english camp

we are leaving for english camp today, and i won't have internet access for a few weeks. there is a separate blog with english camp updates from someone else on the team.

www.englishcamp2007.blogspot.com

i don't know what you're saying, but...

this past week helping out at vbs has been such a great experience. the kids are absolutely beautiful...and i had no idea what they were saying, but for some reason i felt like i was able to connect with some of them. a little communication was able to happen via translation,

but a smile or a hug can sometimes communicate more than a thousand words

great things about this past week:

1. i woke up btwn 5-6am without hitting snooze too many times
2. every morning i had time to make strong coffee (with vanilla sugar and drink it in a cool mug from poland)
3. there was usually very strong coffee at vbs too.
3. the drive to where we helped out at vbs always took us through the beautiful city of Budapest, through forests and hills, and finally acres and acres of sunflower fields.
4. all of those crowd breakers and group bonding games do have a purpose beyond high-school and ra responsibilities. i pulled many out of my hat when we needed to fill some time
5. the weather was perfect-cool in the morning (i was even wearing my hoodie)
6. i rode a horse on a group outing

greater things about this past week:

1. about 100 kids heard the gospel and learned more about who God is
2. about 100 kids rubbed shoulders for 6 days with the body of Christ
3. about 100 kids memorized various scripture that explain our need for Jesus
4. about 100 kids experienced the love of God through His Church

it was kind of hard to say good-bye to the kids today. i "helped" (as much as that is possible without speaking hungarian) with the older kids, but knowing-even during the week- that my investment was not long term-makes it hard to start pouring into someone as well as makes it hard to leave.
a couple of the girls shed some serious tears when i left-which is crazy because they barely know me and because we barely spoke.
there are so many things going on in the lives of youth-not just in hungary but around the world-and their reaction to me leaving makes me wonder what is going on in their lives.

i have had a lot of time to process, pray, and think through some things, as well as continue working on the video project. God has been gracious in how much i feel like i am experiencing and doing with the amount of preparation, travel, and other stuff that is going on.

next week is the start of english camp. i will not have internet access those two weeks, but there will be another blog that will have updates posted by someone else on the team specifically for that camp.

please pray as others travel here to join us for english camp
pray for the hearts of the students (half are over the age of 20) as we study through the ministry of Jesus during the week

i am helping on the music team, teaching a conversation class, and working with a few others on the morning announcements/creative/fun/skit part of the day

pray for creative ideas
lesson prep for all the teachers
team interaction
student-team interaction
that i would be able to get the last video interviews i need with all the craziness going on
energy (long, full, fun days)

that Jesus Christ would be known and God glorified!

defeated in Catan

So, we just finished playing settler's of catan (my second time playing)
and i was defeated.

next time...

This morning we went to church at Kegy (near budapest). it has been great to see different kinds of church gatherings while i have been here. house church. church in an old theater. the service was translated into english via headset. and yes, i brought my own, very big, very different than everyone else's MBI ETS approved headphones.

overall this past week has been pretty restful, but we will take it when we get it...because the next three weeks will be full, fun, and tiring.

this next week we will be leaving around 6:45 am every morning to help out at a VBS. i will probably shoot footage, help with food, and try to help with crowd control (we are expecting 100 kids) there isn't much i can do other than that because of the language barrier, but i am hoping that we will be able to communicate somewhat. please pray that the VBS goes well, that the weather holds up (much time is spent outside), and for safety as we drive an hour each way. There are also several other things that need to happen this week video project-wise. i need to do a few interviews, grab some b-roll, translate a few hungarian interviews into english.

and non-video relates stuff includes preparation for the following two weeks of english camp.

sherlock holmes, croatia, and fizzy water

the last couple of days have been full but fun, and it has been amazing to be here.

we traveled out to western hungary and stayed with a beautiful family (believers)
it was absolutely incredible and i was able to see so much of the landscape (hours of driving)
my room had a screenless window overlooking homes
fresh flowers
and i felt like those girls in the movies who go vacationing in europe and sit and stare out the window-waiting for inspiration...

