This week I got asked by my old church in Bangor, Trinity Presbyterian, to write a report of the Wetfoot trip in Hungary, so it can be read out at the summer mission feedback session on Sunday night.
The following is what I wrote - not sure if they will use it all as it was a bit long:
Thank you to all in Trinity for your prayers during the preparation time for the trip and during the trip as well.
There were 13 of us on the team from 9 different countries: Northern Ireland New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, England, South Korea, Hong Kong, Hungary and India. So we based our devotions on Ephesians 4, as it’s about unity, as that’s what we wanted to work in unity, and not just between the 13 of us, but also work in unity with the church in Nytirtelek, who we were over in Hungary to help.
In the first week we ran a children’s camp for the kids who attended the church and those who lived in the neighbourhood. The week was entitled Champions Challenge and the kids seemed to really enjoy the time we spend with them. When they turned up each afternoon they ran to us as if we were old friends, it was really nice to be there with these kids and see the smiles on their faces each afternoon.
Each afternoon consisted of the kids turning up at 2pm, then a welcome some songs, a drama and then the Hungarian leaders taught the bible story. After that we split the kids into three groups and they took turns to do sport, learn English and crafts.
The kids loved the sport, but they especially loved the Thursday sports, the day I led the sports. Why did they love it, well because it was 45 degrees and I was hot so I introduced games which involved water balloons, they loved this and the last group of the afternoon got a bit carried away and the games turned into lets see who can soak Jo more. I was so wet; I had to walk home as would not have been allowed in the mini bus!
English lessons went well each day, some kids spoke some English already and by the end of the week they were speaking to us in English, in order to practice, but I was trying to answer them in Hungarian as I wanted to practice what I had learned – they were better than me!
And they loved the crafts as well, we wanted to make things with them which they could take home and use, so we decorated glasses, bags, biscuits, Chinese fans and lanterns and photo frames. The look of concentration on their faces when they were doing the decorating was so cool, they put their all into everything they did, and they were grateful for everything we did for and with them. It was so refreshing.
And then in the evenings we ran an English Café. The aim of the café was to help teenagers and adults with their English speaking. The café evenings were quite information, and included dramas, games, and because it was aimed mainly at non Christians, we included a little gospel message as well.
On the first evening I did a talk on identity, I was very nervous doing this as I have never spoken in front of a crowd before, and the first time I do it, I do it in another country with a translator, my friends say I never do things the easy way!
These evenings went really well, people listened intently to the talks and the questions around the table were amazing, people were really interested in what was being said. There was one women (Kota) who came along who was not a Christian but her colleague had been trying to get her to come along to church for years, but she was never interested until she heard there was a group from England coming to help people with their English speaking. So each afternoon she turned up to learn English with the children and each evening she turned up to the café to practice her English there as well!
The week after the café nights ended, Kota went back to her work as a Kindergarten teacher, and she was telling anyone who would listen about these 13 people who came from London to teach English, about the unity with in the team. And also about this one girl from Ireland who gave a talk on identity, and how she was mesmerized by the this talk as she never really grasped the issue of identity before and how our identity is not in what family we were brought up in, or what country we were born in, but it is in God, our creator. She finally realized that night how God’s love can change people’s lives. This blew me away, as I never thought when I was writing this talk or even saying it that it would touch someone as much as it touched her. But then God is amazing and he works through us even when we don’t think He can.
On the Saturday, Steve and Agi (two of the team) ran a Christianity Explored training day, in order to help them see how CE can be ran within their church and how it can affect people’s lives. As CE renewed my faith in God and helped me out of a very bad patch of my life, I was asked to do my testimony so that they can see how it actually does help. This was very nerve wracking for me, but I did it, and the whole day seemed to go really well. There was talk that they might do CY - CE for young people.
The next week was a mixture of things, we had two days of rest in Budapest, a couple of visits to Hungarian hospitals to treat my infected mosquito bites and Ava’s bronchitis, and then back to Nyritelek on Wednesday celebrate their National Day.
It was amazing to be there for their celebrations, it consisted of us doing songs and dramas, then the Hungarian youth singing as well, games with kids, eating Ghoulash and cakes with the church. And then in the evening we went to the town celebration were there was a food tasting session, people in traditional dress and military uniform, blessing of the bread ceremony, us again doing our dramas and songs, they Hungarian youth doing their gig. It was great mixing with the locals, the gypsies and the church folk.
The rest of the week was taken up with going to Gorgonsallaz, the gypsy village; I only made it out there one day as I was ill most of the second week, but when I got there my heart just broke. It’s hard to put into words exactly how I felt, but seeing those kids and adults who have nothing, just run up to us and really wanting love and attention brought tears to my eyes. We sang songs with them, but they were more interested in sitting on our knees and playing with us then singing. Then we broke them into two groups, one to do craft and the other to teach English.
At the craft session we did photo frames with them – the kids were putting their all into making these the best thing they have ever done, even adults came to join in, and this just tore me. When we came back at night, one woman showed us her frames, they now had pictures of her two kids in their best clothes – these were the only photo frames she ever had. Something that I could go and buy in the shop was something that meant so much to them.
In the evening, the church held an evangelism event in the gypsy village – there was preaching, we did a drama and sang songs and one of the group gave their testimony, we ate with them and we just interacted with the locals. It was amazing to see these people, but it was hard. This day was the hardest for me, and when we got back to our base, I just broke down into tears and cried for about 3 hours – my roommates did not know what to do with me. But God was working in me and challenging me.
The two weeks spent in Hungary were challenging, intense and full of joy. It was very very hard leaving the kids at the end of the first week and saying goodbye to the gypsies at the end of the second week, but most of all it was hard saying goodbye to the church who we had worked so closely with for two weeks. Pastor Misi described us a wet tea towel, which he had wrung all the water out of… he is an amazing guy and just reminded me of my father – it made me realise just how difficult it is running a church, having a family and dealing with all the difficulties both of them throw at you.
God was really working through the church, through us as individuals and collectively as a team. Just need to pray now for the team as we process everything, for the health of team members, as three of are still sick and off work and for the Hungarian church, in their continuing work with the kids and the gypsies, and that the seeds we sewed in people’s hearts will grow.