MOVED AWAY...

Dear Friends, We have moved our personal blog over to wordpress. We like that site and options waay more...its just as free as blogger, but we like it more...
So please note that from now in we are posting on: www.thenemeths.wordpress.com

Our ministry blog in english and hungarian stays at blogger, and churchblog stays at blogger... for any question please contact us at: laciandkeri@gmail.com

Kedves Barátok, tesók,
A személyes blogunkat átdobtuk egy másik céghez.(Wordpress.com)
az új címünk: www.thenemeths.wordpress.com
A szolgálati blog és gyüli blog marad a bloggernél... legalábbis egyenlőre...
Ha lenne bármi kérdésetek a: laciandkeri@gmail.com -on elértek...

GET USED TO THE THOUGHT...

Get Used to the thought, that we will be probably on a differend web page soon... for a while this will still exist...but If all goes planned we gonna move to this address: www.thenemeths.wordpress.com.

And PLEASE. let us know, what you think...

Laci

Puskas Ferenc (Öcsi)

This is the day of his funeral in Budapest... If you do not know who he is or what he did... It would be hard to explain. A GOD given genious in soccer... Hungary's last great soccer player... some say on of the top 5 soccer players who ever lived...

They do digitals...

What a tempting advertisement... :)

I saw this in a village in our nearby called DALJ(Dálya). Just couldn't resist to take a pic... :)

Laci

wordpress poison

well my friend Mark has poisoned my brain with this other company called wordpress as a better solution then blogspot...
to be honest I am testing it, and might switch to it...althoug I am just getting close to an anniversary on my 1st ever blog... :)

Lazio

horror

Few thougths up for discussion...

Pastor Tom Dickerson on Luke 14:
about multitudes:
"You are not here to please them, but to teach them GOD" (inspired by Luke 14:25)

"Our role is to teach the church to Love GOD, not just to know about God" (I guess J.I . Packer should revise his book: "Knowing and loving God" :)"

Pastor RIch Chaffin on II.Kings 2
there is a question:
"What do you want?" watch out what is your answer when GOD asks you that question.

II. Kings 3:
Needs for miracles:
1. Obey a command that makes little sence
2. Trust that GOD knows what HE is speaking

there are 2 kinds of people:
1. Working hard and hoping that will do a miracle
2. people who do little but compllaine.

Which one you are/wanna be?


And a last one:

"people can debate your theology, but they can't debate the changed lives. The evidence is love, that can not come from you"

to my fellow american friends

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...
I miss your great meal at this day... :)

Labels...

Finally I got time to play with our blog a little...
I have labeled all our posts...
Here is the conclusion:
1. Way too many thoughts...
2. way less fun and Lea
3. and I definitelly need to improve posting on Bureks... :)

Blogging is fun...

TROUBLE

We are in trouble. Lea is smart. at the age of two she learned how to open a child lock. she is strong enough to open the fridge...
Trouble, trouble...

the 15th anniversary of the fall of Vukovar

15 years ago, on this day, the defense of Vukovar has given up. a 3 month siege of Serbian forces has broken the defense of the city, and 2 days later even the last defenders have given up...in the outskirt calledd Borovo Naselje, where I live right now...

It is scary how much people change during this period.many of them walk like Zombies "reliving" the things that happened to them 15 years ago... many scars are still more then open scars... still arrond 900 Vukovarians are oficcially missing, but unofficially they are dead. laying in a mass grave or shot into danube or something...

Very often we joke about the land mines and everything, but it is a pretty sirious thing... I really look up to the defenders of this city... 1800 of them against a whole army... and basicly they pulled the sting of the bee out... the Serbian army was never the same after the siege of Vukovar...

Vukovar is the reason, Osijek never got conquered. Croatia did not got overrunned.

only 15 years ago...

A medical nurse(who was at the vukovar hospital during the siege) said that she still does not hates serbs or anyone... but she feels the same she felt then: "anger towards the UN and the world...how could they just watch and not do a thing..."

