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