Endings and beginnings
Today was the last day of baseball camp. The time went well. Jamie shared about the three most important things in his life: Jesus, his family and baseball.
There will be ongoing baseball events with the teens and adults and if there is enough interest there will be ongoing training with the kids as well. It was a great weekend and a valuable relationship building tool. Thanks for praying.
I added today’s pictures to my Flickr site baseball camp set here.
August is traditionally the Hungarian month of vacation. Our foundation has no formal outreaches planned, but we will still be busy, as always. 
My church is holding street outreaches until the 10th and has an evangelistic concert this coming Sunday. Would you be in prayer for these events?
Tomorrow, a new member on the PI Area Resource Team (located here in Hungary) will be arriving. Cherry will be teaching at the International Christian School and she is buying my Ford which is an answer to prayer! She starts teaching this coming Thursday so please pray for her to have a smooth and quick transition to life in Hungary.
Thank you for your faithful prayers for our summer events and outreaches. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to exalt the name of Jesus in this nation.
Baseball Camp
Baseball camp was off to a good start today. Nobody got hurt. It was hot, but there was a breeze and it didn’t rain.
Please continue to pray for us – for safety, good weather and for relationships to develop where we can share about our love for our Savior.
You can take a look at today’s pictures at my Flickr site here.
Baseball Camp Starts Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Friday August 1st, Baseball Camp begins.
Please pray specifically for:
Jamie – as he leads this camp and shares both his love of baseball and his love of our Savior.
The weather to be good.
The time to be safe and well attended.
Catching Up
I haven’t done much blogging this month. Life has been really busy since mid-June and I think this week the sleep deprivation, constant schedule and general busyness of life caught up with me. I’m pretty tired and still have a lot going on. Still, it has been a WONDERFUL summer thus far.
This week the Rákoskeresztúr church had their English Day Camp just minutes from my house. Here is a group shot of those who attended. Thank you to those of you who were praying! Please keep praying that relationships will be strengthened and that the connections with the church will draw these students toward the truth of the gospel.
VBS – June 30 to July 5 (Videos and Pictures)
I’m back at home trying to catch up on normal activities this week after a great time last week at VBS (Vacation Bible School) in Petőfibánya. It was a busy week with a full schedule and constant interaction in Hungarian, but I feel very blessed to have been a part of it and I really enjoyed my time there.
One thing in particular that I have taken away from this week is a burden to pray for these children. The group that I worked with was 9 and 10 year old kids. It seemed like this group had most of the rowdy troublemakers in it. (They weren’t always disruptive: there were definite moments during the week where they were really listening and thinking about the truth that was being presented). It’s not much fun working with kids who are always in need of discipline, yet, God used this to break my heart in a new way. I found that by the middle of the week, instead of just being frustrated with them, I really started thinking about what their lives were like. 
These kids aren’t growing up in an environment where they are told about the love of God. Their behavior is just a reflection of what is modeled for them in their lives. I’m so glad that I was able to be a part of sharing the love of God with them this week. I know they had fun and the gospel was clearly shared.
I took some selected photos from the Mercer’s set and added them to my Flickr site which you can view here. If you want to see the complete photo albums (hundreds of pictures) you can view them at the JavaJournal site here. Below are also a couple of videos. Enjoy.
Bits of This, That and Photos are Up
This has been a busy week! The cats are glad to have me home after camp and keep following me around. Today Gus even laid in the bathroom sink while I was trying to get ready. I guess it is his way of saying “Don’t go anywhere!” At least next week I’ll be coming home every night after VBS.
My pictures from English Camp are now up at Flickr. You can view the slideshow here.
Some of these photos were in the gallery that was listed on the Prayer Blog.
In other news: I’d love to have you as a prayer partner for VBS. If you didn’t get my Journey Update e-mail this week and would like more information for prayer please comment on this post. AND I got notice that it appears that the Denial of Service attack is over. Now you can go back to using my primary e-mail address. Thanks for your patience with this.
Back from Camp
I’m back from English camp and diving into another busy week. Tonight we have a BBQ to say goodbye to the three teams from the States that came to work at camp with us. Tomorrow or Wednesday I pick up the new car and have to get all the registration paperwork done. Thursday morning my best friend leaves for her new life in Italy. And somewhere in there I have to catch up on laundry, clean up the house from the cat hair that has accumulated while I was gone, take care of the yard which looks like it has grown more than a foot in a week, and keep up with my normal weekly tasks. Craziness.
Here is a photo of my reading group at camp. On the prayer blog there is a link to the rest of the English Camp photos.
I really appreciate all your prayers for camp. They were felt! Please start praying now for the Children’s Vacation Bible School that starts next Monday in Petofibanya.
Back from Prague…Off to camp
My teammate Janet and I had a great, but unbelievably fast round trip to Prague the last two days. Taking Janet’s friend to the Prague airport, we made a whirlwind road-trip with a couple of hours downtown on a beautiful evening. Here’s a picture.
After English Camp I’ll put up some more pictures on Flikr. Our teams from the US arrive today and then we are off to camp. Keep praying for us! I’ll be back in touch when we return to Budapest.
