August 2012

Summer furlough in the states & the Olympics…

As I write this update, we are unpacking from our recent trip to the states. We arrived back in Tennessee in mid-June and were able to visit many family members, friends and supporters of ours, as well as cheering for the Hungarian Summer Olympic Team!
It was a good summer of seeing family, meeting new nephews, nieces and cousins, and sharing with new friends about our ministry opportunities here in Central Europe.
Before returning to Budapest last week, we headed to Ohio to drop-off Tyler at Cedarville University. He will be pursuing a degree in their Electrical Engineering program.
It’s always tough to leave our family in the states, but we’re excited about getting back into the normal routine of school and ministry.
Please pray for our kids as they begin another year of school; Grant (11th grade) Josie (7th grade) and MaryBeth (4th grade). Please pray also for Debbie as she will possibly be assisting the Supplementary Services department at I.C.S.B. this year.

Teammates Returning to Hungary Soon! …

Kevin & Joy Phillips have been in the states for over 2 years raising their support to return to Hungary full time. They served here for a 2-year period back in 2009-2010. We’re grateful that they are close to 100% of their needed monthly support and are now completing their Outfit & Passage funds. The Phillips are a vital part of the ABWE Hungary team and we’re excited to welcome them back to the church planting ministry here in Central Europe very soon.

Upcoming Ministry Schedule …

As I mentioned earlier, we returned to Hungary on August 23rd. Grant will start his junior year at ICSB (International Christian School of Budapest) on Monday, August 27th.
From September 18th-29th we will be in Burgas, Bulgaria meeting with our entire team from the CEEMed region. During this time we will be conducting our semi-annual team leaders meetings, as well as meeting with the other members of the ABWE Vision team.
Our weekly ESL classes are set to start on Monday, September 10th. We are excited to see our returning students again along with some new ones hopefully. Our students range in age from teenagers to grandparents. It’s both a joy and a privilege to be able to teach them. Last year there were a number of them that accepted Christ as Savior and we pray that more will make that decision in the coming year.
Please pray that we will have many opportunities to share the gospel with them and that they will be receptive to the truth.

Tyler’s Summer Ministry in Hungary…

As I mentioned in our last update, Tyler spent most of the summer here in Hungary serving as a part of a Hungarian Youth outreach ministry called SpeakOut. He spent 4 weeks in Keszthely, Hungary and had the opportunity to share Christ numerous times with his campers.

The first week that he was there was dedicated to training. Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws” was the foundation for their evangelism efforts. Each week Tyler served as a tutor group leader to 3-6 Hungarian teenagers. It was challenging at times for him to be able to communicate with the guys, but he was able to effectively share the gospel with each of them multiple times.

The highlight of his time at SpeakOut came during the final week when one of his campers accepted Christ as Tyler led him through the plan of salvation through a Hungarian translator. Praise the Lord!

We are thankful that he was able to spend the additional time in Hungary this summer and we are grateful to those who committed both prayers and finances for him to be there.

Engagement Announcement …

We are excited to share the news that our oldest son Brian is engaged! He and his fiancé, Ariel Vaughan, will be married next May. Brian is finishing his college classes this December and will walk with his graduating class at Bryan College on May 11, 2013. Their wedding will take place on May 31, 2013.