I know several people have asked about my addy..so here it is :o)
CCBCE
PATRICA SCANLON
PETOFI SANDOR UT 562
7042 VAJTA, HUNGARY
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Prayer Requests
Thank you guys so much for your faithful prayers. I know that I don't get the chance to wrtie to you all personally to thank you for your faithfulness, but I want you to know how much I appriciate it!
To add to the list of things to pray for:
This evening one of the prostitutes that my friends Betty, Lori and I have been praying for came to chapel at the Bible College. She is struggeling with the death of her two daughters (5 and 7 years old) that occured 5 years ago. As a gypsy, she feels that that only way for her to survive is through her prostitution, even though she is in her early 40s. She broke down in tears this evening, saying that she was overwhelmed by the worship and the feeling of "goodness" that she had in that place. Pray that God would continue to provide opportunites to minister to her (she often walks the street right in front of the Bible college). Also, there a couple girls around the age of 19 who are also prostitutes inthe area. Please ask that if it is God's will, that He would allow for us to meet with them and establish a realationship.
Please also lift up this weekend. Myself and another women from the college are heading into Budapest this weekend to work with a homeless ministry there. Pray for provision in the travel (it is a two hour train ride there) and that God would bless the time spent working with and encouraging the missionaries there.
Also, it seems that God is opening the door to for me to head into the Middle East at the end of march, over the Easter weekend. A dear friend of mine is there and is getting read to have a baby. God has put it on my heart to go and encourage and bless her and to see the opportunites that they have been given in that country. Please ask that if it is truly where God would have me go, that He would make the path very clear and provide what is nessisary for the trip.
Lastly, I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers and support. God has been teaching me so much while I have been here and has grown me beyond my expectation (sometimes learning difficult lessson, but always falling more in love with Him!).
In His ever loving grace ><>
Patricia
To add to the list of things to pray for:
This evening one of the prostitutes that my friends Betty, Lori and I have been praying for came to chapel at the Bible College. She is struggeling with the death of her two daughters (5 and 7 years old) that occured 5 years ago. As a gypsy, she feels that that only way for her to survive is through her prostitution, even though she is in her early 40s. She broke down in tears this evening, saying that she was overwhelmed by the worship and the feeling of "goodness" that she had in that place. Pray that God would continue to provide opportunites to minister to her (she often walks the street right in front of the Bible college). Also, there a couple girls around the age of 19 who are also prostitutes inthe area. Please ask that if it is God's will, that He would allow for us to meet with them and establish a realationship.
Please also lift up this weekend. Myself and another women from the college are heading into Budapest this weekend to work with a homeless ministry there. Pray for provision in the travel (it is a two hour train ride there) and that God would bless the time spent working with and encouraging the missionaries there.
Also, it seems that God is opening the door to for me to head into the Middle East at the end of march, over the Easter weekend. A dear friend of mine is there and is getting read to have a baby. God has put it on my heart to go and encourage and bless her and to see the opportunites that they have been given in that country. Please ask that if it is truly where God would have me go, that He would make the path very clear and provide what is nessisary for the trip.
Lastly, I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers and support. God has been teaching me so much while I have been here and has grown me beyond my expectation (sometimes learning difficult lessson, but always falling more in love with Him!).
In His ever loving grace ><>
Patricia
Sunday, February 24, 2008
His faithfulness
2-24-08
It’s been a couple days since I’ve had time to actually sit down and collect my thoughts in regards to all that God has been doing. It is hard to believe that I have only been here two weeks, and yet for all that God has done in my life, it might as well have been years! It’s been a week of struggle…struggle to deal with all that God is revealing to me and refining in my life. I have complained a lot to Him about it, told Him I wasn’t ready to deal with it….He told me I was and so we walked. He is teaching me what it means to be still and that my relationship with Him is of the utmost importance. To pray that He would be my everything means getting ready for Him to strip away the things that prohibit that. I’m learning to anticipate Him answering my prayers and to be careful what I pray for!
