Vanda and Arnold's Wedding

On Saturday April 15, Vanda and Arnold had their "American style" wedding ceremony. Arnold's family and several friends came from Holland, a family Vanda lived with came from Switzerland, five Americans were present, and of course there were Hungarian friends and relatives as well. Bill and David performed the ceremony (in English). Translations of their texts were handed out to the non-english speakers. A sit-down reception followed for some of the guests.

David Bunting Visits

David Bunting from Murfreesboro, Tennessee stayed in our apartment for a couple of weeks (part of the time while we were travelling). It was really nice to have him here and to be able to spend some time with him. David and his family lived in Budapest for five years. It was very encouraging to us and the bretheren here to have him come visit. He came to help out with the work here and to perform part of the wedding ceremony (of Vanda and Arnold) with Bill. This ceremony was on April 15th at Novotel in Budapest.

Visiting with the Novaks

Elizabeth and Nathan had a very nice time with the Novak's three children. They played in a park together. To communicate they use some Czech and some English. The oldest, Katka is 12, Jana is 8, and Honza is 4.

Lunch with Filip Drapak

On Wednesday Filip took us to lunch. He is a friend we have known from our first year spent in Prague, back in 1990. He helped out a lot during the early days of the Czech work. It was the first time we have seen Filip in many years and it is nice to be back in contact with him.

Potluck on Sunday

On Sunday April 9, we were with the church in Prague and Bill preached. Afterwards, there was a potluck. We enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone on this day, as well as through the week. Everyday we were able to visit with different families and have Bible studies or Bible related discussions.

Lecture in Prague

On Tuesday Bill gave a lecture in on The Da Vinci Code in Prague. The Christians there worked hard to advertise the lecture using various ways to have it well publicized. The turnout was very good; there were 84 visitors (a total of 101 people at the lecture). The visitors took away a table full of literature and others asked for more materials when the books and leaflets there ran out. Mike Morrow picked up 4 new students to study with as a result of the lecture.

Upcoming Hungarian Elections

Hungary's elections are coming up next Sunday. Today the party Fidez had a rally by the Parliament building with speeches and musical entertainment. There were large crowd of people wearing orange (the color representing the Fidez party) carrying Hungarian flags. The opposing party MSZP has large posters stretched over buildings around the city.

Emese Goes to Manchester

Emese has a new job and will be leaving us soon for training in Manchester, England. She will stay there for three months, occasionally returning to Budapest for a visit. Today we ate lunch with her. We will miss her!

The Flooded Danube

The Danube's water level has risen enough that roads alongside the river are flooded and Margaret Island (the main island in Budapest) is closed to the public. There has been heavy snowfall in Germany this winter. Temperatures have dropped a lot and the melting waters are working their way into the Danube.