View from the Fisherman's Bastion

The Next Level…

In our last update, we informed you of plans we had to move to Budapest and our idea to go on a 2-week trip to check things out. Our purpose for taking this trip was to “spy out the land” to see what the possibilities were and what God would speak to us while we were there in Budapest.

The trip was good and we feel confirmation that we are to proceed to the next level – to go to Budapest for a trial period of 6-7 months to see how things go with the girls’ schooling and with working and living there. We still need lots of wisdom on the timing, though. We had originally hoped to be leaving in November, but we need to raise up more partners who will stand beside us, supporting us in prayer and also financially before we go.

Since having more partners is crucial in us fulfilling our calling we want to give priority to this, so that will mean we will push our departure date back until sometime later this year or early next year.

Bus, Metro and Tram

The house in which we were staying is located just outside of Budapest proper in a little village called Csömör (click for a Google map). To get into Budapest by public transportation, we first had to take a 30-minute bus ride which cost a whopping $1.35 per person (and the kids could ride for free).

This bus took us to a shopping center with an Ikea and a relatively large mall where we could then catch a metro (also known as underground or subway) further into the center of town. The whole trip from the house to, say the YWAM office (another Google map) took about an hour, although it didn’t feel like it took that long.

Lisa and Sarah loved going by public transportation and even got mad at us one day when we decided to go somewhere by car.

YWAM Budapest

While in Budapest, we visited the offices of YWAM Budapest several times. We met there with Carmelita Clarke – the Central European director with whom we will be working – who has her office there. We also attended YWAM Budapest’s weekly staff meeting to share our vision, where they also prayed for us.

We were also very blessed to be able to meet with a Hungarian staff lady, Gabi who was able to give us a lot of information and answer questions about schooling, and other aspects of life in Hungary.

Housing

The house in which we stayed was built by YWAMers who have moved away (they’re in Arizona now, oh the irony). They built it as a YWAM house to be able to house many people. If we feel like this is the place where we are supposed to stay, then we could probably move in tomorrow.

One drawback is that it takes an hour (one-way) to get in to the office by public transportation. This could also be seen as an advantage since it means when you’re home, you’re completely away from the office. It also means that if Jolanda is there alone with the kids, it makes it harder to “pop in” to the office or meet up somewhere for lunch from time-to-time.

There are plenty of other houses and apartments to be found on numerous websites, but most of them require a minimum of a one year contract which could present a problem if we go for only 6-7 months.

Why 6-7 months?

In Holland, we enjoy financial benefits from the government, such as child support and health-care subsidy. Altogether this amounts to more than $450 a month that we receive from the government. However, to enjoy these benefits, we have to be resident in the country no less than 4 months out of a 12 month period. That is one of the reasons we have chosen for a trial period of 6-7 months. That way we can go check things out without having to immediately give up that extra financial support.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our update as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Thanks again for your time.

Blessings from The Netherlands,
Rodney, Jolanda, Lisa and Sarah

This post is also available in: Dutch