Chillin in my flat

So I am able to stay at the guest house, which is a three room flat three floors up. And I am the only one here. It’s incredible. I’ll be sleeping in the big room which has two bunk beds, a couch and an eating area. All this for $15 a night. This is an undeserved blessing from God. I was a little nervous about coming to Budapest because I didn’t know, well anything. So I’m pretty stoked. I’m going to tour the city a little, get some food and go to the young adult church service tonight. And maybe I’ll take a nap too!

In Budapest

So its (let me think for a minute) Sunday and I’m in Budapest. I decided to go with the Ohio team and hang out with them their last day. We got in town around noon yesterday and it was hot! We checked in to the Marco Polo hostel, which was very nice. Us three guys were in a triple and the ladies in a quad room. We went to look around the city and a couple hours later the winds picked up and the temperature dropped considerably. We were joking around that it was going to rain on us and we would sing “Grace like rain”; and then that’s what happened. It was pretty amusing. We ate at a really good pizza place, which was really warm as well (it was freezing outside). He headed out to the Danube to take a peak, and then went to McDonalds (yes McDonalds) to get some hot coffee. Then we headed back to the hostel and hung out till about 1am. We watched all of the videos from the previous weeks and pretty much laughed all night. I think being with the Ohio team has been one of the most encouraging parts of this whole trip. We fed off each other’s energy. I don’t think I’ve laughed this much in a long time. Just thinking about some of the things, like the puppet skit, the talent show, riding in the van packed 15 full singing worship songs, it all makes me smile. Another cool thing, just before we left for Budapest from Dorcas, someone gave Dr. Eger (the head of the Ohio team) a 5000 forint note (about $25) to pay my transportation cost. And then at pizza they covered me with their team money. It was a real blessing. I don’t know where I will stay tonight, at the hostel or at the Calvary Chapel guest house (nicer and cheaper). I just talked to Bruce here at the church (I’m waiting for the service to start) and he will find me after to see if I can stay. It’s interested being all alone here in Budapest. It’s exciting. I have to figure out a lot of things such as housing and transportation to the airport at 5am! I found out this morning that my phone alarm doesn’t work because it can’t track the time. So I woke up at 9:50, with check out at 10. With a shower I was only 2 minutes late! So I might have to pull an all-nighter Monday night just so I don’t miss my plane. We’ll see. Pray for that whole situation. It’s been a really good, fulfilling, encouraging faith-building trip that has and will continue to change me. But it’s not quite over yet. See everyone back home soon.

Coming to an End

Well, it’s the last full day here at Dorcas camp. It has been an amazing week getting to know all the students and volunteers. We taught a lot of English, learned some Hungarian, listened to some really inspiring testimonies, sang a lot of worship songs, did a ton of skits, played signs, mafia, blitz, foci (soccer) and much more. I’ve been really encouraged by how the students have connected with us and want to hang out with us during their free time. Even the ones who know only a little English try hard to make conversation and ask about our lives. God has used Dorcas camp to change the lives of hundreds of people and I can see those results and also the work that is being done now. I don’t feel like I’m halfway around the world. I’m used to not being able to understand conversations right next to me, although I am picking up on words and phrases more and more each day. The great thing about the body of Christ is that I feel at home away from home. I’m going to miss the people that I have been serving with here. I feel that a big part of my purpose here was to encourage the other teams along with the campers, and in that I have been immensely encouraged as well. There has been a lot of laughing and a lot of smiles with nothing lacking but sleep. Pray for the rest of our time here. We all leave Saturday after breakfast. I’m not sure if I’m going back to Mikepercs with Russ or heading to Budapest with the Ohio team to hang out with them for the day. My plane doesn’t leave till Tuesday so I have a few days. It would be nice to be in Budapest already for my flight home and not be three hours away in Mikapercs. I’d throw up some pics but the internet here is incredibly slow, but hey, I’m glad to have it.

At Dorcas

Its Saturday and we just arrived at Dorcas camp where we will have English camp until next Saturday. It's been so fun and amazing here. I'm working with Russ and Joe, who work for Good Sports, Kristin from VBC, and a team from Cedarville, OH who are pretty awesome people. Last night we were hanging out at the church in Debrecen and they all surprised me with a cake that had what seemed to be a torch on top and sang happy birthday to me in Hungarian. It was really nice of everyone and although it was ackward for everyone to be singing to me I really appreciated it. It was a lot of fun.

