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May 2005 Dear Friends and Family, Greetings! We hope this letter finds you well. This is our Spring Fling letter since we never sent one at Christmas this year. We, like you, are completing a fun filled school year. Our whole family continues to work and study at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School and though it is hard to believe, we have been here nine years. So just to spice things up a little, this past fall we requested a one year leave of absence from SMES. Much to our surprise they graciously agreed! So, our big news is that we are moving back to Hungary for a year’s mission trip. In December, our Presbyterian church’s session endorsed us as PCUSA missionaries to work alongside Pastor Emil Olah of The Hungarian Reformed Church. How did our call to this mission year in Hungary come about? A long time pastor friend, Pastor Emil, invited our family to come and work with him at a retreat/conference center of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Balatonfured, Hungary. The time seemed right for our family. The approval for our leave request and our churches willingness to endorse our trip was our first confirmation of God’s call. Why Hungary? As most of you know, Tammy and I met in 1989 in Central Europe. I was studying and working with seminary students in Budapest, Hungary, while Tammy was working for Young Life, at international schools in Vienna, Austria. After we married, we continued to work with Hungarians, exploring ways to expand recently legalized youth ministry opportunities. During these years we met Pastor Emil and his wife, Zsuzsa. In 1994 we returned to the U.S. to attend Fuller Theological Seminary. God then led us to San Juan Capistrano. We have been here ever since, but we have always remained connected with Hungary. What is the need in Hungary? During the Communist period (1946-1989), all church programs were restricted to within the four physical walls of the church building. With the fall of communism, the government returned previously nationalized schools and properties to the churches. The Hungarian Reformed Church has spent the past fifteen years re-establishing church schools, elder care facilities, youth and other church programs. One of these programs is the Siloam Mission Retreat Center http://www.tar.hu/siloamotthon. It was established as a place for spiritual renewal and Christian education. Pastor Emil and his wife have asked us to help them develop and expand this ministry to youth and congregations around Hungary and Europe. Since we have many friends in ministry throughout Europe, this was our second confirmation of God’s call. What will we be doing in Hungary? Tammy will home school our children part time, brush up on her Hungarian and hopefully develop a course for high school students to study the church in mission throughout Central Europe. Bob will work with Pastor Emil and Zsuzsa at the retreat center and prepare the way for our congregation’s mission trip in the summer of 2006. We are confident that God will fill our days with kingdom work as we make ourselves available. We also hope to find a Hungarian school and congregation that desire to establish long-term relationships with St. Margaret’s School and our home Community Presbyterian Church. What about the your children? Our children will attend a local Hungarian school, receive English home schooling part of the day, and are greatly looking forward to the adventure. They are excited about the chance to live in another country. This was our third and perhaps most important confirmation of God’s call! If you would like to be involved: Having been in missions before, we understand the fundamental need to have those in our natural family, church family and community of friends involved in this mission. This involvement takes the form of prayer, regular contact, visits and financial support. In fact, we couldn’t and shouldn’t do ministry without you. You can participate with us in this mission leave of absence in one or more of the following ways:
We did have a fourth and final confirmation of God’s call. Our youth director and his new wife agreed to live in our home and watch our cat for us. God is so good. We think of you often and pray that God will bless you richly this year. Time is very precious and we are thankful for our adventures, our health and our friends and family. Hope to see some of you in Magyarorsag. With great affection, The Auses
We are raising a budget of $36,000 for travel, living expenses and insurances. Our church is providing nearly one half of this budget. If you would like to join our financial support team, tax-deductible contributions can be made out to Community Presbyterian Church. Write Hungarian Mission in the memo line and mail to:
Community Presbyterian Church |