Late Friday afternoon we received word that the staff of Word of Life Ukraine had decided to try and make it across the Hungarian border. By that time, the Ukrainian government had declared that Ukrainian men aged 18-60 will not be allowed to leave the country. In the early morning hours of Saturday, a bus and a few cars arrived …
Enjoying the Weather
Dear friends, Amy turned 11 early February, 2 more years, and we are going to have a teenager. 🙂 She had her youth group over for her birthday and it was so wonderful to see them enjoy some time together. We are thankful for these friendships. Haley has more and more friends in her class and she continues to be …
Teaching (and learning) about His faithfulness
January was a turbulent month for many, a difficult start to a new year. Here at WOL Hungary, we have had our share of sicknesses – Covid and otherwise. Because of a surge of cases in our circles, we did need to postpone our Missions Conference to April. We also needed to decrease the number of Winter Camps planned. Thankfully, …
Family Time
Dear Friends, We had a very good winter break. The kids got some games from my siblings and we played lots of games with them. I love playing board and card games with the kids. We also got some puzzles (also a family favorite). Even JJ can do puzzles up to 60 pieces. We didn’t go anywhere, it was very …
In God’s Hands
Dear Friends, Blessed New Year! As we start a new year, our prayer is that we would rely on God and trust Him more and more. So many things happen that we don’t understand, and we want to learn to truly trust Him despite our circumstances. We know that He knows best and that nothing happens without His knowledge, so …
Have a Blessed Christmas!
Dear friends, Every year seems to pass so fast, and this year is no exception. Nonetheless, a lot has happened this year and we are grateful for the many blessings, people we met this year, and for our family. It’s so wonderful to slow down this time of year and remember the birth of Jesus. It’s unfathomable how God became …
Serving in a Team
Dear Friends, This month we had our annual staff Christmas party and it was so good to be together and fellowship. Joshua Bramer, one of our resident teachers gave a message and reminded us about the awesomeness of the Christmas story and how relevant it is in our everyday lives even after two thousand years. Looking back this year, we …
Being Thankful
Dear Friends, As we are looking forward to Thanksgiving, so many things comes to our minds to be thankful for. We are thankful for our family. We are so glad to have Amy, Haley, Joshua, and Jonathan. They are all so much fun. They goof around a lot, they have such great imagination, they are funny and fun. We love …
Ministry Opportunities and New Responsibilities
October was a busy and exciting month at Word of Life Hungary. And a challenging but exciting month for the James family. As you may have read in our family update or elsewhere, Chris’ dad (Dave James) went home to be with the Lord on October 21st after coming down with Covid. We appreciate all the prayers, as well as …
Psalm 46:1
Dear Friends, This past month there were quite a few sad news we received concerning the health of our family members and friends. We lost friends to COVID, my father-in-law is in the hospital with COVID on a ventilator, my sister’s melanoma spread and had to have a second surgery this past month, a dear friend of mine lost her …
Off to a Great Start
Dear Friends, The Bible School Opening Weekend was on Sept 17-19. Chris was translating the main events and he was also singing some of the songs. After the Opening Weekend, classes started and Chris and I often just stopped during their breaks and enjoyed watching them play table football or table tennis in the classroom. Last year due to COVID …
Quiet Amid the Rush
School started for the girls 2 weeks ago, and preschool started for Joshua recently. The girls really enjoy school, Amy started middle school and she loves her new teachers. Haley made some new friends in her class, and enjoys going to school. Joshua is not the happiest he has to go to preschool, but it’s mandatory here in Hungary once …
Over 60, 17!
Dear Friends, We are so excited for our new school year at the Bible Institute! Today we had our first big BI staff meeting, and in a few weeks our students are going to arrive. We are expecting over 60 students from 17 different countries! I will be the Academic Assistant this year, and will remain the Scholarship Coordinator. As …
Birthday Month
Dear Friends, Summer camps are over, school starts in a few weeks. August is always busy, as Chris makes sure our students can arrive in time, and this year he also has to make sure they have all the documents they need to enter the country (due to COVID regulations). It’s also a busy month because half of our family …
Finishing Well
Dear Friends, The last week of camp started today, and we want to finish well. It’s been a wonderful, but tiring summer. Chris had the privilege to teach English for a couple of weeks, share a message two nights, share his testimony one week, and to help with the sound for a few weeks. It’s been amazing to be part …
Exhausted, but Well
Dear friends, This month was wonderful, but very tiring. We love summer camps, it’s definitely one of our favorite things all year. We love having campers, getting to know their stories, seeing many of them understand the Gospel for the first time, or understand what it means to be a Christian for the first time. Lives are changed, and God …
Summer Camps 2021
Dear Friends, Camps started on June 20, and currently we are in our second week of camps. Our girls are campers this week, and Chris and I (and the boys) are teaching English. We usually have American groups come to teach English, but this (and last year) due to COVID we had to ask our American staff and BI students …
Lots of Changes
Dear Friends, Summer is here! 🙂 In a few months, the next school year will start and we will have one at home, one starting pre-school, one in elementary school, and one in middle school. But before that, we will have a fantastic camp season. 🙂 Amy and Haley finished their year well, we are very proud of them. It’s …
Another End that Is Just the Beginning
What an encouraging month May was! God opened doors for us to return mostly to normal just in time for us to end the Bible Institute year on a high note. In these last few weeks we have been able to resume classroom instruction, we even had guest teachers come from the United States to teach in person. The students …
Lessons Learned Lately
Dear Friends, Let me start with some praises: Early May Chris got his first shot and on the same day, I got my second shot! We praise God for His provision! Over 40% of Hungary’s population got the vaccine already, and we see the number of those in hospital with COVID and on ventilators drop significantly day by day. Praise …
Change Is the New Constant
Dear Friends, As you can imagine, our students had to go through a lot of changes this year. They only have one more month left of the BI, and it will be a busy one. 🙂 We are planning on having our annual Missions Conference in a couple of weeks (although it won’t be open to the public unfortunately this …
Learning to Wait
Dear Friends, Spring was here and then isn’t here anymore. 🙂 We had some wonderful weather during the kids spring break, so we went to many different places. It was so nice to be with the family and go for little hikes. The kids loved all the places we visited and cannot wait for us to be able to go …
We Don’t Stop
Dear Friends, Unfortunately the third wave in Hungary is hitting the country hard right now. Early this month we had to send our Hungarian students home due to further regulations in our country. The good news is that people are getting vaccinated at a high rate and over 20% of the country has been vaccinated by now. Our hope is …
Happy Together
Dear Friends, As of March 8, we started digital learning again in public elementary schools. This time around Amy and Haley’s school uses Teams, and it works very well. Amy is a pro by now 🙂 and she does most everything on her own. Haley still needs a lot of help, which is to be expected at her age. 🙂 …
Philippians 4:13
Dear Friends, We have exciting news! A month ago we had 100 registered campers, now we have over 460! Praise God! Please pray for registration to go smoothly and for many campers to come so they can hear the Gospel for the first time and make a decision. Please also pray for our American groups to be able to come …