This post might be long...but please stay with me... the whole world was paying attention to Kuvait and Iraq. how often are we the same... our attention is focusing on the big things, on famous things, and we never pay attention to the little things...
I will try to draw a parallel here... Big christian happenings(festivals, conferences etc) verses serving and fighting for my local church...
That other church that is bigger and fancier or, my church that might be only 30-40 people...

Happy birthday LEA

Lea,
You turned two today. two years ago on this day you have arrived to this world.
Since that you traveled a lot. you have been to: Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and you constantly live in Vukovar,Croatia.

You were exactly 80 cm and 10 Kilograms on this day...

You were and are a great blessing to us. we have only one request from you:
could you sleep a little more in the next two years... ???

You parents:
Laci and Keri

p.s.on the picture we you are showing how old are you... :)

blogging is a virus...

My friend has a blog anniversary. you can see on his last post that he started cuz others did it...
Well I started because he did it... and I effected few people to start blogging...
Soon people will feel bad if they want have a blog... "you poor blogless people"...
You see blog is just one more thing on which we can seperate...sociologist can study it, and where humanity goes with it is questionable... :)

Grace and Peace:
Lazo von Vukovaren

snowstorm

Today we had crazy snowstorm in Vukovar. out of nowhere in two days GOD turned off the sun, everything got really cold, and today a snowstorm...

here is the pic

Smooth period

Lately I got few friend asking me, "how are you"... (You know those people who do care, not just randomly asking... :) )

And honestly lately I would say that I am relaxed(For the first time in the past 20 months since we are here), and it feels like a smooth time...

Last night I told somone, I am always worried when wthings go smooth...kinda the silence before the storm feeling...
I got advised, enjoy this time...
It was not the best advise...

Today GOD told through Matthew 7:24-27, that since our faith is tested when storm come, I better use this time when it is smooth, for letting GOD build me so when the storms do come...we can stand strong in the LORD.

Use the smooth time to be ready when the "unsmooth" comes.

Systhematic teaching... :)

and she would be awesome too... :)

I wish to have her on staff...

My selfishness

Well, I am a selfish pig.(ok, ok I know you know that... :) )
I have been getting lately some awesome funny christian cartoons and I thought to share with you few of them every now and then...
Here is the first one...

LAzio

p.s.
Ofcourse I can not relate to the joke at all. Nothing like that ever happened to me...

RESPECT BRADDA

May favourite british dr. friend, have posted an awesome thing. you wanna read it.

I am still shocked. I am not sure if its a cultural sensitivity? or just claming the truth(that Croatia will win), or just simply has Mazohistic motivation, he wants to get beaten up in england tomorrow night... :)

You have to know, that Wednesday night Croatia plays versus England in Zagreb... Its soccer. its the european superball kinda thing... (women not interested at all, maybe only about the handsome goalkeepr... :) )

OK so anyway... HE did the best thing possible. :)

LOVE YOU DR. ANDY. And TRULY RESPECT YOU FOR THIS...

one of my favourite bands...

Imre Kertész, Fateless

Well I am just finisheing this book. I am sure many of you will say...finally, but I am sure there will also be several people who will say: "what?".
2002 Nobel Prize winner in literature category...

Well you can find out more about it here

its very intresting... if you get a chance READ IT.

Laci

LEAMINATOR

Pastors retreat...

Its not a joke...this picture was taken at a pastors retreat...

It was great. The whole conference was planed not to be formal, and they did a good job.

In the morning hours we had fellowship, prayer, encouregement, etc.
the basic motive behind the whole thing was to rebuild friendships, instead of again listening to teachings on "how to do ministry better"...
The best thing is, the whole day has drawn us closer to JESUS, because it was full of personal testemonies, and hearts were opened...
On the picture you can see the afternoon "Psicho-therapy". Paintballing.
some people might stumble over this...how come, pastors to have fun or that is not christian or whatever... "the fruit of the spirit is LOVE", and it was great to see or love grow towards each other during the whole day... and a big part of it was the paintballing too... to learn to respect each other, work together as a team, learn together from mistakes, etc...
I
If you think, I am trying to "overspiritualize" the whole thing, I don't.
IT WAS A GREAT SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT AND GROWTH.

THANK YOU GOD.

