The girls conference for the orphanage girls of Miskolcs was sucessful. Trudy, Russell's wife, planned and lead the weekend retreat in Mikepercs. The conference included a good mixture of local Hungarian Christians, our team from Biola, and the girls from Miskolc. Our conference focused on love - from dating to the love of God. In a large group, we heard stories from the Bible about Tamar, Leah, and Hagar. We were able to hear the ways that these figures handled issues of love and acceptance, even in the midst of hard situations and suffering. Small group discussions allowed us to get to know the girls on a more personal level. We were all able to share and pray with one another. In one session, we heard from a panel of guys to get the true story of "what guys want". Tyler and James were kind enough to participate in that part of the conference. Our team was also able to use our perform our skit which focused on our need for God. For fun, we also watched 13 Going on 30 as well as played some games that got
everyone laughing.
The girls from the orphanage in Miskolc were able to stay with Elyse, Malerie and I in the Panzio (hostel/hotel) so we were able to take time to interact with the girls and build relationships. We even were able to have a make-over night with lots of make-up, nailpolish and hair straighteners!
Reflecting back on the weekend, God revealed Himself in some great ways. The conference topic opened up the door for honest conversation with the girls from Miskolc about God and His love for us. Also, our team had a unique opportunity to encourage the local Hungarian women to continue their ministry with the girls in Miskolc. From this conference, there is going to be a weekly Bible study at the Miskolc orphanage for girls to parallel Russell's guys Bible study. God showed up and worked in a great way during this conference. It is our prayer that this conference and the follow up that our sisters in Hungary are able to continue will lead to the girls being drawn to their loving Father. May God's name being glorified in the Miskolc orphanage!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Prayer Requests
Please keep praying for good health. While our time here is winding down, James, Malerie, and Elyse are all still getting over sicknesses, and it will be difficult to start off the Spring semester well if they are still sick.
Pray for our time in Budapest on our way out, that it would be restful and that we will be able to process what God has done here in our time in Hungary, as well as just being able to enjoy spending time with each other.
Our biggest prayer request is for the Girl's Conference that is taking place right now at the Panzio where we have been staying both weeks. Pray that the Christian women from Miskolcs and Debrecen will feel empowered to lead during this time, and that God gives them a boldness and confidence to lead in the ministries they are in or are considring. Especially pray for the orphan girls that are attending the conference, that they would be open to God's love and to the messages that they will be hearing this weekend. Most of them have gone through horrible abuse and pain, so please pray for God to heal their hearts and minds.
Continue to pray for the Mikeperci children, that they will continue to process what they've heard at the Youth Groups they've been to about, and that they will continue to feel lead to attend on Fridays, and that they will be open to what God has to say to them. Also pray that young men and women in the Mikeperc will step up into translating and leading roles in the Youth Group.
- The Handful
Pray for our time in Budapest on our way out, that it would be restful and that we will be able to process what God has done here in our time in Hungary, as well as just being able to enjoy spending time with each other.
Our biggest prayer request is for the Girl's Conference that is taking place right now at the Panzio where we have been staying both weeks. Pray that the Christian women from Miskolcs and Debrecen will feel empowered to lead during this time, and that God gives them a boldness and confidence to lead in the ministries they are in or are considring. Especially pray for the orphan girls that are attending the conference, that they would be open to God's love and to the messages that they will be hearing this weekend. Most of them have gone through horrible abuse and pain, so please pray for God to heal their hearts and minds.
Continue to pray for the Mikeperci children, that they will continue to process what they've heard at the Youth Groups they've been to about, and that they will continue to feel lead to attend on Fridays, and that they will be open to what God has to say to them. Also pray that young men and women in the Mikeperc will step up into translating and leading roles in the Youth Group.
- The Handful
Youth Group
The Youth Group has been a really big part of our ministry in Mikeperc, and we really feel like God has laid down a really exciting foundation for these kids to learn about Christ, which could possibly start a revival in this small, religiously apathetic village.