And through it all, through the tears and the heart ache, through the struggle to understand His plan, through the hours spent on my knees and in the word, I have seen His goodness and His faithfulness! “My only hope is in your unfailing love and faithfulness.” – Psalm 40:11. I am so thankful that He is so concerned with my relationship with Him that He deals with the hard stuff and jealously seeks after my time and affections.
During one of my low moments this week I called my sister who was in Tenn. helping with the disaster relief. As I was sharing the depth of emotion I had been dealing with, she mentioned an interesting thing that they had noticed while they were there cleaning up after the tornado. On the ground were all these round balls that looked like petrified peaches. As they examined them more, they realized that they were a type of cancer that had been growing on the trees and sucking the life out of them. It wasn’t until the tornado came through that the trees were able to experience relief from the disease that had been embedded into their trunk. “Don’t you see Patricia? God is getting rid of the cancer in your heart and sometimes he has to use a tornado to do it.” How true that is. And while Satan loves to use the anesthesia to numb us up to the disease of sin, when God does heart surgery, He always lets us feel it!
Other than that, it’s been a good week :o) We celebrated my roommate Whitney’s birthday on Wednesday (with Pizza and homemade cherry cobbler!). I put in a full week of hours at the coffee shop, helped my friend Natasha (from the Ukraine) write out her testimony (which was a challenge since she speaks very little English…way to learn my Russian!), had Jr. High dance night at dinner Saturday night, an awesome night of girl bonding while playing games and listening to the amazing travels of Jenna ;o) Friday night, and a beautifully sweet time of worship tonight for chapel. Oh, and did I mention that is has been in the high 60s and sunny for the past week….love being outside!
Things to pray for:
Time to get all my studying done, especially my 6 hours of language that I need to get in for the week. I am so thankful for the two years of Russian with Susie…now I just wish I had kept it up! Pray that it comes back to me quickly and the God grants me grace in retaining it.
Pray also as I make connections in Israel for my month outreach. A women here, who has lived in Israel for several years, has been talking to me about the different opportunities there and just today mentioned that she is praying about going with me. Such a blessing!
Also, pray that God would give me peace about where I should go over Easter. I have the opportunity to travel into Turkey to visit a friend of mine who is serving there now. Pray that if it His will that He would make that clear and evident.
Again, I am so thankful for all of you…for your faithful prayers and support! You have no idea how precious you are to me! I love you all!
In His sweet arms of love ><>
Patricia
It’s been a couple days since I’ve had time to actually sit down and collect my thoughts in regards to all that God has been doing. It is hard to believe that I have only been here two weeks, and yet for all that God has done in my life, it might as well have been years! It’s been a week of struggle…struggle to deal with all that God is revealing to me and refining in my life. I have complained a lot to Him about it, told Him I wasn’t ready to deal with it….He told me I was and so we walked. He is teaching me what it means to be still and that my relationship with Him is of the utmost importance. To pray that He would be my everything means getting ready for Him to strip away the things that prohibit that. I’m learning to anticipate Him answering my prayers and to be careful what I pray for!
And through it all, through the tears and the heart ache, through the struggle to understand His plan, through the hours spent on my knees and in the word, I have seen His goodness and His faithfulness! “My only hope is in your unfailing love and faithfulness.” – Psalm 40:11. I am so thankful that He is so concerned with my relationship with Him that He deals with the hard stuff and jealously seeks after my time and affections.
During one of my low moments this week I called my sister who was in Tenn. helping with the disaster relief. As I was sharing the depth of emotion I had been dealing with, she mentioned an interesting thing that they had noticed while they were there cleaning up after the tornado. On the ground were all these round balls that looked like petrified peaches. As they examined them more, they realized that they were a type of cancer that had been growing on the trees and sucking the life out of them. It wasn’t until the tornado came through that the trees were able to experience relief from the disease that had been embedded into their trunk. “Don’t you see Patricia? God is getting rid of the cancer in your heart and sometimes he has to use a tornado to do it.” How true that is. And while Satan loves to use the anesthesia to numb us up to the disease of sin, when God does heart surgery, He always lets us feel it!