BUY THIS FRIDGE

adolf hitler and GOD's sense for humor...

OK, you guys remmeber, that we were at a missions conference in august? Well right accorss the lake there is a little castle which has belonged to the famous adolf hitler (the first letters of his name are written small on purpose-read the book: The boys of Paul street:Ferenc Molnár).

Now, many years after he thought he is "big" his used to be castle is now a place to rent a boat... :)

GOD has a good sense for humor... :)


p.s. Beth Stewart thanx for the pics...

background

well. kidney infection it is. after several blood and other tests, infusions, injections, etc(my arms look like a drug addict), they concluded THA news. :)

Much rest, liquid antibiotics etc.
I have to admit 3 weeks have passed away and I had no day off at all.
chesnuts have fallen off of the trees and I missed it completely. It is a good thing to serve the LORD, but not enjoying life, and having no Sabbath is unbiblical and unhealthy.

I did my best in the past 18 months(since we moved to Vukovar), and the LORD has trully blessed the work of our hands...it was and is worth every tear, every svet, ever attack we had to endure. But what I learned(again) is no engine can run 100 miles per hour for too long without a brake, without a refill etc...

So we are cutting back on many things in ministry. I am saying NO to many things, to be able to spend more time with the LORD, with my awesome and beautiful wife, my wonderful daughter...friends, family.

THINGS need to change. Learn from my mistake.

Laci

Infusion...

First infusion experience in my life, just have happened today...

I started the day(Actually the whole night) with throwing up...
I was trying to be "smart" and not to go to the doctors... :)

But my wife was right, so I went. Then I ended up at the E.R.(No Luka Kovac was not here... :) )

It turned out that I have some kind of kidney infection. Or bacterial or virus.


PLEASE PRAY. I will know more tomorrow.


Laci.

p.s. And Lea wasw throwing up since monday...so its a "fun"week... poor Keri...she just keeps running and serving us... She is an angel.

Back to life, back to reality...

Well, surprise surprise...
I just got the internet hooked up an hour ago...
I feel so human...back to reality...
WOw
Laci

GOOD NEWS of ADSL (or the Gospel according to Internet)

WOW guys, I can not find words that would describe my joy... in less the 30 days I have INTERNET at my house...
My addiction will be met again. I will post again. I will actually be able to send e-mails...
JOY
J O Y
J O Y

"Rejoice with Laci every nation of the world, Praise T-com all my cyber soul"
Apokriph Gospel of Laci

FEW QUOTES...

Well being on this conference is awesome...I actually got time to read in the afternoons... I can't remember when was the last time I got to do that... :)
Here are few intresting quotes from the book 'The celebration of discipline' by Richard J. Foster:

"Superficiality is the the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem..."

Keep in mind that he wrote all this in the '70... :)

"grace is free, but its not cheap"

"everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself"

"hurry is not of the devil:it is the devil"

SO much for now...

MUSLIMS

There is an arab guy here called Samy Thanago and he wrote a book how to reach muslims... He wrote this book in a way as muslims think and understand...comparing Quran and Bible, etc...

He is teaching at this missions conference we attend, and it really touched me, and rebuked me too... my love for Israel and the muslims need to be the same... I let the Politics, and the Terorist junk influenced me... my heart needs to cry in the same way for the muslims as it beats for Israel... If you guys disagree with this statement, comment and we can go on...

Missions conference

WEll, we are in Austria. at a lake called: Millstatter See at this castle... And its great...
Please read the history of the place... Its great...
So beautifull here...its scary...But no worries we are returning to Vukovar, its so expencive here...everything is expencive... :)So I go back to less expencive Vukovar gladly...
Although it is finally after many years a real vacation, fun reading, etc etc...

GOD is good.

Laci

on Travel...

Well, now you will have to imagine a picture. Ready?
Imagine 3 maps. Map of Croatia, Hungary, and Austria...
Right now these 3 maps tell us where to go... It would be really easy if it would be similar with our journey with GOD too... But instead, mostly HE is not even telling us, where we are going...HE only says the first step... and if we are faithfull in it them the second... etc... with traveling by map its easier. I know where I want to get, I chose the path(or Keri my co-pilot and brain :) ) and just follow the signs...
Anyways this might sound as an overspiritualized post on our simple holiday traval... We are now resting in Esztergom, Hungary with Keri's family and we are living for Austira for a missions conference on sunday morning...
Can't wait to swim in the cold "Millstatter See" the lake where the conference is held.

