Fall 2003
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Carolyn and I are slowly settling in to our new place in Debrecen. There are still a few boxes sitting around, and a few things that we're not sure what to do with because they don't seem to fit anywhere, but that is normal with moving.
Our Hungarian language studies are continuing at a somewhat slower pace than we were pursuing before. We have come to a level of trying to incorporate a large number of new words into our vocabulary. As in any language, words have different connotations, and part of using a language effectively is knowing how to pick words with the correct connotation and avoid the words with the wrong connotation. Of course there are those times when we can't seem to get any words to come at all.
The first Sunday in November we attended a two-hour service at the large Baptist church in town. Afterward we were invited to have lunch with one of the families in the church, where we spent the next few hours talking solely in Hungarian. We arrived home just in time to leave for the afternoon service at another church, where after an hour-long song service and an hour and 10 min. sermon we spoke for the first time in church in Hungarian. It was exciting and scary at the same time, and needless to say by the time we got home that evening we were absolutely exhausted.
It is wonderful, though, to begin to meet many of the church leaders and local people working with different ministries. It is awesome to see how God gives the same vision to different people and shows each one their part in seeing the vision fulfilled. We're beginning to get a better idea of what is being done and what needs to be done. Over the last couple of months we have been working on trying to count how many truly spiritually alive churches there are in eastern Hungary. That is not an easy task because it involves all of the denominations, new churches and mission points, plus pockets of revival scattered over a large area. There is still a lot to do, but it seems God is raising up laborers for His harvest.
Back in May we had 31 days of prayer for Hungary with the requests sent out over e-mail. We greatly appreciate everyone who participated. Those prayer requests have been edited and printed in booklet form. (They were in fact picked up by our colleagues the day that I wrote this letter.) Now everyone can participate whether they have e-mail or not, and the pages are not dated so people can go through the prayer guide several times a year if they like. A supply will be taken to the States in December. Someone is taking them for us free of charge, and a church in Texas will mail them for us. We are hoping to enlist as many prayer advocates as possible. It would be great if you could help us by asking your church, Sunday school class, or any other believers you know if they are willing to pray through the booklet at least once. Let us know how many you would like and we will get them to you. Our biggest push will again be in May to coincide with the International Days of Prayer for Hungary, but we truly appreciate your prayers any time of year.
The new "Hope for Eastern Hungary" web site should be operational by the end of January. Someone gave a donation and we felt this is one of the best places we could put it to use. The site will help get more information out to more people in a more timely manner. It will contain information on our people group, prayer requests, information on current activities, links to other websites, plus several other items of interest.
Several people have asked about some of the humorous things we see in the culture here. This morning we got a sale paper in the mailbox with a half-page ad on the back that said, "Buy four new snow tires and get a free bottle of vodka." So much for the don't drink and drive advertisements!
We're greatly looking forward to spending Christmas in the States with our families. We purchased the tickets back in the summer before the winter high traffic prices were announced, so we were able to get a fairly good deal. But I must admit it was a bit difficult thinking about Christmas time when it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit and very few places have air-conditioning. (For those of you who live south of the equator Christmas comes in summertime so of course you don't think anything about it.)
To let you know a little bit about what is happening with Danny and Jennifer--they're both attending Southwest Baptist University in Missouri. Jennifer is in her first year and is doing well. She has signed up to go on a mission trip in January to Bangkok, Thailand.
Some of you may not have heard that Danny's roommate was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago. Their friendship grew quite close last year and they were excited about getting to room together this year. It has of course been very difficult for Danny, but he knows Anthony was a strong believer and a great witness for Jesus Christ and is now in a far better place.
Dates to Remember in Prayer
Dec. 1, Language Test
Dec. 10 - 12, Central Europe Strategy Coordinators' Meeting, Budapest
Dec. 21 - Jan. 3, travel to the U.S.
Jan. 7-21, Jennifer's trip to Thailand
Feb. 8-28, We will be attending Strategy Coordinator training, Prague
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support.
In Christ's Love,
Gary for the Millers
