A Certain Woman in Eastern Europe

Saturday we celebrated the 250th birthday of my hometown in upstate New York. We were honored to have relatives of Sir William Johnson, the founder of our town here. Also, relatives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, famous suffragette and Rose Knox, a local business woman and philanthrapist. What a wonderful historical heritage!

Some parts of being "home" is like being parachuted into enemy territory on a covert mission. Many in this smallish town know of my love for Jesus and my "radical" life style. Many are curious, some guarded and LOTS of opportunities! It is such a different life than last week in Debrecen. Here is an example: The grocery list - "Bud light, Coors light and M&M's" - Got to keep my brother's happy.

I am remiss in asking you to pray for a number of missionaries, myself included who's moms have been having some health challenges. Me, Edith, Syble (dad), Sherry, Wendy, Carol, Beth and Marty are closely monitoring/visiting the home front. At first I thought it may be an attack on the missionaries and the mission and then I realised it may be because of the aging missionary population ....at least the ones I am close to. :-) All that to say - I made a sudden trip to New York to help my mom. She has no disease or illness (Praise God) but she will soon be 87 and she is getting really frail. It is kind of like watching a precious, family clock wind down. At the end of most days she is less able to speak in complete sentences or speak above a whisper. At times she is more energized which is a blessing. Another blessing is to see the whole family rally to her side. There is a sweetness in the comraderie and thankfully a lot of laughs.

Authentic Hungarian stuffed cabbage, (cooked in the oven in a clay pot), just top with sour cream and serve with crusty bread...mmmmm yummy

you never know when people will suddenly begin to break into song and dance....

Janos, Edith and Charles Wow - September 1st! Doesn't time seem to be moving very quickly these days? I always look forward to turning the calendar to the new month. A fresh page, an opportunity for new events, the unknown, the unforseen.....adventure and looking forward. Of course, there are some anchor events and things I have planned but there are still plenty of possibilities. We are at that place in our church here in Debrecen, too. A new page.... Pray for us as our trustees lead the church forward. Janos, Edith and Charles represent well the makeup of the International Church of Debrecen. Hungarians, missionaries and international students. Pray, too that will experience growth in each of these groups.

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