Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is thy Faithfulness

There is a story I once heard, where every morning, a man and his dog would walk to the train station. Once at the station, the man would get on the train to go to work. The dog would go home, but at exactly the same time every afternoon, he would return to the train station to meet his master upon his return home from work. One afternoon, the man did not come home on the afternoon train as he died of a heart attack. The dog faithfully waited at the station for his master to arrive home until the day of his own death. Now that is one faithful dog!

As faithful as that dog was, there is One who is more faithful. As faithful as the friend is who has stuck with you through thick and thin, there is still One who is more faithful.  As faithful as the spouse that has been by your side into your golden years is, there is still One who is more faithful. That One is God. Even when man fails to be faithful, God is always faithful. 

In what ways is God faithful? For one, God is faithful in His ever presence. Many instances in the Bible, God told His people, or used another person to relay the message, that He would not fail them nor forsake them (Deut 31:6. Josh 1:5, 1 Chron 28:20, Heb 13:5). How neat is it that even when we are without human companionship, God is there with us each and every second of the day! There are times we feel alone, but the presence of God is faithful.

Secondly, God is faithful in His provisions. Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain that is recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 12. In this message, He told of the provisions of God. God is faithful to take care of the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field so we can count on it that He will provide for us too.

Thirdly,  God is faithful in keeping His promises. A great verse of the Bible, Titus 1:2, says “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”. The Bible is filled with the promises of God and because He cannot lie, He keeps every one of them! I know even the best of our human friends can’t always say what the mean and mean what they say, but God is faithful to always keep His promises!

The presence, provisions, and promises of God are faithful, and as Jeremiah triumphantly cried out in Lamentations: “Great is thy faithfulness”. I sure get excited just thinking about God’s faithfulness! 

“It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” 

Lamentations 3:22-23

Week Two of Classes

Classes at BBTI have started. There are 21 students. My family is getting to know each of the other families by inviting them into our home for dinner. We have been really enjoying learning about who our classmates this way!

We are already in week two of classes. Everyone here is so kind and helpful. The classes at the moment are Phonetics and Culture. The material itself has been a bit overwhelming at times. I had no idea there was such a science in the way we speak, and how different languages use sounds that we don't in English. Learning them is key to understanding another language. 

A Year to Learn

Hungarian has been difficult to learn. Many missionaries have described their success with language learning as a result of studying at Baptist Bible Translators Institute, or BBTI for short. So, my family has found ourselves studying in Bowie, Texas this year. Praying for a good year full of learning!

My Grandma

My Grandma passed away on Memorial Day. She will be missed, but I have enjoyed travelling through memory lane, remembering the kind of person she was. 

She loved to laugh. She had a big laugh that could be heard all through the house. She enjoyed people. Being with people, visiting people, talking with people on the phone. She never seemed to run out of things to say. She loved to talk about her day and what was on her schedule. Usually, her schedule included visiting a neighbour or friend in the hospital. My grandpa, who passed away in April 2005, was the exact opposite. He was a quiet fellow who did have much of anything to say and was content to be quiet. 

I will continue to add to this post as I have time to jot down my memories.

Team from Romania

These past few days, our family was privileged to host had a group of five students and two teachers from the Baptist College International, located in Coșteium Romania. The goal of the visit was to assist with the Sunday School classroom we have been working on since the winter at the church in Szolnok, Hungary. The students were a blessing from helping with two picnic tables, helping to build the roof and walls on the classroom, and even distributing invitations to the summer English Bible Camp. During the Friday service, Florin Stanca did a terrific job teaching from Titus 2:11-14 "For the Grace of God". Then again on Sunday, his message was from 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 "Ye receive not the grace of God in vain". It was a blessing to have them for these few short days and looking forward to their next visit!

A Heidi Happy Birthday

Well, the youngest Mann child just turned 11. Time sure flies, doesn't it? She did not ask for much, but told Mom and Dad of her desire to have a strawberry cake mix. Unfortunately, Hungary does not have strawberry cake mix. Cake mix of any kind is hard to come by here. A very dear friend, Walter Stevens, brought over this cake mix during his travels to Hungary and Romania just for the birthday girl, and wow, was she excited! 

Vienna Weekend

Our ministry in Hungary has been going well and been very busy. Time for a break! This past weekend was a chance to get away as a family and take a bus to Vienna. Bus travel proved to be very comfortable and we were all able to nap comfortably on it for the three hour trip from Budapest. Too bad we couldn't travel that way during deputation! 

Time in Vienna flew by! We arrived Saturday at one in the afternoon. After we brought our bags to our accomodations for the night, we set off to see the sights. Dunkin Donuts was our first destination. This is the closest one to us from home. Perhaps Budapest will get one someday. The coffee and donuts were so good. 

Next stop was St Stephens. The architecture of this Catholic church was extraordinary! The carvings, and paintings were also quite the sight to see.

We rode the metro to different parts of the city to see what we could in our limited time and soon it was dinner time. We found a little place called the Chattanooga and enjoyed a nice meal. The diner actually reminded me of Cheddars which we often enjoyed in the States during deputation.