Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Sitting in Advent Mystery

Dear friends,                                                                                                              Advent, 2022 

 We have spent much of the past two years observing, reflecting on, and trying to understand the experience of people who find themselves displaced from their homes and countries - people who often have huge parts of their identities stripped away. Some are officially refugees, but often we meet people who fall into other, more complicated categories. Our learning takes place in several ways: by observing clients with the refugee ministry here in Budapest; volunteering at the Scottish Mission Food Bank for refugees; and through interaction with staff colleagues who are themselves displaced from their countries of birth, and who are making their way as adults in a country they were not born into, which they were brought to as children or adolescents. We have met numerous people whose national identities are in a kind of limbo as they await either citizenship, or opportunities to continue their journeys to western Europe, or even in some cases, to go home. And we, ourselves, also find ourselves living in a different country, with a different language, and culture – in our case it is by calling and by choice, but we experience a few of the same challenges having to do with wondering about the concept of “home.” 

  “We drift from the safe places of our childhood. There is no going back. Like stories, villages and cities are always growing or fading or melding into each other. We are all immigrants from the past, and home lives inside the memory,where we lock it up and pretend it is unchanged.” Dina Nayeri, The Ungrateful Refugee, 346 

 This fall I (Jeff) read Dina Nayeri’s 2019 book, The Ungrateful Refugee. It was an opportunity to see into the often-overlooked parts of the refugee story; the constant waiting, the having to prove one’s story over and over again, the uncertainty, fear, grief, all while on the run, on the move, looking for a place to belong again. It leads to a temptation to despair, knowing that upwards of 100 million people worldwide are displaced, and efforts to provide welcome fall far short of what is needed to overcome the challenges. While we could (and will) give witness to the laudable efforts of many to step into this enormous gap, the season of Advent provides a chance to also sit for a while in the despair, the hopelessness, the impatience of it all. My friend and former colleague Debra Rienstra named this feeling well in a recent blog post, 
  
“I propose that Advent is the time when we are allowed—even encouraged—to be honest about our disappointment, our sadness, our cynicism. We soberly mark the vast distance between God’s redemptive purposes, the promises and visions held out for us to cherish, and the state of the world as it is. And we ask why. What are you waiting for, God? How long?” “Advent in the Wasteland” Reformed Journal blog, December 10, 2022 

 Since our last letter in late October, we have observed All-Saints Day, reflecting on our mortality, and then watching the days get shorter, cloudier, and colder. Because of the severe energy crisis in Europe, city leaders in Budapest have decided against many of the traditional light displays that normally provide respite from the darkness – even the annual Christmas tram is trundling around this year without the normal festive lighting. But the news isn’t all despair. As promised, I can report with thankfulness that we have also had the opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with colleagues and fellow volunteers providing creative hospitality to refugee families who find themselves in Hungary, either for short- or long-term stays. 

Below are some figures I have helped colleagues in the Ecumenical Office of the Reformed Church in Hungary put together about our work over the past 8 months of war: 

From the Reformed Church in Hungary report to donors, December 2022 
 Service Provided in the Aftermath of the Outbreak of the War in Ukraine 

• 180,852 refugees provided with care in Hungary 
• 84,725 refugees provided with orientation and information in Hungary 
• 111,985 refugees provided with food in Hungary 
• 11,524 people provided with accommodation in Hungary 
• 43,447 cases in which hygiene equipment supplies were provided in Hungary 
• 3,300 refugees provided with one time ‘cash assistance’ of around 80 EUR • 60 local communities/parishes hosting refugees/IDPs provided with ‘group support’ in a total value of 300,000 EUR • 4,301 volunteers registered with HRCA 
• 856,116 tons of supplies provided in total (including in Hungary), from which 509,515 tons were delivered to Ukraine (Transcarpathia and beyond) [“supplies” includes in-kind donations, food, clothing, hygiene and medical equipment] 
• 704,039,451 HUF, or 1.7 million Euro total financial support for HRCA, from which 380,000,000 HUF (925,000 Euro) came from international donors 
• 220,000 HUF (540,000 Euro) in Solidarity Fund donations for Transcarpathia, from which 160,000,000 HUF (390,000 Euro) came from international donors [the Solidarity Fund is a program from March 2022 through December 2023] 
• Over 10,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) provided service, housing, and provisions in Transcarpathia, Ukraine 

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, 
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, 
I was a stranger and you invited me in’ (Matt. 25:35) 

We are proud to provide assistance to these efforts to deliver life-giving service in a time of severe regional crisis. 

