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!!!