September Boumans by the Danube update

Dear friends, On a recent retreat to Hungary’s inland sea, Lake Balaton, we focused for a few days on the following words from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (I. Corinthians 12: 12-14) Our small group of about 35 included people from Hungary, the UK, Kenya, Russia, the US, Israel, Ireland, and the Netherlands. We were different in many ways, but united in a shared weekend of learning, worship, and play. Our time together culminated in the baptism of a new friend who was born in Russia but raised in Israel, who is now working in Hungary, as well as a sharing in the body and blood of Christ in Communion together. Since we last wrote back in July, Julie and I have spent a couple of weeks in the US, visiting with family in Pennsylvania, camping with our kids, and attempting to “do all the things” and “see all the people” that we miss Stateside. We were quite successful, and very glad for the opportunities. Thank you so much to those of you who took time to see us in one way or another, especially the many of you who came out to the Hendriksens’ backyard on August 16 – it was a beautiful evening together. We arrived back in Hungary on August 19, just in time for the August 20th national celebration of Hungary’s first Christian king, St. Stephen. We also welcomed two new young colleagues, Michal Rubingh and Abby Voskuil. Both are 2022 graduates of Calvin University, and together they are bravely pioneering a new Resonate effort I am leading to develop a Cohort Europe program for young people to spend a year volunteering in ministry in various parts of Europe. The last two weeks have been quite full of time spent finding them a place to live, walking alongside them as they adjust to a new culture, a new set of expectations, and some of the uncertainty that is involved in cross-cultural work and ministry. On August 26 Julie and I and Abby and Michal were all invited to spend a day helping to accompany a group of about 50 Ukrainian refugees as they took a train outside Budapest for a 3-hour ferry ride on the Danube just north of the city – it was beautiful, and a good chance to begin interacting with some of our new colleagues at the Hungarian Reformed Church - Refugee Ministry. And just yesterday, September 5th, we spent several hours with colleagues unpacking and assembling new office furniture in a newly rented programming space. Strong support from churches and other non-government organizations since the war broke out has enabled the Refugee Ministry to hire about 25 new staff, and plans are underway to begin a “complex integration program” with several hundred refugees in and around Budapest. Abby and Michal will do all the things interns typically do, and each will also hopefully find ways to put their unique academic preparation into service as well – they have each studied abroad in different places, and they have good experience with refugees, refugee law and policy, and cross-cultural life and work. Julie and I have enjoyed having them around, and we were glad to find an apartment for them just a short walk from our place. We are grateful for several new donors to our work, including Ann Arbor CRC, as well as several new individuals. We could not do this without those of you who make monthly financial sacrifices on our behalf – thank you. A special shout-out of thanks to our other church partners as well – our sending congregation Neland Avenue CRC; and Boston Square CRC, First CRC in Grand Rapids, LaGrave Avenue CRC, and Cascade Fellowship CRC. The support of individuals and congregations is a blessing we don’t take for granted. We re-start our student ministry this week, after meeting last week with five students we have identified as potential leaders in the group. We’ll meet most Thursday evenings in our apartment for fellowship, food, and prayer together. We had about 8 of our international students join us for the church retreat, which was a great chance to get to know many of them better. I will also be teaching a course at Károli Gáspár University again, an intermediate English course that begins next week. As always, you can find the on-line giving site here. Our annual fund-raising goal has gone up in the light of the new Cohort program efforts, as well as standard cost of living adjustments. We would love to hear from you – a short reply with news from your life, any prayer requests or just a hello! We would ask you to be in prayer for us in the following ways: - as we juggle our on-going language learning - the oversight of the new Cohort intern program and Michal and Abby’s experience in Hungary - movement toward peace in the region, and a way home for those who are displaced by war and for other reasons - for our colleagues with the Refugee Ministry, especially our colleague who is the Director, Laszló áldás és békesség neked és a tiednek (blessings and peace to you and yours) Jeff and Julie Bouman