Dear friends and supporters,

Once upon a time we lived in Michigan. Then we moved to Hungary, and we forgot what it’s like to be really cold (still pretty cold, mind you, but not really, really cold). But now we remember! Here in upstate New York the mercury has seemingly dropped out of the bottom of the thermometers. But February is almost upon as and so we wanted to update you on what’s been happening in our lives and ministry over the last couple of months.

The holiday season provided an enjoyable break and an opportunity to spend time with family. In January, our schedule again began to pick up as we headed out for more deputation and John began to get more involved in working with students at Houghton College. This last week John substitute taught a class for the professor of missions at Houghton. It seemed to be well received by the students. The class was on “Global Issues,” and John taught a one-hour class on poverty. It was an interesting opportunity, as John was able to present some material from his master’s thesis for the first time in an educational setting. It was a good chance to get some feedback and response on the material. It was also just fun for John to be “back in the saddle” again with one of his favorite activities: teaching.

To cap the week off John participated in an Eastern European night at the college coffee shop. There were missionaries and other people from several Eastern European countries. Everyone shared stories, had some goodies from the countries in question (Tricia made some Hungarian cake squares for the event), and John shared his “Hungarian 10-question challenge.” He also presented the OMS English Camps in Hungary as a short-term missions opportunity for students and interested community members from Houghton. John has made a goal of recruiting a team from Houghton for English camps this summer in order to expose students here to the ministry that we are involved in. We hope this will bear fruit not only for the short-term staffing needs for English camp this summer, but possibly for the long-term as students are given the opportunity to see missions in Hungary as a future ministry option through OMS.

Missions in Europe is a both a great challenge and also a great opportunity. A survey from a two years ago showed that while only a minority of people in European countries call themselves believers in God, there is a number of agnostics that is often just as large or larger—people who don’t believe in God but don’t consider themselves atheists, either. At the same time, a great many people are interested in spirituality. While old religious institutions in Europe are largely viewed as antiquated and irrelevant, many people are searching for spiritual meaning in their lives. Another recent survey shows that young people in Europe are more interested in religion than their parents were. A new generation is rising up with unanswered questions about the meaning of life and many of them aren’t satisfied with the secularized answer of the last 100 years. A fresh presentation of the old, old story of a God who gave His only Son for the sins of the world has an opportunity to get a new hearing in our day, provided that it is presented in a way that is relevant and well-grounded in life, reason, and experience. Please pray for us as we continue to move towards returning to Hungary to share that message with a new generation that desperately needs it.

God bless you wherever you are, and however cold you may be!

John and Tricia

Family notes:
 
We’re so blessed to report that the kids are thriving. They enjoyed being with Tricia’s family over the holidays and being able to share Christmas with them for the very first time in their young lives. Hannah has been making friends here. She’s involved in our homeschool co-op and in a children’s choir and she greatly enjoys both of these. Matthew still wants to play games all.day.long, board games, card games, computer games - - any games with anyone who will play with him. Hannah and Matthew both start their first gymnastics class next week as well. Jonathan is growing very quickly and we think he’ll be walking very soon! He continues to brighten our days and delight us with his smiles, giggles and waves. It’s hard to believe his first birthday is only 6 weeks away.