Not goodbye... Rather, see you later!

Hello Everyone!

Radnoti

It feels weird to be writing this while sitting at home here in Vancouver... Just yesterday, I was in the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, struggling to stay awake all night for the purpose of making jet lag less of a factor.  Last weekend, I said goodbye to Rob, Liz, and Caleb Trenckmann and my dear friends in Veszprem.  God has provided wonderful friendships from this church and I have cherished my time with them.  Two weeks ago, I said goodbye to the people from the church I attended in Budafolk.  This was especially difficult for me.  Having the opportunity to be a part of their ministry in Budapest was a joy; the openness that they displayed by welcoming me into their body was a great blessing.  More goodbyes followed that week as we bided farewell to the students & faculty at Radnoti school where we taught (by the way, we reached our goal of interviews for the research project.  Praise the Lord!), then to the guys we play football (soccer) with on the weekdays.  I have absolutely cherished my time spent with all of these groups.  The remainder of the week was spent packing, moving out of our apartment, and eating tasty traditional Hungarian foods :)!

Palacsinta (Left) & Kolbasz & Lesco (Right) 

God has provided in so many ways during my time in Hungary; all the open doors and the breakthroughs I experienced were His provision for me! I praise Him for what He has done.  Additionally, your prayers and encouragements have been a huge blessing to me.  Your support has been vital; I am grateful to serve God with you.  

It is amazing what God has done in Hungary.  I want to remember the ways He has provided, and honor and praise Him for that!  As I move forward with my life, I want to be aware of God’s work in Hungary for the many people that desperately need His love.  The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few...

The sting of saying goodbye to my dear friends in Hungary was less potent because I knew that I would see them again...  After much prayer and talking with trusted mentors and family, I feel God is calling me back to Hungary.  There are many people there searching for hope; I am excited to go back to share with them about the everlasting hope.  I am thrilled to be able to use the passion that God has given me in order to serve Him.

Being in the preliminary stages of this process, the details are still vague, and no doubt will be changing, but I am confident of my commitment for two years as an intern with Josiah Venture.  My initial position’s focus goes as follows:

Local youth ministry

-Lead a local youth ministry in partnership with a national church

A full partner in the JV Hungary Team

Language Learning 

-20 hours/week--a combination of personal tutoring, classroom work, and marketplace practice

Cultural Engagement 

-Be a cultural 'detective'--become informed on all aspects of the Hungarian culture

Soccer Ministry

-Design and implement the soccer ministry for JV-Hungary--lead a church-based soccer ministry in partnership with a local youth ministry

God Bless,

Marc Meland

360.721.4064

marcmeland@gmail.com

P.S. There is much more that I would love to share with you about these past six months and about my future commitment in Hungary.  If you have questions or would like to get together and talk, I would love to have the opportunity to meet with you.  

Prague (Christmas Market in Town Square) 

Home (PDX)

Youth Group Costume Party!!!

      

Crazy days...

Hello Friends & Family,

Here we are in the last month of my time in Central Europe, and things are busier now than ever before.  I admit my time here seems quite paradoxical; without a doubt it has flown by so quickly that it is hard to believe that it is almost over.  In contradiction to my previous statement support raising, summer camps with the crews from Veszprem and Slovenia, and scouting in Austria seem like distant memories.  God has done so much here in Central Europe. I am constantly amazed by God and more fervently leaning into his faithfulness and provision.  Even more so, I am moving forward with excitement to see God work here in Hungary this next month and for years to come.  Your prayers are coveted now more than ever and I am ever gracious for your love and support.

Hike overlooking Budapest!

The beginning of October brought forth the opportunity for me to attend my home church’s, Budafolk Baptist’s, annual retreat.  The retreat was located at a small resort called Zanka, just off the coast of Lake Balaton.  Zanka was built by the communist regime in Hungary as a resort town for it’s prominent public figures and their families.  Nowadays, it has been renovated, but the communist block architecture and motifs are still present.  A place that was once used by those who instilled control and oppression, was now being used by those who desire freedom. that can only be found in Jesus Christ. I had previously missed the deadline to attend the retreat, but a friend from the church pulled some strings so I could go.  Not knowing what to expect from the weekend, I soon found myself constantly blown away by the love of these caring people.  

