A Certain Woman in Eastern Europe

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord and this will be a sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! Luke 2: 10-14 For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.  And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him Luke 2: 30-33 May this Christmas bring you a fresh revelation of the great...

Patricia's hand, flour, cookie cutters and cool big old bowl Bela busy with the program He "invented" his own wreath design which was very clever I threw myself into it,too - flour everywhere including glasses!! But the finished product was worth it!!

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice like an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Dedicated to Syble, Tammy, Lisa, Sherry,Stacey, Becky, the Callery family, Donna, Judy. Jim, Chris, Barb and all those who have lost loved ones especially around this time of year.

Watch out! For the High voltage Pastor!! Easter 2008 in Gyor a special time with Pastor Jon Palmer How Ed loved his Syble! and how he loved International students and singing... Amazing that he is now around the throne singing with every tribe and tongue and nation!!! and he loved to BBQ! And would often treat us to home made ice cream! Enjoy new heavenly delights, now dear friend!!

I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Ed and Syble Courtney during the 7 years they were on the mission field in Hungary. At first I knew them in Budapest only as fellow missionaries, friends, worshippers and powerful people of prayer. But I was blessed to get to know them in a deeper way during the three or so years Ed was Pastor of the International Church in Debrecen, Hungary and I was one of his "sheep". I have been a Christian for 32 years and I have been blessed to have had a stellar list of "pastors" in my life but Ed was in gifting my first true pastor. And what a blessing that has been for my life. Ed had a way of seeing the gifts in people and working with them and the Holy Spirit to see those gifts released. He and Syble had open hearts, open homes, generous beyond their ability and actually extravagant lovers of God and others. No one was a stranger to them, no language a barrier for they loved in the universal language of Kingdom - offering e...

Sticky kisses, giant hugs, and enough 'specially colored pictures and ink stamps of trains to wall paper the refrigerator!! I love visiting this family!!! The boys A & V are 4 1/2 yrs old and are in nursery school and their big sister S is 6 1/2 yrs old and in first grade. They are very happy, fun kids and a pleasure to be around - just like their mom and dad!!

I really believe his favorite gadget is his i-phone but this is a close second..... Now we are ready for the infomercials :-) Mr H. Gadget and his marvelous apple machine Lovely peel action there! Peeling, coring and slicing all in one turn of the wheel. Slices thin enough to dry, or eat, or bake! Wouldn't you love one for Christmas? Let me know!

 Roll out the dough and brush melted butter on top  Sprinkle with cocoa and then with sugar Roll Cut Glaze top with egg Bake and eat!!

The hotel errrr hospital lobby The restaurant area Anya & Richard enjoying their first "holiday shopping at Ikea" experience We were sooooo impressed with Telki Hospital! Anya and the baby and Richard will be well taken care of mid-February when baby is due.  Dad gets to stay the 4 days with mom and be part of the whole process. Midwives are available to train new mom's (and dad) and take care of baby when mom is tired. Mom, dad and baby have a private room and bath to themselves.  Bonus and main reason they considered Telki - everyone speaks English. The hospital office also helps the new baby get registered as an American and get his passport and visa back to Ukraine. It is much more convenient to do all of this in Budapest. We celebrated with dinner and shopping back at Ikea.

Celebrating with Richard and Anya (Hope & Life, Ukraine). Thanksgiving in Hungary The turkey "piece" and stuffing Richard carving the "turkey" The apple pie!

Do you remember in 2007 when I was in Nashville for "TheCall" and instead of crossing the country to California by bus, I was "kidnapped" to Iowa? Well, my dear "kidnapper" Luana came to Budapest for a visit.  Since 2007, we have been blessed to see each other 2 different times in Iowa, once in Kansas City at IHOP and spent a week together in Israel this spring.  What a blessing to have her and our friend Deb come for a visit.  Susan on left, Jack on right - Missionaries in Hu w Luana and Deb and Esther a German in Romania who was an exchange student and lived with Deb in IL - Reunion - Budapest   MJ, Deb and Luana   Luana in Szentendre  Luana did a little shopping Arrivel - Orange Busways - new for me

Richie's high 5 Richie and his mom Vio Jackie's granddaughters Elizabeth and Sarah  Jackie & adopted son Soni  Having all of the above squeezed into Jackie's 3 feet wide kitchen is fairly normal!  Besides her mission activities to widows, orphans, and the least of the least, oh, and pastoring a church plus our meetings - life at home is very interesting.  She is raising her 2 granddaughter's Elizabeth 12 and Sarah 11 plus her adopted son Soni is home. Soni's mother gave him to Jackie when he was 8. He stayed with her until 18 and then traveled and worked across Europe but now he is home! And much like the prodigal son, he also returned back to God as we all ministered to him over the weekend we were in Romania. Richie and Vio and dad Jancsi live next door in one room. Jackie has been in Vio's life since she was a teenager. They help Jackie with her mission, the girls, yard etc so they spend a lot of time in her house, too.  Jancsi asked u...

Another Women's meeting in Arad, Romania. The 4th joint meeting this year between Certain Women  and Women for Women. Our special guest speaker was my dear friend Arden Campbell. Arden had been a missionary in Szeged, Hungary for 11 years. Last year she moved back to the USA to become a part of IHOP Kansas City  (International House of Prayer). While still in Szeged Arden and I worked together with others to start an outreach to University students (ICF).  With Arden is Cathy Williamson. She and her family and a Swedish couple have taken over the leadership of ICF. Cathy was our team driver and prayer and ministry helper. This was Arden's first ministry trip back to Hungary.  Arden and Cathy  Jackie and MJ Arden ministered on Hope in God and the power of Forgiveness and walking that out daily.  One of the key points for all, "Unforgivness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die!" We had almost 60 ladies in attendence and...

God is not just working on the natural house here but also the Spiritual house. This summer we began having a monthly homegroup which has been a great blessing. So far it has been our friends from Budapest, Laci, Csilla and Kata and the "seed" group in the country Sandor, Eva, Andi and me.  Our time together is spent in worship, prayer and a bible study. We have also shared communion together.  Recently, Sandor prayed for a lady in this village and she got healed. She will be joining us for our next group which was supposed to be this week but everyone's schedule shifted and we are working on a time when most people are available. Please join us in prayer for that good date to be soon! Andi & Eva, Kata & Eva, Csilla and one of her sons, Laci and communion (Sandor must have been camera shy)

Because of damp walls (no foundation, clay soil, heavy rain this year) and wrong kind of plaster and paint.... I have been working on finding solutions to this problem so that the house can be saved and healthy to live in. Damp living room wall The first step was removing the pine trees in the front of the house  Before   After, now the living room is brighter  The next step was to dig a ditch around 3 sides of the house to capture the water before it seeps into the house.  Now the lower part of the painted and textured outside of the house will be chipped away to allow the walls to breath. Then in the spring the outside walls will be resurfaced with a special product that allows moisture to evaporate out from the walls.  A friend is also loaning me a heavy duty dehumidifier to run inside. Here is how the new drains and redirected gutters look  The gutters are directing the water into the drain and all is being redirected i...