Paper People

This week was the the end of our first two major classes, Bible Study Methods, and Systematic Theology. Both of them were amazing classes and I have to say that after these past several weeks I'm happier than ever that i chose to come here. I will say though that of the two Systematic theology was the one that left me really thinking. Sitting around in class for two hours a day and discussing the unfathomable mysteries of God was honestly one of the highlights of my day. I am convinced though that until we realize and can accept that we are two dimensional paper people attempting to understand a four dimensional world that is beyond our comprehension then it will do nothing but frustrate us. My teacher, Alex Konya used something similar to this illustration, and it's sort of become the theme of our class.

In other news life here at WOL has continued to move along much faster than most of us are okay with, we spend most of our time just trying to keep up. We've had a number of birthday parties and fellowships to break up the stress of school, homework, and ministry preparation. There is never a dull moment, mostly because if things never slow now quite enough for that and on the rare occasion that they do it because we are all getting much needed sleep.

Sing team, my ministry, will be going out for the first time on this Sunday with three songs and a pantomime. I have one solo and am the main character of the pantomime. All the songs are in Hungarian, so it is interesting not having any clue what I'm singing about. I would appreciate prayer this area of ministry though, it's not always easy, and is usually very time consuming, but I know God can use this in great ways.

Fall break is just around the corner bringing on a new country to my list: Romania! I'm so excited, I'll be traveling with my RA, Yana and a staff couple. It will be a much needed vacation and I cannot wait!

~Pictures of lately~

The castel is currently undergoing a massive restoration project so that in the near future we will be able to move the whole school into the castle, dorms and classrooms included. Here what I and one of the interns Dan are wroking on is covering one of the staff apartments in plastic so that their things wouldn't get ruined by all the dust when the workers replaced the heating system. Needless to say it was quite the undertaking!

Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire at on of the first fellowships at the Konya's.

The Sunday school team, plus me and a few others just hangin out in Budapest


Johanna, Hanna, me, and Yana at one of my rommie's 19th birthday! One of the staff ladies had a bunch of us over to celebrate to occasion. She is an amazing cook, and needless to say we were very happy to have chilli and corn bread over lunch meat sandwiches =)

The birthday girl, Miri, blowing out the candles on her beautiful cake!

Birthday girl with Timea and Randall (this is the couple that will be taking Yana and I to Romania next weekend)

Tea, tea, and more tea!

Yes in Hungary we like to drink tea. Now this tea is usually not of the iced sort, nor is it of the hot and steamy sort. It is just tea. No one is quite sure exactly what flavor it is, although some have suggested that it is some sort of fruity mixture. In any case this tea is served at every meal, and I must admit that while I was not particularly happy about this upon my arrival, it does grow on you. This is just one new aspect of life here at WOL hungary, and while I certainly miss my daily dose of Brasilian coffee, I think by the end of the year I could very easily find myself addicted to tea.

~A typical day at WOL hungary~

In other news school has officially started! After two weeks of easing us into the new schedule we are finally into what the second year students call normal. Devos are at 6:45 which means getting up around 6:00 or 6:15, much to my dismay. Then breakfast follows at 7:20 where we have 40 minutes to stuff our faces (with cereal and whatever else they happen to be offering) and grab our books, laptops, and names tags so we can make it to class on time at 8:00. Then after two mind boggling hours of systematic theology (currently my favorite class) we have an hour of chapel, to be followed by another two hours of class. This time the course is Bible Study Methods. The school day concludes with lunch at 1 pm. Our afternoons are free for the most part. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are Language classes (my new theory is that if i can master Hungarian I can do anything!), and for me those are also my work days, where I spend 2-3 hours of the day up to my elbows in soapy water scrubbing everyone's dishes. Then also, there are usually ministry meetings/practices depending on what your weekend ministry is. Since I'm on the sing team we have practises at least three times a week although the days differ. Supper is at 6:oo followed by required study at 6:45. This was another thing I was not so excited about..."a whole hour of just sitting in a class room studying, no talking, no music? I'd rather study on my own time." I must say though, that lately I have been very greatful for that hour of peace and quiet when you dont have to wander what fun thing you're missing out on, because everyone is sitting right there studying right along with you! After required study we have the evening free to do with as we please, usually some people go play basketball, others sit around the piano and make music, others just relax in their rooms, or continue working on their homework. But what ever people are doing at 9:15 everyone is in their dorms for room devos, which I have found to be one of my favorite parts of the day. At least in my dorm we have all become very close partially because of this time we spend together. Lights out/in rooms is at 11:00, I have yet to hear anyone complain about that curfew since school started, by the end of the day we are all so exhausted all we want to do is fall into bed anyway. So there you have it my day in a nut shell.

