Hello from Mississippi!  We've been back home for over a month now.  So much has happened since we landed on American dirt back in August, and I haven't had much time to post more pictures from our time in Hungary. 

 

Confession:  many of these photos were swiped from Facebook.

Shame on me, sure, but you other Iphone owners do the same thing.  Admit it:)

 

I'm not taking credit for any of these pictures.  I really want to give credit to whom it is due, but it's been so long since I made the initial photo-swipe that I can't remember who took what. 

 

So, I'll mention some names of some of my FB Speak Out friends who I may or may not have "borrowed" photos from:  Justin Patton, All of the Daubenspecks, Katie Stover, Ana Olson, Hope Curran, Kar-Lai on the Student Venture/Flicker site, Ingrid Peck, Csaba Rakasz, Csabi Farkas.... O my.  If any of you happen to see this and are offended by my inclusion of your photographic genius, please let me know:)

 

NOW:  These photos were taken at a place that we referred to as The Collegium.  The picture below has the name of the actual establishment on it, but I can't begin to pronounce it correctly.  Just know that the place is a school (maybe a college) where students live and learn about culinary and hospitality type things.  Our group rented out the facility and used the cafeteria, common rooms, classrooms, dorm rooms, bathrooms, etc. 

 

A view of campers being met by staff members on their first day at Speak Out

I didn't stay on campus, but some of the Cru staff families did.  The campers and single staff members occupied the dorm rooms and shared bathrooms, washers, clothes lines (no dryers), and a kitchen.  Lord Bless them, they survived.  When we left for Budapest, one of the Hungarian staff said he was relieved to be returning to civilization:)

Taking Razor scooters with us for the kids:  BEST IDEA EVER.  Thank you, Rivers Partin.

American staff selling camp T-shirts

Zina (Cru staff from Muldova) taught Aubrey and many of the campers how to do Origami.  She has the most beautiful smile and an equally beautiful spirit about her.

Speak Out Staff waiting for campers to arrive

Ping Pong in the main hallway

 Staff during orientation week--looks like a scavenger hunt. Yep, this picture was borrowed:)

The girl pointing at the chalk board is Alice.  She traveled from Russia (from the eastern part of the country near North Korea) to observe how Speak Out was run.  She's planning to start a similar work on her campus.

Aubrey playing cards with campers and staff

Me with one of Amanda's tutor groups

Aubrey LOVED playing with Melody.

Campers at one of their morning classes

Morning class

Free time--learning American line dance steps

Speak Out Group

Aubrey playing cards with other staff kids.  In the orange--Tomo (Cru staff in Macedonia) and J.R. Peck (he & his family have been in Hungary for a year now)

 

 

I'll be posting more pictures soon.  Stay tuned for pictures of our Panzio and pictures of some of the wonderful people we lived with and worked with.

 

 

***Just in case you've got time to kill, click on over to my other blog for a little bit of nonsense:)http://mariedavisohnevermind.blogspot.com/

 

 ***To see pics of our fellow staff members, click

 HERE.

Phil's Wrestling Buddies & More Pics

If you saw my last post, you probably read about Phil's creative evangelism techniques (wrestling six campers at one time).  If you remember, I mentioned that I had pictures of some of the campers showing Phil some brotherly love by throwing pies in his face.  Well, I found the pictures.

You know he loved it.

Those pictures were from our second camper week final party--exactly one week ago.  Here are a few more pictures from that night.

New friends Katie and Justin.  They work with Campus Crusade in Philadelphia.  Justin is actually from Virginia, though, so he sounds more like us:)  We love Katie's "Philly" accent.

As our friend Izabella was taking care of another staff member's son.....

....Phil was taking care of HER son.  ***Just so you know, Phil doesn't just aimlessly man-handle people as they walk by.  This child actually asked Phil to lift him over his head.

Aubrey and her friend Hannah

I don't seem to capture Drew in many pictures because he's always up to something.

At the end of our Western-themed parties, the campers and staff love to do line dances.  The man in the black shirt is Dan; he and his wife direct Speak Out each year.  We have learned SO much from them and can't wait to put our new information to use.

Hannah danced the night away.  Behind her is a staff member named Hope.  Hope is a true California girl and an awesome young woman of God.  She will be attending one of those universities in California (it's in Berkley), and she's on their swimming team.  Cool, huh?  She is also a gifted photographer.  If you're on Facebook, you can search for her page called Hope Photography.  If you're friends with me, you can probably find her page listed on my wall somewhere. 

