Home Safe & Sound in the USA

Thank you all for sharing this journey to Hungary with me! I am at home in Santa Clara, California. My airplane arrived in the U.S. earlier this evening. It is amazing how much God has touched my life this summer. I will always remember my time in Hungary: the things I learned, the people I met, and all of the amazing experiences! It was the trip of a lifetime! I felt God calling me to Hungary this summer, and I am so grateful for every experience I had there. Thank you all for your prayers and support to make this trip possible. God has touched my Hungary Heart, and I pray this summer He has touched your hungry hearts as well! May God bless you all...

A New Creation

It is hard to believe that the summer is almost over.  It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was on the airplane in San Jose, CA heading to Hungary.  I was not sure what this summer would be like, but I was excited because I knew God had called me to Hungary.  I said “good bye” to life as I knew it and ventured off into the unknown.  It was exciting and scary at the same time.  I was going all by myself.  I had only been on one other mission trip in my life, which was only for 10 days, and I was with a group.  Now I was going out all alone, away from everything and everyone I knew for 84 days!

 

Now that my mission trip to Hungary is wrapping up, I am going home on Tuesday, I have been thinking about what I have learned over the summer.  I have learned many practical things from living with “roommates”, meaning with people other than my parents/family for the first time.  I tried some things I was too afraid to try in the past, like ride a bus all by myself or talk openly about my feelings.  I have learned communication skills on a personal level, rather than only a formal level.  I learned about the culture and people of Hungary.  I have observed that Hungarians are proud of their heritage and their country, as they should be!  This is an amazing place; I have loved my stay in Hungary!  

I have learned that all people are the same in many respects, such as I can communicate with people who do not speak the same language as I do through body language (like pointing) or facial expressions.  More than once I have been able to answer questions that people have asked me in Hungarian, essentially translate without an interpreter, and I am still not sure how I was able to do that!  

I also learned a lot about myself and a lot about God.  There is something about leaving everyone and everything you know and coming to a new place.  It can be overwhelming and even scary at times, but I think being out of your comfort zone provides a great opportunity to grow.  I felt like for me, this summer was about going back to the basics of life, especially of the Christian life.  For example, although I have always been taught this, I learned for myself this summer that reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship are all vital to grow as a Christian.  Without these three things, the Christian life can become routine and not seem as real.

The most significant lesson I have learned is how much God loves me.  I have always believed that, but this summer this truth has become very real and evident to me.  I think possibly the most important thing I have learned, other than how much God loves me, is that there is freedom in Christ.  I think I was caught up in a “works” mentality (legalism) without realizing it.  I think I was only able to truly comprehend God's love for me because of all of the experiences I have had leading up to this trip and on this trip to Hungary this summer.

Today was a very important day, as I rededicated my life to the Lord.  I have always heard that when people go on mission trips they come home a changed person.  This is true for me as well.  I am sad to leave my friends in this wonderful country of Hungary, but I am excited to be going home to my family and friends in the U.S. in a few days.  Thank you all so much for your support and your prayers for this mission trip to Hungary this summer.  I believe that I have been able to make an impact to the people here in Hungary, and I know that I have a much deeper understanding of God and I am leaving Hungary a changed person, a new creation.

Street Evangelism

One method of sharing the Gospel is through Street Evangelism.  This is quite different than Friendship Evangelism.  Friendship Evangelism is all about building relationships with people, and witnessing to them over time.  Street Evangelism is when you go out and talk to people and share the Gospel in the street, or at the mall, in the park, or any public place.  It is not always likely or expected for a relationship between you and the person to whom you are witnessing to develop from this form of evangelism, but it is a good way to plant the seed of the Gospel in someone’s heart.  This is a method of going out and talking with people, distributing tract, fliers about the church, and providing a way for them to contact the leadership if they have questions or to get more information.  It is also a good way to spread the word that there is a church in the community and that everyone is welcome to come hear the Gospel, be in fellowship, and have their questions answered. 