God provided in so many ways that weekend: 1) a friend, (with whom I now play soccer with on a weekly basis), his wife, and two sons, who provided me with transportation to and from Zanka; 2) numerous families who shared their meals with me (the ladies from the church made so many yummy pastries that I thought I had gone to heaven (not that heaven is a pastry shop, lol)); 3) several translators, who graciously and selflessly gave their time, and 4) a loving community, which was rejuvenating to me.

In addition, on the last evening of the retreat, all of the youth and their leaders got together and we worshipped God through music.  It was so much fun to worship our Creator with a bunch of people who passionately love Him.  One memory that I will remember for a long time was during the worship, a young boy, probably around the age of 8, was playing the bongos.  He possessed neither skills, nor experience on them, rather he was making a joyful noise to God in the best way he knew how, and no one in the room seemed bothered by his playing, rather, everyone was joining in worship.  

Time and again, I come to God feeling like I need to do something or bring something of worth.  Worshipping that night with the group from Budafolk and seeing the young boy play the bongos was a reminder to me that God desires us and we are to come to Him surrendering who we are with a childlike faith.  

I have absolutely treasured my time getting to know my church family here in Budapest!  They have been kind and hospitable, have opened up their homes and their hearts, and I am grateful for their love. God has been faithful to provide for my needs, and I could make a long list of the different areas He has displayed this.  One unexpected need that I didn’t anticipate in coming here is the need for being around families; God has provided this to great extents!

The weeks since the retreat have been quite eventful as well.  I mentioned in my last post that we are now connected to a local high school.  This high school is one of the top schools in Hungary, and many of the students speak English.  God’s handiwork is being made apparent each and every time we go there.  Thus far, we have been going into classes, and the teachers have asked that we speak conversational English with the students.  We are now in contact with several teachers at the school, including the head of the English department.  They have expressed the need for us to come in and talk with their students, which is a great way for us to learn more about the Hungarian culture.  

Additionally, this has been a great avenue for the team to interview for our research project.  After showing the interview procedures to a teacher and the head of the English department, they gave us the go ahead to interview students.  Praise God!!! The teacher previously mentioned, is one with whom we have the best relationship.  We go in her classroom once a week and do conversational English with her students which has been a highlight of my weeks! A couple of weeks ago, she agreed to let us interview students during class; afterwards, she was very interested in how it went.  I forgot to mention, that she expressed being a fellow believer and is quite open about us sharing the Gospel with her students (YAY!).  I am blown away that we are able to interview students, but even more so, that we have the green light to share the Gospel with them; this would most likely not fly in the public school system in America.

For Halloween we were able to get together with the guys from Veszprem!  We had an especially fun time hanging out, playing cards, and going on a random hike to nowhere (where we found an amazing view of the city).  Getting to know these young men has been one of my high points over the past 6 months, and it will make saying good bye difficult.  

This past weekend I was able to participate in a day hike with the youth from the church I attend! We had an amazing time struggling to get to the lookout spot, largely due to the muddy paths.  Afterward, we shared in a Hungarian campfire tradition: a huge slab of bacon, an onion, and a sausage on a stick; it makes for a savory and greasy goodness!  I plan to bring this tradition back to the States because it is absolutely delicious!    

Praises:

- For the open doors at schools & the tremendous opportunities that it brings.

- For God’s provision for my needs, both the expected and unexpected ones.

- For the new relationships made at my church.

- For the quality time with guys from Veszprem.

Prayer Requests:

- For upcoming interviews: That the team would meet its goal of 30 interviews collectively, and that we are able to share the Gospel with students.

- For strength and energy for the last month in Hungary.

Thank you all for your love and support; it means so much to me.  Feel free to comment or email me with your thoughts.  I would love to hear from you.

God Bless,

Marc 

marcmeland@gmail.com

Romans 10:17

Hey All!

This past month has been by far the busiest to date.  It has been filled with our organization's Fall conference, scouting, and vision trips! As I look back on it I see the faces of many new friends, towns across Hungary that desperately need God's love, and the encouragement of a visitor from home.  Furthermore, I am trying to regain my energy for the final push of my stay here in Europe.  It is so strange to think that I am 2/3 of the way done with my 6 month stay.  I look forward in anticipation to these next two months, and am so grateful to be a part of God's work here.

