April 06 Newsletter

Magyar Mullets´ Newsletter 06-04
Hungary, April 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings in the only name under heaven given among men by which
we may be saved! We had a special celebration on Easter Sunday in
our church. Two ladies wanted to identify themselves as followers of

the risen Lord Jesus Christ and they were baptized. Many of their
family members were able to witness the occasion and hear how the
ladies found forgiveness for their sins and were made right with God.
It was a joyous day!
We’ve had a full month. As usual, the more tightly packed the
schedule, the more likely our vehicles are to break down. It seemed
I was squeezing a fix-it occasion for my own vehicles or the vehicles
of my teammates into every spare minute this past month. Broken
cars give me occasion to revisit my friendly mechanics with cinnamon
rolls and to retell the story of why I came to Hungary. They always
ask what I’ve been doing; I’m always ready to give an answer, but
not all occasions are so planned and predictable.

Two weeks ago I took my 78-year-old friend Géza bácsi to a small
town in the Matra mountains. His old German Shepherd guard dog
had died and one of his old friends offered to give him hers. He told
me the dog
was too big to fit in his car and he didn’t want the dog to soil it, so he
thought it better to invite me to take him in my van. They had
prepared sausage and pickles for us to eat on arrival. I soon
discovered there were four generations under one roof. I took a
picture of the room we sat in with the great-grandma (85ish),
while grandma (60ish) went to get the dog. The mom wasn’t home,
but two daughters and a son were. That was the last picture I
took that day. When the dog found us sitting in the room with
the great-grandma, it went nuts. The grandma was too afraid of the
dog to control him; he clamped onto my arm, but let go and managed
to sink his teeth into Géza’s arm. We managed somehow to get a door
closed between us and the dog. (I heard some new Hungarian
vocabulary from the ladies.) After we all calmed down they insisted
on calling the vet to come sedate the dog. While we waited a couple
hours, Géza pruned their roses and they got curious about my
occupation.
My objective that afternoon was to transport a guard dog for Géza
and to get back in time for a small group/prayer meeting that evening.
I was quickly reminded that my occupation is to do whatever God
gives my hands to do and to proclaim the gospel on whatever occasion
my occupation affords me. I shared the gospel with the grandma, all
within earshot of great-grandma, and then the vet showed up. I got
home at 8:30 pm. Géza finally found a hospital that would give him a
tetanus shot, and he got home at 11 pm. He would have spent the
night in the doghouse, but he’s got a new dog.
Thank you for praying for us. We had five days away on a family
vacation to Sarajevo over Spring Break. We spent a day and a half
relaxing in a new water park (relaxing, that is, when we weren’t
competing in time trials down the water slide) with the Humphry
family. We enjoyed the Tunnel Museum and walking around the
Turkish quarter downtown. We were blessed in time spent with
other missionaries in Bosnia and while we were there, we got news
that the Olson family got their two-year residence permits. Praise God!
Others on our team are applying again, so we’d covet your prayers.
The same leaders got re-elected on April 23rd – pray for them to
seek the Lord in their governing.
Ask God to wake us up to the world around us that has yet to hear the
message of salvation by grace through faith. We’re grateful for your
participation with us in our occupation. We serve a risen Savior!
Brad, for all of us