Goodbye and Prayer for Camp
Last night we had a going away party for Robin. Robin has been in Hungary independently for the last six months. She helped us with English Club in Pécel. She is heading back to Canada next week when we are at camp. Robin, we wish you all the best!
Speaking of camp…
…we are still looking for prayer partners. If you can commit to pray we will have a special prayer blog to keep you updated. To get information about it you can e-mail me if you know my e-mail, use the contact page on my website or leave a comment on this post. Comments are held for moderation so you can put your e-mail address in the comment. I won’t publish the comment so no one else will see your e-mail. YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME BY THURSDAY SO THAT I SEE YOUR MESSAGE BY FRIDAY MORNING MY TIME. I won’t be online very often after today and I don’t expect to be online at all during camp. Thanks for praying!
Nemzeti Vágta – National Gallop
Saturday and Sunday there was an event that was called “National Gallop”. I got to stop by and enjoy the fun on Sunday afternoon.
This was a interesting event where, among other activities, horses from different towns across Hungary raced against each other.
They set up a race track around the monuments at Heroes Square and the racers were all young people representing their towns.
There were also information tables set up for each town, as well as the crafts and food stalls that accompany this type of celebration.
City Mission
I really enjoyed the City Mission week. Above is the logo. It says “Look up” and the small logo states “I give you hope and future.”
This was a great week not only of outreach events but also of Christians gathering together. After the last night at the Hillsong United concert, one of the young Hungarian leaders in my church stated that he had never seen so many believers gathered together in Hungary.
Below are some photos of the open church night
and the Gospel Choir that performed at the West End Mall.
Patchwork Group and English Program
On Sunday I went to the Patchwork group associated with the church plant in Vecses. It was fun. It helped that my mom made sure that I had instruction in sewing way back in 4-H. Thanks mom. I started a patchwork pillow and met some really nice ladies. Here are some photos from the Patchwork group.
Monday we were back in Petofibanya after the holiday last week. The English program is going well and we had some great discussion during Bible Hour last night. Here are couple of photos.
Thanksgiving
I love this comic, may we all be SO thankful!
On Thursday we are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for the English Club kids in Pecel. This afternoon and most of tomorrow will be taken up with cooking and preparing information about Thanksgiving as an American tradition. Pleae pray that God will go before us. This is only our second time to get to meet with these kids off campus and this time the topic itself leads into opportunities to share our faith in Christ. Please pray that we will be able to share clearly the reason that we have to give thanks. Pray that God will draw these students to ask questions and to seek the truth.
Next Monday we are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner after the English Program in Petofibanya. Please also pray for this event as students who never stay for the Bible hour are planning on coming to the dinner.
And now, back to the kitchen…
Fall Ministries
This week was another crazy, busy week. On Sunday I was blessed to see some people from my church in Florida as they stopped over in Budapest on a trip through Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me. (I know, when do I not have a camera with me! I guess there is always a first time.) I’ll have to get some copies of photos of from them later. It was a nice day. We went to church, spent some time in the New York Cafe, visited the Synagogue, visited my home and had a traditional dinner arranged by the tour company that they were with.
On Monday English classes started in Petofibanya. It was a good start to the program.
Tuesday I went with some of my teammates to look at several facilities that we may stay at for a teambuilding weekend and that we may use for summer ministries.
Wednesday I had a headache. I caught up on some financial paperwork. I spent hours working to try to repair my washing machine. Now that we have the electrical problem identified to a certain socket the filter appears to be clogged and the drain isn’t working. Sigh. It is always something. I also planted some bulbs in the garden and spent some time looking for a hotel for visitors coming next month.
Today our English Club in Pecel started. We had a great turnout and Lidia said to expect more students next week.
Tonight I went to Tesco, a large British chain store sort of like Wal-Mart. It was great to shop with a car and not be super concerned about buying only what I could carry home. Insert BIG Smile here.
Hope you are having a great week!
Journey 8-2-07
“But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” Galatians 3:22
While we were at camp I wrapped up my personal study in 2 Corinthians and moved on to Galatians. This morning when I read this verse it seemed to summarize a lot of what I had been thinking on and teaching at camp.
We had a wonderful camp, emphasizing daily in our Bible reading times that we come to God through faith and belief and that He can set us free from the bondage of sin. Praise God that it is not our own efforts that bring us to God. We believe and He gives. What a beautiful message. I was encouraged again as I presented this message every day and felt the truth of it reaffirmed in my heart.
Apassionata
This afternoon I got a chance to go with some friends to a really interesting horse presentation. There were groups of professional riders, olympiads and champions who came together to present the history of Hungary on horseback. The show was very interesting and the riding was spectacular.
This was an “Extra” program by Apassionata created especially for Hungary. Generally the Apassionata show covers horse breeds and styles of riding from around the world. I really enjoyed this “Hungarian horseback-riding cultural Christmas gala.”
You can see the English website about their general program at:http://www.apassionata.eu/HOMMAGE/english/index.html
You can see the photos about the Hungarian program with Hungarian text at: http://www.apassionata.atw.hu/ and then click the GALÉRIA link for more photos.
Missionary: 