The first four days we had about 30-40 attendees, but on Friday, we had 50+ village children attending! Praise the Lord! We continued having hot chocolate and a different kind of American junkfood to serve the kids, followed by Trudy teaching them a song, a couple of games, and then a skit or message. Each skit and message's theme was our need for God, but on Friday we performed our finale skit, which focused on our need for a relationship with Jesus Christ and for the redemption he brings. After the skit, Russell (through our faithful translator, Anita) shared a simplified gospel message to the kids, which they seemed very receptive to.
While none of them came to Christ during this week, we have faith that God was at work and, even though we may not see the fruits of what God has started, we believe that this is the generation that can lead the church out of a faithless, power-hungry hierarchy, and transform it into a community of interdependent believers who will love as we are called to.
- The Handful
The first four days we had about 30-40 attendees, but on Friday, we had 50+ village children attending! Praise the Lord! We continued having hot chocolate and a different kind of American junkfood to serve the kids, followed by Trudy teaching them a song, a couple of games, and then a skit or message. Each skit and message's theme was our need for God, but on Friday we performed our finale skit, which focused on our need for a relationship with Jesus Christ and for the redemption he brings. After the skit, Russell (through our faithful translator, Anita) shared a simplified gospel message to the kids, which they seemed very receptive to.
While none of them came to Christ during this week, we have faith that God was at work and, even though we may not see the fruits of what God has started, we believe that this is the generation that can lead the church out of a faithless, power-hungry hierarchy, and transform it into a community of interdependent believers who will love as we are called to.
- The Handful
English Classes
Hey guys, we're sorry for not updating at all for so long, this week has been very hectic and the couple of times we had internet, we were exhausted and chose sleep instead.
This week, James and Tyler continued teaching English at the Elementary/Jr. High school in Mikeperc with Russell. Each day we'd have 3-4 classes, ranging from 3rd to 8th grade, and we would go over vocabulary, play games with them, etc. Both of us are inept at teaching, but fortunately we helped lighten the load for the regular English teacher and made good connections for Russell with the students for the Youth Group.
The whole trip there's been snow on the ground, but we hadn't had new snow until yesterday, which was a lot of fun to experience, especially during recess with the students. We had a pretty epic snowball fight on the playground with them, and by "with them" I mean that most of them just pelted us for their 15 minute break, but it was fun.
Kat, Malerie, and Elyse have been teaching classes this week in Debrecen at the High School run by the Reformed Church. These students had their pros and cons as well, though. Since most of them had been learning English since Elementary School, our girls could carry conversations with them, but since they're teenagers, and some of them seniors, the girls had to deal with a lot more apathy.
Yesterday (Friday) was the last time all five of us would teaching English here in Hungary, and while it was a relief because getting up at 6am every morning and then teaching until 12 or 1pm everyday was draining, it was hard to say goodbye to a lot of the kids.
- The Handful
This week, James and Tyler continued teaching English at the Elementary/Jr. High school in Mikeperc with Russell. Each day we'd have 3-4 classes, ranging from 3rd to 8th grade, and we would go over vocabulary, play games with them, etc. Both of us are inept at teaching, but fortunately we helped lighten the load for the regular English teacher and made good connections for Russell with the students for the Youth Group.
The whole trip there's been snow on the ground, but we hadn't had new snow until yesterday, which was a lot of fun to experience, especially during recess with the students. We had a pretty epic snowball fight on the playground with them, and by "with them" I mean that most of them just pelted us for their 15 minute break, but it was fun.
Kat, Malerie, and Elyse have been teaching classes this week in Debrecen at the High School run by the Reformed Church. These students had their pros and cons as well, though. Since most of them had been learning English since Elementary School, our girls could carry conversations with them, but since they're teenagers, and some of them seniors, the girls had to deal with a lot more apathy.
