Easter greetings dear friends,

First, I apologize for this being late. No, your post office isn’t slow; I’m late. Crazy story with mail order Easter cards coming late. Anyway, we hope you all had a blessed Easter, full of the Joy and the Peace that only the risen Lord Jesus can give! We wanted to do a little newsletter now to get all our friends and family updated on our lives. Big changes are in the works. Most of you got our Christmas letter and know that we were getting restless to get back to the missionfield as full time missionaries. We have been praying heavily since Nov. as to where God wants us to go. We’re still praying about ‘the where’ – but we feel quite certain ‘the when’ will be this fall. We really covet all your prayers as we’re preparing to move, with all that entails, and we covet your prayers as we narrow down ‘the where’.

As of now, we are feeling lead to either Poland or Hungary. In Poland we would help another missionary family our church has been supporting there for many years. Kurt Kula has been pastoring a Calvary Chapel in Lublin, Poland for almost seven years. Just this year he and his wife Kendall have felt God moving them on, and they’ve handed the church over to be pastored by a local Polish man Kurt knows God has raised up for just such a time. It’s exciting, as that’s really the purpose of missions. Now the Kulas are seeking where God wants them next, and we’d love to join with them wherever that may be. They too don’t know ‘the where’ yet, but seem to be leaning toward another town in Poland – so we’ve been praying for Poland and the Kula family and our possible working with them.  We’re also considering the possibility of going somewhere in Hungary – where Norbi is from.  There would be no language problem (for Norbi).  We haven’t yet felt any direction to a particular city or church, and there are many Calvary Chapels in Hungary now.  But we’ve been in touch with many friends and are keeping our ears, eyes and hearts open for where we can fit in.  We had been considering helping at the C.C. Bible College currently in Austria, as they were possibly moving to Hungary.  The move is not happening now.  Please pray that we’d hear God’s voice clearly, and that we can be used by Him wherever we go. Once we know where we’ll be going, we’ll send out prayer and financial support information and any and all addresses and such so we can all keep in touch.

In family news: our three kidos keep outgrowing their clothes and stretching our patience, wisdom, and joy. Anna has changed the most since Christmas, at nine months she’s now eating solid food (loves Cheerios and vegetables – dislikes most fruits – isn’t that weird?!) and is crawling all over the house, also pulls herself to standing on whatever seems the right height. She’s into big brothers’ toys and is like their little shadow already. The boys can make her laugh like almost no one else – except Chuck Carlson at church, for some reason she thinks he’s hilarious J .

Joshi turned three in Feb, and is quickly learning things right along with big brother. Both boys are learning which letter and number is which. And both now have bikes, complete with helmets and knee and elbow pads – they look so cute all padded and ready to ride. Joshi’s pads are a little big, so it’s hard for him to bend his elbows – reminds us of the little brother on "A Christmas Story" so bundled he can’t move his arms! Josiah turned four in Dec. and seems to be in a race to outgrow all his clothes before I can get more. He’s going to be tall, tall, tall. We’ve just begun to teach him to write his name, he’s anxious to learn it all in one day! I will most likely be home schooling the boys for the first year or two of school (unless there is an English-speaking school near where we end up, or until they learn the native language and can attend local schools). They’re both so smart; I know they’ll keep me on my toes.

We also have some wonderful news to share about Josiah – on March 17^th he asked Jesus into his heart to be his Lord and Savior. It’s hard to find the words to describe my joy in leading my own son in the sinner’s prayer. Josiah now knows that Jesus is his "boss" (the word I used to explain the term Lord), and that he is sure, with no doubts, that he’s saved and will go to heaven. It’s such an awesome responsibility to raise children in the ways of the Lord, but the joys and rewards are so worth it. We have both boys pray before each meal, and at bedtime – and their simple prayers are so sweet. Jesus died for the oldest and youngest of sinners, and wants a relationship with us all. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is personal to Josiah this year – is it personal for you?

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27-28

Easter Blessings in the coming year –

The Lakatos Family:

Norbi, Rachel, Josiah, Joshua and Anna

www.balaamsdonkey.com

6710 Hayvenhurst Ave. Apt. 68

Van Nuys, CA 91406