This weekend there was a team consisting of people from the cities of Szolnok, Eger, Budapest and Szeged who all came to the Szolnok to do Street Evangelism to share the Gospel with the people of Szolnok.  One fun craft we did as a form of unity is that Marianna, Shane, and I made bracelets that I originally bought for the English Camp.  Instead, we used them for this event and gave them to the team to wear while they were out evangelizing.  It is cool that although we didn’t use them for the English Camp, we were able to use them for this ministry opportunity.  These bracelets have five beads on them, and each colored bead has a different meaning.  The bracelets are just a tool used to help share the Gospel, as a reminder to certain verses in the Bible.

The black bead represents sin: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NKJV) and “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NKJV).

The red bead represents the blood of Christ: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…” I Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJV).

The white bead represents how we are pure in God’s eyes when we are saved.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV).

The green bead represents growing in Christ. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

The yellow bead represents heaven. "‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.’ In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’" John 14:1-4 (NKJV)

       

As we were praying before we went out, the lyrics to a song called “God of this City” by Chris Tomlin came to my mind.  The YouTube link and lyrics are below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

The Lord is the God of the city of Szolnok, and it is awesome that we were able to reach many people.  We met some other people who were out that day also doing street evangelism day from another Christian church in the area.  I even met some people on a mission trip to Hungary from the Bay Area in California, just like me!!!  I think this was a divine appointment so that we could encourage one another.  This was a successful outreach because the team reached many people all over the city of Szolnok by talking with them, distributing tracts and fliers, and inviting them to the church.  We did the outreach on Saturday, and on Sunday new people came to the church!  Praise the Lord!  We are praying that from the outreach this weekend and upcoming outreaches in the future that God will bring more people to the church because they need to hear the Gospel message.  We are praying that all of Szolnok, all of Hungary, and ultimately all the world will be reached with the Gospel!

God is making the efforts of the missionaries and churches in Hungary fruitful.  I pray that many more people come to know Christ through this outreach and others in the future.  It was great to also meet people from the teams in Budapest, and to see my friends from Eger again.  I am grateful that I could be a part of this event, and I hope I have many more opportunities to share the Gospel these last 2 weeks that I have in Hungary.  I pray that God continues to feed your hungry hearts and my Hungary Heart! <3

The Reason For It All

Mission trips are very interesting.  They can have specific goals, and God usually has even more planned than we do.  This trip to Hungary this summer has been multi-faceted.  One of the many things that I have been able to do is read the Bible and pray more consistently.  It is so important to continually be reading God’s Word.  It is easy to get caught up with the business of life, which I have done so many times.  One thing that I learned while being a college student is that a student is constantly studying to become a master of the subject.  Although we may never truly be able to fully master a subject, it is good to be in constant study to learn more and more.  Studying in school, especially for my Senior Capstone Project, was not only reading about Music Education and Event Planning, but also talking with people, doing interviews, taking surveys, advertising, and arranging so many other aspects of the event as well.

This trip definitely has multiple purposes.  The grandest of all is to “preach the gospel…”

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” Mark 16:15b-16 (NKJV).  To go into the world can be to go to a foreign country like Hungary, or to walk next door to your neighbor and share the Gospel with them.  Since I have had a lot of time this summer to dig into God’s Word and spend time in fellowship and prayer, I feel that God has given me the opportunity to talk to others about Him.

While I have been here in Eger, I have had the opportunity to hang out with some Christian and non-Christian girls at the mall and around town.  I was able to share the Gospel with the non-Christian girls, and there were some deep conversations with some of them.  It is such a privilege to be able to share the Gospel with people who are earnestly seeking God.  There are so many questions that people have, and I do my best to answer their questions.  Some questions I am able to answer, which is awesome!  Some questions are the deep, challenging questions that are difficult to answer.  Sometimes life has been so trying for a person that it is impossible to provide them with reasons and answers.  You have to love them and let them know how much you truly care, and how much God loves them and wants a relationship with them.  Knowing the Bible is so important when witnessing to others.  

