.what.the...

Nowadays, more and more things that we use are manufactured in China. I really have nothing against that fact, or against the Chinese people as a whole. I just wish that the companies that make some of these products would hire someone who speaks proper English, in order to double-check all the things they write on these products.
Until they do, Arpi and I will continue to have a good laugh every once in a while - upon discovering the latest weird "English" word.

Here's the object of our latest cheerful moment:

What is the problem here? Take a closer look!

Although this was only a miniature box of washing powder from a toy kitchen set, the questions still remain:

1. What on earth is senior washing powder? (Is it perhaps to be used only by the elderly?)
2. What does forever whiteness mean? 'Cause if it means that once I have washed my clothes with this powder, they will never get soiled again, then bring it on! I want this powder in my house!
3. The absolute favourite is do-it-yourselfery. What ?!?!?!
   

If you are able to decipher the meaning of any of the above expressions, please, feel free to do so.

Or, if you have any similarly weird texts from a product, we would love to have you share.

Let's all have a good laugh!

.beautiful.slovenia.

This past week-end, we were blessed to go to Celje (Slovenia) to attend the wedding of our friends, Justin and Erin. The wedding was beautiful, held in a picturesque setting on a mountaintop.

Here are some pictures to show you the reason why we are now in love with Slovenia, and wish we could spend every week-end there...

Justin and Erin

Tiny village (Svetina) hidden amidst the hills

Sunrise

Simply beautiful

.a.good.read.

I have just finished reading the book below:

It is the diary of a Bosnian Serb journalist, who had lived in Pale (15 km outside of Sarajevo) and worked at the Sarajevo television station before the war broke out. He refused to cooperate with the new Serbian authorities that took over Pale and shelled the city below them, and was marginalized and had to flee. However, he kept a diary during the first three months of the war, which was a fascinating read for me during the last few weeks.

If you are interested in the modern history of the Balkans, reading this book is a must. I highly recommend it. (It's available on amazon)

.mi.casa.es.su.casa.tambien.

if you are not a friend of the swedish furniture giant ikea, then do not read this post, since this post is nothing else but praise for their korall anemon tent we recently got for nina. she loves it! it is her own little house inside the big house!

she has a few furry stuffed squatters, but hey, we all have to have neighbors, right?

kicking back, literally :)

.breakfast.anyone.

mornings are by far the most favorite (should i say favoritest?) part of my day. all of us together, tranquility factor high (since nina gets up at 6am and the entire world still sleeps), java levels high, nina munching on cheerios and milk - can it get better than this?

somehow everything tastes better if you use two spoons

yumm :)

.impressions.

So many things have happened in the last few weeks. Lots of lessons, blessings, but more than anything: God's grace and beauty overflowing around us. Here are a few of my favorite moments:

School started. With the new semester at the Bible College, there are so many new students, and new faces. And yet, two of them stick out to me. Danijela, who is a Bosnian Serb, and Dunja, a Croat girl. They met here, on the first day of school. Amidst of all the 100 people on campus, again and again, I see them together. Sharing, talking, walking, sipping coffee. If you followed the news in the last 15 or so years, you know how cool this is.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28, The Bible)
I love how living and powerful God's word is :)

Last week-end we were blessed to go to Celje, Slovenia. We took our friend Erin there, (who has been interning here) as she is getting married to our other friend, Justin - who has been a missionary/pastor there for 10 years. Other than the sweet fellowship with them, we were so blessed to see the church there, and to see a part of what used to be our country growing up. It is, of course, so different now, and we did feel like foreigners and tourists. Which is what, in all reality, we were.
Slovenia is beautiful, and as we drove back to Hungary, we agreed that we will be back (and not just for Justin and Erin's wedding in three weeks)!

I was planning on ironing tonight. I hate ironing. Thankfully, God had a much better plan. Our good friends, Phil and Joy invited us out for a double date (double trouble, some may call it). Oh, what a sweet time it was! We drove to Székesfehérvár (try pronouncing that! - if you're not Hungarian), had dinner, and then went grocery shopping in a BIG store. (Grocery shopping can be a lot of fun when you live in Vajta, a village of 600 people and three tiny grocery stores, and a 40 minute drive from the closest bigger grocery store.) And it was fun! Great fellowship, sweet times of sharing, lots of laughter!

All I can say is: I love God, and I love His surprises! He does more than I could ever think up or plan, and in all the things He plans for me, His love is written all over. His personal touch of knowing just what it is that would encourage me that day is so unique. I always know it was Him who surprised me. Who ever said that being a Christian was boring?

.pictures.

these two pictures were taken some time apart, what do you think?