Here are some pictures of life in my little corner of the world for the last three weeks or so.

Yes, that is a cat on my bed. During my first week here we had a very cold little visitor wander into our room (the door has a nasty habit of opening on it's own) she was affectionately name 'princess costa rica' by our RA and is currently residing in one of the missionary homes, after she got kicked out of our room.

Costa Rica dorm! you can sorta see how each person has her own little corner area. Straight down the middle to the back in the Bathroom, which I didn't think I really needed to share.

Our room in the other direction, otherwise known as the kitchen area.

The living room area.

Now i would put up pictures of my little corner, but it's rather hard to get it all in one picture so if you really want to see those you can see them on my facebook =)
Hanna and I on our way to Danube international church in Budapest last Sunday.

Me and some of the girls from my room shopping in Budapest last Sunday (me, miri, marie pier, marianne)

Then last sunday night--yes we all had a rather busy day that day-- my RA (who happens to be a professional hari styleist) attacked me and whacked all my hair off! she crazy and I'll admit I was freaking out a little during the process, but I really like it now.

We're getting our first hints of autumn here in Hungary...of course i'm just a tad more excited about that than anyone else =) And as you all know with the fall come the cold, it always takes me a few moments to remember to breath again when I am greeted by the frigid (to me) air every morning on the way to breakfast!

Our attempts at study parties usually turn into silliness...this one for instance turned into walking around campus taking pictures =)

Just a bit of goofyness on the tire swing, this is my favorite spot on campus =)
(me and Abi)

Elet Szava:Home Sweet Home

In all honesty I can't believe how fast time has gone since I arrived in Hungary. In some ways it has not been at all what I expected, in some ways it was. If I'm honest I'd have to say that it's really better than I ever imagined. I've only been here for two weeks now, but I already feel at home. There is something special about this place, and I'm so excited to see the ways that God will work not only in my life but in the lives of my classmates and all those around me. Here's a little peak at my new home and my first couple weeks here.

This is the side walk leading from the Castle to all the dorm rooms and the main meeting room. Lots of time we call the dorms the barracks because they were originally built here when the Soviet Union took over the castle grounds.

This is the path on the opposite side of the castle that leads to the lake, soccer field, volley ball courts, and basketball slab. If you keep walking there is also a very nice trail through the woods.

The Castle! as you can see there are currently renovating it. This is where some of the staff lives and works, where guests stay, where we eat, sometimes work, and do laundry. =)

This tire swing is along side one of the trails through the woods on a little island in the middle of the little creek that runs into the lake.

A good friend of mine from the states surprised us by showing up and announcing he was staying for the school year, and one day he took my dad and I out to see Budapest =) This is St. Stephen's basilica, a church that you can go up in to see the whole city from.

Hungarian Parliament on the Danube River =)

Hero's Square in Budapest.

Dad and I on our second to last day together in Hero's Square.

Back at Elet Szava, int he days before all the students got there just hanging out with some of the prospective RAs playing games. Girls from left to right: Yana, Gina, Fanni, Hanna, and me!

Costa Rica girls! (our dorm room name is Costa Rica) before the opening weekend banquet.From left to right: Yana (the RA from Ukraine and the USA, Me, Marianna (Quebec), Miriam (Germany), Marie Pier (Quebec), and Stephanie (Quebec).

Our first class as first year students was Personal Evangelism, fro the second years it was Street Evangelism, after four days of classes we headed out onto the street of Budapest on thursday afternoon and friday to put what we learned into practise during OAE (open air evangelism). This picture is one of the second year students using the sketch board to illustrate salvation.

Marie Pier (one of my room mates), me, and Lili (one of the interns and a great friend) talking to a girl from Sweden in the market place.

Hanna explaining the gospel during OAE. Over the course of the the two days we spent on the streets over two hundred people heard the gospel, even more received tracts, and 9 people made professions of faith!