Yesterday (Friday) was the last time all five of us would teaching English here in Hungary, and while it was a relief because getting up at 6am every morning and then teaching until 12 or 1pm everyday was draining, it was hard to say goodbye to a lot of the kids.
- The Handful
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
After School Youth Group: Day 1
Hello everyone!
Here is a really quick update on the youth group last night.
We had a great turnout! Around 30 kids showed up and they seemed to really enjoy it, although we will find that out for sure this evening when we see how many show up for the second one.
The layout of the youth group is as follows:
- The kids come in and get hot chocolate and the American junk food of the evening (last night was hot dogs, tonight is spaghetti)
- Next is hang out time for a bit, throw the frisbee and listen to Elyse play guitar and sing
- Then we play a few games
- The Handful performs a pantomime skit with a simple, yet important message that the kids can get
Thanks for all your prayers! Continue to pray for strength and energy and pray that we will stay healthy in this cold weather!
-The Handful
Here is a really quick update on the youth group last night.
We had a great turnout! Around 30 kids showed up and they seemed to really enjoy it, although we will find that out for sure this evening when we see how many show up for the second one.
The layout of the youth group is as follows:
- The kids come in and get hot chocolate and the American junk food of the evening (last night was hot dogs, tonight is spaghetti)
- Next is hang out time for a bit, throw the frisbee and listen to Elyse play guitar and sing
- Then we play a few games
- The Handful performs a pantomime skit with a simple, yet important message that the kids can get
Thanks for all your prayers! Continue to pray for strength and energy and pray that we will stay healthy in this cold weather!
-The Handful
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Be in prayer
God has moved our ministry in a very different direction, which has been very challenging and stretching for us to transition and be flexible and obedient to His plan.
Our prayer request is primarily that God would provide us with hearts to serve Him, regardless of what that looks like, and to be patient and joyful in the process.
We could also use prayer for the team's physical health and energy, as travelling around and ministering has been very tiring and with the very cold weather, we're especially susceptible to sicknesses if we don't take care of bodies. Praise God that, even in these circumstances, no one has gotten sick in Hungary and those on the team that were sick prior have gotten better.
Above all, pray that we are rejoicing in what God is doing, even if we are unable to see the specific purpose or fruits of that, and be content with glorifying God and following His Spirit.
We really appreciate everyone's prayers and support and definitely miss you all!
- The Handful
Our prayer request is primarily that God would provide us with hearts to serve Him, regardless of what that looks like, and to be patient and joyful in the process.
We could also use prayer for the team's physical health and energy, as travelling around and ministering has been very tiring and with the very cold weather, we're especially susceptible to sicknesses if we don't take care of bodies. Praise God that, even in these circumstances, no one has gotten sick in Hungary and those on the team that were sick prior have gotten better.
Above all, pray that we are rejoicing in what God is doing, even if we are unable to see the specific purpose or fruits of that, and be content with glorifying God and following His Spirit.
We really appreciate everyone's prayers and support and definitely miss you all!
- The Handful
Our first weekend here
On Thursday night, we had the opportunity to spend some time with Russell's baseball players here in Mikeperc. They're about 8-15 years old and called the "Mikeperc Mosquitos". Most Hungarians don't even know how to play baseball, nor is there a league for the kids, but the boys we met were very talented and enthusiastic to play. We started out by playing catch in pairs for awhile, which was followed by us five Americans and one Hungarian boy who pitched, named Thomas, against the boys in a game of baseball. Don't worry, we didn't make Americans look too bad and ended up winning.
Friday morning we taught English to the same 5th and 8th grade classes, but also taught a third class of 6th graders. The two younger classes were fun and really easy to entertain, but the 8th graders were a bit more challenging, as teenagers are too cool for most of the activities we had planned.
After this we had a lunch of leftover pizza and pasta fagioli at Rob and Carol Greathouse's place, an American couple who are involved in full-time Roma ministry in Hungary. There we were able to hear Carol and Rob's story about how God lead them to living and serving in Hungary after they were already over 50 years old. We followed up lunch with packing tons and tons of boxes of clothing from their attic. The clothing was donated to them from a church in Heidelberg, Germany, for the Romas and although it seemed like we had to go through a lot of clothing, it was only a third of what was originally sent over.