.ministry.update.

we must apologize for not having written a ministry update for a shamefully long time. we know that this update has been way overdue, and we are thankful for your patience, prayers and support.

a lot has happened with us since we last updated you, and we will try to summarize below, as well as share with you a little bit of what we believe lies ahead of us.

spring
during the spring semester, arpi continued heading up the administrative, legal, and accounting departments of the bible college and conference center. in a place this big, you can imagine that he always has his hands full, but he is loving every minute of it. there are always plenty of deadline challenges, as well as lessons in faith when it comes to dealing with government offices, finances, or people in any other way.
the lord opened a wonderful door this spring for us to get the bible college accredited in the european union, which is something we tried once before after the school moved to hungary in 2002. the accreditation process is a huge undertaking, lots of paperwork, red tape and such. arpi gets to be part of it, and watch god work. please be in prayer for the process as well as arpi and gabor, a lawyer from the budapest church who is doing an amazing job helping us navigate the maze of european bureaucracy.

this past semester arpi had over twenty hungarian students and he taught the book of daniel. it was an amazing time of seeing god work in the hearts of the students.

andi was happy to translate the women’s discipleship class, where we studied the book of james. she also lead a discussion / work-group which was a stretch time-wise, but a huge blessing all in all, as it gave her a wonderful opportunity to minister to some of the hungarian girls much more closely.

during the outreach season, in april, we traveled to sarajevo (bosnia and herzegovina) to seek the lord. while there, he confirmed to us that he has a place of ministry for us there some time in the future, which was a great encouragement for us. however, the time is not yet, and we continue to seek him and wait for him to open the effective door when he sees it fit. until then, we hope to take outreach teams there to work alongside and support some of the missionaries that are there now. bosnia and herzegovina’s spiritual climate is not a light one, and we desire to be an encouragement to those that are already there serving the lord now.

summer
you might remember that every summer the bible college hosts an intensive, six-week discipleship program called a vision for life. years ago, when serving here, andi helped set up the first such program, and this year, arpi got to teach the book of hebrews and daniel to the twenty students that came. it was encouraging to see young lives changed.

during the summer, andi busied herself with (other than nina) translation work, and interpreting occasionally. in the spring, our pastor, phil metzger asked andi if she would be willing to organize and head up a translation and publishing board for calvary chapel hungary. as the ministry in hungary has been growing, we have been trying to connect the churches in the different towns as much as possible so we can be even more fruitful and so we can reach even more areas of the country. translating and publishing good books, that are needed in this country, and doing the job well, is definitely a priority.

after picking the people for the board, andi’s job now mainly consists of coordination, but when time allows, she likes to do a bit of translation and proofreading as well.

hopefully, in our next newsletter, we will be able to announce the title of our first finished project to you.

prayer requests:

• may we fall more in love with the lord.
• protection for our marriage, and our time together as a family.
• for arpi’s classes this semester. anointing, guidance and blessing from the lord.
• may god lead arpi and gabor as they pursue the accreditation of the bible bollege in hungary. favor with the authorities regarding this.
• wisdom for andi in coordinating and leading the translation board.
• daily wisdom in raising our daughter, nina.
• for god to continue to use us in ministering to the hungarian students and interns.
• god’s timing and an effective door into bosnia in the future.

.transmogrifier.

the transmogrifier is a fictional device invented by calvin (calvin and hobbes by bill watterson) capable of transmogrifying any object into any other object. the first transmogrifier calvin invensts consists of an upside-down cardboard box and using the transmogrifier he transformed himself into a tiger, a dinosaur, an elephant, and other animals.

nina got transmogrified today, but it did not happen thanks to a cardboard box. a friend gave nina a necklace made of plastic "pearls" and it instantly transformed daddy's innocent baby into a princess - a posing, self-aware woman. scary!

.loop.

1,996 kilometers (or 1,240 miles) is the distance we covered while driving in four different countries lately, but we are finally (and happily) back home - sleeping in our own beds, using our own showers and bathrooms, ... sweet home :)

we went to split (croatia) first, where we visited our friends (tim and grace warholic). we went to church and we were also able to go to the beach a few times. fun! fun! fun!

on our way to sarajevo, we stopped in mostar (bosnia and herzegovina) for lunch. beautiful town, beautiful landscape, but bosnia definitely needs more highways.

in sarajevo (bosnia and herzegovina) we spent some time with our missionary friends, the mezgers. we love you mezgers, you are much fun and we treasure your friendship :) when in bosnia, you must have burek or čevapi - we, of course, had both :)

after sarajevo we stopped to see laci and keri in vukovar (croatia) and spent some time talking about everything and nothing. it was one of those sweet conversations that had no major topics, but it was very satisfying and encouraging. we hope laci and keri feel the same way - altough they did not even mention it on their blog that they had visitors :(

during our entire trip:

• nina threw up twice,
• we slept in five different beds,
• we had one flat tire,
  
• we spent $239 on fuel,
• we went through 27 tunnels,
  
• and we had to show our passports about ten times. border guard #7 informed me that my passport was so full with stamps that i had to get a new one before traveling again - thankfully, i was able to acquire one within 48 hours (for further details read this post).

the leprosy passport (as we call it),
since you get very special treatment
(read, you are treated as a leper)
every time you board a plane
or try to cross a border
bearing one of these passports

in serbia we visited our parents, spent time with family, consumed enormous amounts of junk-food and nina further developed her love for furry four-legged animals and dirt :)