We went back to the refuegee camp today and saw a lot of the same kids.

They were really excited to see us and we got some great pictures and videos. We were there again to analyze needs in the camp and to figure out what we could do and what future teams could do to impact these peoples' lives. The kids there are so cute. All the little boys were hanging off my arms and I was picking them up and swinging them around. This one little girl kept poking me and then would point to someone else like they had done it. These kids need a lot of love and were so happy that we were just there, even though they had no idea who we were or what we were doing. It was also so amazing all the different languages they were speaking and me trying to communicate with them in my broken German (which most of the people from Kosovo speak).

Yesterday was our last day in Mikapercs and we put on a performance for the village and the kids' parents. We sang some songs and us Americans performed the Everything skit that went really well. I hope to post it on facebook when I get a decent internet connection. Things are a little slower here in Hungary :) There is a high school student that we met a few nights ago, Zsolt, who we met at dinner (he got a mass email that the Americans were in town and he decided to meet us). He played flag football with us the night after, and last night he came to the church youth group to hang out. We talked him into coming to English camp and the Ohio team is paying his way. He is not a Christian but we have made an impression on him and God has definitely planted a seed. Please pray for him this week.

Also pray for me that I will have energy. I'm wiped out but still in great spirits. We are going out to Debrecen tonight for dinner, the team from Texas gets in later on, and English camp kids arrive tomorrow. Its going to be a full week ;)

Tuesday

Tuesday was like Monday in that we held English camp in the morning and met up with the kids at the sports playa in the afternoon. But Tuesday night we went to a Roma church. The Roma in Hungary (and throughout the world) have been despised and persecuted for a long time. They are mostly poor, living in incredibly small homes without electricity or running water and many do not have jobs. They have the reputation of being thieves and beggars and are physically segregated from the rest of society.

The church was very small and only had two rooms, a worship room a little bigger than my bedroom and a kids room the size of my bathroom. And when church started, it was packed full. We did worship in Hungarian and it was great. I could tell that the people were happy to be there and that we were there as well. After worship we put on a puppet show for the kids. It was the story of Zaccheus (which I played). The kids loved it and were laughing for most of the time. I’m not sure if they got the message (which was explained afterwards) but I’m sure they felt important and loved (which I’m told they don’t get much of that at home). It was kind of like being at the refugee camp—no discipline, every man for himself, and was kind of disheartening. These kids grow up in poverty and violence and are hated for just being Roma. They definitely need the grace and compassion of God in their lives, and many in this community have already given their lives to Christ. But a lot of work still needs to be done. Prayer for that community is greatly needed.

Monday

Monday was our first day of the Mikapercs English camp. We met in the village square and started playing games to get kids to join us. We played hook ‘em up tag and some other games and then went to the church. We all stayed together for the first part—we played games, taught the kids a song (One Way, Jesus) and then broke up into age groups for English lessons. The group I was in knew very little English so we started with a name game, added hobbies and went into numbers. After class we met back up in the big room with everyone, sang some more songs and broke for lunch.

After lunch we met the kids on the sports field to play games, eat watermelon and have one of our team members share a story about their lives and God. It was a successful day and I think it really set a precedent for the week ahead of us. After a few hours on the sports field we went back to the Ovoda (kindergarten where we are staying), washed up, rested and headed to dinner. Then it was off to the Debrecen refugee camp.

Our purpose for going to the refugee camp was to assess the needs there and see what we could do in the immediate future (this week) for these people and what could be done long term. We were told about the camp, what to do and what not to do and tried to be prepared for it. Basically, refugees from all over (Kosovo, Iran, Afghanistan, Congo, Albania) who were fleeing political, religious and economic persecution were waiting at this camp trying to get papers. When we showed up we immediately got a following from the kids who were just running around on their own. We went inside a building about a hundred feet long and forty feet wide and set up a movie for the kids (Chronicles of Narnia). Tons of kids came and sat down for the film as well as some older people. I started talking to the kids, trying to find out where they were from and what languages they spoke. A lot of them spoke German as a second or third language (these kids were under ten years old) and I was able to find out were they were from and how old they were. It seemed pretty controlled until we brought out a box of popcorn. We tried to get the kids lined up but they charged me who was holding the box and Russ who was passing the bags out. Kids were pushing each other, ripping the box, stealing popcorn from each other and fighting over it. It got kind of scary even though these were little kids, there were a lot of them. The chaos didn’t stop until the popcorn ran out. We learned a hard lesson. These people had nothing and when they saw something, they did everything they could to get it for themselves.

