Final Recap

Everyone talks about how trips like these change your life. They say that God really showed them something and their stories almost spread like wildfire. See the thing about these statements is that they are true. How can God not change your life when you spend over a week just trusting him to provide for almost everything? How can you not see his glory and his almighty power?

I guess what I have taken away from this is that is there is a tremendous need for people all over the world to share the Gospel. Almost every student I met in Hungary had a completely wrong, a skewed or no idea about the true meaning of Christianity. This is a campus where there is an established program to deliver this message to students. Students and staff alike work to pursue students for the cause of Christ. How much more then is the need in the rest of the world, where there are no dedicated programs or missionaries actively pursuing these people? How can I see this and not be silent? How can I be utterly content with just living a luke-warm life?

Yesterday we had the opportunity to tour the city and of note is the house of terror. I realize how blessed I am to never have had to see war in my home country, to never have to fear for my life because of what I say or don't say and to never have to fear my own government. While walking through the museum and reading about atrocities that took place under the Nazi and communist régime, I overheard someone say, "How could a person do something like this?" A better question would have been, "What would motivate me to do something like this?" The world is full of sin and filth and people's capacity for evil can be chilling. How much more do they need the love of God then in their lives?

Thanks to everyone who followed along with the blog and prayed for all the things going on during the trip. Your efforts are much appreciated, not just by me but by the Hungarians as well.

Day 5: Is Random Really Random?

Today was our last official work day. We had a planned break in the morning for a little refreshment and in the afternoon went back to the Universities to finish random evangelism and passing out fliers for a law school event. One thing that has really struck me on this trip is that although we are approaching seemingly random people to us, a lot of it seems like God has set us up to meet these people. It is just cool to see and hear about other stories about how some crazy connection or thought already existed and that this was just one more step in the discovery of God.

In the evening, we headed to the West End mall (note: huge) and interacted with the Hungarian staff and students. I found generation 2 EuroDoss glasses so be on the lookout for them in a few days or so. Then we headed over the church and the palace. For those that went last year, this was just down the street from your hotel. I got some more cool picture so I again recommend the picture album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jdsman77/HungarySpringBreak#

It is hard to believe that the week went by so fast. Tomorrow will just be a tourist day and then we fly home early Saturday morning. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me and the team here. We could certainly feel God working in everything that went on.

Day 4: Gaining Understand

Yesterday we did more random evangelism at the technical university and talked to more law students in the morning and the early afternoon. The students here are really open to talking about anything and they are eager to learn about us Americans and what we think of their country. There are too many good stories from yesterday to share them all but when at the technical university, we approached a girl named Vera who did not seem that open to hearing about God and had decided that following any religion was something that she couldn't do. But when she asked us what we believed and we told her, her eyes lit up and she stated, "So you really believe that you could know God personally?" It turns out that she had a friend in her grade school days whose father was a pastor and they would discuss these things all the time as well.

Last night was the weekly meeting of FEK (CRU). It is held in a "café" in one of the dorms but the "café" is really more like a bar. The room they had was really nice though and it was a pleasure to help the team set up the equipment. I even got to run the sound board for the evening. A businessman named Lance Bozman spoke about EQ and emotional intelligence and then shared his testimony at the end. It was really good!

Finally, last night we headed to the Citadel, an old military fortress on the river and the site of the "Hungarian Statue of Liberty." The views of the city from there were incredible! If you haven't been to the picture site lately, now is the time.

Day 3: The Students of Hungary

Yesterday was the first time I really got to talk with Hungarian students. After spending the morning at the University of Law (where everyone is really busy - just like Michigan), we headed back to the Technical University where we spent most of Monday as well. We did what was called "Random Evangelism" where we would just approach Hungarian students, ask if they knew English and start a conversation that might eventually lead to sharing the Gospel with them. The students here are really open and even when some of them had tests in about a half-hour and were studying, they would be up for conversing. The experience really opened up my eyes to the views of Hungarian students. The students here are really searching for something meaningful. When they find something that is remotely close, they stop and hold on to it with all they have and are almost unwilling to change for fear of losing it. Such was the case with two of the students I met yesterday. Other cool stories involve getting someone to come to the outreach event because I was good at Sudoku and finding another Christian who just really needed some encouragement and love that God brought us to.

