It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. Author unknown

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken nor bent out of shape. Author unknown

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Seems like life always gets the busiest just when you need some time to sit down and think. However, some good news is that I have resolved this year to both be more regular with full updates (once every 3 months), short updates (once a month), and to blog even more often at http://jonah-shane.blogspot.com/ (as often as I find reasons to do so.) Hopefully this is good news to everyone. If not, I apologize now for filling up your inbox. :)

So, there have been some big things going on here lately, as well as some big things on the horizon. First, let's start with the big things going on. The church here in Eger has officially reached the "standard country church size." (Thing is, Eger is not really in the country, but this is what the Budapest people call any town besides Budapest.) This is good news because Eger is a town of only 60k people and our fellowship is the now the same size as (or larger then) the churches from towns like Szeged (167k,) Debrecen (204k,) and Pécs (156k.) Of course, we are not satisfied with this, but it is encouraging to know all the same.

Hungary, like most of the world, is feeling the impact from this time of economic trouble, and unfortunately, isn’t handling it well. There are a lot of news articles and reports out now which show the Hungarian government is not handling the crisis well. This is really not helping people want to stay in the country, let alone move here, especially with the doors to Western Europe being thrown open through Hungary’s acceptance to the EU. However, locally, life goes on, same as always. Yes, we have seen a few people lose their jobs due to the downturn, but most are still working or at new positions, going strong with the Lord, and growing in their walks with Him through this.

Something great that has been happening is that we have seen a lot more guys coming to the church lately. Not only are they attending the Sunday service, but they are coming to the mid-week study and Friday prayer meetings also. Some of the girls have commented that a lot of the studies look more like a men’s study then a church Bible study. This is great news for us as we specifically prayed for more guys in the church! Praise the Lord! We really feel that if we can get the guys on fire for Jesus, then the battle is won. As these guys serve and grow in the Lord, they will eventually get married, start families, and raise them in the ways of the Lord. This is our heart’s desire and it is such a blessing to see God bringing it to pass. We’ve even seen our first member’s brother recently begin attending the church and just today ask how to be saved! Hallelujah!

We recently held our 3^rd annual church winter retreat at a small hotel about an hour from Eger. Most of the church attended, which meant the place was stuffed full of people. It was great though as we all really enjoy the location (close to hiking and skiing locations, great atmosphere, nice views) and the teaching was really great also. We studied the book of Colossians and the subject was the necessity of change in our lives for becoming mature in our faith. Most of us came home wishing we had had more time, of course.

Now we are getting ready for the Easter season and the summer’s packed schedule. We are planning an Easter morning service as well as some more outreaches with teams from the Bible College in Vajta. Last year we had two or three teams come out from the Bible College, but two guys stayed with us a little over the Christmas break and now we are seeing a lot more interest in coming out to Eger and helping in the work. One thing we have started doing, to great effect, is put up posters with God’s Word all around town. We’ve tried to balance the verses between those about God’s grace and love and those about the danger of sin and dead religion. It’s had a good impact on the town and I often see people stop and read them as I walk by. At the very least, we can say that God’s Word is being shared openly and people are reading it. We’ve also been blessed with a guy from Vajta who loves to do music gigs in local coffee shops and cafés. He sees it as a way to get the Word into places where the people are. So far, we haven’t seen much of a result, but we are just beginning this. We are praying that as he shares and plays his music, this would open people’s eyes to the fact that a real faith in Christ can be both natural and appealing.

On the home front, I am continuing to work at Oxford Language School to help with expenses. It can be a hassle sometimes as they like to schedule me for more than I can reasonably commit to, but in general they are more a help then a hindrance. They now provide me with the standard Hungarian worker’s health insurance and renew my visa for me when it runs out. This is a HUGE help, to say the least. They also provide me with free Hungarian lessons once a week and a free pass to the swimming pool in town. Marianna has now been working for 4 months at the city hall in a small nearby town and liking it a lot. It’s a much smaller commute then she had before and the atmosphere is much more relaxed then her previous teaching job. It also has a lot of benefits and, in general, seems to be a total Godsend for us. We’ve even been receiving free theater tickets through her work, which is a huge blessing as we both love the theater. I usually don’t understand what is going on, but it is nice to see shows again and I understand more and more each time.

Unfortunately, we have had some light troubles these past few months also. In October, my bike was stolen while it was locked up at the train station, my iPod broke down in January, and we’re lost our access to a car for the most part. All in all, it’s all nothing too hard to handle, but it has felt like a step back in a lot of ways. However, we are praying for a way to buy a car soon. As the time draws near for us to start having children, we are more and more concerned with our lack of transportation. Good news is that Marianna’s parents have agreed to help us for the next year, but after that we will have to find another solution. Other than that, we are both healthy and can’t really complain.

My mom is planning to come out and visit soon, which has me very excited. This will be her first trip to Europe, which is awesome because it was also my first trip to Hungary that was my first trip out of the US. Marianna and I are making a lot of plans for her to see the country and what we are doing here. Please pray for her as she doesn’t like to fly very much. I am sure she will be fine, but I am sure she would appreciate the prayers. It will be such a huge change for her. I am most excited about showing her the town of Eger and introducing her to Marianna’s parents. I think they will get along really well.

Other than this, our future plans include the summer’s Calvary conference in Vajta, the summer English camp, and a new kid’s camp. The summer conference is a gathering of all the churches in Hungary at the Bible college for a week of teaching, fellowship, and baptism. It’s a great time for the church to grow in the Lord and to get to know other Christians from Hungary. We are really looking forward to it. We also have the English camp coming up in July. This has been a really great ministry here in the past and we have seen a lot of fruit through it. We are excited to hear that San Jose wants to send a team out this year and we are praying more will join us. If you enjoy ministering to kids (14-21) and don’t mind a week or two away from home, please pray about joining us. Lastly, we are going to try to start day English camp for the younger kids. Last year’s English camp had so many sign ups that we had to turn some away, but we think one solution for this might be to take the younger kids to their own camp and make it more fun for them. There are already a lot of kids who would like to come and participate in both camps so we are really praying for helpers and a good, safe time for all.

As for our future, we are really praying right now to see what God wants for us. We are planning for sure to come home this December for Christmas, and then possibly to stay for a while so I can finish my degree at De Anza community college (for work) and earn some money to pay off our debts. We are not sure for how long yet as that completely depends on the US border control and embassy, but we are praying for maybe a year. Also, we are still looking for someone to rent the flat Marianna has for the next two years. Unfortunately, with the lack of jobs in Hungary, we have received a lot of offers to rent the flat, but not many who can actually pay rent. This isn’t a huge expense every month, but it does put a strain on our finances. Lastly, we are praying about planting a church in Szolnok when we return from America. We’re still not completely sure when or how, but we have prayed a lot about it already and seen some signs that this might be where God is leading.

So, that is all for now. Sorry for the length and I hope I have mentioned everything that is important for now. Please continue to pray for us here and the work we are doing and feel free to send us an email and say hi or send us any questions you might have. God bless you all!

- Shane and Marianna Daniels