Dear Special Friends,

We are in the midst of an amazing summer here in America.   In just a couple of weeks we will be back in Hungary and Eastern Europe to start our 25th year there.

After being away almost two years from America we have been able to “almost” make up for it by seeing our kids/grandkids and family and friends all summer.

We are so enjoying our time in the USA.  We believe America’s Greatest Days are still ahead of her.  We get to be a apart of them.

But this summer we are  relaxing and resting and so enjoying ourselves.  In July we took a long vacation our WEST.  We started out in Denver and got a car and traveled to Wyoming, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, Montana, Idaho, Washington and ended the trip in Tillamook, Oregon along the Pacific Coast.  Along the way we saw family and friends and hiked so much.

At the end of the vacation we were so RELAXED AND REFRESHED.   Having lived overseas for almost all of the last 4o years it was wonderful to see America from the “car windows.”  America is soooo beautiful.

We are also so looking forward to getting back “home” to Eastern Europe and continuing what God has for us there.  We will continue to help key pastors and leaders in all these countries to help start new churches.

Thank you for helping us do what we do. Please know we well know we couldn’t do what we do without your generous support.

Jim and Brenda

 

 

Dear Special Friends,

A Few days ago we were in Croatia and we were amazed once again at the opportunities we saw there. Croatia is just to the south of Hungary and about 4 hours drive from our house to the Capital, Zagreb.    We met some amazing people there and look to make an impact upon this nation this year.

We are so excited about 2021 and all that it will bring.  We are expecting big things and this year once again we will look to see new churches started here in Eastern Europe.

It was was back in January 1982 that we first left the USA to serve as missionaries and now this year we are entering our 39th year, serving as overseas missionaries.  And WE STILL LOVE IT!  See photos below.

Like most people in the world last year didn’t exactly turn out the way we planned. So many things were different.  For us it was not being able to travel throughout the countries of. Eastern Europe like we had been doing for the last 23 years.

Now things are slowly getting back to normal and hopefully by summer borders will be back open.

But in the mean time we go forward with what we fell God has called us to do.

So our plans for this year are to see SEVEN new churches started.  So many have been in the planning stages for over year now. We are ready to go with them.  We are in regular contact with leaders in Albania, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

Someone asked us recently from America, “how long we were going to stay in Hungary?”  We still feel like this is where we are supposed to be and currently have no plans of leaving.  Its God’s Grace…

Thank you for helping us do all we do over here. We are well aware that we couldn’t do what we do with the support of so many in the USA that support us every month.

Excited about 2021

Jim and Brenda

 

 

Dear Special Partner,

Blessings from Budapest, Hungary once again.

Christmas!  It always been one of our favorite times of the year.  We always think of our own childhoods so many years ago for me, growing up in Wisconsin and Colorado and Brenda in Florida.

Our own families, who probably didn’t have much, but made Christmas so special for us as kids.

This Christmas will be our 24th Christmas in Hungary.  So nice.  Its usually cold here and sometimes snow on the ground and lights on the houses.  Our house will be decorated in our own traditions that we brought from America to make it feel so nice.

Of course this year, like most places around the world will be different.  For the first time our youngest daughter Audrianna will not be with us. She will stay in America and probably celebrate it with my family (Jim) in Colorado.  She is not allowed to come to Hungary because of border closures because of the Covid Virus.

But our 26 year old daughter Alexandra is with us here in Hungary so we will have her with us. So nice.  Our other three kids and their families will stay in Orlando and Nashville. We are so happy for them and a little sad for us.

But we will totally enjoy this Christmas Season.  We are soooo blessed.

We wish you an amazing Christmas. We pray you totally enjoy your Christmas Season.  I know we will… God has blessed us so amazingly we never take it granted.

We are EXPECTING GREAT things in 2021 as we continue to minister throughout the nations of Eastern Europe.

Merry Christmas to all from us here in Budapest.

Jim and Brenda

Dear Friends,

On November 8 we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.  Yes, on November 8, 1980 in Gainesville, Florida we said “I do.”  Florida girl with a Colorado guy.  So nice.

At the end of every Summer here in Budapest we can’t help but be reminded that it was the end of the summer back in 1997 that we left the USA to first moved to Budapest. 

We think of those days when we moved here with our four children, that we thought we would be here, maybe 1 – 3 years.

Now we are starting our 24th year here and continue to love it and feel this is where we are supposed to be in God’s plan for our lives.

We are still here but three our our four children now live in the US and we have three grandkids.

As we always say, thank you for helping us reach this part of the world with the gospel. In the midst of all that is happening in the United States and around the world, the gospel goes forward. 

Special Note From Brenda…

It is such a blessing to have our daughter, Alexandra here with us. She and I love to go for walks together and we both love music. But she is a daddy’s girl, he has a special place in her heart!

We are so thankful that even though we are 5,000 miles from the rest of our family, we are able to spend time with them through video chat and internet phone calls.

Its neat to watch online at least and hanging out with our younger son in Nashville and his family on their back porch and listen to our 3 1/2 year old grandson tell knock-knock jokes, play games with him and play peekaboo with his baby brother and watch his face light up and and hear him squeal!!! That is so special, even if it is via video chat.

Also it’s so awesome to watch online our older son and his family at the beach and to see our 5 year old granddaughter in Florida ride a wave in with her Daddy on a boogie board!

On her 5th birthday we were there at her party and saw the excitement on her face as she opened the presents we sent her and hear her sweet voice as she chatted with us via video chat! Special memories!

Also talking with our youngest daughter, Audrianna, who lives in West Palm Beach, as she was walking on the beach, I could hear the waves splashing on the shore. It’s almost like we are walking together. But not quite. We have had some great conversations!

