Budapest - CRM, Terror Museum, Moving Forward

Okay -- I agree the title sounds a little odd. Those things don't necessarily go together, but they all fit in our final day in Budapest. We started with a meeting at the CRM offices in Hungary. Other than one staff member who is in America right now, and one who had a family emergency, the entire staff is gathered to talk with us.

 Not sure if you can tell, but it was snowing pretty hard while we were meeting. It was a lovely backdrop to a good conversation.

Both Linking Partners and CRM seek to raise up local leaders to plant churches. CRM has a long-established work in Hungary, while Linking Partner is focused on Serbia. There are options of working together -- especially in training. CRM has missionaries in Novi Sad, Serbia, and we see a possibility of assistance in helping the Roma leaders learning English -- which is important because there are far greater resources available in the English language. While we are providing resources in Serbian, they are very limited in availability. When you see leaders so hungry for more understanding, it moves us to want to make that possible!

We left CRM offices and visited the largest Jewish synagogue on the continent. Our guide was fascinating. Her parents were the first ones married after the Jewish ghetto in Budapest was liberated. She showed us her father's name in the garden of remembrance. The last photo above is a weeping willow statue, and each leaf has the name of someone who was killed during the occupations of Hungary. It was a beautiful statue.

Dinner that night was one of those times you can't really explain if you weren't there. The four of us -- Natasha and Rodja, LaJuana and Jim -- talked about the future of Linking Partners. There has been a lot happening in the past year, and we all feel we are poised on the brink of something big happening in the Roma community in Serbia for God. Going forward, Rodja and Natasha will be focusing even more on Linking Partners coordination work. We are excited about what lies ahead.

Oh, and dinner? Well, the ladies ordered "Gypsy Roast" -- which was described as pork, grilled with garlic. They didn't mention the flower made from roasted fat which was on top. After the flowers were relocated to another plate . . . the dinner was delicious! Neither of us had the courage to try the "flower."

We had breakfast coffee and pastries (okay, Jim had hot chocolate) in a neighborhood bakery. Then we headed to the Terror Museum. We walked -- a much longer walk than we would ever make in the USA, unless we were exercising -- but at a leisurely pace, enjoying the beautiful city and one another's company.

The Terror Museum was quite an experience. It is so well done. Everything about it invokes the feelings, the fear, the hopelessness, the oppression, felt during Hungary's times of oppression under both the Germans and the Russians. The exhibits were put together so well. Every little detail  contributed to the overall atmosphere. I have never seen anything like it. We left, sober and introspective.

We returned to our apartments for an afternoon rest, and a beginning on packing. Later, we returned to our first positive experience in Budapest -- the New York Hotel Cafe. Rodja and Natasha treated us all to coffee. Again, we shared the conversations of close friends. While we leave Budapest anxious to be home with family, we also will miss the family God has given us in Serbia.

Thankfully, it won't be too long before we return!