One of the teachings at the Bible College by Nick Cady, whom I have been staying with at his home with his family in Eger, was about how important it is to tell your story/testimony.  Sharing the Gospel is super important, and sharing your personal testimony with others can be such a powerful witness that it may help them better understand the Gospel and desire a personal relationship with God.  God loves every single person on the earth, in Hungary, the U.S. and in every single country all over the world.  It is such a privilege to share about His love on this trip.  Spending time with people and sharing the Gospel with them was such an honor!  I also had an amazing experience this past weekend.

I went to another conference at the Bible College in Vajta this weekend.  I actually didn’t go for the whole conference, but only for the last few days.  That wasn’t the original plan, but God’s plans are not always the same as our plans.  In fact, many times God’s plans are different than ours.

I have been buddies with Nick & Rosemary’s foster son Balázs, and I have also been able to get to know Balázs’ friend Dani.  They are very nice teenage boys, and it was great hanging out with them at the college.  It was very exciting because God gave me the opportunity to share the Gospel with Dani!  I was able to go to lots of references in the Bible and answer his questions.  

Then, I was able to lead Dani in a prayer to accept Jesus in his heart!  Dani became a Christian!!!  Praise the Lord!!!!!  I know this is from years of other people praying for Dani and telling him about Jesus.  I know many people have told him about Jesus, and it is like the parable where one person plants the seed, another person waters it, etc.  I totally believe that there were many people involved with sharing the Gospel with Dani.  I praise the Lord that I had the privilege to share with him as he made the final step to decide to ask Jesus into his heart and be saved.  I led him in the prayer to ask Jesus in His heart, and now he is saved forever.  Yay!!!  Dani was baptized by Nick the next day at the Bible College, it was very special!  This exciting news about Dani is confirmation that the Lord is in this mission trip to Hungary!

Praise the Lord for the opportunities God has given me to share about Jesus with people in Hungary this summer!   I pray that I have more opportunities to share the Gospel these next three and a half weeks or so that I am in Hungary, and that you all have chances to witness to others this summer as well!  I pray that God continues to feed your hungry hearts and my Hungary Heart! <3

Friendship Evangelism

Relationship Evangelism, or Friendship Evangelism, can be defined the process of developing meaningful relationships with other people in which the Gospel is demonstrated through your life.*  People 'build bridges' (develop relationships) with other people that allow the 'traffic' (i.e., the Gospel) to flow freely and naturally.  There are many approaches to sharing the Gospel that I have seen here in Hungary, but Friendship Evangelism is by far the most used approach.  As I have been participating in the ministry here in Hungary, I have observed that the missionaries here have a genuine love for the people of Hungary and a desire for them to come to have a personal relationship with Christ by salvation through the Gospel.  They have fully immersed themselves into the Hungarian culture and can relate to the Hungarian people extremely well.  They are making an eternal difference in people’s lives.

This week I have been staying in the city of Eger.  After the English Camp in Eger, I came home with Nick and Rosemary and their kids Nate, Felicia, and Balázs.  I am having a wonderful time in this great city, which is about 2 hours from where I have been staying in Szolnok.  It is exciting to check out the ministry in Eger!  Nick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Eger, and Shane is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Szolnok.  It has been great to get to know so many amazing people.  Both churches have wonderful fellowships with a family atmosphere, everyone is close and hang out throughout the week.  The Sunday after English Camp, all of the helpers including teams from Hungary, the U.S., and other countries all came to the service at Calvary Chapel Eger.  The campers and their families were also invited to come to the church, and many did so.  It was very exciting to have a "packed house" of people, many of which heard the Gospel for the first time that day!  It was a great message, great worship, and great fellowship!  They also started a youth group for the first time the week after camp, and I was able to check it out.  It was also packed with youth, which was very encouraging!

As I have been in Eger for a little over a week, I have had a chance to see some of the ministries going on in Eger up close.  At the church service on Sunday, there was a great time of fellowship.  There was food and coffee available at the church, and everyone hung out and got to know the new people.  We also said good-bye to the team from Denver, CO who came for the camp, and they went back home to the U.S.  I have been able to get to know so many people this summer in Hungary, I am so blessed to know them all!