Of course it’s not the same as being there in person but we are so thankful to stay connected and we feel so close to our kids, such a gift from God!

Jim and Brenda

Dear Friends,

We are so enjoying our summer here in Budapest. Of course we miss seeing our families in the US but we have made the decision not to dwell on things we can’t really control.

Mexican Food is my favorite (Jim) kind of food and I can never have too much of it. So for my birthday Brenda took me to the local Mexican Restaurant here in Budapest called La Iguana.. As you can imagine it’s just a little different than maybe what you might find in the US but we love it. Of course I had Chicken Fajitas and Brenda some kind of Tortilla dish.

We think you will enjoy the three minute video below. We share just a little of how we travel over here and show some of the neat people we get to work with. Just click the video Link here.

Click Here or the Photo Below to Watch The 3 Minutes Video. 

As we always say, thank you for helping us reach this part of the world with the gospel. In the midst of all that is happening in the United States and around the world, the gospel goes forward. 

Since we moved here in 1997 we have lost track of how many times we have traveled to all these countries that we work and minister in.

In the first years we moved here there were very few highways in Hungary and Eastern Europe. So we took trains a lot. That was and still is so nice.

Now there are highways going in all different directions from Budapest. Here they call highways “Autópálya” (Hungarian) or use the German word, “AUTOBAHN.”

Now it’s pretty easy, even going to Slovenia or Serbia for the day and may other countries and coming back in the same day. There are speed limits on the highways. It’s usually 130 kilometers per hour. Which is in the low 80’s in mph.

The highways are very safe and we love to take them everywhere. Sometimes we take the trains or even fly as it’s pretty convenient. Budapest has direct flights to to all the major cities in the countries of Eastern Europe.

Fortunately we both love to travel so rarely do we get tired of going to so many places. The nice thing about living in Budapest in the center of Eastern Europe is that when we do travel we usually are not gone for more than one or two nights. We so like “our own Bed and Pillows.”

In Awe of HIS Faithfulness!

Jim and Brenda

Dear Friends of CMI,

We probably like you are so looking forward to this summer and all the things that have gone on in the world in March, April and May.

Even though we are thousands of miles from the USA here in Hungary, are hearts go out to so many in America.

But in the midst of all this we have been moving forward to what we feel God has called us to do Eastern Europe.  The COVID-19 situation is mostly over here in Hungary and Eastern Europe although people are still vigilant.

Throughout the last few months the borders in almost of Europe were closed to non-citizens of each country.

Now they are open and we are free to travel to the countries of Eastern Europe.  So in the coming weeks we will be going to Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia and Albania.  Brenda is thrilled to traveling with me on some of these trips.

We still believe that this will be an amazing year of ministry and reaching so many with the gospel.

Personal Family Update . . .

• Some of you where aware that two of our kids in America had lost their jobs becuase of the virus situation.  We are thrilled to tell you that now they are doing fine and are getting back to work.
• This will be the frist summer in 23 years that we will not be going back to the US for several weeks.  We usually go back to visit our kids, grand-kids, families, take a vacation and speak at churches. Maybe later this year we can do this.

So we are going forward and expecting great things this summer here in Hungary.

Thank you for standing with us in all we do.

Jim and Brenda

Dear Special Friends,

WOW, how the world has changed in the last month!

With the COVID-19 passing through Europe and the USA and so many nations, we have seen such massive changes in everyone’s everyday life, work, and even the church.   

But as we heard one Pastor say;, “This should be the church’s finest hour.” In so many places it is so awe inspiring to see and hear the impact that Christians and local churches are making in their communities.

You may not hear much about these stories on the NEWS or in the Media, but it is happening. Sometimes through the online streaming of services or through Food Banks and a thousand other ways. So many amazing stories. So many lives touched.

We here in Hungary are also impacted by this but at the same time we try to continue to do what we feel God has called us to over here as missionaries.

Hungary also has social distancing, but most businesses are open or are opening and most people, including us wear masks as we go out in public.

The borders to most of the countries are opening.

It’s the same throughout all of Eastern Europe where we are in contact with so many of our friends from Poland to the north to Bulgaria and Albania to the very south.

It’s amazing to see the response of so many churches, adapting so quickly to online services.

We also attend church online over here.. But we so look forward to being able to be back in churches in person to be able to worship with so many of our friends.

Still working  all over Eastern Europe.

During these times when many people feel so unsettled and stressed, we are continuing to work with so many here in the countries of Eastern Europe to show them that the answer in the times of crisis is to turn to God.

This year we will see many new churches started in these nations. Thank you for helping us do this.

IN the Midst of all this there is an “air of expectancy” in the people. Expecting great things from God.

How Our Family is Impacted by Covid-19

Three of our four children live in America and this has impacted all three of their lives too.

Our youngest daughter, Audrianna lost her job and our son, Nathan who has his own business has had just about all work stopped for the next few months. Our son, Ryan who lives in Nashville and works for the Dave Ramsey Financial Organization is now working from home.

Sometimes it’s a challenge being so far from them during these times. But we are thankful to see how God is providing and will provide for them during these times.

They will come out stronger when this is all passed we are sure.

What We Are Watching during the “Stay at Home”,

Like millions around the world and here in Hungary, with the “Stay at Home” orders, during these days we have have been doing more reading, walking, running, and watching some TV too.

Brenda is not a big TV watcher and usually only watches it when I have it on.

Here is some of the things we are watching.

• The Last Alaskans
• PBS Baseball Series
• Lark Rise to Candleford
• HGTV
• The Masters Golf – (reruns)
• Jane Eyre
• Black and White Movies
• The Andy Griffith Show

We still believe that 2020 will be an amazing year.

In Awe of His Faithfulness,

Jim and Brenda