 Fall conference! This is a time where the JV staff, interns, and nationals come together for not only week of training, which was amazing, but as a community as well.  The theme for the week was "Search & Rescue" and their was excellent opportunity to glean knowledge from some amazing teachers on how to share one's faith to the lost.

Midway through the conference we were able to go out in groups and evangelize in different communities.  These groups were comprised of many different nationalities (i.e. Ukranians, Slovenes, Estonians, Polish, Czech, Slovakia, Americans etc.).

During the conference I was able to chat with many different individuals who were currently running some kind of sports ministry in their country.  I had a blast hearing about their experiences thus far, what has worked, what hasn't and so on.  Most importantly, discovering how these people use their passions to further the Kingdom was priceless.

Two things became so apparent to me while at conference.  The first is how unique the Josiah Venture family is, and how hugely important it is to have people to lean on, especially when one is far away from their loved ones.  The culture of community, care, and love for seeing people to come to know Christ is highly attractive and a testament of this organizations growth in Central & Eastern Europe.

In addition, the second thing that became so apparent to me was how little I verbally share the Gospel.  So many times I think to myself people will know who Christ is through my actions, or even more severely, I deceive myself by being satisfied with "spiritual" conversations when in reality the good news about Jesus never actually leaves my lips.  This is not to say that displaying Christs' love for others is defective or that spiritual conversations are bad.  Even more than that, think about how transformational these interactions can be if we are pointing them to Christ and they are hearing good news that He brings!  God has been convicting me on this subject, and this conference was just the kick in the butt that I needed.  Your prayers on this matter would be amazing!

Rob, Sky, Eric, and myself all took the train home from conference.  On this ride we chatted about ministry in Hungary, as well as casting vision for the future.  Towards the tail end of the trip a lady interrupted us and started asking questions about what we were talking about and who we were with.  Rob quickly guided the conversation to what she believed and started sharing the Gospel to her.  By the time we reached our destination all of us were able to share portions of the Gospel to her.  Even though she didn't dedicate her life to Christ, your prayers that she would come to know truth of Jesus would be amazing.   I am so proud to be serving with these men and am so grateful that God uses us to reach his lost sheep.  

For the past three weeks we were blessed to have our good friend from back home, Sky Henderson, come and visit on a vision trip.  Sky is actively pursuing God's future plans for him, and one of the potentials is moving here to serve in Hungary.  On a personal level, it was so encouraging be able to hang and do ministry with such a close friend from home.

During the past weeks we were able to go out into smaller towns in Hungary, namely Veszprem (Population: 65,000) and Miskolz (Population: 100,000).  The purpose of these trips is to scout possible future ministry locations and to build contacts with the local churches.  Both of these cities are night and day compared to the population size of Budapest (Population: 2 million).  It was definitely nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the big city and explore these peaceful towns.

Finally, I am sure that you all are wondering and interested to know how the annual Fall conference volleyball and football (soccer) tournament went, lol.  Sadly, only after about 5 minutes of being in the volleyball tourney we got knocked out... so, ya last place it was.  However, we were able to redeem ourselves in the football tournament and got 3rd!!! Much to do with excellent goalkeeping by Austin and Sky being a brick wall in defense... :)

Prayers:

- These last two months of ministry!

- Prayer for energy for myself would be amazing.

- For Sky as he thinks back to all that happened on this vision trip, and as he pursues what God has for    him in the future!

Praises!!!

- Eric has found a contact for teaching in a local High school, therefore us guys will be going in on Wednesdays to teach conversational english!

Thank you all once again for your love and support, it means so much to me!

Marc Meland
marcmeland@gmail.com

Open Doors

Hello Everyone,

I hope and pray all is well for you.  How amazing it is to have a community of believers to rely on, be encouraged by, and do ministry with.  Without God's love, support, and providence through all of you I have no doubt how impossible doing ministry here would be, and for you I am so very grateful.   

