Dear Special Friends,

Blessings from Budapest, Hungary. We want to be one of many that wish you and all your family a Special Merry Christmas in 2018.

2018 has been another amazing year for us here in Hungary. So much has happened, so many lives have changed, so much yet to do. We feel so privileged to be a part of what God is doing in this part of the world.

This will be our 22nd Christmas that we have celebrated here in Budapest. This year our two daughters Alexandra (24) and Audrianna (22) will be with us. Our boys and their families will be in Nashville.

So after 22 years you can imagine that this is “home” for us. To our kids it’s also the Christmas they have grown up with. We will enjoy it so much. Celebrating, eating, enjoying Budapest, and probably watching some Hallmark Movies.

Jim and Brenda

Dear Friends,

This photo of us was taken here in Budapest, standing in front the Hungarian Parliament Building.  It amazes us that we are now in our 22^nd year here in Budapest, reaching Eastern Europe with the Gospel.

            On November 8th we will celebrate our 38th Wedding Anniversary.  This is shocking even to us.  We will probably go to southern Hungary for the day and visit a Castle and relax and enjoy the day and reminisce. Twill be fun…

In the past few weeks we have been to Poland, Slovakia, Serbia and Bulgaria. And in the coming days I will be in Macedonia and Kosovo.  I imagine most people could barely find these countries on a map. But to us these countries are as familiar as traveling to Florida and Georgia or Colorado, Texas or Nevada or California.

Whether we are ministering to Gypsies in Slovakia or Bulgarians in the capital city of Sofia, all we see is people that God has called us to reach.  And because YOU are helping US, YOU are also reaching them.

            Sometimes I wish you would have been with me last week when I was meeting with two pastors in Bulgaria and they shared with me their plans for a new church in the section of the city with no church in it.  We are helping them start this church.   Then in a year or so I will be amazed to meet with them again and they will share with me so many stories. 

So in the midst of all the POLITICAL news in America we continue to move forward reaching this part of the world.  “Yes, we voted…We have always voted as overseas absentee voters…”

            Special Family News . . .This THANKSGIVING we will travel to the USA to be in Nashville with our kids and grand-kids.  We always so enjoy not only being with our kids but also being in America for 10 days.  Plus our kids love that we would travel all this way to be with them…

So as we end this year we would ask you to prayerfully consider giving a Special Christmas Offering before the end of the year.  We need to raise an extra $7,000 before the end of the year.                   

                        Taking the Gospel to the NATIONS . . . ,                                                                                                                                   

                                    Jim and Brenda                                                          

Prayerfully consider whether you can you help us with a Special Christmas Offering before the end of the year?.

Jim and Brenda

Dear Special Partner,

As I write this note to you we are sitting here in the living room of our house here in Budapest.

We are just talking about how blessed we are to have people like you that stand with us in all we do. We are thinking back 21 years ago when we moved to here with our four children.  Back in 1997 when we came here we thought we would be here maybe one to three years.  “Man makes his Plans but God guides our steps..”  Proverbs.

Since that time we have seen over 250 churches started, all the way from Poland to the north to Bulgaria and Albania  to the south.

And now we are here in Hungary with three of our four children now living in the USA. We got to see a lot of them this summer and our two grandchildren.  Its so nice to see our boys now have families and just watch them from the background of how they raise their kids. Im sure our parents did the same for us. Just watched and gave is wisdom when we asked.  We thank God all our children are serving the Lord and involved in churches.

So as we finish the last days of Summer and enter Fall we continue to do what we feel God has called us to do over here in Hungary and Eastern Europe.

As always, thank you for helping us do what we are doing. We are well aware that we couldn’t do anything without you standing with us.

In Awe of His Faithfulness.

Brenda and Jim

Hello Special Friends,

Blessings from Budapest once again.

Sometimes i wish you could be with me here as we minister and talk to some of the amazing leaders we work with. If you were with me you would hear story after story of how people’s lives are being transformed through some of these local churches we have been privileged to help start.

Last week I was in once again in Bulgaria. While I was there I shot the video below. We think you will enjoy hearing what is going on in that country. I got to hear amazing stories from a Bulgarian Pastor, whose name is Grozdan and his wife Slavica. We helped them start a church in 20 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

They shared with me the impact their church is making on the neighborhood where the church is. One of the programs that they have is a special needs school for children with Autism. They shared how not only the children are seeing great results but how the parents are in awe that this church would provide this special school.

This is just one sample of stories that we hear on almost a weekly basis of how these churches are changing individuals lives. We are humbled that we get to be a a part of it.

This year we once again have the opportunity to help start TWO more churches in Bulgaria.