Still no internet, when we get back, we will see.
GOD BLESS YOU GUYS...
LAci, Keri and Lea

MORE BAD NEWS ON INTERNET...

Well guys...
maybe those 3-4 weeks will be 3-4 months...they said no Adsl or any LAN internet amybe even in the whole year...
Now that I call trouble...I can simphatize now with Apostle Pauls shipwreck...
Thank GOD for my Jewish friend Charles TAuber I can come to his office and get online here, so I might feel a little more human... :)

Suffering for CHRIST without INTERNET:
Laci from Vukovar

NO INTERNET

I know it sounds silly in most of normal places... but never forget VUKOVAR IS NOT AN AVERAGE PLACE.
I have moved from the apartment to a house(approximatelly 4 streets away...) and in this street no internet, yet...

Hopefully in 3-4 weeks we will have it here too... so till then I will just gather experiences and then load it on you... :)

Laci and Keri from NO internetLAND

GOD is anti human logic

This will not be a „great revelation” to most of you, but there are many things, that we just cant understand with our human limited understanding...
Here is what I think:
- GOD uses broken vessels, we don’t we throw them out.
- GOD uses the foolish things of this world, we throw the „foolish” people into sanatoriums...
- GOD sacrafices something perfect(JESUS) for something useless(me). Who would trade a Ferrari for a bike? HE does...
- GOD wants us to: „keep ourselves in the love of GOD” Jude 21, but in the whole Bible there is very few people who were able to do that, and most of them went through great hardships...For example Job...(Job 42:10)

Crazy stuff right???

And the wierdest of all is that it actually works.

GOD is unbeliveable...

I am aware of that this statement is an oximoron itself. it contradicts GODs personality...He has spoken, he has revealed Himself so we could belive in HIM.
What I mean by it is simple this...Its unbeliveable how GOD makes things happend. We have recently went through a really tough and hard time... we were overwhelmingly busy with ministry responsabilities, we were working on a house in Vukuvar that we gonna be renting out starting 1.st of July... etc, and very often with things that require endurance, things that require hard work, we often just do not see the end of it. We can't imagine its gonna be finished one day... Well I felt that way about the work on our house...We were first plastar(d)ing(I hope I speeled right), then we were painting the walls. what happened is, there was nooooo way I could finish it on time...I stepped out, had no idea into what... but as I stepped out, GOD started to provide.
1.financies, when I started, I had no idea it would require soo much money... HE KNEW and HE provided.
2. He provided help: few man were faithfully coming. Dario, Milos, János, Kyle P., ...
3. and he provided professionals...those who know what they were doing... Dario and János...
If GOD would not intervene I wouls probably still be plastar(d)ing the first room.
GOD is unbeliveable...HE guides and then provides.

Now we are in Hungary having a little rest from the ministry and we get back we have a week to move...

GOD is awesome... HE gives everything...

So far the best...

So far this is the best picture of us... :)

pick up your cross...

If I am learning something lately it is pick up your cross and follow me...
Its crazy...I have soo busy days, like never before in my life...HE empowers me, and blesses when I am doing what HE wants me to do...and fruits are coming out of it... all HE expects from me is to die to myself...and let HIM do the work...
its crazy...
GOD is good...

we left Vukovar today. we are now in Subotica, tomorrow also, saturday going to teach in Hungary and drive back to Vukovar and teach at our church in Vukovar and hit the bad... :)

Please continue to pray for us... GOD is doing sooo much... :)

Laci and Keri and Lea

YODA

All I have to say is:
Lea+grandmas shirt= YODA

The BEST candy...

We were blessed to recieve a care package. In it besides the awesome CD's we got some Jelly Beans... :)

They are the best Candy ever invented...

Tony and Kim, THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH...

Laci, Keri and Lea.

THA BILL...