The outreach last night involving the commercials went really well also. Craig's message seemed to go really well (the entire evening was in Hungarian except for Craig's and my talk) and the Hungarian leaders were happy with the turnout (about 50 students!!).

Today were a going back to the English classrooms and going to the general meeting for FEK (Hungarian CRU) in the evening.

Day 2: Into the Fray

Today we got our first taste of ministry in Hungary. After spending the morning being oriented on the ways of speaking to and interacting with Hungarian college students, we headed off to the law University for the opportunity to teach English to a college class. The teacher had requested that we focus on politics so we shared a bit about how the American political system worked and then found out about the Hungarian one.

That was followed by dinner at a McDonalds. Now, I know what you're thinking… Why go to Hungary to eat at McDonalds? Well, they actually have quite a different menu there. I had a CDH - chicken, bacon, something else… It was quite tasty.

The evening was spent fliering for a event tomorrow that will focus on commercials and how they affect our lives. Quite a few students seemed interested and we are hoping for 50 students to show up tomorrow to hear Craig Spenser share his testimony in the middle of the commercial watching and free pizza. Quick cool connection moment: The table for the projector here is the EXACT SAME as the one we use at CRU on Fridays. Setting up the projector seemed all too familiar.

Prayer requests:
- That the students at the event would be moved by the testimony of Craig tomorrow
- That our random evangelism and English classes would connect with students
- That language barrier would not be enough to keep students from the Gospel
- For my physical pains (both old and new) that they would not keep me from anything
- That God would just shatter our ideas for what is possible and impossible

Day 1: Worship is not a feeling

The title says it all. The church we went to this morning did have a bilingual service and a few of the songs were even sung in English. The sermon was done in both languages also. But it wasn't familiar, it wasn't easy and it didn't feel as intimate. It was intimate though. See if worship was a feeling then this morning would have been difficult. Instead I got sing along with fellow believers and rejoice in God's ability to transcend cultures, languages and other barriers even if I had little idea to the meaning of the words I probably wasn't even saying right. The point is God is bigger than the air I breathe and the culture I live in and all I can say is "My Glorious!"

We arrived!!

Not really much to report here except that we are all safely at the hotel (Classic Hotel - really nice, room pictures to come). My last flight showcased the Ann Arbor connection as my fellow seatmate (note: not a fellow CRU member) had worked in Ann Arbor and the CEO and another employee of his current job were U of M grads. Steve, if you are reading this, they have job openings in Irvine, CA and you would work with medical lasers.

Since the hotel here has a WIFI connection, blog posts will likely be frequent. The picture album will likely be updated often as well. Also, if you are on at the right time, you may get a chat message from Hungary.

Off to dinner....

Frankfurt Travels

The day began mostly uneventfully. We first went to the wrong terminal at DTW but that was quickly correct. The flight to Frankfurt was mostly smooth. I got some crucial sleep which made the time go by faster as well. Since our layover was long enough, we got to go into the city of Frankfurt via rail. Getting on the train was quite an experience as buying tickets ran into its share of problems and some of us even got separated by getting when not everyone made it on a train (myself included). But we all met up safely at the main terminal in Frankfurt. Our joint in Frankfurt was short but we got to see an amazing church (picture included) and some Roman ruins in the middle of the city before hurrying quickly back to the train station to make it back to the airport. Now I'm off to Hungary!!

Link to the picture page: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdsman77/HungarySpringBreak#

Dtw

On the plane.

edit: Sorry for the poor English. Nate's iPhone can be troublesome.

Welcome/Introduction

Hello and welcome to Jeff's Hungary Spring Break Blog.

As I visit Hungary in about a week from now, I want to be able to share some of my stories and pictures from the trip as I have the opportunity. It will also allow me to share some prayer requests that come up on trip. I should have a Google Picture album as well available that I will post the link to as well.

So stay tuned and follow along with me as I visit Budapest, Hungary!