This stage of journey is over. After 27 hours--getting up at 5AM (or11pm CST) and then 3 airports, waiting, flying, waiting, flying, luggage pick-up, and finally driving 6 1/2 hours back north-- we all arrived tired but safe. The flights were uneventful but long... from London to Chicago it was a three movie, 2 meal, plus some down time- 8hrs. Wouldn't you know it that some of our luggage was given the honor of being of making it to the final four... not in B-ball but on the carousel.

Each team member was glad for the opportunity. As our theme verse for "Join the Journey" proclaims, "I will make you a symbol and source of blessing." (Zechariah 8:13nlt) -- God did just that. Our missionary friends were blessed, the church as blessed, Zsusa was blessed, and most of all we are blessed. It was a terrific week of ministry and eye opening experiences for the team. Even the set backs like a tooth needing a cap was a blessing.... where in the US could you get a quality cap for under $350? (Did you know they have vacation packages for dentistry work in Budapest for European residents?) And Brian's bout with the bug...gave most of us an opportunity to try Unicum, the local stomach medicine....oh yes, some of us tried the newer gentler nyquil tasting variety.

The staff at the Mozi and KEGY were outstanding as they helped us get things moving and served us making us feel at home in Hungary. And Brad-ushski is a tour guide you would die for.

Thanks for following our trip and perhaps someday you might be able to join us. But where ever you are you are invited to join the journey of faith and allow God to work in your life and

throug h your life... blessings begin when we are open to God. May you be richly blessed as you follow Christ. God's Favor.

We are done. All the tools are back in their cases, the dirty clothes are wrapped up and tonight we pack up. Blonide and Christ hit the road or air this morning. We shopped at the covered market and and bargained or atlest tried. Jer -2-ó has this natural desire in competative bargaining. Then we finally got back to work around noon. Today we split up. All the guys minus mudman went and worked on the attic. Mudman sanded and recoated and cleaned up the leftover mess. Oh yes, Allen was officially inducted into the monarchy today when he was crowned at 9am. Came back from the dentist and had to mumble for over 2 hours with mouth are numb from the novacaine. Well at least Allen and I can pack up. The young guys are heading out to the Lemmon's (remember Bethany) her parents house for movies and some games. It has been a whirlwind trip with much accomplished. We have made some new friends, reconnected with some old one, shared memories like singing in the resturant and train, collapsing scaffolding, dentist trips, trying to buy bottled water, searching for Blondie's lost drill from the first airplane trip, eating poppy seed donuts, and of course wienerschnitzel. Pray for a comfortable and safe trip home tomorrow as we leave for the airport around 6am and finally arrive home in Steven's Point hopefully around 93ö pm. Then on to ER for a midnight arrival. If there is anz spelling mistakes it is because I am using the office computer with a hungarian kepboard and the kezs are in different places...cant zou tell. Well Allen is already getting in some zzz's. Trying to catch up on lost sleep. Good night and good memories.

God's favor. Rhino's

Vienna=Great!

Hello Readers,
Our adventure in Vienna was filled with lots of food and fun, however because we got back late the blog update will not be at this time. We will update the blog tomorrow morning when most of you will be sleeping. Please check us out then.

Thanks,
The blog team

You can tell we are hard workers and also enjoy some the local food.

Today we finished the carpentry part of this trip and most of the drywall and first-coat of taping. Tomorrow we get a break as part of the team will venture to Vienna for a day of sight-seeing, while Blondie, Chris, and a local college student head to
Slovakia for the day to visit another
church project from the past and renew
aquaintences. We are both ready for a break in pace from the work and to
hit the train very early in the morning
for a new adventure. We even have
reserved seats in a cabin compartment.
Should be a real treat for us all, even though the temps are only suppose to
be in the mid-forties and cloudy.

Today we had our real first accident as one of the scaffolds with an old wooden door as the plank collapsed sending both guys down...Jordan a local MK and Jer-2-0. Both struck sensitive parts of their bodies that are best politely not mentioned. As for other injuries just some scraps. Fortunately they were only about 6 feet in the air.

Tonight the younger guys were treated to a both another home cooked meal and then to one of the national soccer games. Two teachers from the local missions school were at the home we had supper at and invited our guys to come along. They jumped at the chance and now at the game hoping to see some of the over exbuerance that european soccer fans are known for.
As parents, we just want a nice sedate game with no extra-activities.

Saturday before the cornation of a someone into Hungarian aristocracy we will be working on two jobs. I am staying to put a second coat of mud on the drywall as the rest of the team heads out to do an attic minus Blondie and Chris who leave us to begin journeying home.

This has been a fantastic trip as we have seen God work through the lives of many people including our own. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Oh yes, for us dog lovers, we found a quick fix... it feels just like a 6-week old golden retreiver.... Blondies new haircut especially when he used Pert with conditioner. And if you are keeping up with Jer-2-0 he did get a traditional "cheek-to check" airbrush greeting kiss from an attractive young girl last night. But he says not for anyone special to worry... It was just part of the culture.

