Quotes from the Cutie Pie #3

One of Eszti's favorite games nowadays is putting Daddy to sleep. Eszti pretends to be Daddy and Daddy is Eszti. Daddy gets the normal bed time routine. He gets something to drink, Eszti tells him a story, she prays with him, holds his hands and then sings to him. Then she leaves the room. Daddy is peacefully sleeping on the couch. Eszti gives him further instructions from the other room:
"Now you need to cry!" :-)

Eszti fell asleep by herself the other night and we gave her a piece of chocolate in the morning to celebrate it. Sharing the big news with Daddy:
"Daddy I went to sleep by myself!"
"Good job Eszti, how did you do that? You just closed your eyes and went to sleep?"
"Yeah."
"That is how daddy goes to sleep too."
"And then mommy tells you a story?" :-)

We are coloring and solving exercises in a booklet. One page has different things that need to be paired. For example a cow and milk. I am explaining to Eszti.
"See Eszti here is the cow and it has an udder, which can give milk. It is like when mommy gives milk to Eliza."
Eszti looks at me surprised and asks:
"Mommy, are you a cow?" :-D

Eszti looking at the fan:
"Mommy this is the fan, that turns the cold louder?" :-)



Eszti, Eliza reading with Grandma

Video shooting

This is a picture of our UWM team video shooting. The video is going to be a brief introduction of our work and team here in Hungary and I am really curious how it is going to turn out. I told John, that I am probably gonna be horrified when I will hear my own voice (you know... it sounds so different than what I hear on the inside :-). But the shooting was a lot of fun and I am thankful that we will have a short video about us, our great team and work in Hungary.

Our Email Update - May

Dear Friends:

We have big news to share with you--John has been accepted into Wheaton's M. A. program in Evangelism and Leadership on a full-ride scholarship!! Even better, it is a program specifically tailored for people in full-time ministry, allowing him to take classes while we are back in the U.S. on home ministry assignment while completing the other courses from Hungary. Here is what this program will mean for our family and ministry over the next year.

Summer/Fall of 2009

With the exception of a few extra trips to the swimming pool (summer started really early this year!), the only major adjustment we might need to make to our summer plans has to do with the church we attend. The pastor and elder board approached John about stepping-in as the interim pastor for a couple months while the normal Hungarian pastor is on a short sabbatical. We need to make a decision this week, so we would appreciate your prayers regarding whether this is something he should take on.

Then later this fall, John will spend his evenings reading and doing advanced coursework while preparing to fly back for an intense two weeks of classes in Wheaton at the end of October.

Home Ministry Assignment

It is hard to believe that we have been in Hungary almost three years already! Time has flown by and we are due for our first home ministry assignment (furlough), so we are planning on flying back to the U.S. for six months, starting around Christmas-time and lasting until summer 2010. Because of John's classes, we will be based in Wheaton, but will also use this time to visit family, friends, supporters, and give reports to our supporting churches. And after forty years in the desert, John will accept any/all invitations to go golfing! :-)

This will be our first furlough--something that is both exciting but also scary when we think through the logistics. We are hoping to find a finished basement in Wheaton that we can rent out, as well as to buy a cheap, reliable used car. Please join us in prayer about our furlough and if you have any creative ideas, we would love to hear them.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Alpha News

We are going on an Alpha weekend again. For those of you who would like to, please pray that God will work in all of our hearts, that the guests who come will know God's love and will have a fantastic time.

The last course was such an encouragement to all of those involved. We had a great team debriefing afterward and it amazes me how God not only blessed every single guest but also every person who served.

Praise God that one lady who was a guest this last course is serving as a table helper during this course. God is so good.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. We appreciate each of you who follow our lives, ministry and pray with us.

Some pictures from an Alpha evening:





Eszti and Eliza having fun. :-)

Home sweet home - pictures

Some of you have been patiently waiting for the pictures of our renovated flat. Here they are!!!
Make sure you leave a comment and let us know which room is your favorite. :-)



Our living room



The bedroom



Our kitchen... once the hall.

For more check out our web page gallery:
http://www.hungarywilsons.com/photogallery/?album=Home_Sweet_Home

Our Email Update - April

Dear Friends:

One of our most affecting experiences since moving into the heart of Budapest was hearing the church-bells resound late Saturday night followed by the candlelight Easter processional. What a beautiful (and powerfully symbolic) announcement of Christ's resurrection in the midst of this darkened world!

Second Round (of many...)

Shortly before Easter we held a celebration dinner for the 8 guests who completed the first Alpha Course in Torokbalint! It was a bittersweet finale, given the many friendships that had developed over the 10 weeks, but it was encouraging to hear how the course had impacted each of their lives. One lady commented that it was the best experience she had in years. Others shared about how it had caused them to take a step closer to God. But most encouraging of all was being able to pray with our neighbor (whom many of you prayed for) when she decided to surrender her life to Christ!

Without missing a beat, we've already launched a second round of the Alpha Course in Torokbalint with a new set of guests and a slightly different team (our neighbor decided to come back as a helper on this course!). Please pray that God would continue to bless our time together each Wednesday night.

Unexpected Challenges

On a somewhat more discouraging note, one of the pastors that John works closely with has been going through a difficult period as a result of his wife's severe health problems. He had to almost completely step back from ministry to care for her along with their 4 kids, something that has obviously brought challenges to the church he pastors. Consequently, we are recalibrating our plans for the year given his situation.

With our love,

John & Zsofi

Happy Easter!

Big News!!!

Well, I have some exciting news. First of all we moved into our new flat!!! I have been wanting to take pictures to show you, but then I always think about all the things I would like to decorate or add. But I realize that it might take some more months if I wait for everything to be exactly how I imagine so I have decided that I will share the work in progress. So keep looking for some pictures of our beautiful home. They are coming soon!

An other exciting news is, that we will start another Alpha course this coming Wednesday. The one we are just about to finish has been a great success (I will share more about that later) and there are several people interested in being new guests and helpers as well. So it feels like God is behind us and we give thanks for lives being changed and Him allowing us to be part of it.



This Sunday at church, sharing about the coming Alpha Course.




Eszti... I just had to show you this picture. :-)

Alpha Weekend

John, his mom, Elizabeth and me went to the Alpha weekend. For those of you who don't know Alpha, it is a 10 week course introducing Christianity. It is a wonderful way of reaching people with God's love and to have in depth discussions about the Christian basic teachings. The weekend was great. John did a good job leading it and it was a pleasure for me to be part of it. During this course I was only able to participate a little because I stayed home with the girls and so it was a joy to get to know the guests better and to see God working in their hearts during the weekend. An extra bonus was to have my lovely mother-in-law with us. She has been always so supportive of me and John and it meant a lot to me, that we were able to share this ministry experience with her. Here are some pictures from our time.



Check out that good looking man in the back. :-)



Nanna and Elizabeth.



Dinner time



The cutest weekend participant.

Quotes from the Cutie Pie #2

John is leaving in the morning. Eszti follows him to the entrance door and tells him:

“Daddy you need to put on your coat and hat so you don’t get cold.”

John is a good daddy and does what Eszti asked him to, but Eszti is still not through the list:

“Daddy did you eat?” :-)

Eszti is helping to burp Eliza and is patting her back a little harder than mommy would prefer, so I ask her to be a little more gentle, to which Eszti replies:

“I have to hit her like that otherwise she is going to cry.” :-)

We are talking about going to the US one day. Eszti explains how it is going to look like:

“ You will go with one plane and visit Nanna and I will go with another plane and visit Patrick (=her uncle).”

An independent little girl, hu? :-)