Hudson Family Christmas 2010 Greetings
“Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5
Dear Friends,
We send our wishes to you for a very happy Christmas! The tree is up, the baking is done and we even have fresh mistletoe from Transylvania filling a large vase in our dining room! We continue to pray for you and we ask God to bless your celebrations of his birth. May he help you to be bright lights for him this Christmas time!
It is the day before Christmas here and unfortunately, all the snow we had last week has melted and it is a balmy 8C today. We did get to enjoy sledding last weekend in Transylvania. We took out our new Romanian sled and used it in Sighisoara on Saturday, in Tigmandru on Sunday afternoon and then we stopped in the mountains in Sinaia on the way home on Monday. It was the most beautiful place to play in the snow with the sun shining and snow-capped peaks all around us.
Tonight the young people from the church will come to our house to sing carols to us. We have our goodies all ready to share with them. Carolling here is kind of like Christmas “trick or treat”. Kids come to the door and ask if we “accept the star.” Then they proceed to say a poem or sing a song about Christ. They are rewarded with candy or cookies or even money. Tomorrow we will go to church to worship and then share a meal together there. The church continues to grow and I am sure we will be quite crowded. The newly renovated sanctuary has already been outgrown! In the evening we will go and enjoy Romanian cabbage rolls with our friends, Dan and Anisoara and their family.
A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed watching Julia sing with her music and theatre class. They performed a Christmas musical that presented a fun 70s twist of the Christmas story using the music of ABBA. Like any other kid this time of year, Emily and Elena are enjoying the time off school this week and anxiously awaiting the coming of Christmas. Elena has been baking with Mummy and our house is filled with good things to eat. Emily fills our house with music. Her favourite song to play is, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It reminds us that Christ came to bring us joy and that as we bring him our thanks and worship he helps us to walk in his light.
This year has been filled with lots of visitors. We hosted a Youth in Mission team for the summer and they were able to do children’s clubs in many of the new areas where the church is serving. From the apartment blocks of Bucharest to the historic Saxon village of Viscri in Transylvania the team led the children on a “Deep Sea Adventure” discovering the love that God has for them. It was great to see the teens and adults of our churches joining in, playing games and having fun with the kids.
In July we enjoyed a visit from Darryl and Donna Wilson and two of their children, Laura and Peter. They shared their gifts and talents with us, doing repairs on our leaky roof and building us a beautiful new wooden gate. Donna taught one seminar in the Theological Education course we were in the middle of. We had a great time and a lot of fun together. Tamara, especially enjoyed having them with us while Terry had to fly to Ohio to be with our family when his step-father, Raymond passed away. It just about broke our hearts that all of us couldn’t go and be with family during this time. We appreciate the love and support that Donna and Darryl were to us. Please continue to pray for Terry’s Mom, Bernita and the whole family as they grieve the loss of a loving and kind husband, Dad, step-Dad and grandpa.
In August, we spent three days in the mountains in the eastern part of Romania. We hiked and swam and even tracked bear “scat”. Fortunately, we didn’t meet any bears in the woods but the owner of the house where we were staying saw a mother and two cubs one night pass by the front gate. Carpathian brown bears can be huge and everyone who knows Tamara knows that she is afraid of bears! While hiking we made sure we made lots of noise. We decided to go hiking one day on the “Munte Puturos”. We didn’t tell the girls what that means in English. As we got close to the volcanic caves we could smell sulphur in the air. It got so bad that the girls sat down in the middle of the path and left us to go on ahead. There are several small caves which are deep fissures into the earth. Volcanic gases escape through these vents. The girls didn’t enjoy the smelly hiking but did enjoy swimming in the volcanic lake on top of the mountain. Another adventure to add to our ever growing list!
In October we enjoyed visits from friends Cathy and Ryan from the Brampton Church and from Gramma. We enjoyed showing them Romania. We took Tamara’s Mum to the painted monasteries in the northern part of Romania. We were just in awe of the beautiful paintings of saints and stories from church history on the inside and outside of the old churches. One of our favourite paintings depicted St. George and the dragon, an eastern story that has made its way into much of European tradition. It was wonderful to have Gramma with us and hope that more of our family will be able to visit us here one day. Romania is truly a beautiful country and we are blessed with friends and co-workers who love and support us.
As we think about Christmas it is not the decorations or the presents or even being with family that makes this time of year so special. It is the fact that God sent Jesus as that little babe in the manger to be “Emmanuel, God with us.” Because he came we can now “walk in the light of the Lord.” May you know all the joy and peace that comes from knowing the love of God in your life.