These past couple of weeks God has providing open doors to further His ministry here in Hungary.  In my prior entries I expressed a desire to explore what a sports ministry here would look like, and at the same time I revealed disappointment at not being able to make any headway on the soccer front.  Well, lets just say I should be careful what I wish for, haha.  But before I get ahead of myself, it would only be fair for me to share the back story... 

Eric and I were finally heading to soccer, and we were stoked to get on the pitch again.  Our friend from church, whom invited us, wasn't going to be there, but said we were welcome to come anyways.  After hopping from tram, to bus, to walking around we were unable to locate the field. In our frustration we were ready to call it quits.  After walking some more, we noticed two guys getting into their car, both of which were wearing soccer gear.  We asked one of them if there was a field around where we were, to which he replied, "There are many..."  After a few more minutes of small talk we learned not only that he is the cousin of our friend from church (running into cousins has been a theme throughout the summer :), but that the other guy is the one that leads soccer on Mondays and Wednesday nights!!!  They graciously gave us a ride to the field and allowed us to play with them.  

Time and again I am astonished and filled with joy over God's providence, and at the same time humbled to know that he is the one with a plan.  

In addition, after that first night of soccer I was so exhausted.  All I did was curl up into a ball and sleep.  The next five days were not much better as I struggled to move properly, which is a testament to how out of shape I am, lol.  Although, having the opportunity play soccer again, especially with several of the youths from the church that I go to, is well worth it!

Furthermore, having the opportunity to play soccer again is not only an amazing cultural experience and super valuable for our desire to do a sports ministry here, but for me personally, my soul gets invigorated to be able to glorify God through something I am so passionate about.  

On other fronts, we were able to host and hangout for two days with the guys from Veszprem!  This was an absolute blast.  We watched the new Batman movie (most epic movie ever), made and ate meals together, and played cards & chatted late into the night.  I am so thankful for these friends, and it has been a blessing to be able to deepen our relationships with one another.  I look forward in expectation to the next time we get to hang out!

Over my last couple blogs I have mentioned a continued relationship with a church here in Budapest.  I have had opportunities to hang out with the youth and attend an outreach event that they put on.   I will be attending this church and youth group for the rest of the fall, and for this I am very excited.  Having a church body to invest in/be invested in is so very important.  I am looking forward to the friendships that are to be made, as well as having opportunities to serve in any capacity that I can.  

Prayers:

- Sean and Tara Meyer are hear on a vision trip for a couple weeks.  If you could pray that God will give them direction here, and if it is His will, place a burden on their hurts for the people here.  

- Sky Henderson, our good friend, is coming for a 3 week span.  We look in anticipation for his arrival, and can't wait to see him.  As well, pray for direction in this trip, that doors will be opened, and that relationships will be made.  

- Continued prayer for opportunities to get into schools to tutor/teach conversational English.  This is highly important as we continue to make connections, and at the same time hope to make progress on our research project. 

Praises:

God has been so faithful to provide a church for me to call home this fall! Praise God!!! I am so very grateful for your prayers and may we rejoice together in God's providence.

Eric and I are making headway in our soccer ministry project.  We have made connections with several different people and churches, and God is opening many different doors to further our research.  We are discovering that there is a great opportunity here to reach people with the love of Christ through sports! May we praise God together in this matter!

As I look forward to the next couple of months with utter excitement of what they may bring, I am also reminded of the reality that the future is very uncertain.  God has been opening so many doors for possible career paths, which is super exciting and at the same time super unknown.  I, admittedly, struggle with trusting God and have trouble relinquishing control to Him.  Thus, if you could pray for direction as I try to pursue what God has for me, and pray that I would trust His plan!

Thank you all for your love and support!

Marc Meland

marcmeland@gmail.com

Community & Care

Hey All,

Hope and pray all is well back home! Lots has happened over the last week and a half, and I can't wait to catch you up.  But before I do, I just wanted to tell you how much your prayers and support mean to me.  It is so encouraging hear from you, and knowing that your participating in this adventure with me helps to spur me on.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, we were invited to a local church's outreach event at a local park, which was run by its youth group.  The outreach was a four night event, two of which we were able to attend.  It was so invigorating to see a community of people that were willing to look outside of their church walls and meet the needs of people in their neighborhoods.  The event was carried out with very little structured programs, rather it allowed time for people to intentionally seek out others for the sake of the gospel.  It was a blast being able to connect with the youth from this church and to see them serve their community.  At the end of each evening one of the students would share their testimony, and  this was immediately followed by meaningful conversations with those from the community.  It was so fun to hear how God had transformed the lives of these youth, and to see a group of people that visibly cared deeply for one another.

