Middle Of Camp

Hey there,

This is the 3rd week of camp but so much has happened already!

First two weeks Chris was the "studio guy". That means whenever camp needs sound, he needs to be there. He was also working on other multimedia related things for WOL, so he was quiet busy.

One of the things he worked on was a piece of the video we show at each and every Born Again presentation we have. Born Again to a Living Hope is a drama WOL uses to evangelize in different places during the year, for example at schools, culture houses, prisons, etc. You can watch the piece of video he made (it's in Hungarian but I think it's worth watching anyway!) If you are interested in the Born Again drama you can click here for more information.

He is the kind of guy people go to when they have different kind of problems because he usually knows the answer and is always willing to help. (I'm not biased, you can ask anyone!) So I don't think he is ever bored, especially during camp season.

The first week my mom was a unit leader, so Amy and I went in everyday. I tried to help in tiny little things whenever there was need for help. We enjoyed seeing the kids but to be honest with you, I really missed being involved.

Then came an opportunity. The staff received a letter from one of the camp staff asking for some help for the 2nd and 3rd weeks. They were looking for unit leaders for the girls. Well, since I've done that before, I offered my help. So Amy and I were unit leaders for a week. It was a blast! Talking to the room leaders, being at the meetings, talking to the campers. I just loved it!

Also, the director of the camp spontaneously asked me to share my testimony before the message during one of the evening meeting. I felt so honored and privileged! I was/am very thankful for the opportunity. I hate to speak in front of people but I love all the more to talk about Jesus and share my changed life with others. I could be a part of the camp at least for that little bit.

After the second week the whole family got a virus. Well, Chris actually was sick during the 2nd week as well but got worse by the beginning of the 3rd week. I've been in bed for about 5 days now and maybe I will be able to go see other people in a few days. Amy is handling her sickness very well! I'm so impressed.

Many kids went forward the past 3 weeks for which we are very thankful! It's always the best thing to hear campers accepting Jesus as their Savior. The main reason of our camp is so that kids can hear about Jesus and make a decision. The decision to accept Christ is always theirs, our responsibility is to make sure they hear about Him.

I'm looking forward the 5th week for my mom, one of my nieces and another relative is going to be here. It should be a lot of fun!

Oh, and we leave in 60 days! Amy's first flight (at least outside of my belly, in my belly she already has been on 7 flights so far and 3 continents!) will be pretty long, but I'm sure it's gonna be full of adventures. Well, I'm trying to pack, select things, organize everything and make sure we are all set.

God bless you all!

The James

Looking For A Job And A House

Dear friends,

As you most likely know, we have worked as interns/volunteers at WOL Hungary the past two years. (I still have the camp season before I am done and Lili finished her internship when Amy was born - after 2 and a half years.)

The reason we are planning on going to the States is so that we can finish college and get a degree. If we stayed in Hungary, we wouldn't be able to pay the online school (which is the cheapest) but if we go to the States, I can work, while finishing our studies.

Word of Life Hungary Bible School's credits transfer to many Christian school in the States so we hope we can finish a degree in 2 years.

I put a portfolio together not long ago, please take the time and check it out! You can watch the reel right now and also go to the site by clicking here.

Click to enlarge

Working here at WOL has given me a few years of experience in video editing, graphic design, and motion graphics. I have been occasionally working a freelance job or two, so if you, or anyone you know could use any services I could provide, don't hesitate to drop my name and website! Thanks!

As a note of praise, God has also given an opportunity with a side project of translating some English materials into Hungarian (including taking English audio materials and transcribing into Hungarian -- fun! :) ), which has been a wonderful blessing of God's provision! Thank you to all who prayed for this!

The earlier we can finish school and get a degree, the sooner we can go to the mission field. We are praying about where the Lord wants us to see and when. We would like to make our decisions in light of His leading. Right now we see that many doors are open. There is a big need everywhere! But that is a few steps down the road, and we will see where God leads, when the time comes.

Another thing that we need to find is a home.

We will be landing at my parent's house, in W. Terre Haute, IN (close to Indianapolis) in September just to get on our feet. From there I will be looking for job opportunities and a place to rent.

If you know of any house for rent anywhere around Indianapolis, Terre Haute, or even Paris, IL, please let us know! We would need 2 bedrooms (if there's more, that's totally fine :) ) and a kitchen, bathroom. That's basically it. 

So please be praying for these things (job opportunities for me, including freelance jobs - or even Lili, such as translation that she can do from home, as well as an apartment/house that we could settle down in).

