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.

Scroll down for more on Gustav

What a wonderful time of fellowship we had this weekend. How sweet the meeting, how bittersweet the goodbyes. More than 65 gathered to honor Ed and Syble for their service in Debrecen and as Pastor of the International Church here. Some of the highlights: the International students did worship with our ever faithful Eva, Solomon a student from Korea went to the keyboard and did a jazzy rendition of Amazing Grace. Syble honored Ed as her husband, as pastor and as her ministry partner, Veronika neni led the Hungarians in a song of blessing and a special card and gifts and cake were presented. And Ed did preach! The congregation also prayed over the trustees, and Pastor Tenke, Csaba prayed for Ed and Syble. Then we all ate and talked and hugged and took LOTS of pictures. We sure will miss this special couple and wish them and pray for them great success in their next assignment. They are due to hit Mississippi just as Hurricane Gustav does. So, please be praying for their journey.

Hurricane Gustav - A Call to Urgent Prayerby Tom Victor Dear Friends and Prayer Partners, I woke up very early this morning with a growing concern. Here in the United States we are in a holiday weekend. But we are also facing a significant challenge. No doubt many of you are already praying - but would you take a couple of minutes to read the following. Then please join us in prayer and help to get this prayer alert out to others that can join with us both in the United States and around the world. Here's why. History and Context: In 2005 as Rita, a category 5 Hurricane was lining up for a direct hit on Houston, sustained winds had reached 180 miles per hour. Lt. Col. Warren Madden, a Hurricane Hunter and meteorologist for the Weather Channel, recorded a peak wind gust of 235 miles per hour while flying in the eye of the story and called Rita, “the strongest storm that I’ve ever been in.” It was indeed a killer, the strongest hurricane to enter the Gulf of Mexico at the time, surpa...

How exciting to have Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska appointed to run as VP with Senator John McCain for President - Republican party. I have heard some great reports about her from many of my Alaskan friends. McCain was risky in doing this but his campaign seems energized by it. I am waiting for my absentee ballot to arrive! Happy Labor Day weekend!!

Ann, MJ, Joanne Behrend I met Joanne on my first short term mission trip to Scotland in 1990. We discovered much later that the Lord "called" each of us into full time missions that week. Joanne returned in 1991 to attend bible school and I returned in 1992 to work with the ministry. We overlapped at that mission base for a number of years. In 1997 we met up again at a mission conference in Switzerland and at a bible school in Germany. When I moved to Budapest she was able to come visit and last year we met in Iowa. Joanne is a missionary in Honduras now and she brings us this important report : (exerpt from her newsletter) Much to the great concern of many Honduran people, the president of Honduras has been increasingly courted by Pres. Chavez of Venezuela into a partnership. Special arrangements for cheaper oil is the huge Chavez bargaining chip. Socialism has been growing in Latin America for several years with Chavez of Venezuela a very dangerous leader, & threat to d...

Last week we moved the 3 times weekly prayer meetings back to the church as Ed & Syble are busy packing, sorting, and packing again.... in preparation of their September 3rd departure. On these humid "dog days" of August it is a blessing to be in the pince (basement) to pray as it is much cooler there. Don't I look "cool"? Notice the joy of the Lord on my face after another great prayer time.

We really enjoy our garden and I really love my camera! Click for closeup of blossom to see the bee.

Good Fireworks!! (photo by MJ) View from Dad's shoulder ;and the amazing clean up crew that moved down the street the minute the fireworks were finished! So efficient that tomorrow you will not be able to tell that 400,000 people crammed the piac for the festivities.

"Crown of St Istvan" depicted in flowers for the Debrecen Flower Festival St Istvan was the first Christian King of Hungary and here is his advice for his son Imrie: ' 'My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak. ''Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down. Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the ne...

This week is a big holiday week in Hungary and tomorrow is one of THE national holidays of the year. It is St Stephen's (St Istvan) day. Many people come back "home" to celebrate and many tourists come to visit. In Budapest there will be millions (literally) of people gathering to watch the "Red Bull" airplane races over the Danube and (under the bridges!) during the afternoon and incredible fireworks at night. In Debrecen there is the annual "Virag Karneval" with a parade of floats made from flowers (mostly dried but some fresh) with fireworks in the evening. Home for the holiday came my friend, student and teacher, Joseph. I am also his friend, student and teacher. We met 2 years ago and for 3 months we met two or three times a week for language lessons. I helped Joseph with english and he helped me with Hungarian. Then he was fluent enough to accept a job offer in England. I only wish my Hungarian was as good as his English. Edith and I help...

In the Debrecen Church we meet three times a week for prayer. Our group has always been serious about prayer and free for the Spirit of God to orchestra our time together. Consequently, every prayer time is different. Now we are also growing in numbers and are so blessed about that. Visiting missionary Karen (from Romania) ministers to the group prophetically. Karen had no idea that Pastors Ed and Syble were leaving Debrecen to return to Mississippi but God knew and spoke an encouraging and confirming word through her. All were blessed

or mooning? DId you notice the cowherder taking a rest on this hot afternoon? Can you think of a funny caption for this photo?

Good friend Arden was able to blog a report with pictures - Check this out: http://www.ceoforthekids.blogspot.com/ Thanks Arden!!

comes from my friends at Operation Outcry... Pray for protection, strength, love, and grace for the Operation Outcry team of over 50 that will be praying, repenting, and ministering at The Call in Washington, DC on August 16. We will have a ministry tent to pray for post-abortion healing. Pray for divine appointments for each one and stamina for fasting and ministering from 10 am - 10 pm. Pray for anointed words and fervent, effective prayer. Pray for favor to distribute Declaration forms. If you cannot come to DC, you can join the live web-cast via Internet at www.godtv.us