E-Letter April 22, 2011 - Christian Missions International

Special April Update from Jim and Brenda in Budapest, Hungary

Starting Churches Among the Gypsies

Gypsies make up almost 10% of the population of Romania. They usually have their own language, culture and are generally outcasts in their own country.

For the last ten years we have been able to help start about 15 churches targeting just Gypsy communities in many of the countries here in Eastern Europe.

It’s always wonderful to be able to minister in these churches as they are full of life and the people are so hungry for the things of God. A few weeks ago I ministered at a Gypsy church in Bulgaria and was amazed at the young girls dancing before the Lord, singing beautiful worship songs.

Even now we are working with some key Romanian leaders to start several more churches in villages where mainly Gypsies live that have no church. This is always exciting to see the impact these new churches make.

How You or Your Church Can Be Involved in Helping Start a New Church In Eastern Europe

Things You May Not Know About Brenda

Her grandfather was a minister for over 60 years.
She told the Lord as a child she would go and serve Him any where in the world as long as it was “warm.” She ended up living in Moscow and Budapest. Both places are “cold”.
She has two sisters and three brothers.
Her ministry gifts are serving and mercy.
She loves the old Black and White Movies. Especially with the stars of the 1940’s and 50’s.
She is currently reading a Biography of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The ministry she listens to most frequently is Joyce Meyer.
She loves to go hiking.

Things You May Not Know About Jim

Jim was born in Wausau, Wisconsin on a dairy farm and lived there till he was eleven then moved to Colorado.
He grew up Catholic and has three sisters and four brothers.
He loves sports, especially Baseball and Football.
His father was a Marine in WW II and fought in the South Pacific in the battle of Okinawa. He received a purple heart and even served in occupied China for six months after the War.
He loves Romantic movies.
He became a Christian in High School through a group called Young Life.
Loves foreign films with English subtitles.
Favorite Movie – Casablanca
Jim’s grandparents from His fathers side immigrated to America from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire around 1900. They were from a village two hours south of Vienna. The village is about three hours from Budapest in Austria. We have been there several times. There are three pages of “Puhr”s in the Vienna phone book.

Things You May Not Know About Hungary Map of Hungary

The Hungarian Language is related distantly to Finnish.
There are 13 million Hungarian Language speakers. Three million of them live outside Hungary.
Hungary has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than any other country in the world. Mainly in physics and mathematics.
The Roman’s occupied what is now Budapest at the time of Christ. There are Roman ruins around the city even today.
For 150 years Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their were two capitals, Vienna and Budapest. The empire ended after WW I when Hungary became it’s own nation.
Attila the Hun died in the year 457 and is buried in Hungary.
Budapest is used frequently to film Hollywood and TV Movies. Some movies filmed in Budapest are; Evita, Spy Game, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, Munich, I Spy and An American Rhapsody, plus many more.

Our Son Nathan is Getting Married on May 1

On May 1 our oldest son Nathan is getting married to a wonderful young lady named Lori. We are so happy for them. Our other son Ryan will be the Best Man.

We will be flying back to Orlando, Florida next week for the wedding and will be there for a week. We are all so excited for them.

Nathan and Lori met at a Bible Study about a year and a half ago. Lori was able to come to Budapest for Christmas and we loved having her here during that special time.

Nathan was born on the mission field back in 1984 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

You can find out more about Nathan and Lori at their website:

Lori and Nathans Wedding Website

April 22, 2011

How Much Longer Do You Plan on Living in Hungary?

Jim and Brenda Puhr
How much longer do you”have” to live in Hungary? This is a question we often get when talking to people in America.

To us it’s kind of an awkward question as we don’t feel we “have” to live here. We “get” to live here.

In reality we absolutely love living here. Sometimes even we are so surprised how much we love it. We are sure it’s the grace of God and the calling we have to serve in Eastern Europe.

So the answer often is “we don’t know how long we will live in Budapest.” When we first came here in 1997 we thought we would live here one to three years and now we are in our fourteenth year and have no plans of leaving.

One of the great things about living here is all of our children have loved it too. They always have felt that this is home, not just a place we are going to live for a while. That makes it so nice.

One of the things that we have learned throughout the years wherever we have lived is, to “love wherever we live”.

Some of the places we have lived were a challenge, like when we lived on the edge of the jungle in Costa Rica or on the 22nd floor in a one bedroom apartment in Moscow with our two boys.

We also know that people are praying for us and because we have such strong prayer covering it makes things much easier.

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Jim and Brenda Puhr | Pf. 89 Budapest, 1780 Hungary | Tel. 011-36-30-984-1990 | Christian Missions International PO Box 51531 | Jacksonville | FL | 32240