A Certain Woman in Eastern Europe

We were like kids with a new toy! Eva, Sandor and I fighting over mowing the lawn. We graciously let Sandor go first :-) We are naming this one "Speedy". Much faster and more powerful than the recently deceased mower which lasted 10 years! This one has a 5 year guarantee. Photo taken with new red camera!

August 20, St. Stephen's Day is a great day of celebration for Hungarians. The day's events include a parade of marching bands and horses, a March of the Holy Right (hand of St Stephen), a presentation of the country's cake - this year's winner is the Szilvásgombóc Cake (plum dumpling cake). Of course, there is plenty of food, the 24th annual Mesterségek Unnepe (Festival of Folk Arts) and the fabulous firework display from the banks of the Danube. Happy Birthday, Hungary!

Well, our small village made the news this week all over Hungary when a tornado struck at about 3.30 in the afternoon on Monday. I noticed the sky looked very odd and quite yellow and I could see strange rain bursts in the sky but was amazed to hear that a tornado struck at our lake. Tammy and I drove down there today and took these pictures. This was after 2 different towns fire departments worked at cleanup. Tornadoes are not usual here but more and more the uncommon is becoming common, especially in weather!

Town Centre The pool (strand) Photos by Bela Ferdinandy - Horses just pulled us around the lake and needed a break Guylas cooking over open fire Trying to stay out of hot sun! Tables and benches loaned to us by the mayor's office Some of the ladies A "line up" of some of ICB's finest Some of ICB ladies Saturday, many from the International Church of Budapest (ICB) gathered at MJ's for a day out that included guylas, salads, friendship, swimming and a horse and wagon ride around the village. Sweet fellowship!

Good friend Kata visited for a few days this week. She was amazed to see & hear a car drive by with a recording "Dinnye, Sargadinnye eladó" (watermelon, cantalope for sale) Out we went to select our dinnye from the trunk and back seat and bought a 10 kilo watermelon (over 20 lbs and the smallest he had). Ahhhhh, village life in August - it was fresh picked, sweet and delicious and by evening it was almost all gone!! That night we were invited to the neighbors where we prayed with the lady of the house who was encouraged to proclaim Jesus as Lord over her life, family and home. Within minutes her husband joined us and poured out his heart and disappointment with God. He had once given his life to God and Kata and I were there at the time but now his heart was turned. He did allow us to pray for him and God showed up! This prodigal turned and sensed once again the Lord's presence and peace. How we rejoiced. The next day this mom came to us bringing her daughter and she

My grandson Bryce 14 and his cousin Chris My Mikhaila in the middle 13, with her cousins Veronica and Bethany Grandson Austin soon to be 12 with his dad, my son Michael I look forward to seeing all these precious ones in October in New York. Have a nice vacation in Plum Island!!

Michael and Val UK Geography The Monday group The Hungarian sketch Some of the Tuesday group When I was in Poland last December, I visited a ministry called "Graceland" ( http://www.gracelandministries.org) started by two Canadian business women. They had a 3 prong strategy for ministry. Offer professional English lessons (for payment), have a coffee house and start a church in the same building. They developed a "center" for Christian based ministry. They also had guest lecturers who provided business classes for professional people. One of their newest ideas/outreaches was to Polish teachers of English. They were meeting weekly, watching an episode of a tv program and following up with discussions. I loved the idea of "helping" local teachers of english with the chance to talk with native speakers. At Christmas I shared this idea with a British couple who were coming into Hungary regularly and did english camps here every summer. We then began to p