Furthermore, we were able to spend another weekend with the group from Veszprem!!! The weekend began at Lake Balaton, which involved sunburns, more langos, and greased-watermelon-ultimate (feel free to inquire of the latter).  Being able to build upon these relationships was encouraging to say the least.  Immediately after we all spent the evening at the associate pastor's house for supper, which was, no joke, a giant cauldron of sausage and beans stew.  It was delicious!  Several couples from the church joined us for dinner, and immediately we could see a culture of deep intentionality and community.

The couples from the church graciously invited us to stay in their homes.  Austin, Eric, and I had the privilege of staying in a young couples apartment with them. Instantly I felt cared for and loved on by this couple, who undoubtedly have the gift of hospitality mastered.  Plus, she made some bomb cookies!!!

The following morning church was held in the middle of a forest.  There we were, a community of believers from opposite ends of the earth, studying God's word and worshipping Him through music.  Definitely a memory I will cherish.  After the service we shared communion together, as well as a scrumptious potluck.  My eyes were opened to group of people who so deeply love one another and so deeply love God.  The values of community and care were so prevalent that just being able to witness it was an honor.

In my experiences with camps, feelings of exhaustion, wanting some alone time, and sleep are usually the top three things on my mind, and you may be able to empathize.  However, not so after this weekend.  My soul felt energized from this group of believers.  I can't wait for further interactions with them.

Sadly, the week ended with saying goodbye to our fellow lady interns.  Our last days together were spent debriefing what God had done this summer and envisioning what His plan are for a people that so desperately needs HIs love.  Our final night together we spent time affirming one another and worshiping our Savior in song.  Doing this while overlooking the breathtaking city of Budapest was not bad either.  That being said, having an opportunity to run the race with these ladies was a honor.

God has been teaching me so much about leaning on others for support and the importance of having a core community of believers.  So many times in my walk with Christ I try to do things all by myself, and God has been convicting me of this.  My pride and selfishness get in the way of why he created me in the first place; To be in a loving relationship with Him, and as a result a loving relationship with those around me.    

Looking ahead to the fall;  We are hoping to solidify position in schools where we can teach or tutor students in english.  Each of us are hoping to find a home church to build relationships with.  Our research project will hopefully be in full swing, and the prospect students being back in school only makes me more optimistic.  Eric and I are hoping to build the foundations to a soccer ministry, and hopefully do a little of playing ball ourselves.

Your prayers in these areas so very appreciated!!! Feel free to contact me on either Facebook or my email: marcmeland@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.

Philippians 1:3 "I thank my God every time I remember you."

   -Marc

Projects, projects, projects!

Hey Everyone!

I apologize for the amount of time its been between now and my last post, although I am so excited to share with you what God has been doing in Budapest!  As you may have gathered from the title of this post, we have been launching ourselves full speed into many different projects.

We have hit the ground running with our research project (which I mentioned in my last post), and... we definitely hit brick wall after brick wall.  For our project we are going around Budapest and engaging high school students, trying to figure out the "spiritual dna" of these youth.  This involves asking them questions that drive to the heart level who they are.

Brick walls! So many road blocks have hindered us from getting quality interviews.  Some of which can be attributed to the language barrier, trouble finding students, and when we do find them they seem to always be in too much of a hurry.

That being said, I have been learning so much through these challenges.  Not only about how to strategically mold our project to better accommodate the people hear, but also God has been teaching me about how to trust Him in this project.  Remember those brick walls I mentioned earlier, well through God's grace and provision a youth from a local church volunteered to translate for us, and through that Austin and our translator landed our first solid interview.  Praise God!!!

We are now better developing strategies on how to better reach students where they are at.  One avenue I am super excited about is going through the local schools, and possibly helping an english teacher a couple days a week.  If you could pray that God would open doors for connections into local schools it would be much appreciated.