God's favor from Budapest Rhinos-2

Wednesday was shaken and movin day. We are a few pieces of drywall short, putting on corner bead, and then the tapping begins. The transformation is incredible. When the people arrive this coming Sunday they will be amazed and say, "The Rhino's" were here again. Each day when we prepare our meals in the kitchen from the last project we worked on-- it reminds us what God can do through us to serve Him and the church. I am sure that they will use the new space with great pride too as the Mozi will be the largest mininstry center in Budapest. It has been fun working with the team and just hanging out with Blondie and Brad again too! Tomorrow the taping begins.

Today we had our ups and downs. Allen had his first experience with a Hungarian dentist. He chipped a tooth earlier in the week and had his appointment today. Brad gave a great recommendation, and off they went. FACTOID: Budapest is a desired site in eastern Europe for dental work. It is cheaper than most places and they do quality work-- if you have the right dentist. After a few hours Allen returned, numbed up, and $60,000 forents less as the dentist prepared his tooth for a crown to be cemented in place on Saturday morning. Don't worry about the price. Drop the last two zero's and divide by 2, which means about $300. Get a quality crown in the US for only $300. That's our up.

Now our down-- three times we tried by water and each time we bought everything but the right one. How's this....since the key is to look for pink bottle caps. Remeber yesterday's blog when the 2Jer's bought the blue caps --Strike One. I bought a six-2 Liter bottles wrapped with pink plastic. Who knew the covered caps were blue. STRIKE TWO. Then after much discussion we sent the 2Jer's again to the store with clear instructions. This time : pink cap, right product name, bottle looks just like we had 2 days ago...got to be right. Wrong again... this time pink cap, right manufacturer name, non-air mineral water. Yuck! Three strikes and we can't find water. Fortunate the people here at the Mozi love the carbonated and mineral waters. They have enough for a while now.

Our plans for our trip by train to Vienna have changed to Friday and then Zsusa's on Saturday since Allen needs to get his crown put in on Saturday. I guess our team will have to work harder since Blondie and Chris will be leaving around 10AM on Saturday.

Tonight we had supper at the Lemmon's, a missions family in charge of all the computer staff for the missions. We had a great time...ask the boys--especially since they have an 18 year old daughter. They were strategizing at the table to see how many chairs they needed to leave so she would sit next to them. But they both guessed wrong and the time came to pray and hold hands guess where Bethany sat...I think it safe to sit next to the oldest person in the room and one that is a pastor. But the boys lost no time telling stores and being college guys. Any interested in Jer 2-0's special friends need not worry... he didn't get a handshake tonight.

Well it is late and time to get ready for bed. Last night by midnight all of the guys were sleeping after I got done with the computer. It was the first night of the Budapest Symphony in Snormatic.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, today we started day with hot homemade cinnamon rolls a specialty treat from the pillsbury boy himself--Brad. Thanks Brad for slaving. Your efforts were enjoyed by all. Tomorrow morning it is "Garbage" for breakfast. Oh yes--PLT Orsis got her visa to the US for the June wedding and trip to our EFCA national office.
God's Favor.

Today was a great day. Brian joined the land of the living, eating, and working. His fever broke around 1AM and life became "good" again. Amazingly he never slowed down all day. We accomplished much today. Some of the guys completed the framing of the new classroom/serving area --real rough cut 2X10's now provide the ceiling/second floor, and two new closets are now ready for electrical and then drywall. The other team worked in the main lobby metal framing and begining the drywall. We are ahead of schedule in the Mozi and will have to see what else Brad dreams of before working this Friday and Zsuzsa's home to drywall the attic. The team is doing great.

Late this afternoon we sent the 2Jer's out shopping with Brad to restock our food supply. They are really college guys. Quick to pickup items and not so quick to look at the labels. Who knew that they have different types of bottled water...bottled water is just that isn't it? No! Blue and Pink caps mean something, like "air" (carbonated), or Mineral water (salt added) or just plain water. Well, we are stocked now with specality waters.

Tonight we rewarded ourselves with a real hungarian meal out at one of Brad's resturants. We had everything from gulash, to turkey, pork filets, steak, and roasted lamb all done Hungarian style.

It is hard to believe we are just past the half way point of this trip... we are now 5 days in since leaving last Friday. Jet lag did not seem to hit our team. Everyone has done well with the cultural changes and the plain strange-ness of the location, besides being in a major world-class city with all of us be hicks from Wisconsin. Well, not all of are northwood hicks...we do have Allen and Brian from the big city of Spencer, and oh yes Chris from our west coast of Wisconsin.

It is fun to see how God is working in the lives of the guys. Each morning we have been starting with looking at King David's life and the "voices" he listens to. Also seeing the guys sensitivity to God's work in the life of this church and people is evident. God's presence is noticable.

Thanks for praying. Please pray for Orsis as she applies for a visa to go to the US for her best friends wedding, you can also pray for Geza's wife who is in the hospital tonight with complications from diabetes.

And yes, Lisa has the definition of "Rhino" nailed. Check her comment from yesterday. One more fact about Rhino's is that they can run at 30 mph for short bursts. Yup! That's us. The Rhino team 2. God's favor.