Throughout the week, there have been many opportunities for fellowship and evangelism.  In addition to participating in church services, I also have been able to hang out with a lot of different people in relaxed settings such as in people's homes, in restaurants, or at the mall.  In the week after camp was over, I went to the mall with some girls that I met at the camps and had the chance to share the Gospel with them.  Although the Gospel was presented at the camp, it was great to spend time with them and share the Gospel in a more personal setting.  I also was able to go to a sleep-over party for one of the girls in the church's 30th birthday.  I also have been able to go to other get-togethers with different people from the church, and it is wonderful to see how the churches in Eger and Szolnok are very close, like a family.

Having the opportunity to get to know so many people solidifies that relationships are a key part of both of the churches, in Szolnok and Eger.  The missionaries are committed to building relationships with the people in their community.  The key part of these relationships is sharing the Gospel through word and deed.  It has been very interesting to observe and take part in all the ministries happening here.  I feel that they are living out the 2 Scriptures below, and by God’s grace I have been able to live them out on this trip as well:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? “ – Romans 10:14-15a (NKJV)

 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15, (NKJV)

I am having an amazing experience here in Hungary, I miss everyone!  I hope you all are well!  May God continue to feed your hungry hearts and my Hungary Heart! <3 

*Some research for this blog is from: http://executableoutlines.com/re/re_02.htm

Second English Camp

Hello once again from Hungary!  I hope everyone is well!  Last week was the second English Camp in the city of Eger.  It was such a neat experience to do two English Camps back-to-back.  Everyone was pretty exhausted at the end of the two weeks, but it was worth it!  This English Camp was run by my friends Nick and Rosemary, who I am now staying with for a while in their home in Eger.  Shane and Marianna also served at the English Camps in Debrecen and in Eger.  

 

The first English Camp in Debrecen had a theme of “CSI”.  The theme was in the teachings and activities.  There were English lessons every day, and I worked with a great Hungarian teacher named Tünde.  I learned so much from observing her and working with her on how to teach.  The cabins that we stayed in had 6 to 8 people in a room.  It was fun to get to know many people at the camp.  There were so many teachers and students to get to know.  There are so many wonderful people that I am meeting here in Hungary!  I miss everyone at home, I look forward to seeing everyone in a little over a month when I return.  The middle of the week during camp marked the half-way point of my trip.   

These camps are so great for the kids, they have a chance to learn English, play games, relax, listen to testimonies, and have FUN!  There were lots of activities to do like sports and crafts.  At the end of the camp, we did a big scavenger hunt and were CSI investigators.  One part of the game was to find the undercover agents that were on the flier for the camp.  One of the agents was Shane, so that was very fun for kids to find him on the flier. 

The second English Camp in Eger was ran by Nick and Rosemary, who I am now staying with at their home in Eger.  It was a very fun camp with great lessons and fun activities for the kids.  There was a great team of people from Denver, CO that came to help out.  There were a lot of great native Hungarians teaching as well at both camps.  It was great to have so many wonderful helpers!  The campground in Eger had great cabins with 3 to 4 people in a room.  They also had a cool coffee shop that I was able to work in for one night.  It was very fun! It is so great to have a large variety of ministry opportunities this summer in Hungary.  At this camp, I had a great co-teacher named Balázs.  We had a group of all girls who were eager to learn and very sweet.  On the last day, the girls did a dance in front of the whole camp that was so cute!  I also had my birthday at the camp, which was very special!  The whole camp sang “Happy Birthday” to me and they gave me a cake and flowers!  Some people even bought me yummy coffee from the coffee shop!  It was a very special day and I had a great time with all my new and old friends here in Hungary!!!

 

Now I am in Eger at Nick and Rosemary’s house checking out the ministry in Eger.  I have attended the church and heard some great teachings and had wonderful fellowship!  The churches in Szolnok and Eger have been so wonderful!  There are great things happening in Hungary, and it is exciting to be here to serve with them! Praise the Lord! Thank you all for your prayers and support!  May God continue to feed your hungry hearts and my Hungary Heart! <3