Currently we are preparing for another camp with the group from Veszprem!!! I am so very excited to be able to hang out with these people once again.

Remember that youth pastor we ran into in Ljubljana, Slovenia, well we finally got into contact with him again and attended his Church these last two Sundays!  They invited us to join an outreach they are doing in the community later this week, which I am so excited for.  Through another person at the church we were able to get connected to play soccer a couple nights a week starting in the next couple of weeks.

There are so many doors that God is opening here in Hungary and I am so thankful to have a small part in it.  God has been especially working on my heart about trusting Him and His provision.  I am so encouraged by what has been happening these past couple of weeks, and I am looking forward to this week ahead in anticipation.

Prayer Requests:

- Connections will be made with local schools.
- Please pray for the outreach nights with this local church.
- Pray for the camp this weekend with the group from Veszprem.  Pray that God would further strengthen the bond we have with this group.


Thanks so much for your love and support!

Marc

Camp!

Hey everybody,

I feel like it has been a long time since my last update, and so much has happened over the past couple of weeks that I can't wait to fill you in on.  To avoid writing a book, I am going to touch upon the highlights of what God is doing.

In preparation of a week long camp in Austria with Slovene students we all got sent out into the capital city of Slovenia with questions to ask the youth.  These interactions brought forth two very different experiences.

The first one was we asked them about their views on God, atheism, or what they believed in, there was a unanimous response of "I don't know" or "I have never thought about that"... this was super sad to hear and it shows the need here that the youth need to be presented to Christ's love as well as challenged in what they believe.

The second interaction was quite astounding to say the least and was totally a moment where God brought people together in a crazy way.  As we were walking around looking for youth to talk to we stopped a guy on a bike and started chatting with him, mostly small talk about soccer, so still really important lol... He asked us what we were doing here and we replied with we are with an organization called Josiah Venture, and we are here to work with young people in Hungary.  He said that he had heard of the organization, I instantly thought he was joking, but went on to say that he was from Budapest and was a youth pastor at a church on the outskirts of town.  Short story long, or long story short (unsure of which one, haha) we tried to meet up with him a week prior and due to a lot of things going wrong we were unable to find one another.  It took us both traveling to the capital of Slovenia to finally meet.  We were all laughing about Gods' sense of humor afterwards.


For the camp we were at a castle in Austria with 70 + Slovene students and it was an awesome week.  During the week Rob taught on the parable of the Prodigal Son.  It was amazing to see students open up more in more throughout the week.  It is awesome to see the example that God gives us in the parable of what a loving, forgiving father who runs to us with open arms to take us back looks like, regardless of what we have done. 


  The camp format was relating to students through teaching them english.  Each morning I lead my class of 7 students in discussions and lessons on various world famous companies.  It was a blast being able to hang out with students in this setting, I learned so much from them about their lives, goals, and beliefs, that sometimes I felt like the student.  I was so grateful to be able to lean on an amazing translator and an english helper from the states.  Maybe teaching is something God has for me in the future... :) 


Seven students committed their lives to Christ during the week, praise God!  It was fun to be a witness  of what God was doing in their lives and they are in amazing hands of an excellent team of Slovene leaders!  


During the week I made so many new relationships, with so many awesome people... it has been especially encouraging to be a part of a camp that has been going on for many years and has nationals leading it.  It made dreaming for Hungary and what camps could look like down the road a bit more graspable.

So much more has happened that I wish I could tell you about.  Feel free to post your thoughts, questions, or send me a message.  I would love to hear from you all on what is happening back home.

Some prayer request are:

- That the soil would be rich for the 7 people that committed their lives to Jesus.  Pray for people to come alongside them to for guidance.

- We are starting an upcoming research project here in Budapest.  We will be chatting with youth around the city and figuring out their views on life, religion, God, friendship, love etc.  If you can pray for high schoolers connect with, as well as important information on how we can better relate with youth here in the future.

- God would continue to work in me and transform me to be more like him.  Recently He has been carving out areas of doubt and false expectations that I have in my life.  It has been a rough process, but to see His love enter those areas has been amazing.  So if you could pray for more carving out of junk like this that would be great

- Also, less important... two weeks ago my new camera got water spilt on it, so if somehow it started working again that would be amazing.