~The End for now!~

The City of Lights

Oh what to say about Paris! Dad and I arrived there the evening of the 5th of September and were promptly picked up by a staff member of Word of Life France. I can easily say that we had our best accommodations in Paris, a whole three bedroom apartment all to our selves! It was nice to relax and get some much needed laundry done. The next morning we made our way into the actually city by way of train, some how managing to get to the right places and the right times despite all our failed attempts to understand french. We only had one day touring around Paris, and surprisingly this was all we needed considering we were so tired. I will say it was a day very well spent and it was worth every moment! The Arch of triumph! this was interesting, this arch lines up exactly with the Great Arch and a smaller arch in front of the Louvre, and all the main streets at some point lead to here.

The architecture is amazing!

There were so many pretty street, right around here is where we spoted the eiffel tower!

Look what we found! =) not to in any way reduce how awesome this tower is, but i did wonder why exactly it was there...it doesn't really serve any apparent purpose other than a hot tourist spot...

Can't believe thats me and my daddy in Paris! The Eiffel Tower is great because it's surrounded by parks and these massive green lawns, just a perfect place to sit around, relax, and enjoys the scenery.

Louvre!! once again incredible architecture!

The cieling of one of the rooms in Louvre, at some point on this trip I decided that in most old buildings that are worth visiting the cieling is almost always the most impressive aspect of it...in a church it's usually the windows.

There she is folks...The Mona Lisa...preatty much the only reason Dad and i even visited Louvre..well that and just to say we'd been there. =)
And this is why we decided not to stay for longer...incase you can't tell by this crowd all looking at the Mona Lisa it was really crowded there...free on the first sunday of the month...it was craziness!!!!
Notre Dame!!! almost the whole time we were standing outside the bells were ringing and I kept thinking of the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie...imagining him up there hard at work. yes I know I'm a little strange =)
while we were waitng around outside for our turn to go into Notre Dame this lady gave me some rice in my hand and on my head! I think the pidgeons like it...hehe.

Like i said in churches it's the windows that are impressive =)
While we were there there was actually a service going on...see the priests??

Did I mention that this church is AMAZING!

Guess what, I bought a red bare, guess what else, I wore it to a very picturesque sidewalk cafe
The tower when I first started lighting up, and the last picture i could take before my camera died, but all in all Paris was amazing...we did have an extra half day in Paris but we chose to stay in the apartment and catch up on some sleep before we headed of to my new home sweet home in Hungary!!

Good 'ole England

Early in the morning dad and I once again took to flight, making our way back one hour and crossing the English channel. After running across the runway through much chillier wind than I was used to and making our way through England's tighter security we were met by none other than the Nash family. For those of you who don't know the Nashes used to be missionaries in Belem as well. I was pretty excited to be able to hang out with Chloe again and see where they live in Luton. After a spending a lovely time with them in Bedford we headed into London where we met up with the Smalls, old friends of my parents from college, and took up residence on their living room floor. It was wonderful to have some one who knew their way around to give us tips on where to go and how to get there.

Chloe and I in a lovely little park in Bedford (which happens to be the home town of John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress)

Anna, Chloe and I in John Bunyan's pulpit.

Buckingham Palace in all it's splendor, wish I had pictures of the inside though, it was even better!...no guards on the outside though =(

Oh, you know, while in England you can't pass up the chance to take a picture with a red phone booth!

Big Ben!!!! sorry guys there's no drug store inside or anything....haha!

Parliament, easily the most impressive building we saw there =)

The British museum. This places houses THE Rosetta stone, lost of mummies, the oldest known picture of Christ, Easter Island heads and soooooooo much more that we didn't even get to see. You could spend days in there and still not see it all!

The tower of London, which is really more like a bunch of castles surrounded by a very thick walls and several towers. This was the home of the Royal family for around 500 years.

Inside the Tower of London this is also where the Crown Jewels are kept, and several be-headed royals are buried.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,...my fair lady! Take the key and lock her up"...interesting how after i learned this history of this place a little better that song makes sense, and it's rather depressing =(

British Library =) This library has the oldest New testament in the world I think is was, Dad was very excited about that. I was excited about the original manuscripts from Jane Austen.

Over all I think London was my favorite place. I wish we would have had a few more days there, there were so many things to do and so little time it seemed! the Transportation there was great as well, very clear and simple. It also made a world of difference to be able to stay with a family instead of in some hotel room, even if it did mean sleeping on air mattresses. I was sad when it was time leave, but then again how could I possibly complain about taking off for the next destination, the city of lights: Paris!!