Budapest, Part II

Hello again! Sit back and relax because Budapest Part II is coming your way...


Story #1: The flight to Budapest.
Saturday morning, Day 1 of our trip, we flew from Dallas to Houston, Houston to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Budapest. Well, our day started with a delayed flight, but we made it to Houston just in time to check in for our international flight. Once we got through the check in at Houston, the lady behind the desk explained, "If you had gotten here a moment later, your seats would have been given up to those waiting." Wow. Soon after, we boarded our plane, all too unenthusiastic about a 10 hr trip confined in a small seat. At least there would be dinner, breakfast, and a few movies. Call me strange, but I usually enjoy their dinners. This one, however, would be far different than I expected...

As soon as I was done enjoying my meal, I stretched back a little and relaxed. A few students were on my right and my co-worker/assistant project leader Jeremy was on my left. We all got comfortable, ready for the movie to turn on when we heard the soft ding of someone hitting the service button, probably ready for another drink to wash down the meal. When the dinging didn't stop after a few minutes and the stewardess rushed to the back of the plane, I realized something wasn't right. I should probably mention airplanes are a cause of high stress for me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the idea of being 34,000 ft in the air, and if something goes wrong I can't do a whole lot. Needless to say, I started to get slightly nervous and tried to shut my eyes and find a happy place. The students and Jeremy were excited to know what was happening. All of a sudden, people came streaming out of the bathrooms. Let me explain that this was a new plane, and the bathrooms were in a little cabin in the underbelly of the plane. It was kind of nice because you could get up and walk around in there a little (though after our garlic & herb chicken dinner, it's not something I'd suggest). People were murmuring something about a smoke alarm going off. My thoughts were someone had tried to smoke in the bathroom...quick smoke break after dinner? Who knows. But the stewardess came on the intercom asking everyone to be seated. I could hear the nervousness in her voice, so of course that didn't help my anxiousness.

Lauren, the student on my right, didn't seem at all bothered. In fact, she might have been sleeping now that I think about it. Jeremy had his nose in his book, taking an occasional break to look up at the excitement. After a few more minutes, the captain came on to explain the incident and plan of action. We were on Lufthansa air, so of course they speak German first, and then translate it to English. Well after going on for what seemed like 5 minutes in German, the pilot hung up and forgot to translate. My heart rate was probably around 120 right about then. And I looked at Jeremy, who knows some foreign languages, and asked him to translate. Knowing I was a little anxious, Jeremy took full advantage of the situation chuckled and said, "Oh no worries. The pilot just said we lost the right engine." Now, I knew he was kidding, but just in case he thought it was funny, I balled my hand in to a fist and let his right shoulder know how amusing I found this comment.

I actually did find his witty remark funny...after we had landed and his shoulder had a hint of black and blue. Sorry mom. I know it wasn't lady like, but it was just a reaction. Blame my brothers for teaching me how to fight back. :) I apologized to him afterwards.

Needless to say, we made it to the ground safely. We did make an emergency landing in Boston. As soon as the tires hit the run way, four fire trucks came out to meet us and firemen came on to the plan to check out the situation. False alarm. of course. So the maintenance crew came on board and fixed everything for us. 12 hours later, we were gettin ready to land in Frankfurt, only to have to bail out and retry (apparently there was another plane on the runway). By this point I was ready to get off that plane. Talk about some stress. And to make things more amusing, the plan that was on the runway was probably our connection to Budapest. We missed it. But that was ok by us. We just slept in the airport and waited for another flight out. We made it safely to our hotel that night and had no trouble sleeping!

obviously this was one of the less spiritual stories in my treasure box of tales, but nonetheless, I'll never forget it.

Story #2 Lottsie

Lottsie is a 16 yr old student we met at school one day, and he followed us to MacDonald's to hang out after classes. Dave, Radd, and Lauren, the American students, had some good conversation with Lottsie, and talked a little about spiritual things. The next day, we saw Lottsie on the bus, and Dave asked him, "Hey Lottsie, did you get a chance to think about the things we talked over? about God?" Lottsie said he did, but he had a hard time believing in God. "It's hard to believe in God because my father died when I was 6." Their conversation continued from there while I was in the back of the bus talking to Lauren. Dave has heard my story before, so when he finished talking to Lottsie, he came up to me to relay just what he had heard. As soon as I heard the story, I wanted to find Lottsie and talk to him, but he had gotten off at an earlier stop. Dave told me that Lottsie was planning to come to our outreach that night, and I knew I had to find him and talk to him.

At the outreach, Lauren and I spotted Lottsie, and I asked him what he thought about what he had just heard. One of the Americans had just performed one of his songs and then shared his testimony at our Battle of the Bands outreach. Lottsie told me exactly what he had told Dave earlier on the bus. I nodded and when he was done, I shared with him my story about losing my dad at an early age but realizing that this world isn't perfect and that bad things will happen. It's God who gets us through them. He listened to me. But what he said next just hit me in the gut. "So, Katy, you understand what it's like for me. When I am at my football (soccer) games, all my friends' dads are in the stands. But mine isn't." Whoa I wasn't ready for that hit of reality, but I took it and sympathized with him and continued to tell him how I accepted Christ and relied on God's love to fill the hole from the lack of a father's love. It was a really good conversation, and I pray that Lottsie took it in, and will begin to realize the Lord's abundant love for him. The second week of our time there, we saw Lottsie come to the FEK meeting and hear the gospel again. And once again, Dave and I got to ask him his thoughts about the speaker's message. Please pray with us that Lottsie would accept Christ and receive a love he's been missing out on.

