Last Thursday morning, kids from all the area high schools
gathered in the Main Square of Vác
to elect an honorary Mayor and hear a rock concert.
Please pray for the youth of our town,
that they will know and understand
the love God has for each one of them.
The Danube at sunset...
The kids are quite willing to toss a baseball around
until the camera comes out.
Then they are frantic to have their picture taken—
usually alone or with a certain friend.
If someone else tries to get in their photo,
the intruder gets shoved right back out of the camera's range.
Body language speaks loudly with these kids!
This is rare shot with a bunch of them at one time.
We found out on Friday that we can pack in a half-hour! We suddenly
had the opportunity to visit the Browns, our good friends who live in
northwestern Hungary. On Saturday they took us to Komárom/Komárno,
a lovely little city that straddles the Danube and the Hungarian-Slovak border.
63% of the population on the Slovak side are ethnic Hungarian,
and almost all signs are in both languages.
The Browns
Komárno City Hall
The Monday after Easter is a national holiday. We went down to the Danube
near the end of the day, and they had two ferries carrying cars and people
across the river as fast as they could, rather than one ferry every half hour.
The day was gorgeous, and lots of people were strolling through the park.
The main square of Vác is really a long triangle.
Here's a picture of early springtime from its skinny end.
Sunday afternoon Doug led batting practice in a bumpy field
near the river.
Tamás, the pastor of our church here in Vác, gets ready to bat.
My friend Ildi came by on her birthday. For some reason,
she thought batting practice was a wonderful way to celebrate!
Ildi's daughter Kati, Lea's student, has GREAT potential!
Karen dresses for baseball in style, wearing both hat and glove on her head.
Here's the Tabernacle Team, with our new friend Hugh
standing in for William, who was sick the day we went to Budapest.
Back row: Hugh, Robert, Erin P., Terry
Front row: Emily, Erin S., Megan
William on a healthier day.
Bill and Gail Welstead, also from Tabernacle Church in Richmond,
visited us in Budapest and Vác this week. We celebrated
Karen's birthday two nights in a row!
Karen switched the order of the numbers on her birthday cake
and announced that she was old enough to drink wine!
The cake was a home-baked gift from our good friend Ildi,
whose daughter Kati is a student of Lea's.
Here's our latest family picture. We are all standing
on the same level, so you can tell how much Karen has
shot up in the last couple of years!
See our family page
for a comparison.
Robert, Erin S., Niki, and Anna
Erin P., Niki, Erin S., Anett, Terry, and Renáta
Renáta and Erin S.
Anna, Renáta, Erin S., Terry, Attila, William
We met Melinda about four years ago when she was a surly young teenage girl.
Now she is a sassy young woman -- friendly, but prone to make poor choices.
She must overcome being Deaf, being a Gypsy, and being pretty.
It's a hard combination.
The new gymnasium at the Deaf school was started several years ago
and then stopped for lack of money. They finally gathered enough
to finish the building, but now they have no money to equip it inside.
And here's what's left of the playground.
Doug sees potential for a good place for kids to play.
We're pondering the idea of providing grass seed.
Here are a couple of shots of the littler kids....
We have gathered boatloads of papers in the last few months
in our various attempts to stay in Hungary.
Today Doug was sorting papers so he can go get his visa on Friday
and apply for Lea's and Karen's visas soon after he gets back.
There is a park between the Danube River and the southern half of Vác.
Looking west, you see the Danube river.
Looking east from the southern end of the park, you can look see
the church named for King Géza (1074-1077).
If you look hard, you can barely see his statue
in front of the unpainted part of the building.
In the background on the left you can see the dome of the basilica.
Tuesday night we got to see three of the Foleys!
We greatly enjoyed their company, and we look forward to the day
when Joanna will be living in Hungary and her family will visit her!
Farsang (Carnival), the yearly dress-up celebration, took place
a couple of weeks ago at the Deaf school. The kids put on a variety show.
Here are a few photos of the kids.
Popcorn man!
Early elementary kids dressed up in Snow White costumes.
The youngest kids dressed up in traditional Hungarian costumes.
The little guy in the middle spent the whole skit
calling for his dad. His dad might have been there,
but he wasn't up front and visible to his boy.
Farsang (Carnival), the yearly dress-up celebration, took place
last Friday at the Deaf School. The kids put on a variety show.
At one point, Tamás came down from the stage to pass out fake money
to the principal and teachers.
Here are a few shots from our Super Bowl party --
without the football game, but with homemade commercials!
The photographer's team didn't get photographed -- sorry about that.
ESPN football music, courtesy of Jarrod's mobile phone.
Joelle wonders what her daddy is up to now.
Doug on chair with bat. Poisonous tropical snake not visible.
Robin and Jodie discuss sanity.
Gabi, Aaron, and Joanna
The temporary stage wives of Joey Martin.
Five missionary women got together in Pécs, Hungary,
for encouragement and to enjoy each others' company.
An old Turkish dzsami, or mosque, stands in the center of Pécs
At one point it was claimed by a Reformed (Calvinist) Church,
but we couldn't find out who worships there now.
The Synagogue was also in the central square,
right across from our hotel.
Donna, Laura, and Keri
Arden in her new hat. It was COLD!
Donna showed us her new store! Okay, just kidding.
It definitely wasn't a work weekend!
Five of us at dinner. The whole weekend was full of
great conversations, laughs, encouragement, prayer, worship, and joy.
A view toward the main square of Vác.
The building on the right is one of the four Catholic churches
clustered near the center of town. The statue is of Saint Hedwig.
As we walked across the bridge from Slovakia into Hungary,
the sun was setting. The colors were much more stunning
than in the photo, but you can get an idea of the beauty....
Karen and friends Sarah and Hannah created a circus
for their parents.
They worked very hard on the choreography for their dance number.
Snow came to Vác a day earlier than the weatherman predicted.
If you look really hard on the right side of the photo,
you can see Doug waving from our balcony.
Our little friend Joelle had to go into the hospital
for a few days.
After she got fluids and her fever went down,
she was a much happier baby!
Our church had a New Year's Eve party with a "Retro" theme.
Flower child Karen posed in a cardboard pink Cadillac that
some of the youth created for a skit.
Unfortunately,you can't see Karen's rainbow toe socks
with smiley faces and flowers on them.
Happy New Year from the Coppages!