Love you all,

Marc

Email or Skype me at marcmeland@gmail.com!!!!

Langos anyone???

Hey everyone! I just wanted to get a quick update out to you all while we are between camps.  Thank you all so much for your support and prayers, God's presence was evident throughout.  For this camp we partnered with a church from Veszprem, Hungary, a city that contains around 60,000 people and one evangelical church.  For 3 days we had the opportunity to hang out with 4 members of its youth group, along with their pastor.  It was a time where we had the opportunity to learn about each other's cultures, spend quality time living together, and most importantly we came together and shared the one thing we all had in common... Faith in Jesus Christ of the Bible!  All of the Bible studies were led by Rob Trenckmann, and the Hungarian Pastor, who speaks exceptional english, assisted him in translating for the students.  This was done so that nothing would be lost in translations, although all four of the students were very proficient in their english skills.

Highlights of the camp for me go as follows.  We all went to Lake Balaton for the afternoon, to much of our relief due to the 90 + degree weather outside.  Being emerald green, the lake is one of Hungary's prides, and our friends from Veszprem were stoked to show us it.  At the lake we played some beach soccer, swam, and even rented a paddle boat that had a slide running down the middle... so tight!!!

Traditional Hungarian Camp Food

From the moment we arrived at camp youth kept talking about treating us to a traditional Hungarian beach food called "langos"... Describing it will be hard to do, and I am sure I can hardly do it any justice.  However, I will give it a go for your sake.  Langos is in the shape of a pizza, although not a pizza, this I was made very clear of.  It is a deep fried bread that is most popularly served with sour cream and cheese on top.  It can be served with jam, or ketchup, or other such toppings (Austin, Eric, and Rob, tried one with Jam on top and got strange looks, judged, and ridiculed as heretics for the rest of our time together :) ).  Needless to say it was quite tasty, however I could probably only have one once a year do to the amount of grease they contain.

Another special time we had together was our last night.  We had a bonfire and they showed us traditional camp food.  Their camp food blew s'mores right out of the water in both taste and time.  The tradition was first putting a slab of bacon on a stick, then adding to it a whole onion, and top it off with a chunk of sausage (Check picture for clarification).  These not only took a while to cook, but were well worth the wait because they were stinkin delicious.  More importantly we took the time to exchange camp songs from our respected countries, and to intentionally get to know one another better.

During the week I was able witness and be a part of God breaking down language and cultural barriers and as a result we were able to share life more intentionally, go deeper in bible studies, and learn more about one another.  It was so awesome to see 4 youth that were so mature in their faith and had a thirst to share the love they have received with the people around them.  I learned so much from them.

The next two weeks we will be spending time assisting an english camp with a group from Slovenia! We are so excited about this and are looking for to diving into more relationships with the youth here in central Europe.

Prayer Requests:

- We have a quick turnover between the camp we just finished and our next camp.  So if you could pray for rest and recuperation that would be amazing!

- Pray for the upcoming camp.  Their will be 90+ people including staff.  This is a huge number that we are so excited about, but if you could pray for us in reaching out to these youth, and in return that God will be working in their hearts right now.

- One thing that I am praying for this summer is that God would direct me in his plan for me regarding working with youth long term.  If you could pray that God would continue to direct me and bring me clarity in this direction.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Marc

Week of firsts...

Hey everyone! this past week has brought a whirlwind of emotions. Most of which can be attributed to the so many "firsts" in my life...

Railroad Station, Downtown Budapest

- first time living in a foreign country
- first time using public transportation as my main mode of getting around (being that all the signs are in               Hungarian doesn't make it much easier lol)
- first time signing a lease & living in an apartment in a foreign place
- first time scouting churches & youth groups
- first time intentionally relating to students while having to deal with a language barrier

These firsts are both exciting and super challenging for me, but the fact of the matter is I see God working in these instances... which makes the discomfort, insecurities, or the inadequacies I feel at times well worth it.

Our first week in Budapest started off with Rob sending us off to explore... lets just say by the end of this we will all be experts on how public transportation should and shouldn't be used.  On the tram we got talking with a guy who attends university here in Budapest, he was super helpful.  We got talking about Christianity, and he confidently boasted that he was a Christian and that everyone in Budapest was...this was shocking to hear, I instantly & prematurely began questioning myself, wondering what I was doing here.  Then, I asked him where he went to church, and he said, "No, I don't believe in that."

