Rite of passage: Manufacturer’s defect
Dear Automobile Manufacturers, First of all, I would like to let you know that I have been using your products for more than 50 years. I like the improvements you have made since I first started driving. When I first bought one of your products, it didn’t have air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes, seat belts or even a radio. By adding all of these upgrades, you have made using your products much more enjoyable. I do miss...
Rite of passage: Missionary manna
One of the things I won’t miss as I retire from taking teams across the globe are the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For the last 25 years, you could count on two things when you went on mission trips with me. The first was that we would share our faith and talk about Jesus. The second thing you could count on is that every day, we would have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and cookies for lunch. If you took all the...
Rite of passage: The greatest gift
Greetings again from Budapest, Hungary. Thanks to all of you who have been following along virtually and praying as we proclaim the love of Christ. It has been an exciting journey as I have retraced my steps in starting this ministry 25 years ago. The teenagers I met on the street back then are now married and have families of their own. One night, I was invited to Dori and Krisztián Derhan’s home for dinner. Dori was one of my first...
Rite of passage: Universal language
Greeting from Budapest! I am grateful to those of you who are following and praying for us. The work has not been easy, but it has not been in vain. I have often been told that Hungarian is the second-most difficult language in the world. I would have to disagree; I think it is the most difficult. Our interpreter this summer is a woman whose name is four letters long, but three of them are not found in the English alphabet. So she...
Rite of passage: Retracing the past
Twenty-five years ago, I was working with the European Baptist Convention to assist with their youth camp in Grindelwald, Switzerland. Students gathered from all over Europe to attend this camp. One year, we had a few Hungarian students attending; they had spent their lives growing up under the communist regime. The Berlin Wall had fallen, and Communism was quickly losing its grip on their country. The last Russian troops had left,...
Rite of passage: ‘Where you at?’
Greeting from Budapest! As you read this, I am serving in Hungary. I am glad so many of you are following along with me. I miss my wife, my boys and their wives, but most of all, I miss those two little boys who call me Poppy. When I started leading mission teams 45 years ago, we didn’t have cell phones, computers or even internet. If I wanted to connect with my family while overseas, I had to go find a big box with a little box...
