Summer Happenings .... Part 2

A SUMMER OF SPORTS.
The last few months has seen a buzz of activity at the local Baseball field here in Erd as we hosted the selection and coaching camps for the National Hungarian junior team as well as the normal games and tournaments for the various local baseball teams and also the girls soft ball team.


Sports Co-ordinator Terry (R) was joined by national teams coach Ingo (C) and the Federation President Attila (L) for the National Team training.

We were privileged to have 2 youth coaches through the Federation of Christian Athletes (FCA) based in the USA. to work along side them for the week. The team's members not only enhanced their sports skills but equally through the FCA guys received 'life skills' training through testimony and discussions times.

Its important for Terry that the guys dont just get trained for the game but also receive 'coaching for life'



I mention in my last post about the great gals I have the privilege of 'coaching' this last summer .... here is Emily in action as she photographs the baseball action. You can read some of her 'sports stories' on the OM site check out the link in the side bar.








Baseball has also become well know locally on the TV ....yes Erd may be small but it has its own local TV station, and they have become very interested in what is happening on the baseball field.
Its not unusual when we have a major tournament for them to come along and film events.







At the end of the season Erd also hosted the weekend championship game and the along with the TV the city mayor came to open the tournament and 'throw' the Erd teams opening game ball.

Summer Happenings .... Part 1

Well ... its been an awful long time since I have updated here but at last I'm back to tell you a little of what has been happening over the last 2 months and post LOTS of pics to tell the stories.
Most of you who read this blog get my e-mail update and will have heard in the most recent one about the great gals I have had the privilege to mentor during their variouse times of ministering with us here in Hungary. Kristie, Emily and Marlize came for different lengths of time and for very different purposes but for each of them it was an opportunity to serve the Lord and grow in their faith.
First on the scene was Kristi from the US, she arrived in Feb. for 7 months with the Bus4Life ministry. During the time she was here she traveled many thousands of km's, visited hundreds of places in a variety of countries and made many new friends. As you can see from the various photos she was involved in all sorts of things and her cheerful smile and enthusiasm was a delight to all her met her.
Over the summer months we welcomed Emily, a photo journalist intern from Biola University in the US. She was here for a 5 week practicum Internship Placement as part of her degree course. Again it was a privilege to mentor and help her through the summer’s hectic program of events. We spent lots of time together as we visited different ministry events and I helped her process and write stories about all we had seen. The OM International’s Hungarian web page is a testimony of how much we were able to accomplish together and I know I wouldn’t have been able to keep pace with all the activities and posting them on the web site if it hadn’t have been for her help.
She also traveled to visit and report on various ministries in lots of locations as well as being able to take part in one special outreach in Slovakia. At 'Campfest' in Slovakia the whole bus4life team had the privilege of working alongside renown author Josh McDowell as he held his book signings by the bus.
Lastly there was Marlize, a South African, working as a teacher in the UK. She came just for a week on a Bus4Life outreach as we returned to a small village in the south of Hungary called Kiskunmajsa. Although I only managed to share just a few moments with her before and after the outreach I was able to see just how much God can do with one person in such a sort time.
Check out her story and others on the OM International web site link to Hungarian stories in the side bar.

Kids camp in Erd

This past week, my team member Tamas has been helping his church to orchestrate and organise parts of a government-funded children’s day camp. Tamas and his wife Tunde moved to Erd about three years ago to join the OM Hungary team and then started attending a local Baptist church, 'Erdliget' Bible Fellowship. The church has partnered with a local school, and in doing so, has been living out its love and faith, rather than proclaiming or teaching it.

Government-funded camps like this one have been coordinated since about 2000, and every year a different school is in charge of running the eight-week summer camp and of finding volunteers to aide the teachers. The camps were established in order to provide a place for children whose parents have nowhere else to send their kids while they work. The main activity changes every week, as the kids participate in crafts, games, skits, and discussion groups. Along with the changing activities, the kids learn a different “value,” like compassion, interdependence, and perseverance, every day of the week.
Along with other members of the Church they used this last week as an opportunity to share God’s love with the community and children. While the Christian volunteers are not allowed to overtly share the gospel they have, through their actions been able to share Gods love and care for the children.

This year’s camp has been full, with about 100 kids coming every day, the children’s ages have ranged from 6 to 14 years.

Signs of Summer

Hi everyone, well the sun is hot, the house fan is running and Wimbledon is on ...tennis for those not in the know!!
Its only the beginning of July but already much has happened and so I wanted to give a brief few sentences and lots of pics. to show what me and my team have been up to since I last wrote.

At the beginning of the month we had a weekend away for the team, we went to the small guest house of the Baptist Church in Balatonszemes, just a few steps away from the shore of Lake Balaton. It was a lovely spot and we were blessed with good weather and excellent teaching from one of our board members. The emphasis was very much on refreshment and fellowship as team members geared up toward what will be our busiest summer of ministry for a few years.
You can see by the pics we were able to enjoy swimming in the lake, a great safe place for children as its so shallow .. if you want to swim seriously you have to walk a good long way out to even get the water above your waist!!

This month also saw the final goodbye for my car as the scrap yard came and took it away. One week later the paperwork was finalised and a work colleague came and helped me at the local government office to hand in the car papers and officially designated it as no longer existing :(
We then headed down the street to the car insurance office and canceled that as well. The next step is the search for a new car ... watch this space!!



Last week the Bus4Life set off on its travels again, back to Romania for a month long trip taking in several churches in the area of Brasove where the OM Office is before heading to the Black Sea area for some outreaches in the coastal region. Its an all Finish team that's gone this time Ego the bus driver, (Finnish) has been joined by several more Fins for this trip, his girlfriend Mirkka, and 2 other friends Dode and Toni.


Finally for this news update this last 10 days has seen OM Music Minister at large Bill Drake and his Band in various places large and small in Hungary. They held evangelistic concerts on large stages, performed live and unplugged in small villages and shared their faith at the local skateboard park in Tatabanya, where I go to church. They were joined by 'dance link' a group of dancers performing alongside through interpretive dance. Hungarians love music and the arts and so everywhere they went whether it was an audience of 50 or so, or a few hundred they were greatly appreciated.
I went to the southern city of Baja last Saturday with them and got to meet up with a few people I had only talked on the phone with before. At Easter you may recall the bus4life had a great outreach there and I was able to strengthen the relationship between OM and a number of key people there.

new arrivals for old team members

Congratulations to old team members Kyle and Lynette Klassen from Canada, on the arrival of their twins Silas and Levi. They were born born on American mothers day May 10th.
What a cute pair!!