Thank you so much for being a part of our family by praying for us! God surely answers prayers and has never let us down!

Have a blessed week!

Ready To Leave

Yes, we are all set.

We have the camp season and after that we leave WOL and Hungary to start a new chapter in our lives.

I have my immigrant Visa, Amy has her Visa waiver (and interview appointment for her citizenship!!!) and Chris has his American passport. We also have our tickets and if the Lord wills, we are going to arrive on September 13th of this year. I'm sure Karen and Dave cannot wait to see Amy. 

Talking about her... She grows and grows and becomes cuter and cuter each day. She actually is a very smart little baby. She recently started to play with her toys, turn the pages of her books, grab the things around her, etc. I love to see how she matures.

She is about 11.5 lbs and 24.5 inches. She is almost 3x the size she was when she was born (she was born with less than 4 lbs.)

Amy and I had the opportunity to spend 10 days with my family. I think my parents loved spending time with Amy. We played games almost every night. I really like playing games and I enjoyed spending time with my parents that way. We had good laughs.

I'm sure they are gonna miss us very bad and they can be sure we gonna miss them too!

Amy received her interview appointment much faster than we expected it. It usually takes at least 5 months and we got an appointment in much less than that. God was - again - good to us.

We had our annual Women's Conference. The first one since I'm married and Amy and I attended it. We enjoyed it and it was so good to see Rebeka (one of our former staff member's baby) for the first time! She is a cutie!

We also had our 1st wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? It was a year ago! (Yeah, that kind of anniversary.) It was a beautiful day right after Women's Conference. We asked our dear friend, Anita, to take some pictures of our family so we have some awesome pictures of that day.

School ended and Chris finished his promo! You can watch it right now!

Please continue to pray for a job for Chris, for a house for us and wisdom for our decisions.

Thank you so much for all your prayers! We have a lot to be thankful for!

God bless you!

One Of The Busiest Months!

Wow. Where should I start?

May 5th I got my Immigrant Visa! They hardly asked any questions just wished me a good time in the States, Praise the Lord!

It also means that I have to leave Hungary and go to the States in 6 months. So what we know for sure is that I'm gonna be in the States by  November 5th.

We mailed Amy's citizenship application 3 weeks ago but haven't heard back yet. We are praying that she is going to get an interview appointment soon so that I wouldn't have to leave Chris and Amy behind when I leave in less than 6 months. Please pray for it with us!

We did all we could, so now it's only prayer time : ).

Missions Reality was here for a week and I had the privilege to serve with them from Saturday to Tuesday.

Saturday we were in Városliget inviting kids to camp as well as the team did face painting and balloon animals and sword for all the kids there.

Sunday we went to an orphanage.

Monday we went to a school near Tóalmás and shared the gospel with the students and played sports with them.

Tuesday we went to another orphanage and I had the opportunity to translate there as well.

Meanwhile Amy was with Ashley (an intern at WOL Hungary, also a sweet person). I was so thankful for her help, without her I wouldn't have been able to translate.

Chris is working on the General Promo for WOL. I think it's gonna be amazing (like all the other videos he made). I'm very proud of him!

We were at the doctor today for Amy's 3 months check-up and she is as long as a normal (not premature) baby should be (23,2 inches) and only 0.4 lbs behind a normal 3 months old baby's weight (she weighs over 10 lbs).

She also got another shot.

She is smiling a lot (just recently started). Enjoys peek-a-boo and smiles back if you are smiling at her. We couldn't wait for this to happen.

She is a very strong baby!

A few days ago a friend of hours made professional pictures of her. She looks adorable on the pictures. We put them up on facebook, you can check it out if you are interested.

Last Sunday we had a Word of Life Bible Institute class reunion. Over 60 people were there. I really enjoyed spending time with all of them.

Women's Conference is going to be this Saturday, our 1 year Anniversary is on Sunday!

It's hard to believe it has been a year already!

Thank you so much for reading our updates! We appreciate it! God bless you!

Summer Is Here Soon!

My Green Card interview is on May 5th. That's the date I'm going to get my Green Card. At least that's our hope : ).

Amy's citizenship application is almost done, we just need a few more information and we can file the form. I cannot wait for all that to be over.

Meanwhile Amy got two shots and is over 9 pounds! She is still the cutest thing! : )

We are praying for a job for Chris. As soon as we get to the States we will need him to get a job so that we can afford a house to rent and also to pay for school. He already made a website that has his works. Here is the link:

http://cj.media.elementfx.com/

Also, we are very excited to see Dave (Chris' dad soon)! He is gonna arrive April 30th. Chris always looks forward to translate for his dad. And it's going to be the first time Dave sees Amy in person. Sadly Chris's mom, Karen can't come this time but we will see her soon as we leave soon (around September).