Today, we lived up to the Rhino reputation. Demolition, dust, dirt, and don't ask. Working with dusk masks stinks. We did accomplish more than Brad and the people expected. But then again they only ordered a dumpster for the debris for 24 hours. So, we had to work until 8PM. Today was a challenging day for Brian, as he accepted the task of the being the viral host and even had to take unikum, a special drink sort of like pepto bismal except it is dark brown and tastes like... well, you have to ask Brian. Although he said never again. Pray for him as was down for the day and looks a little bit better tonight but no food except rice, bananas, and applesauce. We are all tired tonight. Tomorrow we will start rebuilding. The team is doing fantastic and doing a great job together. We are still having trouble accessing the blog editor page. Blondie has been graciously letter me use his computer. Mine has blocked the page, even though I keep putting as an ok'ed site. Computers, demon possed at times. Thanks for keeping in touch.

Oh yes, Jer 2O was suprised tonight by a friendly greeting from Bethany, a warm, loving, handshake.


Rhino Team JTJ07

Finally able to blog back on. Have had computer connections problems. Our drive to Chic was uneventful although we were nervous as we approached the airport and got into a traffic jam. While slowly driving we were listening to our Badgers playing poorly in the first half of the NCAA game and didn't know the final outcome until Kathy finally called at the airport and let us know WIS won. Our flight was OK although we almost got a bump and $800... the only problem is that they couldn't get us to Budapest only just our London connection. As for the British airport Heathrow... something to be desired. We made it here by noon and were picked up by Brad for our drive to the Mozi. Brad tried to help our jet lag by keeping us and giving a hair raising ride and tour at night of Budapest.

Sunday morning worship went well. Jer2O played the "jimbay?" during worship. After the service we hit the streets walking, findingo more food for the Jer's, more food for Brad, and then hitting another food place for Brad at night, eating crepe's. Blondie and Chris arrived late afternoon and met us downtown, for or course food and a Bradley ride of your life.

Tomorrow we start our first assignment. The 8 meter dumpster arrives and demolition begins.
I'll bet we get more done than they might expect. Everyone in church was glad to see the Rhino's back. I guess our reputation has remained strong. Thanks for writing and praying.

Oh, yes someone needs to ask Jer2O about his farewell handshake in his driveway back in Point.

God's favor.... the Rhino2 team

Today is the busy day before tomorrow--departure. After mulitple emails from Brad in Budapest, I think we have everything we need including a computer "router" from Best Buy that he needs ASAP. The guys are all getting packed, at least I hope so...I have packed and repacked at least 8 times. One cool trick for taking a pillow is to put it in a garbage bag and use your vacuum cleaner hose to suck out the air. Makes it nice and small--at least until the inspectors at the airport open your luggage...beware. Today was frantic... trying to get everything done, phone calls, hospital visits, work issues, traveling, banking, every little detail knowing that you probably forgot something. Oh yes, Blondie even had a root canal...last minute from a weekend pain. Pray for our travel down to Chicago and that we miss rush hour traffic and make our connections. Thanks for keeping up on us.

With just 2 days until our departure we have good news---Allen's passport has arrived and we are ready to enter Hungary as a full team. I also checked the weather out and to my suprise we will be in for some warm weather. The temps when we arrive will be in the mid-60's Spring weather with some rain and cooler nights. I think we can handle that! The 2-Jer's are in the midst of mid-term exams this week and will be ready for a break come Friday. Our luggage is getting packed and repacked. Last minute stops at the stores for those must have items is a constant. Everyone seems to be in good health so thanks for your prayers.

Well it is the Sunday before our Friday departure. As of today Allen has not received his passport. It is on fast track now due to a phone call and an additional $75 fee. Hopefully tomorrow it will be sitting in their mailbox--or another call and possible road trip will be required.

The 2Jers are getting excited when I saw them last Friday. It looks like they are sporting new haircuts due to their pre-championship ultimate frisbee tourney...which they won again to reclaim the bragging rights after losing this past fall for the first time in a long time.

Pray for good health as pack and hit the road. Thanks and God's favor.

It is now just 9 days from our departure date. We are gearing up for the trip overseas. It will be a first for a number of team members so that means getting use to being in the plane that long and time changes. We do have one prayer request-- Allen's passport has not arrived yet. With the delays in processing because of the new rules for border crossing we need a miracle so he can travel with us. Pray for speedy processing or a way to get here before we leave. I have been in contact with the field and Brad our key person in Budapest. He is lining up some projects for us to work on. The first and primary project will be the new offices for Wycliffe Ministies in the Mozi Ministry Center. The second will be a drywall job-- making a large bedroom in the atic of a widow who attends the church. Our guys are excited and ready to go.

Our mission team includes: Jeremy Mlaker, Jeremy-20 Olson, Allen & Brian Jicinsky, Dave Johnson (Menomonee), Chris (Menomonee) and Pastor Joe Mlaker.

We will be leaving from Chicago Ohare on Friday March 16th and return on Sunday March 25th. Pray for good health and safety.

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