. The celebration was more special because a truckload of furniture, donated to the Roma mission, also arrived this very day. Several families were able to take home badly needed items to use for their families.

Thanks to all who contributed. Christmas Joy was spread by Jesus and His Angels...

Christmas Party in Csobanka

On Dec 23rd we held a Christmas party, "Happy Birthday Jesus" in Csobanka. We had good food, party hats, balloons, horns, and gifts - all to celebrate the season!

Stay tuned for more to come...

Schengen Zone

Today is a momentous day in eastern Europe! Today the borders between the western European countries in the European Union and nine of the new members - mostly former Soviet satellite countries - come down - literally. Today Hungary becomes a part of the Schengen Zone. This means we can travel freely without stopping to show our passports in almost all of our border countries (Romania and the Ukraine are the exceptions as of now).

For most of us this is a reason to celebrate - travel becomes easier. There are still concerns that the western European countries will be swamped with undesirables - of which the Roma (Gypsies) are usually listed. Please continue to pray for Romany to become acceptable to the peoples they live among in the different European nations.

Celebrate Good Times... Come On...

The lyrics of the pop song came to mind recently when the Roma of the church in Ilk celebrated a baptism. The Roma enjoy celebrations and baptisms are very good reasons to come together for such a joyous fellowship. The day began early with a sense of excitement. The ladies began arriving at the church with their cooking ware. They laughed and talked as they prepared a meal of “bab gulyas” (bean soup) and stuffed cabbage. As each group of guests arrived they were ushered into the tiny room overflowing with tables, chairs, an assortment of dishes on loan from each household, and warm delicious food. With each new arrival there were shouts of greetings and rounds of kisses exchanged.

Soon we were arranging car rides to travel to a nearby Hungarian Baptist church for the baptism. The nine candidates, dressed in white, were presented to the group and three gave their testimonies. Then they made their way to the baptismal pool. As the first candidate made her way into the water the Roma rose and made their way to the front of the church, crowding around, not wanting to sit quietly in the pews. There were smiles, shouts of “Amen” and “Hallelujah” as the candidate confirmed her belief in Jesus Christ. Then as she emerged from the water the group broke into joyous song. This was repeated with each of the nine candidates. The service ended with the new Christians coming before the congregation on bowed knees to be prayed over.

Leaving the church ended the formal service but there was much celebrating still to be done. We gathered in the small worship room of Ilk to praise God through worship, testimonies, and sharing of personal thoughts by the Roma believers. The evening ended with coffee and dessert. It was a full day of celebrating and being excited about the new life in Christ of their Roma brothers and sisters. Celebrate Good Times… Come On…