Please be praying for my Green Card situation and Amy's citizenship. Also, for a job for Chris when we get to the States.

How can we pray for you? What's going on in your life? Update us!

Preparing To Leave

Hey there,

As it turned out life is pretty busy when you have a baby : ). Though I'm not complaining, Amy is a good baby. She started to sleep through the night when she was 5 weeks old. She is a cute little darling. She is very easy to please : ). She started to look at people and make eye contact. She rarely smiles but when she does, I melt immediately. We went to the 6 weeks check-up the other day and the doctor said that she is a healthy little baby! She grew a lot, she is over 6 pounds now!

My family loves her so much and finally after 6 weeks we can go outside! So everyday we go for short walks. The weather is beautiful and she enjoys being outside of the house. She usually falls asleep as soon as I start pushing the stroller. : )

Meanwhile Chris is working hard (as always). He has a lot on his plate these days. He is translating 4-5 hours a day and he is also working on videos for Word of Life, and other multimedia related things. He is very busy and very tired. But he is doing great! Amy loves him (at least as much as I can tell) and Chris loves to play with her. I cannot wait for Amy to be able to talk and Chris to start teaching her all the stuff he knows. She will be a smart little lady!

We are also preparing the documents we need to start my Green Card application and Amy's citizenship application. My Green Card should go just fine but Amy's citizenship is one of the most complicated forms Immigration Office has. Many of their own workers don't know much about it.

Chris can't directly transfer his citizenship to Amy due to the fact that he didn't spend enough time in the States after his 14th birthday. So we can apply for Amy's citizenship through her grandparents. It's a complicated and long process but I looked into it and it's doable : ).

It's an interesting time of our lives as we prepare to put an end to one part of our lives as we leave Word of Life and start a new part in the States. We definitely have bitter-sweet emotions about it. Word of Life is a big part of our lives and it will always be. We have so many friends here and it will be weird not being around them.

Also, most importantly my family is here. I'm gonna miss them so much! I wish they could all come with us!

We Became A Real Family! : )

Amy Leigh surprised us a month before my due date.

She was born with 1780g and 46 cm. She was less than half the size of a normal new born. Despite her weight she didn't need any help to breathe from the very beginning.

She spent two weeks in the hospital out of which one week in an incubator. I couldn't wait to leave the hospital!

I was very surprised at her sudden arrival but was so very happy she was healthy! She has a hundred faces! She makes us laugh all the time!

I spent most of February in the hospital. Chris moved us to another house meanwhile. We really like to live here, it's a very beautiful place!

Thank you all for your help!

She is gaining weight at home and doing good!

It's Going To Be Quite The Year!

Hey there!

Dave, Becky, Chris and Karen

Adding to the last post: My parents were kind enough to buy us (Lili, my sister Becky, and myself) tickets to visit them over the Christmas break! It was very nice to spend time with them and see other family members I had not seen in 6 years!

It was also the first time our family spent Christmas in the U.S. since 1992, less than a week before we moved to Hungary!

Annual Summer Staff Reunion

The Annual Summer Staff Reunion was very good! Many came and we had a lot of fun! It's always good to see our summer staff at WOL! They definitely bring joy and life on campus.

Games, teaching, worship, fun, karaoke, food, fellowship: all that you need!

This past weekend was Word of Life Hungary's annual Missions Conference!

Our Faith Promise goal was to pledge over $8000 to the ministry David and Felicia Lee, graduates of our school currently serving to reach street children in Bucharest, Romania.

You can find out more about their ministry at http://4theleastofthese.org.

I had fun putting together the opening video showcasing the need for their ministry, and what the Lees are doing to reach homeless children with the Gospel of Christ.

Pastor Tom Mahairas was our guest speaker, and others hosted great seminars as well.

If you would like to watch the meetings, then go to www.ustream.tv/channel/wolh-missions-conference.

It seems that God has really worked in the hearts of those attending the conference. Most of the people expressed either a dedication to God's work, or a renewal of dedication.

A practical manifestation of this was seen in the Faith Promise pledges, as 202% of the original goal was pledged, which is a record at WOLH, as far as I can remember! Please pray that all would remain faithful to their promises, as we can trust God to provide!

God bless you all, let us know how we can pray for you!