Throughout the movie I talked to several kids and older people. Some had been there for months, others over a year. They were fed two meals a day and thought the food was terrible. The living conditions were filthy with no cleaning supplies and many slept five to a room no bigger than a small bathroom. I met a lot guys from Afghanistan were fleeing the violence there. I met a family from the Congo who had been there for six months, a mother, her two daughters, 13 and 6, and her 4 yr. old son. Everyone wanted their picture taken, from the little kids to the older guys. They just wanted the attention I think. Also, the older people (19-23) wanted to know why we were there and really wanted to talk about the problems with the camp.

The refugee camp was a crazy place—kids running around hitting and kicking each other with no supervision, no discipline, every man for himself mentality in kids less than 8. There is nothing for these kids to do; only a handful of them are let into school, the rest have nothing. There is no language training, no job training, only waiting in uncertainty. It was also a place of great need for God. These people have nothing: no money, no jobs, no privacy, no hygiene, no way to leave to a better place. And it’s a scary place too. There is a police station in the camp but there are over 900 refugees, some good people, some bad people. We are planning on going back to the camp this week before we head off to the English camp at Dorcas. Please pray that we would be impactful and safe. There is a need for constant visits to the refugee camp to build relationships and show these people the love of Christ. Please pray for that as well.

Back from Miskolc

I got into the Miskolc orphanage from Budapest around 10pm on Tuesday night. I got cleaned up and said hi to some of the kids who were watching Signs in Hungarian. Then it was off to bed. Over the next two days, we did activities with the younger kids who just wanted to beat me up, make me do handstands and backflips, and shoot me with water guns. It was a lot of fun. I really connected with the younger kids and I miss having them around already. I shared a story about my life and how John 10:10 relates to it. (That's the one about Life to the Full). We slept downstairs in the basement which was pretty fun!

Today, Friday, we were at Russ' house in Mikapercs, a village of about 4000. The morning was pretty relaxed. We met the Mosquitoes baseball team (about 10 teenagers) at a local pizzaria and hung out there for a couple hours. Then we headed to the Mikapercs church to practice a skit for the village (they have summer performances in the village square and we had a few minutes to promote the upcoming baseball and English camps). It was pretty amusing. We hung out there for a little bit and now we're back at Russ' house kicking back (although I really want to go for a coffee!). It's almost 7pm here, everyone is pretty tired, but I'm wide awake (maybe it's because of the Flying Energy drink I had earlier). I'll check back in soon!

In Hungary

Well, I made it! I’m sitting on a train right now headed to Miskolc. It has been a long day. I was at the BART station at 2pm June 29, flew out of SFO at 6:50pm, landed in London at 1:00 pm the 30^th, and landed in Budapest at 6:00pm. Here’s the thing though; the plane to London was so small and there was no room for anything that I did not sleep at all! And there was no time to sleep on the flight to Budapest—I’ll get to that in a second. Now I’m on the train, its 9pm and I am tired! But all is amazing and I am so grateful and excited to be here.

So about my travels: I and others were praying for a specific thing for the flights—that I would make friends on the plane and not be bored out of my mind! So I get onto the plane at SFO and find out I am sitting between a guy and a girl, both probably in their early twenties. I sit down for a couple minutes and realized that these people were not ones to reach out; so I did. First I turned to the guy, Chris, and found out he was traveling to Finland for the first time. We talked for a couple minutes and then the plane started take off. Then I turned to the girl and asked where she was going. Turns out she was French and was heading back to Paris where she lives. She had just come from visiting her brother in San Francisco. Of course the conversation immediately switched to speaking in French and I don’t think I have to tell anyone how excited I was about that! So for the whole flight, I was talking back and forth with these two people, and even after the flight we stuck together until after getting through security in London.

Then on my flight to Budapest, I was sitting next to two girls, one who was part of a missions organization going to Debrecen to minister to refugees there, and the other a native Hungarian. We started talking about Hungary, the language, God, what Christianity means, I got a lot of good Hungarian language tips. It was perfect! I was so uplifted by my travels, even though I had not gotten a wink of sleep, that when I and Lili (who was helping me to get on the train I am on now) were running all around Budapest trying to find the right bus to the right train and it was hot and I was tired and sweaty, even through all that I’m still in a great mood and excited to God move even bigger and more astounding than He already has. Thank you all for your prayers and support. The best has yet to come.