We headed over to Calvary Chapel Debrecen for Friday night "Youth Group". We were assuming we'd be hanging out with High Schoolers all night, but found out that in Hungary, Youth Group just means you're not married, so it was basically a group of college-aged students, many who spoke English, which was great.
On Saturday morning, the Handful and Russell took a 30 minute bus ride to catch a second bus in Debrecen which, after a 2 hour long bus ride, put us in Miskolcs, where we hopped on a tram to arrive at the orphanage where we had been on Wednesday. We got to spend time with the Capitan family, 12 orphaned brothers and sisters, most being under the age of 6. We had such a blast, having balloon swordfights and roughhousing with the kids, and the language barrier didn't have much of an impact because they enjoyed just making noises and playing around. The adults had lunch at a fun little burger place next to a local castle. The burgers weren't traditional but still very good, and it was interesting eating outside in negative degree weather. After we took the kids over to a nearby Sucrezda, a sweets shop, where everyone had hot chocolate and fantastic chocolate cookies. The shop had many different tasty-looking gellatos, even Whiskey flavored, apparently. We had to say goodbye to the kids after that, which wasn't a very fun experience, to then ride buses for 3 hours to get back to Mikperc.
This morning, we were picked up by Rob and Carol Greathouse and attended church at Calvary Chapel Debrecen. The service was fortunately translated into English. Now we are back at the Chun's home, where we'll be eating lunch and the girls will be planning English lessons for the coming week and nailing down details for their Girls' Conference next weekend.
Friday morning we taught English to the same 5th and 8th grade classes, but also taught a third class of 6th graders. The two younger classes were fun and really easy to entertain, but the 8th graders were a bit more challenging, as teenagers are too cool for most of the activities we had planned.
After this we had a lunch of leftover pizza and pasta fagioli at Rob and Carol Greathouse's place, an American couple who are involved in full-time Roma ministry in Hungary. There we were able to hear Carol and Rob's story about how God lead them to living and serving in Hungary after they were already over 50 years old. We followed up lunch with packing tons and tons of boxes of clothing from their attic. The clothing was donated to them from a church in Heidelberg, Germany, for the Romas and although it seemed like we had to go through a lot of clothing, it was only a third of what was originally sent over.
We headed over to Calvary Chapel Debrecen for Friday night "Youth Group". We were assuming we'd be hanging out with High Schoolers all night, but found out that in Hungary, Youth Group just means you're not married, so it was basically a group of college-aged students, many who spoke English, which was great.
On Saturday morning, the Handful and Russell took a 30 minute bus ride to catch a second bus in Debrecen which, after a 2 hour long bus ride, put us in Miskolcs, where we hopped on a tram to arrive at the orphanage where we had been on Wednesday. We got to spend time with the Capitan family, 12 orphaned brothers and sisters, most being under the age of 6. We had such a blast, having balloon swordfights and roughhousing with the kids, and the language barrier didn't have much of an impact because they enjoyed just making noises and playing around. The adults had lunch at a fun little burger place next to a local castle. The burgers weren't traditional but still very good, and it was interesting eating outside in negative degree weather. After we took the kids over to a nearby Sucrezda, a sweets shop, where everyone had hot chocolate and fantastic chocolate cookies. The shop had many different tasty-looking gellatos, even Whiskey flavored, apparently. We had to say goodbye to the kids after that, which wasn't a very fun experience, to then ride buses for 3 hours to get back to Mikperc.
This morning, we were picked up by Rob and Carol Greathouse and attended church at Calvary Chapel Debrecen. The service was fortunately translated into English. Now we are back at the Chun's home, where we'll be eating lunch and the girls will be planning English lessons for the coming week and nailing down details for their Girls' Conference next weekend.
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