This was super sad to hear, and after talking with several other nationals here in Hungary, they told me that this a common theme across the country... This instance cries out the need for the authentic identity one can only find in Christ here in Eastern Europe.  It also got me thinking to back home and how often we label ourselves into a group or belief and their is no real substance behind it.

On a lighter note, the next couple of days we were able to attend youth groups and churches in and around the city.  I witnessed a thriving youth ministry that finds itself in the heart of the city, and it was awesome to see young people enthusiastic about their faith.

Austin Elkins and I on Sunday morning journeyed to a church on the outskirts of the city.  The way the people invited us in and showed us hospitality was amazing.  This was most apparent when the pastors wife to have lunch with her and her three kids.  It was so apparent that by no means were they wealthy or had tons of food, but she displayed care and love for us that made her seem oblivious to their current situation.  We had a great time eating and hanging out with them for the afternoon which involved playing games with the kids and Austin playing piano with them.

Yesterday we took a much needed relaxing day in which we hung out around town and get better acquainted with these people here that so desperately need God's love in their lives.

Prayer Requests:

- Intentionally seeking out and starting relationships from scratch can be exhausting.  If you could pray that I turn to God for strength that would be amazing

- I am taking public transportation around 3 hours a day, would pray that God would bring forth instances where I can relate to youth during these commutes and that I would be aware of these situations in the moment and act on them, that would be great.

- Pray for continued unity and clear communication among our team!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers, know that you are in my thoughts and prayers also!
Miss you all,
Marc

-

Planes, racing, and finally our destination

 Budapest, Hungary

Hey all!  Hope everything is well back home; this last week has been non-stop craziness for me.  It started off with figuring out how in the world I was supposed to pack six months of stuff into a hiking bag & a backpack…. Needless to say some important items may have been left at home, only time will tell.  Spent Sunday & Monday saying goodbyes, which was super sad, but it was great to see everyone before taking off…

After rushing to Wal-Mart for last minute sleeping pills (which ended up playing a huge role later) we thought it best to get 3 hours of sleep before getting on the plane in the morning. 

Our flight schedule took us from Portland to Phoenix to Boston (5.5 hours of flying that I missed due to two little sleeping pills, best sleep ever) to Munich and finally to Krakow,,, just under 24 hours of flying, needless to say that I was definitely feeling a little jet lag. 

Finally, we landed in Krakow… met up with Rob and started the amazing race.  I could spend hours upon hour describing all that entailed the next few days, but for the sake of time a synopsis will have to do.  The race included: sprinting continuously all over Poland and Czech Republic… which awarded us cheering fans, frustrated looks, and sore bodies.  Some of the challenges we competed in were: a catwalk while wearing skirts, blouses, and high heels in the middle of downtown Krakow, with hundreds of curious onlookers... the race also included hopping on and off of buses, trams, and trains, eating four and a half blood sausages (absolutely the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten), and finally getting stuck on a cross word puzzle that took us from competing for first place to finishing 12^th…

However, by far the best part of the race was being able to talk to the locals, all of whom we encountered were ready to help us in any way possible. They displayed both care and interest to complete strangers that I have yet encountered.

On a bus I had the opportunity to chat with 4 elementary school kids... their shyness and apprehensions about speaking in english soon changed to eagerness as our conversation went on. We talked about their interests in sports, music, and video game. By God's grace the we soon began to talk about Jesus and Christianity. Although I probably will never meet them again, this opportunity has made me so very excited for this summer and developing relationships with the youth in eastern Europe.


Prayer Requests:

- This next week we will be attending youth groups in churches around Budapest.  If you could pray that God will us connect with young leaders in the church.

- Our first camp is two weeks away.  Pray that God will work in the hearts of the students that will be attending, as well as that He will help us prepare well.

Praises:

- Arrived in Europe safely, without any hiccups

- Liz Trenckmann solidified an apartment for Austin, Eric, and I just this evenning! Which is a huge blessing and God's perfect timing