With our love and prayers for you,
Terry Michael, Tamara, Julia, Emily and Elena Hudson
Dear Friends,
We send our wishes to you for a very happy Christmas! The tree is up, the baking is done and we even have fresh mistletoe from Transylvania filling a large vase in our dining room! We continue to pray for you and we ask God to bless your celebrations of his birth. May he help you to be bright lights for him this Christmas time!
It is the day before Christmas here and unfortunately, all the snow we had last week has melted and it is a balmy 8C today. We did get to enjoy sledding last weekend in Transylvania. We took out our new Romanian sled and used it in Sighisoara on Saturday, in Tigmandru on Sunday afternoon and then we stopped in the mountains in Sinaia on the way home on Monday. It was the most beautiful place to play in the snow with the sun shining and snow-capped peaks all around us.
Tonight the young people from the church will come to our house to sing carols to us. We have our goodies all ready to share with them. Carolling here is kind of like Christmas “trick or treat”. Kids come to the door and ask if we “accept the star.” Then they proceed to say a poem or sing a song about Christ. They are rewarded with candy or cookies or even money. Tomorrow we will go to church to worship and then share a meal together there. The church continues to grow and I am sure we will be quite crowded. The newly renovated sanctuary has already been outgrown! In the evening we will go and enjoy Romanian cabbage rolls with our friends, Dan and Anisoara and their family.
A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed watching Julia sing with her music and theatre class. They performed a Christmas musical that presented a fun 70s twist of the Christmas story using the music of ABBA. Like any other kid this time of year, Emily and Elena are enjoying the time off school this week and anxiously awaiting the coming of Christmas. Elena has been baking with Mummy and our house is filled with good things to eat. Emily fills our house with music. Her favourite song to play is, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It reminds us that Christ came to bring us joy and that as we bring him our thanks and worship he helps us to walk in his light.
This year has been filled with lots of visitors. We hosted a Youth in Mission team for the summer and they were able to do children’s clubs in many of the new areas where the church is serving. From the apartment blocks of Bucharest to the historic Saxon village of Viscri in Transylvania the team led the children on a “Deep Sea Adventure” discovering the love that God has for them. It was great to see the teens and adults of our churches joining in, playing games and having fun with the kids.
In July we enjoyed a visit from Darryl and Donna Wilson and two of their children, Laura and Peter. They shared their gifts and talents with us, doing repairs on our leaky roof and building us a beautiful new wooden gate. Donna taught one seminar in the Theological Education course we were in the middle of. We had a great time and a lot of fun together. Tamara, especially enjoyed having them with us while Terry had to fly to Ohio to be with our family when his step-father, Raymond passed away. It just about broke our hearts that all of us couldn’t go and be with family during this time. We appreciate the love and support that Donna and Darryl were to us. Please continue to pray for Terry’s Mom, Bernita and the whole family as they grieve the loss of a loving and kind husband, Dad, step-Dad and grandpa.
In August, we spent three days in the mountains in the eastern part of Romania. We hiked and swam and even tracked bear “scat”. Fortunately, we didn’t meet any bears in the woods but the owner of the house where we were staying saw a mother and two cubs one night pass by the front gate. Carpathian brown bears can be huge and everyone who knows Tamara knows that she is afraid of bears! While hiking we made sure we made lots of noise. We decided to go hiking one day on the “Munte Puturos”. We didn’t tell the girls what that means in English. As we got close to the volcanic caves we could smell sulphur in the air. It got so bad that the girls sat down in the middle of the path and left us to go on ahead. There are several small caves which are deep fissures into the earth. Volcanic gases escape through these vents. The girls didn’t enjoy the smelly hiking but did enjoy swimming in the volcanic lake on top of the mountain. Another adventure to add to our ever growing list!
In October we enjoyed visits from friends Cathy and Ryan from the Brampton Church and from Gramma. We enjoyed showing them Romania. We took Tamara’s Mum to the painted monasteries in the northern part of Romania. We were just in awe of the beautiful paintings of saints and stories from church history on the inside and outside of the old churches. One of our favourite paintings depicted St. George and the dragon, an eastern story that has made its way into much of European tradition. It was wonderful to have Gramma with us and hope that more of our family will be able to visit us here one day. Romania is truly a beautiful country and we are blessed with friends and co-workers who love and support us.
As we think about Christmas it is not the decorations or the presents or even being with family that makes this time of year so special. It is the fact that God sent Jesus as that little babe in the manger to be “Emmanuel, God with us.” Because he came we can now “walk in the light of the Lord.” May you know all the joy and peace that comes from knowing the love of God in your life.
With our love and prayers for you,
Terry Michael, Tamara, Julia, Emily and Elena Hudson