Back From the States!

We had an awesome 3+ weeks in the States with Chris' family. I got to meet many of them and I enjoyed getting to know all of them!

Lauren and I

Shortly after we arrived a very good friend of mine, Lauren Unkefer, came to visit us. She spent a couple of days with us and I really enjoyed seeing her again! I wish we had more time, but I'm truly grateful for that short time as well!





I spent a lot of time putting puzzles together. I really enjoyed spending time with Chris and his family that way : ). They have some pretty cool puzzles!

                

Chris' dad, Dave James, teaches at the church on Wednesday nights so we had the chance to be there each Wednesday. The church also has a little Bible School on Thursday nights and Dave is one of the teachers. Chris got to go once and he really enjoyed it.

The church is in Paris, Illinois and Chris' parents live in Terre Haute, Indiana but it's sooo worth it to drive there at least 3 times a week (Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings and nights).

The name of the church is Community Bible Church and I have to say that church is a dream church. You can check it out by clicking here. 

The people are amazingly friendly and showing God's love to all! We felt so loved and were befriended from the first moment we stepped in. The families there are such examples! 

We made a lot of friends and cannot wait to have a chance to visit them again!

Shortly after Christmas Chris' sister drove us to Indianapolis where we had the Second Annual WOL Hungary Reunion. We were really excited to see many of our classmates and friends and spend 3 days with them. 

The airline we flew with lost my luggage for good, so I was in need of clothes. God provided through a sister of Stephen Long's, who was Chris' classmate. Amy gave me so much clothes that it filled a whole suitcase! I wear them ever since! It really is amazing how God cares for us!

It was so good to meet a lot of Chris' family members and spend time with them. I wish we had more time but hopefully soon enough we will see them again! They are all very nice people and made me feel so welcomed. 

Well, now that we are back, I'm looking forward to the Annual Summer Staff Reunion and the Missions Conference. I'm sure they both are going to be very awesome!

God bless you all and thank you for reading this!

Blessed Holidays!

(Click on the picture for bigger size)

6 Months Old!

April 9th, the legal wedding

Both baby and us! I can't believe it's been really half a year already!

I started my 7th month on November 28th. The baby is constantly moving and now you can see it from the outside as well! Sometimes I just look at my belly for minutes and watch her move around. I really enjoy it.

November 13, my last Bible Club

After 2 and a half years I attended the last Bible Club (at least as the organizer). It was an awesome time but it really made me miss it even more. Many kids showed up and my dear coworker, Zoli was preaching. He did a great job! I'm gonna miss organizing the clubs, meeting the campers and summer staff on a regular base.

I called the US embassy not long ago and I just learned that the cost of my green card will be $900. So would you please pray for that money to come in for that specific purpose? If you are willing to help with it, let us know and we can tell you how you can help.

Also, please keep on praying for Chris' support to come in. WOL Hungary really needs the money they spend on feeding him : D. Please prayerfully consider helping us in that way.

All the interns (Christmas banquet)

We had our annual Christmas banquet at WOL on December 4th. It was a great privilege to be part of it! I was helping the guests to find their seats and Chris was in the sound room. We had a great time!

A day after we (interns) were invited to the Maters and had an awesome time together. We played White Elephant and watched Elf. I'm so thankful for all the interns and the Maters as they prepare fellowships for us so often! It's great to be together!

Interns fellowship at the Maters

We are so thankful to God for always providing. He promised to meet our needs and we know we can trust His promises!

We just had a Thanksgiving chapel the other Tuesday (November 23rd), and Chris emphasized how we can already give thanks to God for His future provision since we can be sure that He is going to provide! Isn't that incredible? We can know for sure that God is going to meet our needs! Praise Him for that!

We are both very thankful for so many things this year as well. We got married, started our lives together, our first baby is on the way, we are surrounded by friends who we consider our family, Chris is translating in the Bible School which means he can attend classes again, our family loves us and cares for us, and the list could go on...

25 weeks pregnant

We are very thankful that we can spend some time with my family before we leave to the States. I love spending time with them! I'm gonna most definitely miss them this Christmas!

27 weeks pregnant

I had doctor's appointment on December 6, 7 and 8. Everything is totally fine! Both baby and I had the best results! Praise the Lord! (More about this in the next post.)

My parent's 25th wedding anniversary is on December 13th and we leave for 3 weeks (going to see Chris' parents) on the 14th. So this year is going to end as usual: busy. : )

Let us know how we can pray for you! Don't forget how important prayer is!

God bless you!

Lili