December 2024 Boumans by the Danube

Boumans by the Danube

December 2024 prayer letter

Dear friends,
This past week we hosted our weekly Young Adult International Fellowship, as usual on Thursday evening, and we found ourselves discussing the meaning of Advent. It’s one of the more difficult seasons of the Christian year to fully uphold, we found, as it exists inside a cultural framework that always rushes to Christmas. The whole point of Advent, properly observed, is to hold off on celebrating Christmas, to fast and pray and sit in darkness waiting for the coming of the Light. And we humans have a very hard time with waiting. So we “cheat” on Advent with early decorating, early hanging of the lights, early baking and early Christmas parties. It would be impossible to actually wait for all of these things, so maybe it isn’t exactly cheating, but at the very least it complicates the season dedicated to waiting, hoping, longing, and watching.

We are in this waiting time alongside many of you. The days here in Budapest are very very short, with darkness fully settled in outside between 4-4:30 in the afternoon. Our fellowship here includes people directly affected by the war in Ukraine, by the conflict in Syria, by violence in Nigeria, and by other live conflicts. Part of our darkness is acknowledging the deep brokenness of the world, and our inability to fix it. We sit in darkness alongside those who suffer. Below are just a few short windows into our recent work; contributions in our local church; contributions at the university; and another Cohort Europe intensive weekend.

Witnessing God’s Word at work in Sunday School (Julie) 
Because I am a woman who has a teaching degree and much experience working with children, especially in the context of the church, it will not surprise you that here in Budapest I also find myself serving as a Sunday School teacher. If you yourself have any experience teaching Sunday School, I am guessing you will also not be surprised if I say that this is not always a service that I look forward to! I enjoy interacting with the children and getting to know them. But preparing to teach Sunday School always seems to take more time than I really want to give it, and I sometimes wonder what good really comes of it. 

At St. Columba’s Scottish Mission we use a Sunday School curriculum that is based on the Common Lectionary. In theory at least, this means that our Sunday School lessons focus on the same scripture that is the focus of the worship service. What this meant last week was that I was preparing a Sunday School lesson on Luke 21:25-36, part of a passage titled “The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times” in the NIV. Fun stuff for sharing with children, no? The curriculum guide was fairly helpful, but I was still trying to find my own way to make this passage seem hopeful and not scary. No doubt it was God’s Spirit that reminded me that the world is already a scary place for children, just as it is for us adults. So the things that are scary to us and to them can be signs of hope when the Bible tells us that these things mean that our redemption is near. After hearing the Bible passage, we crouched down and thought of things we are afraid of, and had time to tell them to Jesus. Then we stood up with our heads held high, like superheroes, as we remembered Jesus’ promise to return, part of our Advent hope. We also made paper ornaments shaped like anchors to remind us that Jesus is our anchor in the scary times and holds us fast. 

I felt fine about how Sunday School went, and very thankful for my friend Dia who did the hard lifting in Hungarian, but mostly I was glad that it was over. The next day in our Sunday School teachers’ group chat I was somewhat amazed to read this message from one of the other teachers: 
   "Thanks for the Sunday session! V. [her stepson] went to school this morning with an anchor around his neck, like a superhero who can always count on Jesus to help him. And he showed his friends what it's all about! The message got through!"

God’s Word is at work, even when I don’t feel it, when I’m not sure sharing it makes a difference. “…so is my word that goes out from mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55. 11
 
Witnessing God at work in the University (Jeff)
This week will mark the completion of four consecutive semesters teaching an elective course in American History to undergraduate English majors at Károli Gáspar University. There are 18 Hungarian students enrolled, and their final essays on the leaders and heroes of the American Civil Rights movement are coming in over the next few days. One that has already come in and been graded had the following encouraging conclusion:

“I think it is pretty clear that I have become a major fan of Aretha Franklin. I am so grateful for this course as I got to “meet” with so many amazing activists, singers, performers, spiritual leaders and advocates. At the end of everyone’s presentation you asked us “Hope or despair.” I would like to answer for myself as well as I did for Aretha. Just like Aretha, I am hopeful. Although I have never really experienced racism first hand, because of this course I am now so much more educated about many topics regarding Civil Rights and social justices. Many of the topics made me so sad, as I realized that many people are filled with so much hatred and resentment towards each other, based on very small things like the color of your skin. I think of myself as a deeply spiritual person, and this course made me feel even more spiritual and connected with myself. I learned about different world views, aspects, teaching, but it all had the same conclusion, we need to love and respect each other. I wish that every single person who is filled with hatred towards people could just sit into one of your classes and educate themselves! I am hopeful that someday more people will realize that love and respect is the most important. Thank you so much for this amazing course!”

Witnessing God at Work in and through Cohort Europe in Berlin, Germany
From November 28-December 1, the six young adult volunteers in Cohort Europe met for our second weekend intensive of the year, visiting our participants in Berlin to see how they are engaged in learning, ministry, and cross-cultural growth. We had an amazing set of tours around Berlin, a highlight of which was a behind-the-scenes of the Reichstag, the complex of buildings that houses the German federal government. We also gave significant time to our observations of the way Germany has chosen to publicly remember its complicated history, including its place in both world wars, as well as the four decades of division into East and West Germany after World War II concluded, followed later by reunification. And we participated in the very successful “Language Café” that provides welcoming space for new arrivals, immigrants, refugees, and others who are learning the language. I sat at a table with three women who are currently displaced from Ukraine, and one gentleman from Turkey. Their enthusiasm for learning was amazing, and I came away able to say in flawless baby German, “I have one wife, one son, and one daughter.” Not bad for only one hour of conversation. And on Sunday we celebrated the beginning of Advent worshiping with the “Welcoming Church,” a recently planted church where our colleagues David Kromminga and Mary Buteyn spend most of their time; as well as the main volunteer partner for our three (Berlin) Cohort Europe volunteers this year. It was a reminder that hospitality and kindness are tried and tested ministry strategies, and “welcome” might be one of the most important concepts in ministry.

Julie and I will remain in Hungary for the Christmas holiday, and we plan to welcome many of our international young adults who cannot go home to family into our home for a celebration of Christ’s birth. But meanwhile, we wait in darkness, with longing, and in deep hope for the world.

Peace to you this season of waiting and hope.

Jeff and Julie Bouman

PS. If you have been pondering a one-time or a monthly financial gift, we would very much welcome your partnership, and if your church is looking to add a ministry in Europe to those you support, we would welcome a few more churches as partners as well. Details for supporting us can be found on our Resonate webpage here. After you tap the yellow “donate” button, you will be asked if you would like to donate in USD or Canadian, and then you will land on a page where you choose an amount, and then on the drop-down menu below you will choose “Missionaries-Europe,” and below that a drop-down menu will be a list of names, and you select Jeff and Julie Bouman. Below that are instructions for entering payment information. Please consider joining us in partnership!