bicycles
sunflower fields as far as the eye can see
understanding on average 5 words a day (yes, no, thank you, Jesus, God)
countryside
a six year old with more energy than any kid i have ever seen
the body of Christ
grapevines and hay fields(almost feels like home)
wheat fields
little cars
visiting a house church
video interviews
seeing firsthand the church in hungary
street interviews
fellowship
asking questions
trying to pronounce words on signs
my two wonderful guides laughing at my pronunciation
listening to prayer and worship in another tongue
sitting in on bible studies among those who are searching
coffee with honey
fizzy water
translating
trying to remember phrases, words
reading psalms
reading the adventures of sherlock holmes in my free time
good food


before we left western hungary we visited a couple of bordering countries as well
the mountains in croatia
castle, secret passageways (i wanted to explore but couldn't), moat

a village in slovenia resembling little italy

forests, winding roads
unfinished houses
border crossings


and finally, 4 days later, back in budapest
updating my blog
not using complete sentences
because there is too much to tell

drawing closer to my savior
praying
growing
encouraged


blessed.

everything is an adventure...

I am safely in Hungary, slept through the night last night, woke up at 6am, made some coffee, read psalm 113, and am now still the only one awake in the house :)

traveling is an adventure...i used to think airports were too. now i think reality has struck and i realize that airports, while a great means to an end, these airports are not my friend.

i flew out of k-zoo, into the city that i love (chicago) and after being told to wait in a (wrong) line for an hour, and after traversing back and forth from terminal 1 to terminal 5, and then back to 1 and then back to 5...i most successfully

missed my flight to paris.

practically practicing trust.

however, thankful that it was chicago i would have to spend the night in (i was rebooked for the next day) i called my wonderful friends at MBI who picked me up, hugged me, bought me a toothbrush, tried to cheer me up by showing me amazing magic tricks (i know the quarter was never in your pocket, by the way), fed me, and it was somewhat refreshing.

i arrived a little extra early for my flight the next day (which was delayed almost an hour) made it on the plane... and there was much rejoicing.

the flight to paris was uneventful. watched a couple of movies. played a couple of games. was defeated several times in solitaire (not sure how that works because i was playing myself)

the airport in paris is crazy. lots of riding a bus around. riding a bus to terminal 2E from the plane. walking through random hallways. another bus to terminal 2B. (these buses give the same impression as watching the 40 year desert wanderings of the israelites)

then using my camera case as seating for an hour (don't worry, it's sturdy), finally at the right gate..
boarding the plane...
but first getting on another bus, driving to the airplane..
finally sitting.
finally sleeping on the flight

finally arriving in Budapest.
finally seeing people i know.
finally walking on non-airport owned earth.
finally unpacking.
catching up.
relaxing.
anticipating.

trusting Him who hold all things, knows the exact places and times of where we should be, and teaches us so many things if we would just see them.

a week away!

It is only one week from today that I leave for Budapest! I am so thankful for everyone who has been praying and supporting this trip. I am excited, scared, and everything inbetween.

It is exciting because I am getting the opportunity to do what I love: travel, see Tamara and Atilla (two amazing people), use video to tell the story of God's work, and further pursue where HE would have me in the future

It is scary because this abstract idea of "missions" is suddenly becoming tangible. And as I pursue where I am to be in the future (I graduate from Moody in one year) moving somewhere away from family and what I have always known begins to sink in. the reality suddenly begins to show underneath the adventure covered idea of what it means to be a missionary. and i fear failure.

I continue to lift this all up in prayer, to be open to opportunites, and realize that where I serve is not what is important

but WHO I serve...and he is constant, unchanging, and completely in control

please pray for last minute preparations

for the remaining support (I am so thankful and blown away at God's provision thus far-and the support of so many!)

for guidance and direction for the future

the english camp i am helping at-pray for God to begin working in camper's hearts, for the team of teachers coming

the video project-that everything would go well, that God would be glorified in it

for the workers in Hungary, the believers there, and those who need to hear the Gospel

that i would fall more in love with Jesus Christ

Thanks so much! I will try to update this often while in Hungary as well.