We just recently got an electric bill, our friend has drawn our attention to what is written on the envelope:

"In case you did not got this bill, please let us know"

Well I guess "rocket scientists" are everywhere... :)

what am I?

Is a huge question in this part of the world, but as far as I know/remember "over the big lake" the situation is kind a similar. what someone think he or she is, is strongly connected to the geographical area you were born in... this thinking leads to a lot of ethnic, nationalistic issues.
This geographic issue makes specially not much sense over here...
I was born in a little city in north Serbia(Vojvodina)called Subotica. Father Hungarian, mother Croatian(Bunjevac). due to the wars on the balkans in the '90 I was "sent" to study in Szeged,Hungary... there they never treated me as a hungarian...
Then in 2005 I moved to Croatia.To a city where It does metter to most people what are you... while living in Croatia, the hungarian government has given me the Hungarian citizenship... while living here I was told, maybe I can apply to a croatian citizenship, because my mother is a croat, and I live in Croatia...
So please tell me what in the world am I? Recently I was asked and my answer was Eastern Europenean. That descrbes it all... since There is no such thing, I am thinking about starting a virtual Eastern Europenean State... If any of you want to join it, or open a virtual embassy just let me know... :)

Add to this whole maddness that I married a beautifull woman from North of Hungary, from a city called Esztergom(On the border with Slovakia)

So...

What are you?

Vukovar Newspaper...

If you click to this link+speak croatian you will understand that the little "Pick up trash" action of our church is mentioned in the Vukovar Newspaper...
The editor is a kind lady(Zeljka Kraljic) and shows very opened heart to publish things that we as church do or organize...
Its kind of cool...you can also dowload the pdf file of the page...
its kind of cool...at least I am happy..."the church that picks up trash..." I think its awesome... :)

Two new sports invented in Serbia...

Hi guys,
Due to the floods the almighty Balkan menthality invented 2 new sports.
1. waterski on the highway
2. water soccer

The are applying to the Olimpic community with the desire to accept it into 2008 Olimpic games in Peking... all you need is flood...and since China is big, they would held these two competition in that part of China where the flood is...

I just like the Balkan menthality, its one thing to be in trouble but the question is how can we make fun out of it... :)

the spirit of the city...

its gonna be long, but endure with me...
I always heard from pastors, that you have to sense the spirit of the city, you have to have a vision etc... last year I heard one guy sharing how wierd is his city, and I kind of felt related to it...
Before, when we lived in Szeged it was easy to sense the spirit of the city. Its a universitiy town, big catholic cathedral, etc...its full of "knowledge", and pride... hard city to reach...
So I came to Vukovar, and I felt nothing...destroyed buildings, hatred in the hearts towards the other nations, every person effected by war, no jobs, kind of melancholic etc...but nothing you can grasp on...
...all till the day of this flood. We went there and have seen the soldiers packing the bags, with sand... we started joking they should have come 15 years ago, but all of them were probably sissy to come and defend the city... so here we go...
The city was defended 15 years ago by 2000-3000 tousand local dudes, many of them unequiped, and mostly barely any weapons...for 3 months they fought the 30-50 000 serbian slodiers armed with all tenks and anything you can imagine... then most of them were taken to concentration camps and many of them never returned alive...
What does it has to do with the spirit of the city? A lot... these soldiers were laughed at(maybe not even true exactly for these soldiers),but in general...if you are not brave to face and fight Goliath you gonna be laughed at...
So you can be one of two... or the one who never gives up, trusts GOD and defeats Goliath or you get laughed at...

May the LORD help us not to ruin our testemony and to bring glory to HIM...

Does this makes sence?
What is the spirit of your city?

Lea the TOP MODEL...

We made official Church T-shirts.
Reasons?
1. we got few for free...
2. we organized picking up trash in Vukovar, kind of a reach out to the community, showing Love to our neighbours, and just living in a nicer community...:)
Here is the best top model, with our church T-shirt(baby size)...

New transmogrifier...

what to say...???
every box is a transmogrifier...

floods...

