Bouman December 2025 Letter
“The world will learn the ways of war no longer…
O veni, veni, Emmanuel come soon!”
Dear friends,
I am writing after the sun has set on Sunday, taking us into the longest night of the year. Something about the way winter solstice crashed into the fourth Sunday of Advent this year captivated me today. Below are a few updates on our recent transition from Hungary to the United States – a temporary stay of six months.
As Advent began, we left our home in Hungary for our Cohort Europe intensive in Spain. We had four whirlwind days of learning and experiencing ministry in cultural and historical context. This region’s proximity to the northern coast of Africa, and Morocco in particular, provides an enormous opportunity for the church there to serve those arriving in search of safety, protection, opportunity, and for new life. While there, we toured the Diez42 Center, a non-profit ministry in Malaga where Dasha and Juste both volunteer each week alongside our Resonate colleagues Gary and Rachel DeLeón, serving refugees in a variety of ways. We also drove on the A7 “Autovia del Mediterráneo” or Mediterrean Highway from Malaga to Almería with jaw-dropping views of the sea, and there we met a Brazilian pastor who with his wife lives in Almería and partners with the International Red Cross to meet migrants arriving by boat – it’s about a nine-hour journey in small boats from ports in northern Morocco, and the humanitarian teams provide immediate care and both physical and emotional assistance as people arrive. We also toured a small part of the enormous sea of makeshift, tarp-covered greenhouses, or “invernaderos” that stretch as far as the eye can see in this area. It’s a form of intensive agriculture that we learned provides a large percentage of vegetables for all of Europe. Because of the loosely regulated labor practices of the invernaderos, immigrant labor (and housing and other forms of resettlement for new arrivals) is as an area of rampant exploitation. We left with many questions about economic justice. We also visited another coastal town, Almuñécar, where we met a Reformed Protestant pastor who planted a small church in the early 2000s. And in the historic city of Granada, we toured the fortress and gardens of the Alhambra, an ancient jewel of Islamic architecture and history. We also enjoyed a generous invitation to an authentic Thanksgiving dinner with several missionary families, as well as a chance to worship in Spanish at the church where Juste and Dasha attend. Overall, it was a special time well-spent in learning together. And we were once again humbled by our young colleagues in this work – a reminder that we are privileged to work with a team made up of a Lithuanian – Justė, a Ukrainian – Dasha, and a Syrian – Pamela. In our prayers together we pray in Arabic (Pamela), in Lithuanian (Justė), and sometimes in Ukrainian and sometimes Spanish, sometimes German, and sometimes English – reminder of the breadth and rich variety of the Kingdom of heaven. We will begin recruiting young adults in the new year for Cohort Europe 2026-27, so please send us any connections you might have for folks 20-30ish who might be feeling called to a year of service in Europe.
After the intensive time ended, we visited our friends and Resonate colleagues Tony and Stacey Meyer in Madrid, where they serve Mountainview International Church. They took us to tour historic Segovia, and into Madrid, where we spent two days walking through the ancient streets and learning about Spain’s historic empire. We also toured the Museo Nacionale Centro de Arte – Reina Sofia, where one of the most famous Spanish paintings is exhibited, the 1937 Picasso work “Guernica,” which is among the most well-known artistic renderings of the horrors of war. It was mesmerizing and daunting to ponder. Then on Sunday we were able to worship with Mountainview church - a highlight - we met folks from many places and celebrated the second Sunday in Advent together.
We flew back to the US on December 11, where we will be until late May. We were greeted by an early dose of an old-fashioned Michigan winter, with lots of snow and very cold temperatures. So far, we are enjoying reunions with friends, family, and almost-forgotten American habits like driving or using a dryer. We will be living in the in-between for the awhile, enjoying things here and missing things there, just in reverse of what has become our Hungarian normal. A highlight for us is certainly being able to worship for Advent III and Advent IV services and the annual Candlelight and Christmas services at Neland Church, our sending and home church community. Feels like home. This week we look forward to spending time with Bastian, Abi and Moss, and Jeff’s extended family, and on Christmas day we will drive to Pennsylvania to spend several days visiting with Julie’s mom and her sister Kristy’s family.
Friends, as the news of the world wearies us and wears us down with stories of violence, arrogance, much fear, and millions displaced and on the run, we are leaning into stories of brave followers of Jesus, who himself began his most unlikely human life on the run to Egypt, and who demonstrated for us that it is the poor, the widow, the orphan, the refugee and immigrant who are especially favored in the Kingdom of God, with or without papers to prove it. We find ourselves drawn to the poets, the prophets, the artists, and the more we listen, often in community, the more we learn that those questions deep in our hearts and souls, those questions have been shared throughout history by honest followers. And the stories of this season, of the angels’ visits to Mary and to Joseph, the star, the manger, the angels, the bitter cold and poverty of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem, the shepherds, the Magi’s journey and gifts, and all the rest – those stories bring us into a confident mystery – this baby who grew up to show us the way, this baby is worth the wonder. Following him, we travel through cold and darkness waiting for the light, the re-creation of all things, together.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas, filled with wonder and awe.
Peace and joy,
Jeff and Julie Bouman
How to Give
As we approach the midpoint of our fiscal year, our current percentage raised is around 41%, and we would love to see that at 50% by the end of December. Giving patterns in missions appear to be changing. As a result, there is increased need for your direct support. In this giving season, we ask that you consider a special or an increased gift to our ministry through Resonate. We cannot do the work that God has called us to without your generosity. Thank you!
- Give online, be sure to choose the “Missionaries-Europe” option under “Please select” and then the drop-down menu for “Jeff and Julie Bouman”
- Mail checks to Resonate Gift Processing, PO Box 30006, Lansing, MI 48909-9760
- Please also consider an extra gift to one of our three Cohort Europe participants – each of these young women comes from a country where missionary giving is not as culturally common as it is for Americans and Canadians.
For Dasha, from Ukraine, give here.
For Pamela, from Syria, give here.
For Justė, from Lithuania, give here.
Each of these members of Cohort has been challenged to raise $10,000, and we trust God to provide for each of them as they serve.
A few poems and lyrics from contemporary prophets and poets…
TO KNOW THE DARK
by Wendell Berry
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
“Descent”
by Luci Shaw
Down he came from up,
and in from out,
and here from there.
A long leap,
an incandescent fall
from magnificent
to naked, frail, small,
through space,
between stars,
into our chill night air,
shrunk, in infant grace,
to our damp, cramped
earthy place
among all
the shivering sheep.
And now, after all,
there he lies,
fast asleep.
Song: “My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout!” (Rory Cooney)
Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast
God's mercy must deliver us from the conqueror's crushing grasp
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound
'Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God, who is turning the world around…