This ends story time for today! I'll be back with more! Thanks for tuning in :)
PS If you could begin to pray for our leadership team here in Frisco. We have 2-3 solid girls, but are in need of committed guys. Pray that they would be challenged to take ownership of SV meetings and be challenged to seek the Lord more and more! THanks!!! :)

Fiatalok Az Elet Kusobein

A cathedral outside of our hotel.
Radd, Hanna, Dave
Radd on Castle Hill
View from Fishermen's Bastion

These are four out of the 200 I've taken. The 2nd picture are of two of the American students and the girl is a Hungarian student involved with Student Venture in Hungary. SV in Budapest is actually called Fiatalok Az Elet Kusobein, Youth at the Threshold of Life aka FEK (pronounced fake).

We had an incredible two weeks full of exciting events, amazing opportunities to share the gospel, and a few challenges, too. I went as the administrator, or the accountant, for the project. Randy from Frisco was the Project Director, and Jeremy from Frisco was the Assistent Project Director. I wondered if Randy knew what he was doing when he asked me to take care of the admin details. I'm an English major, not math!!! But alas, I survived, and did a lot of stressing over nothing (sometimes I wonder if it will ever be possible to grasp that verse that talks about not worrying about tomorrow).

There are so many amazing and funny stories that I don't know where to begin. I'll give you a glimpse of what the American students learned because though the trip was about doing ministry with Hungary's SV and helping share the gospel in Budapest, the Americans grew and learned so much and it gave me so much joy to see this.

Lauren is a student at Frisco High School whom I have been meeting with for about a month before the trip. She had a challenging time learning the new culture, but accepted the differences and allowed God to teach her so much. We were talking late one night and she told me, "I think I realize just how materialistic America is. I brought money with me to this trip, and I've hardly spent it. In the states, it would have been spent 5 minutes after I got it, and probably on something I don't need." Though Hungary isn't a third world country, they live on what they need instead of what they want. Compared to America, Hungary is below middle class. It's rare that a family owns a washing machine or dryer. Many live in small flats and won't ever own a car. Lauren started recognizing a lot of the differences and learned a lot from it. She and I plan to get together some more to continue to talk about what the Lord is teaching us even after we've returned.

Radd is a student at Frisco HS, as well, and fell in love with Hungary, especially Boci (pronounced Boh-tsi), a Hungarian chocolate bar. It was so encouraging and exciting to see him learn each day, not just about a new culture, but about a God who has the world in His hands. Radd talked to us one night during a Bible study and mentioned he felt useless because he could only change the world one person at a time, and couldn't imagine how he was supposed to be sharing with others how to follow the Lord when he had a hard time of doing it himself. Throughout conversations with some of the leaders and students, he came to the conclusion by the end of the trip that it's not up to him to save the world. But if he obeys the Lord, he can be a part in what God is doing. He explained his relief knowing that the Lord has control, and that He wants to use him to take part in building the kingdom.

These are just a few things some of the students on the trip have learned. Not to mention, I think we as leaders learned a lot, too. I know I did. I'll be sure to share a few more stories and some comedy in the next few days. Thanks for the prayers!! While on my 10 hour plane ride, I had the chance to be still and relax, and pray for all of you. :)

Love
Katy

ps anyone wanting to discuss the outcome of Clemson in the NCAA tournament, don't consult me. im still a little bitter. (but really excited we even made it!) :)

Hungary

Hey everyone! I am in Hungary, and so excited to tell you that the American students are learning SO much. What an amazing experience this is for them. We are going to local high schools and teaching English classes what american culture is like and helping them with their English. Then, after school, we are hanging out with them at McDonald's and talking to them about their culture, their lives, and sharing Jesus (gi-joosh in hungarian) if they are interested.

The spiritual atmosphere here is quite interesting. Many students are telling us they do not think about God or religion very much. Pray that the words we say would give them an interest in our Ishten (God/Lord). I have to go because unfortunately the internet isn't free. Imagine that! I finally I wrote brief blog! Praise the Lord for our safe arrival, our experiences, and for the American students who are learning so much about themselves and about our God who is not just a God of America, but God of the whole world!

Also, I just wanted to let you know, this morning I thanked the Lord for all of you and your vision to see students, American and other nationalities, reached for Christ!

Frisco

Brooke!
We stopped at the Purple Cow after a game. We felt we had deserved our double chocolate espresso mochafabulous milk shake. Wakeland High School, Frisco, TX

My BED!!! and new soccer ball. The lovely Frisco in a Texan sunset