Other than that, it’s been a good week :o) We celebrated my roommate Whitney’s birthday on Wednesday (with Pizza and homemade cherry cobbler!). I put in a full week of hours at the coffee shop, helped my friend Natasha (from the Ukraine) write out her testimony (which was a challenge since she speaks very little English…way to learn my Russian!), had Jr. High dance night at dinner Saturday night, an awesome night of girl bonding while playing games and listening to the amazing travels of Jenna ;o) Friday night, and a beautifully sweet time of worship tonight for chapel. Oh, and did I mention that is has been in the high 60s and sunny for the past week….love being outside!
Things to pray for:
Time to get all my studying done, especially my 6 hours of language that I need to get in for the week. I am so thankful for the two years of Russian with Susie…now I just wish I had kept it up! Pray that it comes back to me quickly and the God grants me grace in retaining it.
Pray also as I make connections in Israel for my month outreach. A women here, who has lived in Israel for several years, has been talking to me about the different opportunities there and just today mentioned that she is praying about going with me. Such a blessing!
Also, pray that God would give me peace about where I should go over Easter. I have the opportunity to travel into Turkey to visit a friend of mine who is serving there now. Pray that if it His will that He would make that clear and evident.
Again, I am so thankful for all of you…for your faithful prayers and support! You have no idea how precious you are to me! I love you all!
In His sweet arms of love ><>
Patricia
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Listening for the still, small voice
2.19.08
E-mails from home:
"Patricia....You must keep your focus on Him. Get your mind off of feelings of lonliness, missing family, missing friends, missing familiar surroundings: these things are more Patricia centered. Instead, tune into God's frequency. Listen carefully; He speaks with a gentle whisper. Other voices will drown Him out if you let them. Use all your senses to sense Him and His touch on your life and your circumstances. He is there. Always. Working all things together for your eternal good. This is His promise to you.
I have always believed one of His favorite ways to speak to us is through His Word to us. Consider the words of II Timothy 3:16-17. "All Scripture (every verse has purpose and meaning) is given (a gift, from Him to you) by inspiration of God (these are His words so they have all of His characteristics - eternal, Holy, good, complete, loving, 100% reliable), and is (He just promised) profitable (you will benefit from taking His Word into and unto yourself in the following ways) for reproof (it will reveal your shortcomings, where you've gone the wrong way), for correction (it will show you the right way, how to redirect your steps, a change), for instruction in righteousness (it will tell you, show you, even demonstrate for you how He wants and expects you to live FOR HIM), that the man of God (ok, that would be anyone who lives for Him) may be complete (isn't this the very thing we all yearn for?), thoroghly equipped (God wants to give you everything you need for the works and challenges He has prepared for you; you know, where God guides, God provides: Jehovah Jireh) for every good work ("I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11)." I love you Patricia. We are earnestly praying about what He will do in you, through you, and for you.
Daddy"
"Daddy...One thing I have realized being here is the things i have taken for granted....and the wisdom God gives you is one of them! This morning was rough, mainly because God really has been working on my heart in regards to surrendering the things that I want, the things that I depend on and really letting Him have all of me....
And every time He asked me to come, I would try to email someone....Sarah, Chris....to talk to someone....no answer....
He continued to say come....I would look for someone here I could cry on....everyone was busy.....
He said come to Me....finally I listened and went for a walk in the woods and fields behind the college.....lots of walking, lots of listening, lots of looking....to just breathe Him in.
He let me see an Eagle, seed pods opening and seeds scattering on the wind, flowers pushing through the ground, deer in the field, the sun, the blue, blue sky, the clouds.....
He let me see Him and spoke to my heart words of promising restoration for where I have fallen, forgivness in broken relationships, and the jeoulsy of His heart in regards to my attentions and relationship with Him. He spoke comfort.
