Easter 2023 Boumans by the Danube

Easter 2023

Dear friends,

Today is a day in the church when we remember the example of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. And we are all charged with living in the spirit of this radical act of hospitality and love, an act in which the boss washes the worker’s feet, the parent washes the child’s feet, the elected official washes the feet of the citizens, those in power wash the feet of those without power. It’s a radical mandate, to love one another as Christ loves us.

Here in Budapest, we will celebrate this weekend with worship services that are meditative, sorrowful, and finally celebratory on Sunday. Julie and I plan to host a small crowd of friends on Sunday in our apartment, most of whom also find themselves far away from loved ones and “home” on this Easter. (We would love a reply-note from you with news of how you are celebrating Easter, or ways we can be praying for you).

Our work over the past month has been mainly focused on maintaining our efforts in classrooms and the food pantry, with a more focused effort on the final push to roll out the invitation for applications to our inaugural year of Cohort Europe (https://www.resonateglobalmission.org/cohort/locations/europe) , a program we hope will attract 6 young adults to work in three pairs – in Budapest; in Berlin, Germany; and in Klaipeda, Lithuania. If you know someone who might be interested in joining a small group of dedicated young Christians in a year-long volunteer ministry and learning experience, please send them to the link above, or connect me to them in some other way. We are eager to see applicants, and our best advertising will come from word of mouth.

Some other highlights have included a retreat with our Resonate Europe colleagues to Croatia in early March, where we rested, learned, enjoyed fellowship, and explored a new part of the world for most of us. I have also enjoyed teaching a new class at Károli Gáspár University – there are 14 students enrolled in my class on Art and the Civil Rights movement in America (13 Hungarians and 1 Ukrainian). They are reading Vincent Harding, Howard Thurman, and Dr. Martin Luther King; and they are listening to the music of Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin; and we are exploring prophetic poetry as well. It has been inspiring to see their eager interest, but with a layer of sadness this week as we have commemorated the 55^th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the effect his untimely death had on the movement for justice in America. Vincent Harding, one of the spiritual advisors to MLK, wrote that paying attention to the art of this movement

allows us to see, “the astonishing possibility that songs resurrect, that poetry makes alive, that dancing revives the dead, that Gabriel blows a tenor sax…” making connection after connection between the story of the resurrection of Jesus with the story of hope in the midst of fear and injustice.

That is our prayer this Easter season. As we experience a world that is so far from what it should be, where we so few examples of those in power (including ourselves) washing the feet of others, that we would hold on to hope, the hope of resurrection.

As always, we are extremely grateful for the multitude of ways that you support us, with your prayers, your messages, your financial support, and your visits. April is once again a busy month filled with visitors for us, which we enjoy. If you know of a church who might be looking for a partner to support, we are actively seeking additional church support. And if you have the capacity to support with a one-time or a recurring gift, you can find information on doing so here (https://www.resonateglobalmission.org/missionaries/jeff-and-julie-bouman) – we really appreciate the opportunity to partner with so many of you in this work and ministry. (with 75% of the fiscal year completed, we are still in need of about 40% of our annual support before the end of June).

Áldás békesség (Blessings and peace),

Krisztus feltamadt! (Christ is risen!)

Feltámadt a halálból. (raised from the dead).

Alleluja!

Jeff and Julie Bouman