Bogota

Well, I must say that life has picked up the pace. You might say a marathon pace, but at least I like to run. :)

We've been to Bogota, Colombia and back. It was a wonderful experience where we celebrated 30 years of ministry with the North Bogota Wesleyan Church. Due to time restraints, I'm posting some pictures below. We're sitting in an airport now awaiting our flight to Asia.

Bogota - capital city of Colombia  -8 million people

Colombians know how to celebrate! Dancing, tambourines, and great worship.

Honoring Pastor Juan Pineros (30 years of ministry) with a plaque. One of the comments Pastor Juan says to those in ministry is: "you smell of sheep," meaning the shepherd is with his flock.  This was referred to on the plaque.

U.S team with two of our translators. What an enriching and encouraging time for all of us.

So enjoyed this young lady, Carolina.

Oscar was our translator, a wonderful young may who served us so graciously. I loved all the 20-somethings that attended the church.

On our free day we toured a salt mine where Stations of the Cross were either carved in the stone or displayed.

Station of the Cross representing Christ's blood shed for us.

Dennis preaching on Sunday morning.

Catching up . . .

I should be working on post FLAME assignments as I sit in the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, NC, but I feel the need to catch my blog readers up on life. It's been over three weeks. Yikes! How has life past by so quickly?

Though life has been full, the weeks have been rewarding and fulfilling.

Soon after our return from Budapest, we headed to Rock Island, IL, where we had a great time sharing at Heritage Wesleyan Church. Great things are happening in and through this body of believers. It was an awesome weekend sharing with their missions team, and enjoying the services, where Dennis had the privilege to preach. Heritage has a heart for the world that many of our M's around the world count on for support and encouragement. Thanks Heritage for your part in making a difference globally!

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend Julie and I followed Dennis as we drove up to Grand Haven, MI. The fact that we were going to help Mike and Joni get their new home settled was a surreal experience. I told Julie as we were driving up highway 69, "How is this?! You are in the car with me, and we're driving up to MI to help Mike and Joni move in to their new home. Crazy!" I stayed a few days longer to help Joni. We sorted through and organized just about every room. They have a lovely little home in a great neighborhood.

Miles

Celebrating Julie

Then, on the 5th of September, we celebrated Julie's 26th birthday. So special to be in Indy for her birthday. We celebrate the beautiful young woman that she is. We tried out a new restaurant, Bluebeards, on Virginia Avenue right next to our favorite downtown coffee shop, Calvin Fletcher. It was a delight to have Heidi, Julie's great friend and house mate, join us.

Cher

Finally, why am I sitting in an airport in NC? Well, I just finished up a week of FLAME classes that help adult ministerial students and lay ministry staff and volunteers within the Wesleyan Church to prepare for effective ministry as they work toward licensing and/or ordination. I began this pursuit prior to our move to Europe, and now hope to finish by next summer. I loved the learning environment and networking with others in ministry. Made several new friends. I discovered one in particular who's daughter is a college friend of our daughter, Julie. Dennis will sigh when he reads that I have found yet another kindred spirit. :) Ah, Dennis, I don't think you can argue with Anne Shirley, "Kindred spirits aren't as scarce as you think." :)

Well, it's time to get to work on those post-class assignments. Until next time . . . 

Szia, Budapest!

It was during our first days in Budapest when Maria, our landlady, made her way up to our flat to explain how to use her "old, but good" washing machine. Later, heading down the stairs I heard her say in what became a familiar rhythmic fashion of goodbyes: Bye, chow, szia, goodbye. I immediately responded, Bye, See ya!

The stairs to our flat.

Maria turned around with a surprised look on her face. You know Hungarian?

At that time I didn't know Hungarian, nor did I know that there was a Hungarian word that sounds just like our English phrase, "See ya." I responded to her question explaining that what I said was short for "See you later." I further gestured, pointing to my eyes meaning "see" and then to her, meaning "you." She didn't understand my lame attempt at explaining our casual manner of an English farewell. With a shrug, a chuckle, and a wave of the hand, she dismissed me making her way down the steps.

Stepping back into our flat, I quickly referenced our Hungarian/English dictionary to find out that szia is simply an informal Hungarian word for hello or goodbye. Informal meaning it is used when speaking to children or people you know on a first-name basis.

Living in Budapest just short of three years doesn't make us experts on the Hungarian culture, but we definitely learned to know this beautiful city on a first-name basis. And, that made it difficult to say goodbye.

Special moments enveloped our final days. Josh's visit was extra special and rounded out all our kids visiting us during our Europe season. Several of the photos in this post were taken by him. He was able to capture people dear to us and familiar places that never ceased to amaze us.

Freedom Bridge. Loved having you, Josh!

This springy little lady bug hung on my pantry door.

Szia to our flat - our favorite place to live. I ask God for windows, and He gave me lots of them.

Szia to our favorite bridge - the Szabadság Hid (Freedom Bridge) where we left our mark with a engraved lock - D&G 2012. This spot holds meaning too dear to share.

Szia to the awesome public transport. Out and about in the city was easy, not to mention that a 10-minute wait was a rare maximum time to board a bus, tram, or the metro.

Szia to the night beauty of the city.

Szia to good friends, Zoli, Ella, and Krisztian.

Szia to our landlords and friends, Frank and Maria.

We were told that it's better to find good landlords over the price of the flat. I don't think there are any better landlords in this world than Frank and Maria. It didn't take long for us to grow to love them.

 Szia to my favorite Costa coffee baristas.

Laszlo at Corvin Costa, one of several baristas that I enjoyed getting to know.

 Szia to our friends at the Free Methodist church.

A familiar Sunday morning scene. Our friends, Jerry (playing bass) and Jan (keyboard), were such a huge help when we first moved to the city.

On Tuesday morning we looked down upon Budapest as our flight ascended over the Danube. The bridges, the castle, Parliament, the 11th district that we called home, were easy to spot as the plane rounded north toward Munich.

Dennis stretched his neck to see the city as I pointed out landmarks. Once Budapest was out of sight, I turned toward him, finding tears in his eyes, as they were in mine, and said, Szia Budapest. We have loved getting to know you, Budapest, on a first-name basis. Until next time, Szia!