He told me that He has brought me to Hungary to bless me...and that this time would be like none other....this is His time!
It's still hard....your note still brought tears to my eyes and a missing to my heart....and yet it confirmed so much! And God usesd you to speak to me. I know that what He has in store for me is much greater than I can ever have imagined and that He loves me.
Ex. 34:11&14 - His concern is my obediance and our relationship
I love you daddy....so very much!
Patricia"
Monday, February 18, 2008
Serbia
2.17.08
In light of James needing to leave the country in order to return and be legally in Hungary, a group of us decided to cram in a van and drive to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and use the time for God’s glory! So, Saturday morning nine of us (James, Tanya, Kate, Abby, Matt, Adrial, Jason, Gustabo and myself) climbed in the van and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Serbia.
When we arrived at the Hungarian boarder, they took a while inspecting James’ passport, but let us through. When entering Serbia, they spent a lot of time looking through mine….constantly revisiting my Russian stamps and visas, and then went over Tanya’s quite a bit. In the end, they pulled Tanya’s passport due to all of her travel back and forth to Serbia (Tanya spent her month of outreach in Serbia, but is from Minnesota). They wanted to question her and couldn’t understand why she would have a Serbian visa and have spent so much time there, yet couldn’t speak the language. Thankfully, after much prayer, he eventually handed our passports back and let us continue.
Driving into Serbia we were so excited to see SNOW!!!! :o) We arrived in the town of the Calvary Chapel and met Chris who would be taking over as the Pastor of the church that Sunday. Due to the transition in the church, we were asked to keep things low key. We decided the best thing we could do was to pray over the city. So, after feasting on Burrak for lunch, we broke up into groups and hit the streets to begin our prayer walks.
Jason, Tanya and I headed out. We passed a little old man who was struggling to shovel his walk. Jason had it on his heart to help him, so we went over and as Jason cleared his sidewalk for him, Tanya and I tried to talk to him; Tanya with her broken Serbian and I with my little Russian (Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian). We found out that he was 88 years old and couldn’t stop thanking us. There was this really touching moment when Jason finished and the man wanted to shake his hand. Tanya told Jason how to say “Jesus Loves You” and the man just shook his head in what seemed like amazement. It was frustrating to feel so bound by not speaking the language, and yet Christ’s love still shined through! He never ceases to amaze me… never! How good is our God!?!
One of the things that God has been really speaking to my heart about is the power of prayer. In the states it is so easy to go about your day, praying occasionally, but never having the NEED to be on your knees seeking God’s direction and guidance. In our Westernized society it is easy to lose our dependency on Him. Let me tell you, being ripped out of your comfort zone, in another country, in another culture, teaches you to quickly find who your strength is and what your foundation should be.
I was actually disappointed that we were asked to keep things low-key and not really share with people. Isn’t that the essence of evangelism: sharing? What is the point of going on an outreach if you can’t share? God showed me something so much greater….so much more foundational: PRAYER! It sounds really simple, and yet I realized how big of a concept it was for me to grasp. Walking this city in Serbia, in the bitter, freezing cold, and lifting up the people, the government, and the church, this city become imprinted on my heart. With each step in the snowy streets, these hearts become a burden on my heart! It was like claiming the city with each footprint…claiming it for Jesus!
I was so unbelievably blessed by just praying....by just talking to Jesus! And I believe He was blessed too :o) We left Serbia thanking God for the time we had to encourage Chris, see the city, pray for the people and to have them integrated with our hearts! There is such power in talking to our Daddy!
In light of James needing to leave the country in order to return and be legally in Hungary, a group of us decided to cram in a van and drive to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and use the time for God’s glory! So, Saturday morning nine of us (James, Tanya, Kate, Abby, Matt, Adrial, Jason, Gustabo and myself) climbed in the van and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Serbia.
