The view from Budapest

The sicknesses continue . . . As I posted a few weeks ago, we have been battling illness in our family and the battle continues. Here’s an update. We would appreciate your prayers.

Trent - He hasn’t changed much since my last post. He is battling stomach cramps and headaches. We have been to several doctors and had several tests run and we have tried some different treatments, but so far nothing has worked. It has now been over two months without much change. We took him out of school this week and are beginning to home school him (as much as we can). Please pray as we are trying to determine what step to take next. We have options in Hungary, Austria or the US. Pray that we would have wisdom. Pray for Trent’s spirits as it is very discouraging to be sick this long. While it has relieved some pressure to be out of school, he misses his friends and doesn’t like this illness thing.

Reed - He has been better for a few weeks, but Monday he woke up with a really bad cough and sore throat. He has bronchitus fairly badly and has been out of school all week.

Kirby Ann - She woke up this morning saying that she needed to throw-up. So far she hasn’t, but it doesn’t look good.

Valerie, Kendall and I have stayed healthy so far. Pray for Valerie as she has been carrying the weight of caring for the kids since I’m running a conference. Thankfully, her parents are here to help. That is a lifesaver.

We’ll keep you posted. We need God to show up (as always)!

OK, not really the nations, but the National Directors of the countries here in Eastern Europe & Russia are coming to Budapest for a conference that starts tonight and runs through Saturday. They will also be joined by the National Coordinator’s of Women. Therefore, we will have close to 50 people at the conference. Coordinating this bi-annual event is a significant part of my new role and so I will be scrambling this week to get everything done.

Maybe I’ll have time to post a few pictures as the week progress. Okay . . .probably not, but a guy can dream can’t he?

We had a great week in Germany. Here’s the promised pictures of our adventure. If you click on the picture, then you can see the others.

Here’s a summary of our time there.

Day One New Schwanstein Castle- - I already blogged about this one. It was a magical day. On the way home, we drove through some of the mountains in northern Austria and southern Germany. We stopped and had a pastry in a villaged named Oberammergau nestled in the mountains.[image:348:c]

Day Two - LegoLand - This was a dream come true for my lego obsessed boys. They had seen it on the lego website and have wanted to go for a long time. There are rides, shows, and lots and lots of legos. We all had a great time.[image:350:c]

Day Three - Andechs and Wal-Mart - We went to a monastary on a hill with some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. Then, we headed off to Wal-Mart. We had heard that they had Wal-Mart in Germany and we were dying to go. The one that we visited was pretty small. We did find some stuff that we can’t get in Hungary, but I think it wasn’t too different from other stores in Germany. It was nice to see a familiar store with the friendly familiar signs. [image:353:c]

Day Four - Munich - While Valerie’s parents visited Dachau (the WWII concentration camp), the rest of us wanted to tour the new Allianz Arena. [thumb:352:r]It will be the site of the first game of the World Cup this summer. It was closed, though, because there was a game later that day. We did get to see it from the outside, though. Instead, we went to Toys ‘R Us. The kids enjoyed this just as much.

After the shopping, we all went to downtown Munich and walked around and saw some of the sites. We ate dinner in the famous Hofbrauhaus. We had a great time eating sausage, wienerschnitzel, and the best apple struhdle ever. [image:354:c]

Day Five - Headed Home - We set out for the long journey home. It is about 8 1/2 hours from where we were. On the way, we stopped off for a few hours in Salzburg. It was a beautiful warm day to wander around the streets. How amazing is it that we could just “stop by” a major city like Salzburg. Just another great thing about living in Europe.[image:351:l]

Day Six - Exhaustion - Today is total exhaustion day. We are just laying around and taking it easy. For me, things get really busy tomorrow. I have one day to get ready for our National Directors conference which starts on Tuesday. Today is the calm before the storm.

[image:347:c]Today, I visited a place I’ve dreamed of going my whole life. My parents have had a huge picture of the German castle called Neuschwanstein in their living room as long as I can remember. I’ve always dramed that one day I would visit it and today was my chance. The kids are on Spring Break and Valerie’s parents are here. Her parents brought us to Germany for a few days. We visited the castle and it did not disappoint. The views were amazing and the inside was equally impressive. Everyone else had a great time also. Incredible start to the week. Now I’m in a Burger King trying to type this on a German keyboard. I’ll post pictures after we get home.

I leave for the airport in just a few minutes after spending a wonderful week here in Cairo. The meetings with the Global Technology Leadership went very well. I was able to get some good input on the Global Measurement Project that I’m working on and I learned about some training classes that can be used to train our staff in basic computer skills. Both of these things will go a long way in helping increase the use of technology in our ministry in Eastern Europe & Russia. Also, the value of the week isn’t always seen right away as we build relationships that allow us to better partner with each other in the future. I’m currently working with staff in Singapore on the measurements project and without the relationships built at past meetings, I don’t think we would have such a strong partnership.

