Missions Blog

Hello friends! We are back, well-rested, and even more excited for the week ahead of us (if that was possible). Today was all about preparation for the week ahead. We spent the first half of the day being immersed in the dos and don’ts of Hungarian culture, and we learned a little more about what the missionaries here are doing! The second half was spent getting into teams consisting of 3-4 Americans paired with one Hungarian. They taught us what to expect in the schools and the information we need to share with them. It was a knowledge filled day-hopefully we can remember that knowledge for the rest of the week! This year, there are three new schools that we are going to for the first time, so apparently, the schools we went to before are spreading good things about all of us who went before (phew!).

After a brief break filled with Jonathan giving us a “dad talk” about how we aren’t allowed to wander off in the city (@meagan), we headed back to Göncy where we were able to witness another outreach they have happening. They have college-age, new believers who meet on Mondays to be discipled and who are being taught to share the gospel with their friends/family. The missionaries asked Meagan, Jon, and Jason (another volunteer from a NC church) to lead us all in worship. Jon split the worship songs, so we sang half in English and half in Hungarian (well, us Americans listened to the Hungarian being sung). It was a very special moment seeing groups of people from two completely different parts of the world coming together in unity to worship one God together. It really puts what we are doing into perspective. As Meagan said today when we were preparing for the week with prayer, “Help us to remember these aren’t just people we are talking to this week who we will leave and probably not see again, they are eternal souls and this matters.” As we go to sleep tonight, we are ready to start being used by God in whatever way He wants us to be used tomorrow.

And to everyone reading, thank you all for helping us with your support and prayers to be used as a part of God’s plan for the amazing people of Hungary.

Please pray as we start going into high schools tomorrow and for the event happening on Friday that we are inviting them to :).

Hungarian word of the day is izgatott which means excited!

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Hungary Arrival Day

A quick PSA before starting, this first blog is mostly been written through jet lag and sleep deprivation. After traveling to what seemed to be another continent (pun intended), we made it safely to Budapest, Hungary. We already can feel all of your prayers being poured on us just in the fact that we all made it over safely. Although we had a couple of mishaps throughout the day, we all made it and are so excited for the week to start! This week, we will be partnering with the local missionaries, including Gabi and Mara, who the Bible Chapel supports, to go into the high schools and college campuses in Budapest. In the high schools, we are going welcomed in by having an “English class” where we will be able to share about Gönczy-the missionaries building where they have events for high school and college-age students every week. Unlike public schools in most of America, here, if the students ask why we came or about us, we are able to share our faith. We are inviting the students to a big event on Friday where the gospel will be shared and where these kids can know they are loved. On the college campuses, we will be doing some random soul-winning (which everyone is always most nervous about). We will be helping the missionaries with whatever they need this week and with whatever activities and events they have taking place. Tomorrow, we will be getting prepped and trained for the week ahead! Thank you again for the support and prayers…now we are off to sleep :)

Please pray this week for God to work on every child’s heart we will talk to tonight - that it will be open and ready to hear the truth of the gospel.

The Hungarian word of the day is “alvás” which means “sleep” because after non-stop traveling for almost 15 hours, sleep sounds pretty great

Last night was our final evening with the girls of Faith House. We wanted to make it special so we asked what their favorite place to eat was and they said Thai BBQ! So off we went to BBQ! A buffet of uncooked meats and seafood was availalbe to select as well as a great variety of fruits, raw vegetatbles, rice and even ice cream. You actually cook at your own table over a coal fire. The girls really loved it and enjoyed a feast. Our group consisted of 28 girls, 6 staff, and our 3 team members for a total of 37. Our total cost was $230, food costs in Thailand are very modest to say the least. After we got back to Faith House the girls entertained us with singing as they often do. Saying goodbye was emothional and difficult but we all recogniized the blessing of our time together. Today, we have a 6 hour drive to Chiang Mai to visit with our missionary Jim Blumenstock and his family. Jim is the Dean of Asia Biblical Theological Seminary and has been supported by the Bible Chaple for 8 years. We look forward to sharing with you about our visit with Jim and his ministry.

#setthecaptivesfree Today our World has 40,000,000 human trafficked people! A 7.5 billion dollar industry funded by some rich and famous people. The government of Thailand working with others has managed to close down porn hub. Why doesn’t the rest of the world?

Amidst this darkness is a beautiful bright light called Faith House in Maesot Thailand. 30+ rescued girls from war torn Myanmar ages 11-26 experience love and family. These precious girls have been rescued by Maria, Grace and Gie Gie from being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked and definitely abused, abandoned or orphaned. At Faith House, they are loved, cared for, treasured and educated. 7 are currently in University!!! They truly love one another and the Lord and He is healing their broken-hearts and binding up their wounds.

Our team has had the privilege of serving them this week. Our Warrior Princesses. And we gifted them I Am Enough t shirts. We are so blessed to have been with them. We love you all!!!

Today we learned about the Armor of God! We had two sessions of teaching by Brenda on all of the elements of the Armor of God. The coloring activity in the morning helped inform the afternoon activity of actually making these items described in Ephesians 6: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit.  

During this time, Dee was doing a session with the Faith House staff on how to care for children who have experienced trauma! Great tools while working with these Myanmar refugee girls.

Enjoy these pics! What a joy to watch them be creative and soak in God's love! Thank you for your prayers!