When we arrived at the Hungarian boarder, they took a while inspecting James’ passport, but let us through. When entering Serbia, they spent a lot of time looking through mine….constantly revisiting my Russian stamps and visas, and then went over Tanya’s quite a bit. In the end, they pulled Tanya’s passport due to all of her travel back and forth to Serbia (Tanya spent her month of outreach in Serbia, but is from Minnesota). They wanted to question her and couldn’t understand why she would have a Serbian visa and have spent so much time there, yet couldn’t speak the language. Thankfully, after much prayer, he eventually handed our passports back and let us continue.
Driving into Serbia we were so excited to see SNOW!!!! :o) We arrived in the town of the Calvary Chapel and met Chris who would be taking over as the Pastor of the church that Sunday. Due to the transition in the church, we were asked to keep things low key. We decided the best thing we could do was to pray over the city. So, after feasting on Burrak for lunch, we broke up into groups and hit the streets to begin our prayer walks.
Jason, Tanya and I headed out. We passed a little old man who was struggling to shovel his walk. Jason had it on his heart to help him, so we went over and as Jason cleared his sidewalk for him, Tanya and I tried to talk to him; Tanya with her broken Serbian and I with my little Russian (Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian). We found out that he was 88 years old and couldn’t stop thanking us. There was this really touching moment when Jason finished and the man wanted to shake his hand. Tanya told Jason how to say “Jesus Loves You” and the man just shook his head in what seemed like amazement. It was frustrating to feel so bound by not speaking the language, and yet Christ’s love still shined through! He never ceases to amaze me… never! How good is our God!?!
One of the things that God has been really speaking to my heart about is the power of prayer. In the states it is so easy to go about your day, praying occasionally, but never having the NEED to be on your knees seeking God’s direction and guidance. In our Westernized society it is easy to lose our dependency on Him. Let me tell you, being ripped out of your comfort zone, in another country, in another culture, teaches you to quickly find who your strength is and what your foundation should be.
I was actually disappointed that we were asked to keep things low-key and not really share with people. Isn’t that the essence of evangelism: sharing? What is the point of going on an outreach if you can’t share? God showed me something so much greater….so much more foundational: PRAYER! It sounds really simple, and yet I realized how big of a concept it was for me to grasp. Walking this city in Serbia, in the bitter, freezing cold, and lifting up the people, the government, and the church, this city become imprinted on my heart. With each step in the snowy streets, these hearts become a burden on my heart! It was like claiming the city with each footprint…claiming it for Jesus!
I was so unbelievably blessed by just praying....by just talking to Jesus! And I believe He was blessed too :o) We left Serbia thanking God for the time we had to encourage Chris, see the city, pray for the people and to have them integrated with our hearts! There is such power in talking to our Daddy!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Miracles
2.14.08
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! This was officially the best Valentine’s Day ever! No lie! :o) It started off pretty normal, made verse valentine’s for my roomies, send e-cards to my family whom I miss to pieces, and had my morning class, Mission Training, which was all about prayer and the effectiveness of a praying man and women on the mission field. It was really wonderful, as usual, but fairly normal in the scheme of what my day was looking like.
Came back to my room and chatted with one of my room mates who is a PK in Washington and comes from a divorced family as well. It was a blessing to be able to share our similar stories and see what God had shown us through it.
After lunch, a group of us left the college to head into town an hour away to apply for our resident permits. While we were there, one of the guys’ passports gets flagged. Because he had been here the semester before under the old law of needing a visa, he had a three month visa. However, over the past several weeks the visa requirement was lifted. Since James had a visa, he was not permitted to apply for the residency permit until AFTER the visa expired. Well, over the past week, the laws changed again, and now the visa was required if he had been here 90 days, in order to keep him legally in the country while he applied for the permit. His expired four days ago! The officials at the office told him that if he wrote on a piece of paper that he left the country and came back, then they could submit the paper work requesting the permit. James came back to our group and called one of the guys aside. They came back in the building and he went over to the desk. A few min later, he walked back over to our group and explained that they wanted him to lie and that He felt so wrong in his spirit to do that. The other option was that they would call the police, arrest him, and then deport him from Hungary….with little chance of returning.
