September 28, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings at the end of our first month. Things continue to go smoothly. The kids went to school today for the first time without complaining of butterflies in their stomachs. One stayed home yesterday to rest and have some down time. This was the first time she had asked to do this. It was a rejuvenating time and she scurried back to school this morning with a wonderful attitude. The other is taking a dance class and really enjoying it. This past month has offered us several opportunities to reconnect with those we knew well from or time here in the nineties. Most of our friends now have children and it is lovely to be together as families. The kids somehow manage to find ways to communicate despite obvious language barriers.

Tammy and I have had several interesting ministry opportunities present themselves as we have reconnected with many of these people. Most of them are not things we ever would or could have imagined so it is exciting to see how God can and will use us. We are trying to focus our time and energy in this local area or Presbytery. This has been suggested by Emil and as he is our inviting pastor, we have put ourselves under his leadership.

I have been invited to preach at several churches over the next months. These are churches pastored by former classmates of mine and I will be filling in for them. Tammy and I have begun teaching a weekly Theological English Language seminar at the Reformed Theological Academy of Papa about 40 miles from here. This school educates the pastors in the Transdanubian District of Hungary (western Hungary). It was closed by the communist government in 1948 and was re-opened in 1996. I attended the school year opening ceremonies at the Academy. After the ceremony it was like a mini-reunion, I met several former classmates from my days in the Reformed Seminary in Budapest. Three were professors and teachers at the Papa seminary and one was the pastor of the Reformed Church in Papa. The Dean subsequently invited us to offer this elective course.

It was very interesting therefore when last weekend our family was invited by a dear friend to record the audio portion of an English language curriculum she has just finished writing. It is designed specifically for those wanting to learn theological language. She has been teaching a similar course for ten years at the Catholic seminary in Budapest. She gave us many ideas and resources. The recording was fun for all of us as we got to sit in a sound proof room and have a tech tell us what to do.

This past weekend we visited Budapest. It was a treat to return to this beautiful city. Since our last visit 5 years ago there have been noticeable changes, especially in terms of the cities appearance. In stead of the dirty, black and crumbling facades that we remember the buildings are bright, newly refurbished and painted. It makes such a great difference. Budapest is really looking like the Paris of Central Europe. We also noticed a sense of well being among the people we know. The oppressive feeling of the past is gone.

With love,

The Auses