Even now I am in contact with these leaders there and they are ready to start these churches in the coming months. Can you help us do this? We invest $4,000 in each of these churches.

It always amazes us after all these years of doing this, that we get to be a part of seeing so many lives impacted by these new churches.

We Miss Seeing Our Grand-kids Grow Up . . . But . . .

As you can imagine living so far away from our kids and grand-kids can sometimes make us feel a little sad. But our kids in the USA are so good about sending us photos and talking with us on FACETIME.

Just about every week we talk to them and now they are getting old enough to talk to us. We use todays technology in every way we can to talk to them. But its still not the same as being there.

This summer we will be in America for several weeks again and we will for sure get to spend lots of time with them...

This was “Grandma Brenda” with our Grandson, Micah in Nashville.

 

 

Dear Special Friends,

Wow…Welcome to year 2018!

It was 36 years ago today that we started our lives as missionaries.   We remember so well that day when we got on an airplane in Miami to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica.

Wow, January 1982. We could never have imagined all the amazing things that have happened because we stepped out in faith to go and do what we felt God had put in our hearts.

Living in Costa Rica, Russia and now here Hungary since 1997 it’s been an amazing “ride.” We have loved it all and still love doing what we do!  

So many people gave us little chance as missionaries. Others said we were not qualified and I remember someone telling me even after being missionaries a few years that, “we had no business being missionaries.” But God quite often uses the most unlikely people.

In the natural maybe these people were right. We probably really weren’t qualified as missionaries, but God saw something many people couldn’t. Now here we are THIRTY-SIX YEARS LATER still serving and loving what we do.

And we are still excited about what God has for us this year, 2018!

Our Plans For 2018 – To Help Start Another 10 Churches!

Can You or Your Church Help Us Do This?

 We will invest about $4,000 in each of these new churches. We work with key national leaders in each country to start these churches. Each of these new churches is pastored by a national who speaks the language and knows the culture. The money we invest is enough to help for the first twelve to twenty-four months. By then the Pastor has taught his people to begin to support the new church. We primarily help to start the churches in towns that do not have an active evangelical church in them.

In the past EIGHTEEN years we have helped key national leaders start more than 275 churches. Churches that are now making an impact upon their cities. You have helped us do this! This year we will see at least 10 more started.

As we begin our 36th year as missionaries, we are amazed that we get to do what we do and absolutely love being missionaries in Hungary.     

                        Excited About What God is Going to Do in 2018,                                                      

                                    Jim and Brend

PS.  As you make your plans for this new year, prayerfully consider whether the Lord would have you stand with us here in a greater way. Possibly you or your church can help sponsor a new church.

Dear Special Friends,

Merry Christmas once again from Budapest, Hungary.

We love the Christmas Season. This will be our 21st Christmas here. We will have our two daughters with us here for Christmas.

When we look back on this year its been so amazing to see all that has happened in this part of the world with the spreading of the Gospel. From Poland to the very north to Bulgaria and Albania to the south and all the countries in-between. Thank you for helping us do this.

Even now we are making plans for next year, 2018. Wow! 2018. Its going to be an exciting year as we will continue to keep reaching this part of the world and start our 36th year as missionaries.

So we will take some time off this month and enjoy our kids that are here in Budapest and enjoy the Christmas Season. Brenda will cook lots of Christmas goodies, we will watch some movies, play games, play in the snow and go out to dinner several times.

But most of all just enjoying time together relaxing and laughing.

So A Special Merry Christmas to you from us here Budapest.

Jim and Brenda

Wow, its Fall already. 

People used to tell us as that as we grow older the years will seem to pass faster. I guess in someways that’s been true. We look at our children lives and see both of our boys now in their 30’s we find ourselves thinking back where we were living at their ages. This is even more true too now that we have two grandchildren.

But when we do look back we see all God has done in our lives, all the places we have lived and how faithful God has always been in our lives.  Even now when we see the flooding in Texas  and Hurricane in Florida we realise that we have so much to be grateful for.

So even though we in the last four months of 2017 we are thrilled all that has happening in the minister over here this year. These last four months are going to be exciting too as we have so many opportunities to help start more churches. Thank for helping us do what we do.

REACHING ALBANIA

In the last couple of weeks I have been to the nations of Slovenia, Albania and Kosovo. It’s been so wonderful to see some of the churches that we have helped to start in the past and see how they are impacting their cities and towns.

Here I am pictured with my Albanian Pastor friend, Hervin. We have worked alongside Hervin for over fifteen years to help him start over ten churches in Albania. In the coming years we want to do many more. Click the link below to find out more about how we help start these churches.