Of course, we prayed. We petitioned for wisdom, discernment, loop holes, intervention. You name it, we prayed for it. In the middle of the prayer James got up and went over to the desk; we continued to pray. The women behind the counter asked our translator, Dia, to tell her what we were doing and saying. As she told her, the woman was amazed and surprised. James told them that he would not lie to stay in the country because he was a Christian and God had told him not to. One of the women behind the counter (now there were four officials gather around James’ paperwork) began to cry. Which led to Dia crying, because she had been working with this woman for several months and knew how hardened she was. And here, this situation brought her to tears! It was a blessing to see.
As James spoke with them and told them of his decision, we continued to pray that there would be a way that would not involve him needing to be arrested. After a while, they ended up deciding not to call the police, but rather had the boarder patrol police come and interrogate James. The interrogation lasted several hours in the basement of the office. Finally, they all emerged with James waving a 30 day residency permit which would allow him to be legally in the country while he traveled to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) to cross the boarder, leaving the country, and then return and apply for the extended permit! PRAISE GOD! We left the offices praising God and in awe of His provision! He is so good! After leaving there we were all chattering about what God had done and retelling the story. James then yells out, “Who’s going to Serbia with me?” LOL Several of us decided to go with James on Saturday and do a mini outreach while we are there….taking what Satan may have meant as a deterrent and using it for God’s glory!
We ended up stopping at a grocery store and buying a whole bunch of food that we shared on the ride home….a van full of 15 people, laughing, sharing, and basking in how awesome our God is. Today, we saw a miracle!
Romans 8:37-39
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! This was officially the best Valentine’s Day ever! No lie! :o) It started off pretty normal, made verse valentine’s for my roomies, send e-cards to my family whom I miss to pieces, and had my morning class, Mission Training, which was all about prayer and the effectiveness of a praying man and women on the mission field. It was really wonderful, as usual, but fairly normal in the scheme of what my day was looking like.
Came back to my room and chatted with one of my room mates who is a PK in Washington and comes from a divorced family as well. It was a blessing to be able to share our similar stories and see what God had shown us through it.
After lunch, a group of us left the college to head into town an hour away to apply for our resident permits. While we were there, one of the guys’ passports gets flagged. Because he had been here the semester before under the old law of needing a visa, he had a three month visa. However, over the past several weeks the visa requirement was lifted. Since James had a visa, he was not permitted to apply for the residency permit until AFTER the visa expired. Well, over the past week, the laws changed again, and now the visa was required if he had been here 90 days, in order to keep him legally in the country while he applied for the permit. His expired four days ago! The officials at the office told him that if he wrote on a piece of paper that he left the country and came back, then they could submit the paper work requesting the permit. James came back to our group and called one of the guys aside. They came back in the building and he went over to the desk. A few min later, he walked back over to our group and explained that they wanted him to lie and that He felt so wrong in his spirit to do that. The other option was that they would call the police, arrest him, and then deport him from Hungary….with little chance of returning.
Of course, we prayed. We petitioned for wisdom, discernment, loop holes, intervention. You name it, we prayed for it. In the middle of the prayer James got up and went over to the desk; we continued to pray. The women behind the counter asked our translator, Dia, to tell her what we were doing and saying. As she told her, the woman was amazed and surprised. James told them that he would not lie to stay in the country because he was a Christian and God had told him not to. One of the women behind the counter (now there were four officials gather around James’ paperwork) began to cry. Which led to Dia crying, because she had been working with this woman for several months and knew how hardened she was. And here, this situation brought her to tears! It was a blessing to see.