I also was amazed by Cairo. Europe is has such a long history that I’m amazed by the old buildings that I see. That is nothing compared to Egypt. 5000 years old is just normal. I was able to view the King Tut exhibition at the Egypt National Museum yesterday and it was totally amazing to see the things that they were able to do many thousands of years ago.

I’m looking forward to being home. Valerie’s parents fly in from Houston today so I’m looking forward to seeing them as well.

This group will meet the next time in Budapest so I won’t have such a long trip, but it will be great to be with everyone again.

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Yesterday, we took the morning off from our meetings and went to visit the pyramids. After all, what would a trip to Egypt be without it. It also give us a chance to get to know each other better and build some new relationships.

It was absolutely overwhelming. I still can’t believe that I was there. It is something that I’ve seen pictures of so many times and now I was standing there. My first impression was the surprise that it is so close to the city. I would guess that the Great Pyramid is only a quarter mile from a major street with tons of buildings and other things. The city basically runs right up to the edge of it all.

As I saw the size of them, and our tour guide explained the amazing feat of building them, it is hard to believe that they are 5000 years old. There are 2.3 million blocks in the Great Pyramid and they each weigh about 10 tons. It makes the theory about the aliens helping to build them much more plausible.

We then had lunch at Pizza Hut which was right out the window from the Sphinx. This is a classic picture of the modern meeting the ancient. We had so much fun taking pictures from inside the Pizza Hut. I think you could make this a tourist attraction in and of itself.[image:338:r]
Today (Wednesday), we meet all day and I have a couple of presentations. It is the final day of our meetings. We have already had some cool breakthroughs as a group and I’m excited about some of the things we will be able to implement as a result.

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I’m privledged to be a part of a group in Campus Crusade called the Global IT Council. It is a group of people who lead technology efforts at the different Area of Affairs around the world. This is the 4th meeting of the group (of which I have attended 3) and it is absolutely amazing to learn and share with my colleagues from around the world.

Tomorrow we start our meetings in Cairo, Egypt and so today I travelled from Budapest to Cairo and we start our meetings in the morning. We had dinner together tonight and I sat with a colleague from Egypt and from Zambia. It is so fun to learn about each other’s cultures and perspectives on life! One of the great things about this council is that we all bring different perspectives on the technology challenges that face us around the world. Each time I attend, I build a relationship, get an idea, or form a partnership that acclerates the ministry in Eastern Europe.

At one of the meetings I attended, I heard a brief 10-15 minute update on a software that was being written to help countries process donations and to allow staff to track these donations. I had no idea how I would use this information until I was asked by our finance director in Ukraine if I knew of a way to help with donations. I told her about what I heard at the council and she proceeded to implement the solution and translate the software into Russian so that other Russian speaking countries could take advantage of the tool. This example is just one of the many huge benefits to this conference.

Now about Cairo. I’ve only had a drive from the airport so I haven’t seen too much, but it is very unique. There are 15 million people here in Cairo which is more than in all of Hungary. WOW! The overall impression is BROWN. The sand is brown, the buildings are brown, and it is just brown. Very little color. My hotel is on the Nile River and the picture above is out the window of my hotel room. I’m humbled to have an opportunity to be here. It is my first time to Africa and to be here where there is so much history. I had fun telling Kirby Ann that I was staying next to the river where Baby Moses was found.

More to come later. About Cairo and about our meetings. Click on the picture to see a few more.

Lately, our house has resembled more of a hospital than a "normal" home. There has been someone sick for 4-6 weeks (we’ve lost track of time). Here’s the lineup:

• Trent has been sick the longest and he is hovering around a month. He has stomach cramps, headaches, and had some bronchitis along the way. So far all the tests that we have had run have been negative.
• Reed has something similar with headaches and stomach aches.
• Kirby Ann had a fever for several days a couple of weeks ago and today she was diagnosed with pink eye.
• Valerie has had off and on cold-like symptoms although she is okay right now.
• Kendall & I, amazingly, have stayed well (knock on keyboard).

We have been keeping some friends kids while they went to Germany for the husband to have surgery. One of their kids was diagnosed with bronchitis and borderline pneumonia!!! Stay away from us!

Seriously, it has been a tough road. Valerie feels as if the walls are closing in on here as she can’t escape because there is always a kid at home. On top of that, the kids don’t feel good so they need lots of attention from mom & dad, but especially mom. We’ve been sending the boys to school because they just can’t miss anymore, but it has been hard on them.

Pray for us and our kids. We are ready to get past this and so are the kids. They are discouraged. We know that the Lord is in control and that He loves us. If those two things are true, then we can be thankful that we are right where He wants us to be. Lord, help us to know you more deeply through this.

Tags: family, sick