A few other updates from recent weeks: 

EDYN 2022 From November 8-11, I (Jeff) attended the annual meeting of a European volunteer collaborative, the Ecumenical Diaconal Year Network in Vendrynê, Czech Republic. A group of around thirty Christian volunteer leaders from all over Europe gathered to collaborate and share ideas around programming year-long volunteer opportunities for young adults in Europe. 

Thanksgiving 2022 On November 26, we gathered with a total of 9 Americans for Thanksgiving in our apartment this year, including our two interns Abby and Michal, Abby’s mom and brother, and several other recent Calvin graduates. 

  Károli Gáspár University – Teaching and Ministry In my English teaching at the university, I have been introducing my students to interesting Americans like Walter Brueggeman, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Wendell Berry. Brueggeman is a theologian with an expansive vision related to the importance of poets and prophets, and he points to MLK as one of the best examples in recent history of this vision in practice. It has been rewarding to see the students enjoy their exposure to American English through the use of these and other key orators and visionaries. 

“I think we think in terms of systems and continuities and predictability and schemes and plans. I think the Bible is to some great extent focused on God’s capacity to break those schemes open and to violate those formulae. When they are positive disruptions, the Bible calls them miracles. We tend not to use that word when they are negative. But what it means is that the reality of our life and the reality of God are not contained in most of our explanatory schemes.” Walter Brueggeman “The Prophetic Imagination” On Being Podcast interview, 2011 

  Cohort Europe Progress Michal and Abby, the two Resonate volunteer interns have helped make good progress toward our goal of a European Cohort program in the coming years. They are both very active in various roles with the RCH Refugee Ministry, as well as the Scottish Mission Food Bank program. But several hours per week they are also communicating with potential future partners, setting up meetings with Resonate colleagues with experience in Cohort programs, and thinking through the various administrative challenges such a new program will bring. Working with them is a source of good energy for our work this year, and we are grateful to they are both here with us. 

  Refugee Ministry Update Since June the HRC Refugee Ministry has hired over 25 new staff, and taken on at least 3 longterm volunteers. This is enormous and rapid growth for such a small organization. After months of suggesting, cajoling, and hoping, on December 7, we were able to organize a half-day of training and team building for this group. In addition to lunch together, the group learned a little bit about each other, identified areas of pride in the organization, and had some exposure to resilience tools and techniques that can help in dealing with situations of stress and trauma. 

  Financial Update As we approach the end of 2022, we immensely grateful for the enormous network of support we have from those of you able to send one-time, monthly, and annual support. We know it is not always easy to send month after month, and we are thankful to have you as partners as we go. The end of the calendar year is the half-way mark of the fiscal year, and December is typically a month to make up for some shortfall in other months. Our current trajectory of support for the 2022-23 fiscal year is at around 70%, which provides room for additional partners or increased giving. If you have the capacity to give a year-end gift (or a new monthly pledge), you can find your way to our Resonate giving page, or use the clip and send information below. And if you have any ideas or information about potential church partnerships, please feel free to reach out and let us know. Thank you! 

  Christmas in Michigan Finally, we are eager to spend about a week in the US for the holiday this year. We will be away from our Budapest home from December-31, and we are eager to spend holiday time with family while we are there. As we ponder the birth of Jesus, and wait for his return, we often sit in mystery, and hope doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes we need others to hold the light for us. And sometimes we are called to hold the light for others. 

Peace to you, friends, as you wait in hope, acknowledging the sadness and darkness, may you live in the light. 

 Jeff and Julie Bouman