As James spoke with them and told them of his decision, we continued to pray that there would be a way that would not involve him needing to be arrested. After a while, they ended up deciding not to call the police, but rather had the boarder patrol police come and interrogate James. The interrogation lasted several hours in the basement of the office. Finally, they all emerged with James waving a 30 day residency permit which would allow him to be legally in the country while he traveled to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) to cross the boarder, leaving the country, and then return and apply for the extended permit! PRAISE GOD! We left the offices praising God and in awe of His provision! He is so good! After leaving there we were all chattering about what God had done and retelling the story. James then yells out, “Who’s going to Serbia with me?” LOL Several of us decided to go with James on Saturday and do a mini outreach while we are there….taking what Satan may have meant as a deterrent and using it for God’s glory!
We ended up stopping at a grocery store and buying a whole bunch of food that we shared on the ride home….a van full of 15 people, laughing, sharing, and basking in how awesome our God is. Today, we saw a miracle!
Romans 8:37-39
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Here!
2.12.08
Well, I made it! Finally in Hungary at last….after much spiritual attack and a slight delay, God has made a way and I am here. I can testify to the goodness of God. So many people here have been on their knees for me prior to even meeting me that it feels like they know me already :o).
After a very tearful, emotional goodbye, I made the six hour flight to London and three hour flight to Hungary, arriving in Budapest. I was exhausted, hungry, missing one of my pieces of luggage and unsure how I was going to be getting to the college (the shuttle company responsible for picking me up informed me 3 hours before my flight that they were full on the day of my arrival and unable to accommodate me) :o( Thank goodness for my blackberry. I was able to email between the college and my sister and CCBCE was graciously willing to send someone on the two hour drive to pick me up!
After waiting in the airport for three hours, an intern from the college, Bence, picked me up and told me that his parents lived very close to the airport and his mother wanted to feed me since I had been waiting SO long there! We drove to his parents’ house where his mother, Sarah, feed me Hungarian soup, home made bread that Bence’s dad had made, and Hungarian cake! I was so blessed! And to top it, His dad, who is part of a mission board, will be traveling to Pennsylvania in May to visit a church in Pittsburgh. In a way it was like God was allowing me to have a connection to home….between Sarah hugging me and feeding me and Bence’s dad sharing stories about my home state, it was one more small way God was allowing His comfort and peace to settle in my heart! He really has called me to be here, despite the delays and times of doubt, He is my provider and desires me to walk closer to Him. And for this reason He has called me to a place where I need to rely on Him more than ever to direct my steps and guide my path!
With the time difference of 6 hours, I woke up at 1:30am on the first night…wide awake! Willing myself back to sleep, I finally fell asleep around 4am. I skipped breakfast to take a much needed shower and then jumped into my first day of classes!!! Talk about hitting the ground running. I’m taking a class on Hebrews, James, Apologetics (Christian Worldview), an evangelism class for the students in my program, and then the requirements of morning chapel, Sunday and Thursday night chapel, and practical ministry (I’m in the coffee shop!!!!!!).
My roommates are wonderful….I’ve really connected with two of the girls in my program, Jenna (who is in her thirties) and one of my roommates Alica. Mary, my dorm room leader, an intern here at the college, has been such a blessing to help me acclimate and feel at home while having missed the first week of orientation. The girls have been so funny in wanting to figure out how old I am and talking about what I did before I came here…..Alica’s comment today was “God pulled you out of, like running political events with the President to come live in a room full of teenaged girls and study the Bible in Hungary!” And I couldn’t be more thankful that He did….He is making it so clear that I needed to pull away from all the distractions and really focus my heart and mind on Him and His will for me. This morning in my devos (on the Bible Bus for those who want to join!!!! ;o), God gave me Ex. 34:11 & 14 “Your responsibility is to obey all the commands I am giving you today….You must worship no other gods, but only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.” Me….He is passionate about me! The God we serve is so good and so faithful!
A couple things to keep in prayer:
My program cost more than initially anticipated and we have additional 10 day outreach trip which I will need to cover cost wise, so please pray that the Lord would provide and help my doubting heart to trust Him!
Many students here came down with a similar virus that I had had the week before coming. Praise God I had it while in the comfort of my home and in my own bed (and my mommy’s ;o). Please pray that the Lord would keep my immune system up as I am tired and still getting over the traveling of the past couple days (yes, I’m taking Vitamin C and Zinc).
