Greetings! Below is an update on us this past month.
Statue of Saint Nicholas on a horse-drawn wagon, being led by the priest to the Catholic church outside our apartment. Locals begin Advent this way in Gyergyoszentmiklos.
Conversations with Karina’s Friend.
We have an acquaintance who opened up and shared some of her fears with me (Karina) earlier this month. She recently moved into a new apartment and has been hearing some strange noises. The previous tenant was an elderly woman who has since passed away. Székely culture is superstitious and she shared with me how she’s afraid of this woman’s ghost or other “bad spirits” in the apartment.I asked her what she does when she’s afraid and she shared that she lights candles to Mary. I had the opportunity to share with her what I believe about the power of Christ and that no ritual is necessary. I’m so grateful that we had this conversation organically. Please pray that I can be a good witness for Christ to her, and that the seeds planted during our conversations will take root in her heart.
Our Thanksgiving meal, at the church clubhouse.
Hosting a Thanksgiving meal event.
We had the honor of hosting a real “American” Thanksgiving meal at our church’s clubhouse.
We wanted to use this occasion to truly thank God together, and make it a time of fellowship, praise, and celebrating God’s goodness together.
We started with a ‘cookie’ game, where everyone breaks a piece off of each other’s cookie and gives a compliment or “I’m thankful for you because ____.”
We thought this would be a fun way to begin the evening, and only expected it to take about 15mins. But our guests were so touched by it, that they kept going for nearly an hour! There were very touching moments; lots of crying and hugging.
Next, Jacob explained that Thanksgiving, like Christmas, started with a Christian motivation but has become a secular holiday. So Jacob retold the original story of the Pilgrims, and the hardships in the face of which they gave thanks to God. We read Psalm 100 (like the Pilgrims), and a prayer of Thanksgiving to our Lord.
The meal lasted until 9pm, and in typical Székely fashion, the conversations continued until almost midnight. By that time, we (the hosts!) had left and gone to sleep.
We were honored to share a time of fellowship together with our local brothers and sisters in Christ, celebrating God’s goodness together.
Karina Teaching English at our church clubhouse
English Kid’s Club
Our church has started a youth program on Friday nights, and they asked Karina to do an English teaching portion. So far, we have had three classes with about 25-30 kids each time. Karina started by teaching them colors and some songs about God. This is just one way we can bless our church and partner in evangelism. The classes have been fun and encouraging for both Karina and the group!
Merry Christmas as we celebrating the birth of our King!