A long blog (with lots of pictures).....so get some coffee

Last Saturday I met one of the youth leaders (Kolos, in red/white shirt) and a team of teenagers at the train station so we could travel together to a Hungarian youth camp. This year's theme was "Purity. Do you want it?" The camp was jam-packed with events from early morning to late at night -- activities, sports, workshops, morning and evening sessions and daily leadership meetings.


My Hungarian friend, Anett, who is a high school teacher and one of the six leaders for this Christian teenage ministry in Hungary, invited me to come and be a small group leader for a special English group, teach a workshop on Pop-culture and self-image and represent the USA for "Day of the Nations". There were over 30 youth leader workers and atleast 200 kids. Most of those who came were from Christian backgrounds but some were invited by their friends. The atmosphere of the camp somewhat reminded me of the camps I used to be a part of in Reno/Carson with Power Surge Youth Ministry.

My small group of girls were 16 and 17 years old. Our group was "special" in that it was the only "English speaking" small group. This definitely presented some challenges, but it was also great. Every morning after the morning session we would get together and talk about the topic. We had to grapple with the words and their meanings in Hungarian and English. Although we managed, it was difficult at times and I think God used it to stretch this particular group of girls to work outside their comfort zone. I think it was good.


One of the key highlights for our group was on Tuesday morning when we realized that almost all of the girls were on some kind of church worship team. I got inspired and decided to take our scripture for the day from 1 Corinthians 6:20 "You were bought with a price...therefore honor God with your body" and work with the girls to write a song. They got so excited and I just knew it was going to be a great way for them to express the truths they were learning in Hungarian and in English.

One of the girls suggested The Police song "Every Breath You Take".

We re-wrote the lyrics, Hannah played the piano and we had a lot of fun. As the song developed, a few of the girls asked some guys in the worship band to play electric guitar and drums. They joined us for a few practices, helped make the song come alive and joined us for the final production. By Thursday, the girls wanted us to ask Anett if we could perform it on the last night of the conference. Anett was excited about it too. We ended up being the closing act for the week long youth conference and it was a big hit. So much fun!


On a personal level, I have to say that some things were rekindled in my soul during the camp. Living pure in an impure world is possible. Fires were restoked and a vision renewed for the future. I'm looking forward to see how this plays out in the future. I had a great time. Although the camp itself had a sub-culture of its own, I know the hearts of those leading the camp are genuine and desiring to see God move among this generation and it was refreshing to see so many young people grappling with this topic of purity and how to walk it out in the real world. That was exciting to see.

I also met two different girls -- Abigail (on the left) and Evka -- and we connected in a way that I have no doubt we'll be linked together in the future in life and in ministry.

Abigail was my translator for the workshop and Day of the Nations. Even though she's American, she's fully Hungarian and has spoken the language since she was like - - 2 years old! So cool. And Evka came with a team from Bratislava. She is an amazing woman, loves the Lord and has a vision for Slovakia. We had so many great conversations and times together. I loved it!
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I'm glad I brought my running shoes because I did get my 5.5 mile long run in and I unexpectedly got the cross-training in playing volleyball. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted that on two mornings when I could have run, I slept in that extra 45 minutes. So, I have a few runs to make up this week!

Although we had a power team for volleyball we lost on both days and that was really discouraging, but I think we gave it our best and had a lot of fun.

One afternoon I decided to go for a walk around the camp with my camera and just get some time to enjoy rural Hungary. I had found a really cool road a few days prior on my run and decided to walk that route. Here's a few pictures I took along the way.








I'm very glad to be home and to be able to get back to a normal routine. Although I'm young at heart, I can't do 1 am to 6:15 am sleeps. It's rough. There's no place like the place you lay your head down and call home. :D