August Update

Almost 2 months have already passed and so much has gone on since then. God has been working in such amazing ways and doing such amazing things! First up, a recap of events from July.

The English Camp in Debrecen was very successful. I was blessed to help teach a class of younger kids, from age 9 to 12. It was great because they were very excited to learn English and young enough that we could have a lot of fun while they learned. I also was able to help lead some discussions with the advanced students where we talked about not believing everything that people tell you, testing it against the world around you, as well as forgiveness. We were blessed with four kids coming to know the Lord through the camp, one of which Simon and I led in a prayer to receive the Lord. There were also many kids who were moved to a deeper walk with the Lord. At the baptism on that Friday, only three kids were signed up. In the end, a total of seven were baptized. After the camp, Addison and I were given the chance to spend some time with Pastor Bodi in Debrecen, visiting with the youth and blessing his family with some good American breakfast cooking.

Next, we moved on to Eger where Pastor Nick and his wife Rosemary invited us to stay with them until next month, which helped a lot. They showed us where the best places to shop are, the good eating spots, and even showed us some cool things about the town. The best part of my stay with Nick and Rosemary would have to be the chance to get to know them in a relaxed setting. I am definitely finding myself getting along with them both very well and blessed by their hearts for the Lord.

Then, we began the Eger English camp. It was a lot different then the Debrecen camp, but still awesome. We had only 35 kids come, compared to the 120 in Debrecen. We also had much fewer native English speakers. These things didn’t hinder the work at all though. Almost every kid there was open to talking about the Lord and hearing the Gospel. Two kids came to know the Lord through it and a few more were encouraged to walk stronger with the Lord. What impacted me the most out of it was how I could really see how much we were impacting their lives and how much they were interested in hearing about God’s impact on us. Two of the boys from the camp have asked me to meet with them once a week for discipleship and hanging out. Their names are Balazs and Tamas. I am also praying that the brother of one of the girls in the church would come. He is into heavy metal and seems to be interested in the things of God, but doesn’t spend a lot of time pursuing them.

Now I am finally settled into my apartment and getting used to living a Hungarian lifestyle. One thing I am now learning is cooking with a gas stove. That’s not so bad, really. The fun part is trying to use the oven without a temperature gauge. It definitely makes for a fun cooking experience. I am enjoying it all though. It’s also a blast practicing my little knowledge of the Hungarian language. I tend to make crazy phrases as my vocabulary is still very small, but everyone seems to enjoy helping me with it and we all laugh about what I end up saying. So far the biggest struggle I am finding here in Eger is not letting myself get discouraged when I seem to not be able to communicate with someone. This isn’t really such a big deal since so many people from the church speak English and Hungarian. It just becomes a pain when I am out on my own and someone seems to be wanting to talk, but I just can’t. Also, my sister Shawna just had her first baby! I am really excited for both her and Mark as they start this adventure as parents. Both Shawna and the baby are doing great and I can’t wait to see them both!

This next month is going to be a little crazy. Nick and Rosemary are going home for 5 weeks and 3 strong females in the church are moving away. There are some people who are coming to help me here and there, but I am sure there will be a lot of testing against me these next few weeks. I am comfortable that God has placed me here, so I am not afraid of what He has in store for me. I just pray I don’t grow weary. Also, my visa application is in and being checked over the next 3 weeks. If everything goes right, I will be heading back to Slovakia in 3-4 weeks to pick up my shiny new visa. The people who approve these things are notoriously finicky, so please keep that in prayer. That’s all for now. Thanks again for your prayers and support. God bless!