Aubrey wanted to dance but wasn't sure what to do, so we told her to join Grace (in the pink) and follow her lead.  Pretty soon, Aubrey was doing her own thing.  Grace is another wonderful young lady of God.  She attends college in the states right now, but she grew up as the daughter of missionaries in Georgia (the country, not the state).  We loved watching her dance--she did alot of traditional Georgian dances moves along with the regular dances the others were doing. 

Can you guess what dance that is?

Tonight is our final party for our third week of campers.  They will be going home tomorrow.  We are about seven hours ahead of most of you, so if you read this in time, will you pray that many more new believers will join God's family as a result of the conversations that are taking place this afternoon and after the party tonight?  Even if you don't read this in time, would you pray for all of the students who have attended these camps?  We've heard testimonies of former campers who accepted Christ AFTER camp had ended and later returned to Speak Out as staff members.  God has done amazing things here, and again, I'd like to thank those of you who have prayed for us and those who have financially supported this mission.  May God bless you abundantly.

Vienna Pictures & Highlights of Camper Week 2

We finished out our second week with campers on Thursday night.  Tonight (Sunday) is our third and final American Culture Night, so Phil and the kids are outside giving campers the cultural experience of roasting marshmallows and making Smores.  Yum.  They are also serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because Eastern Europeans cannot purchase peanut butter anywhere near here.  Can you imagine a world without peanut butter? So, while they are outside spreading some culture, I'm inside trying to share a few pictures while I have the chance.

I don't have the exact number of how many of our week 2 campers began relationships with Christ last week, but I'm thinking that a little over 20 joined God's family. I'll get exact numbers at the end of this week and will share as soon as possible. 

A few highlights from camper week 2:  I spent some time with one of our tutor groups and was able to share my personal testimony.  I was also able to hang out with them as they practiced reading some English--they practiced using a booklet that explained how they could begin their own relationships with God.  Just to make sure the message was clear, the group leader (Amanda--a TREMENDOUS young woman of God--and a Southern girl like me) asked them to read the booklet in Hungarian as well.  For fun, Amanda and I tried to read the Hungarian version, and our new pal Zina from Moldova tried to read it as well.  The Hungarian campers were very gracious and didn't roll in the floor laughing at our attempts. One of the girls in the group shared that she had become a Christian a few years ago, and one of the girls shared that she was very interested in learning more about having her own relationship with Jesus.  Would y'all pray for her?  God knows her name. 

Another highlight:  the camp director was pleased with Phil's unique method of evangelism during camper week 2.  This is what happened: during Sports Day (when everyone plays American sports and such) Phil noticed a group of muscled-up campers doing some UFC kicks and such, and he and one of the staff missionaries didn't think that was a particularly safe activity....SO, to break up the UFC fights, Phil suggested they wrestle instead.  (Yes, I know....)  The campers LOVED the idea, and they particularly loved wrestling Phil. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  SIX of them.  AGAINST ONE Phil.  Fortunately, I wasn't there to witness the match.  Witnesses reported that Phil held his own for about two minutes before they wore him down.  You wouldn't believe the bond that was created between Phil and the six ruffians, though.  All week they talked and laughed and joked with him....the camp director said that it was a great form of evangelism.  On our last night with that bunch, the guys all competed in games and won enough tickets to throw pies in Phil's face;  that was their way of showing some brotherly love.  It was great.  I have pictures of it all, but unfortunately, I' left my memory card at our panzio (summer house).  I'll try to share them ASAP.

I DO have some pictures from our trip to Vienna, though.  See, every Friday is a free day, so this past Friday, 28 of the American staff traveled by bus to Vienna, Austria.  It only cost $22 per person, and it only took 3 hours to get there.  Since we will probably never have such an opportunity again, we jumped on that bus and had a great (but rainy) day.  Here are some of the pictures I took:

Ok, so that's not in Vienna.  Those are the campers I hung out with during week 2.  Aren't they gorgeous?  The beautiful brunette on the far left is Zina; she's a CCC staff worker in Moldova.  The beautiful blond (fourth from the left) is Amanda; she's from the Memphis area.  Words can't describe what a blessing and inspiration she is to my family.

Ok.  Vienna pictures.

Some of the staff who traveled with us.  We older folks took the pictures.

Aubrey's favorite thing about Vienna--watching the ducklings

Me and Caesar (before he was stabbed multiple times)

If we are ever blessed with the privilege to return to Vienna, I'd love to ride one of those red bus/train thingies.

I ate schnitzel for the fist time.  It was O.U.T.S.T.A.N.D.I.N.G.

I explained the basic plot of Faust to Drew, and now he wants to read it.  Perhaps we should begin with the children's version...

Ok, the last two pictures were not in Vienna. We were back in Hungary and we were HUNGRY, so we went to McDonald's again.  Nothing like some golden arches to cure a little bit of homesickness.