I am behind in two of my classes due to my late arrival, so please pray that God would carve out the time needed to catch up.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support! You all have been such a blessing and I am so thankful for each one of you! God has graciously blessed me with such an awesome family in Him!
Love you all!
In His grace ><>
Well, I made it! Finally in Hungary at last….after much spiritual attack and a slight delay, God has made a way and I am here. I can testify to the goodness of God. So many people here have been on their knees for me prior to even meeting me that it feels like they know me already :o).
After a very tearful, emotional goodbye, I made the six hour flight to London and three hour flight to Hungary, arriving in Budapest. I was exhausted, hungry, missing one of my pieces of luggage and unsure how I was going to be getting to the college (the shuttle company responsible for picking me up informed me 3 hours before my flight that they were full on the day of my arrival and unable to accommodate me) :o( Thank goodness for my blackberry. I was able to email between the college and my sister and CCBCE was graciously willing to send someone on the two hour drive to pick me up!
After waiting in the airport for three hours, an intern from the college, Bence, picked me up and told me that his parents lived very close to the airport and his mother wanted to feed me since I had been waiting SO long there! We drove to his parents’ house where his mother, Sarah, feed me Hungarian soup, home made bread that Bence’s dad had made, and Hungarian cake! I was so blessed! And to top it, His dad, who is part of a mission board, will be traveling to Pennsylvania in May to visit a church in Pittsburgh. In a way it was like God was allowing me to have a connection to home….between Sarah hugging me and feeding me and Bence’s dad sharing stories about my home state, it was one more small way God was allowing His comfort and peace to settle in my heart! He really has called me to be here, despite the delays and times of doubt, He is my provider and desires me to walk closer to Him. And for this reason He has called me to a place where I need to rely on Him more than ever to direct my steps and guide my path!
With the time difference of 6 hours, I woke up at 1:30am on the first night…wide awake! Willing myself back to sleep, I finally fell asleep around 4am. I skipped breakfast to take a much needed shower and then jumped into my first day of classes!!! Talk about hitting the ground running. I’m taking a class on Hebrews, James, Apologetics (Christian Worldview), an evangelism class for the students in my program, and then the requirements of morning chapel, Sunday and Thursday night chapel, and practical ministry (I’m in the coffee shop!!!!!!).
My roommates are wonderful….I’ve really connected with two of the girls in my program, Jenna (who is in her thirties) and one of my roommates Alica. Mary, my dorm room leader, an intern here at the college, has been such a blessing to help me acclimate and feel at home while having missed the first week of orientation. The girls have been so funny in wanting to figure out how old I am and talking about what I did before I came here…..Alica’s comment today was “God pulled you out of, like running political events with the President to come live in a room full of teenaged girls and study the Bible in Hungary!” And I couldn’t be more thankful that He did….He is making it so clear that I needed to pull away from all the distractions and really focus my heart and mind on Him and His will for me. This morning in my devos (on the Bible Bus for those who want to join!!!! ;o), God gave me Ex. 34:11 & 14 “Your responsibility is to obey all the commands I am giving you today….You must worship no other gods, but only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.” Me….He is passionate about me! The God we serve is so good and so faithful!
A couple things to keep in prayer:
My program cost more than initially anticipated and we have additional 10 day outreach trip which I will need to cover cost wise, so please pray that the Lord would provide and help my doubting heart to trust Him!
Many students here came down with a similar virus that I had had the week before coming. Praise God I had it while in the comfort of my home and in my own bed (and my mommy’s ;o). Please pray that the Lord would keep my immune system up as I am tired and still getting over the traveling of the past couple days (yes, I’m taking Vitamin C and Zinc).
I am behind in two of my classes due to my late arrival, so please pray that God would carve out the time needed to catch up.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support! You all have been such a blessing and I am so thankful for each one of you! God has graciously blessed me with such an awesome family in Him!
Love you all!
In His grace ><>
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