A Seminar, Extortion and Surgery

Above: Elizabeth (left) helping sister Savannah with her math homework.

Hello! We are in the very pit of winter here in Budapest! Temperatures are about 10 degrees when I take the kids to school in the morning and usually don't warm up above 20 degrees come midday! No one said European winters are easy! There is much to tell you about but here are just some of the highlights:

Seminar: There was a conference here recently in Budapest for all the Campus Crusade wives who serve cross-culturally (in a different country from their home country) from Vienna to Siberia; about 75 women attended. EB was asked to give her home organization and budgeting presentation as one of the optional seminars. After living in a foreign country for 3 1/2 years, EB feels like she can help and relate to what many of these missionary wives must endure in their attempts to run and manage a household outside of their own countries. EB said she enjoyed doing the seminar and I must admit that EB is gaining quite a reputation on this continent as well!

Extortion: Our dear Savannah was riding a public bus to and from the mall with several of her friends, along with the 17 year old big sister of one of her friends (who was acting as a chaparone). While on the bus they were approached by "the bus police," who flashed badges and demanded to see their tickets. Savannah and her friends produced the tickets and they had done everything just as they should to validate the tickets. But the machine on the bus that validates the tickets was not working properly. Still the "bus police" fined these girls the equivilancy of $50 for "not having a ticket to ride the bus." All the girls could come up with was the equivilancy of $10. The "police" took it and jumped off at the next stop.

We don't know if these ticket checkers were legit or some sort of scam looking for easy targets. We have heard young kids being targets of the bus police before. I know that I have never had someone on public transportation ask me for my ticket. This makes me think that Savannah and her friends were targeted by a bunch of bullies. All this happened after they missed the movie (Narnia) that they wanted to see because the theater's website posted the wrong start times.

Savannah was sad but I took her out for breakfast at McDonalds the next morning. I told her it was a hard lesson to learn but she has tasted first hand that life isn't fair and that, sad to say, strangers cannot be trusted.

Surgery: I took our Elizabeth back to her doctor in Vienna to get clearance to play basketball. He gave the clearance but also said she needs another surgery after the season is over. One of the tendons in her finger calcified onto the bone and therefore, even with therapy, Elizabeth is unable to fully extend her finger. Monday March 6th is the surgery day. I was hoping it would be outpatient surgery but they will want to keep her overnight.

We are getting ready for a very busy spring right now. From mid-February to early April, EB and I will either be in the States or hosting ministry teams here in Budapest who are coming from the States. Among other opportinities, doors are opening for me to share the "Why Wait?" message I prepared for Romania in some nearby high schools here in Budapest.

I wanted to check in and let you know we appreciate you and we need you to partner with us in our ministry out here in Eastern Europe. Our Lord is good, but never safe (I love that line from C.S. Lewis!).

Prayer Night: "Now I Know Why I am Here."

In World War II when Major Richard Winters helped liberate a concentration camp at Dachau, he said, "Now I know why I am here." Explaining, he could have said, "Now I know why I am in a far away country, far from home and family, fighting a war."

Last night on January 4th our ministry had an evening of prayer to begin another new calendar year. Some of our staff gave a presentation of the typical student of Budapest. Drug use is up, alcohol use is up (one popular drink is 45% alcohol!) and sex is common and casual. Even parents want to create a safe environment at home so their kids can experiment sexually. My heart sank and I remember thinking, "Now I know why I am here."

This is why I am not at home with my kids and why I am praying late into the night. Even in a deeper way, it is why we do not live in our home country or culture. It is to intercede and to cry out to God on behalf of those who do know not Him. It is to beg those who do not know God to be reconciled with Him (2 Corinthians 5:20) There is a soullessness not only in Hungary, but all across Europe. I believe that darkness is profoundly deeper here in Europe than in America.

Ultimately, evangelism is about spreading the glory of God to all people everywhere, regardless of how people behave or appear. Yet to see the symptoms when people reject Christ is both painful and motivating.

Yet we also prayed through lists of students who fall into several different categories: 1) actively investigating the gospel, 2) have received Christ, 3) actively sharing their faith or 4) even applying to join our staff. My spirit was lifted and the Holy Spirit reminded me of an Old Testament passage Paul quoted in Romans 11: God says, "I have kept for Myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." God is sovereign in calling and keeping men to Himself!

The world is full of great pursuits. Yet thank you for enabling us to participate in what we believe is the greatest pursuit!

Merry Christmas from Budapest!

(Above: Our kids participating in our family's giving tradition before we opened our presents. Also, our family ice skating at the Budapest city park on Christmas Eve.)

I thought we would take a couple of paragraphs and describe how we celebrated Christmas here on the other side of the world from America.

Christmas Adam party: At the Campus Crusade offices here in town EB and I put on our ministry's annual "Christmas Adam" celebration, which we have on the day before Christmas Eve. (get it? Adam came before Eve!) I ran the program while EB did the decorating and organized this event. It was both a family time and worship time for the 40 or so American families who either teach at the missionary school or work out of the Eastern European and Russian Campus Crusade headquarters located here in Budapest. EB received a hearty round of applause for her excellent work!

Christmas Eve Ice Skating: On Christmas Eve we continued another family tradition of ice skating at the Budapest city park. Even though the temp was over 40 degrees it was a lot of fun, especially for the kids. From there we went to our church's Christmas Eve celebration.

Family Give before Presents: We have a tradition that we do with our children in the days before Christmas. EB and I take money from our savings and gave each child a different amount based on their age. We then put before them photos and letters from about 10 ministries and individual missionaries that we like (most were not Campus Crusade ministries) and let the kids decide where to give their money. Our kids got so excited about this that each child dipped into their own personal money and gave even more to these ministries!

Christmas on a Sunday: Finally, at 5:30pm today, we began to open our presents. We decided to attend church in the morning and wait on the presents. It was unique to open presents in the evening (about the same time that our friends on the West Coast awoke to their Christmas mornings) but I am proud that our kids exercised the patience it took to persevere throughout the day.

Kingdom-Mentality Giving: I know this time of year many people give extra to their favorite charities. EB and I desire to exercise a "kingdom mentality" toward giving. We believe the Lord has already provided the money that every Christ-centered ministry needs. Therefore, EB and I encourage you to give generously to those ministries the Lord has put on your heart. Living outside of the US, I realize how much the Lord has blessed financially the American church and how great the needs are of Christian causes overseas. Thank you for the great generosity you have shown us and our friends! You are a great example of giving and being committed financially to the Great Commission world-wide. It is a privilege for our family to serve with you!

May the Spirit of generosity that sent God's Son to earth be yours all year long!

Love, Matt and EB

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello! We are considering this blog site as a permanent alternative to sending out email updates (However we will still email to notify of a new blog posting). As I learn better how to use this site, I can do some more creative things as we communicate with you what the Lord is doing in our ministry and in our family. Let me know what you think, please!

This fall Campus Cruasde for Christ Hungary shared Christ with over 2000 young people and saw 155 decisions for Christ! The ministry here in Hungary is accelerating like no time since the early 90s! You have played an important part of that as you not only pray but as you give as well. And not only give to EB and me but give to our Hungarian staff and ministries, too! Praise God!

Scroll below for pictures of some of our Hungarian staff taken at our recent staff Christmas party. Some are Hungarian, some are Americans. Some are with us for only one year; some have been with Campus Crusade for Christ Hungary since before the fall of Communism!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! We love you! Thanks for choosing to invest in our lives and ministry!

Matt and EB

photos from our Hungarian Campus Crusade staff party