This spring is full of floods...in Szeged(where we lived for 12 years) seems like they gonna experience the biggest flood in the past 50 years...I started to feel jelouse, that I miss it and its not fair, and etc, but Vukovar got the biggest flood in the past 40 years... its kind a cool, but also scary...Here are some pictures...

1493.jpg is the Romantic Restaurant on the Danube side...called "Vrske"
1495.jpg the romantic bench...
- the cross is a monument to those who died defending the City...
1536.jpg city center, the bridge over Vuka...almost higher then the bridge...just few centimeters(inches) before it goes over...


Well thats pretty much it...But I will have to post one more, on the "Spirit of the city"...its intresting... :)

Few Lea pictures...

She is much fun...I wil try to post some pictures also on how she is sliding on the slide in Vukovar...she loves them...Crazy like her mom...:"its dangeourus? lets do it..."

Catching up....

A lot has happened since our last post... We went voting at the Hungarian Embassy in Osijek, we finsihed our diet... I have lost 13 Kg, Keri 9, huge floods all over eastern Europe..., etc etc...Lea is a one sweet girl...giving us a lot of laghter...,
Good things are happening in the ministry too, so I will try to catch up...:)
Oh yeah...I try to read bunch of books and stuff...Any news ON cloneing? It would be really nice to have at least two of me...
I am trying to catch up with reading many of your blogs...but I just don't have time...lately everyone has a blog...I found a really good picture...Here you go...Little offensive... ?

believe it or not...

Believe it or not, if you endure a little more you will be able to read a new post soon...actually several of them...
I needed some time to regain my creativity so I went to the nicest places on the world and had done nothing just sunbathing...and enjoying GOD's creation...After that I went skiing in the Alps and then to Peru...
So after weeks of not doing a thing, not caring for people, not even trying to be a good husband, father and a pastor...and all that...I will write...



Of course, before someone thinks its true I am being sarcastic... :)

Adventures with CHRIST...

Ministry is wierd.
Just few weeks ago I was doing my first funeral in my life, and was doing it in a foreign land. Well GOD willing I will do my first wedding that is also legal in front of the Republic of Croatia.(In Croatia like in the states you can do official weddings as Pastor, so people don't have to do 2 weddings like in Serbia, or Hungary or other places...) So now I applied to become official in front of the government...
Who am I gonna marry? Its a student couple at the ETS in Osijek. I am planning to do at least 5-6 marriage councellings, to prepare them... Even if they know so much in Theory about it... Theory and practice are not always the same... :)
So its an adventure to serve GOD... :)

You wanna here an intresting joke...After I did Vlado's funeral, I got a phone call "Slobodan Milosevic just died". Then we started jokeing...
1. exactly in the same minute when Keri and I got married Arkan got killed in Belgrade...
2. When I did my first funeral Slobodan milosevich dies...
3. So Voljislav Seselj will die when I do my first wedding...

Well if somebody can inform Vojislav Seselj in the Hague, please let him know, that he will die in May or June... :)

Lea in the Clinics for Children in Pecs Hungary...

It should be a sad post, but it will actually be a neutral... She still has weight issues and the doctors requried a 2 days testing fr Lea. First day was very hard . Lot of blood tests that required pain...so a lot of crying...
The second day was better...
But both days were awesome, Leah was smiling a lot and enjoying the time...the nurses loved her and walked her into every room, because she is so friendly and so smiling all the time... even right after the tests were done... here are few pictures...

An a sirious level, she might be alergic to more, not only milk and egg. we need to wait 4-6 weeks for the results...

And then we got home, and she emptied the kitchen cabinet with joy... :)

Time savers or gadgets/toys for man... :)

I could subtitle this post also as Pastor Nokia.
I heard a story once(I can't remember who told me) that a pastor in Finland told the congregation before the service:
"Please if you have a Nokia turn it off, and if you have a sony erickson in the back of the church there is a thrash throw it in."

I am not sure if it is true or not but its a good joke for sure...

My friend Tom posted an intresting thing on this issue

I had a sony erickson for years... But my daughter opened our eyes to the week points of that phone, so we got a water proof, and unbreakable phone. This Nokia...
I am not sure if it wil save me time or not, but it has a compass, thermometer, etc...