Summer English Camp + Other Adventures!

My Dear Friends and Family,

While I was recently standing on Charles Bridge in Prague, with friends, watching the sun set over the beautiful city (I know, tough life) I couldn't help but praise and worship the mighty and awesome God I serve. It's hard to fully put into words what my week in Prague was like but I can tell you it was a blessing and a huge refreshment for my soul. Over 1,000 believers living across Europe gathered together for a week of encouragement, sharing of testimonies, and time of worship. The way God is working and moving in Europe is beyond what I could have imagined. David Platt came to speak and what he had to say was encouraging, convicting and thought provoking. Platt pressed that we need to be faithfully preaching and teaching the word, without compromising or watering down the message we have been given from God. During the week, Samantha and I really enjoyed being able to meet new people, build upon old friendships and just experience Christ's community. You really don't realize how much you miss something until you have it again and my week in Prague gave me just what I needed.

Now Summer English Camp was a blast and I loved every minute of it! We had a total of about 65 students attend our camp, along with 7 translators and 17 people from the States, which made the week exciting and exhausting. Camp was a total of 4 days in which the mornings consisted of presenting the gospel through English teaching and afternoons consisting of outside games, such as Organized Mass Chaos, Capture the Flag, American football, baseball, etc. Every evening we also had an event that was optional to the students. We had a board game night, movie night, henna night and the last night was a family celebration at the town plaza. There were three students who made the decision to follow Christ (praise God!) and many other students who are interested but still have questions and reservations. Please pray for Samantha and I as we follow up with these students!

Over the summer I have been able to spend the majority of my time discipling five students that I've come to love and grown to have a deep relationship with. Their names are Petra, Tina, Gita, Annette, and Barni. Out of the five, Petra is the only believer so I ask that you will pray God will reveal Himself to the others as I continue to share my faith and present the gospel to them.

Barni 

Gita (black glasses) 

Tina (far right, next to Gita)

Petra

Annette

Love you all and miss you all!
Kaitlyn

"At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except through the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." --Matthew 11:25-30

Prague

Summer English Camp

Trials and Tribulations

My family and friends,

What a month it has been! Summer has officially begun here in Hungary. Students are finished with school for the year, days are starting to get hot and summer camp is approaching! Samantha and I are very excited to participate and help lead summer camp!

Overall, this past month has seemed to be more difficult than the others. By no means has it been bad. Samantha and I have had a lot of fun together. We've made all kinds of goodies, we've become crazy plant ladies, we've struggled learning Hungarian together and we've hung out with friends. On the physical front everything looks great. However, on the spiritual front, this past month we've dealt with a lot of warfare. There are situations we are dealing with that I never thought I would have to confront. Samantha and I have reached a point where we've become speechless, wading through uncharted territory. Our eyes have finally been opened to the stronghold Satan has on this city. To be honest, it's been hard not to become discouraged. It has felt as if all the steps we've taken forward with three specific friends, they've taken double the steps back in a matter of a few weeks. It's been hard for me not to become frustrated and it's been hard for my pride not to get in the way of things. It is the LORD's hand, not mine, that is working in the lives our students. It is His doing that brings students to Him. He knows the future and He has great plans for Nagykanizsa. Whether I can see that or not, all I can do is believe. There is no way Samantha and I could taken these on situations on our own. Therefore, we've lifted them up to Him. Please pray that Samantha and I will seek and continue to seek God because we need Him, especially through trials and tribulations that are sure to come.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" -Psalms 90:12
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." -Proverbs 9:10

There have been great things this month, don't get me wrong! I now have two new students for the summer, and have had many great spiritual conversations. Never has my faith been stronger than it is now and never have I felt so powerless but yet at the same time so content. God's using situations that I lack control of and teaching me to rely on him even more. Situations I can't fix, He can! He's even showing me the messy bits and pieces of myself that I can't fix, He can. Talk about a humbling experience. God delights in us, although we're messy and broken (Psalms 18:19). That's why I love Him so much!

Blessings,
Kaitlyn

 Training for a Half-Marathon. Look at the beautiful trial I get the pleasure of running on! 

Girls eating French Toast the morning of our second sleepover

A Few weeks ago we traveled to Pécs. It's a beautiful city, with over 35,000 college students. 

Found a beautiful field of poppies. They grow wild every year.  

Got to visit our first Hungarian Castle: Sümëg. So COOL! 

A beautiful view of Lake Balaton. 

Our last day with Megan before she headed back to the states. She is doing great, although not enjoying the Las Vegas heat. 

 Went Geocaching with Sárá! After searching for a long time we finally found the cache hanging from a branch in a tree. 

 We started growing a little garden on our balcony. It's looking quite cute! 

Bought a Magyarország jersey to support Hungary in the European Cup.

Samantha and I after watching the Iceland/Hungary football match in our town square.

Annette, Samantha, and I enjoying day with each other. 

Forever His

Friends and Family,

This past weekend Samantha, Megan and I invited a group of high school girls to come and spend the night at our flat for a girls night/Bible study retreat. Our theme: Identity in Christ.

Beginning Friday night we had six girls (SIX!) come to spend the night. I began the night by leading a bible study showing who we are and how we're defined if we have a personal relationship with Jesus. To see for yourself I encourage you to look up these verses: You are God's masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), you are significant (1 Peter 2:9), you are created for a purpose (Jeremiah 29:11), you are loved (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 5:6-7), you are forgiven/free (Romans 8:1-2; Colossians 1:13-14), you are accepted (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), you are secured (Romans 8:35-39, Philippians 3:20), you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and you are a child of God (1 John 3:1). Each student was given one of those bible verses to read out loud and afterwards we discussed which each one meant. Along with looking up these bible verses I showed them a wonderful video that talked about four identity myths we as a society like to believe in.

The 4 Identity Myths

Megan led a wonderful craft activity, that helped illustrate how God defines us. We were all gathered around a table, chatting, when all of a sudden Megan grabbed a beautiful piece of scrapbook paper and tore it in half.  Well of course, this grabbed our attention. She continued to explain that because of our sin we are like this ripped piece of paper. We are broken, messed up. But through a relationship with Christ he puts us back together and makes us into a masterpiece. So we all began ripping pieces of scrapbooking paper and gluing them onto a new piece of paper, creating a collage of colors. Once our collage was done we added "I Am" at the top, along with words such as "redeemed," "chosen," "loved," "accepted," and many, many others. What was once messed up and broken became a masterpiece, a work of art.

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, games and of course Disney movies! It brought joy to my heart when us oldies went to bed but heard whispering, laughing and then yelling "shhhhh!" until the wee morning hours. It reminded me so much of my early mission trips that were so influential in my walk with Christ. It reminded me of Life Together. It was an environment where these girls could just be themselves, an environment where they felt comfortable. In the morning we all got up for an American pancake breakfast! The six girls thought it was so much fun to flip the pancakes and make big stacks of them on a plate. On the table we had a layout of many toppings to choose from and showed the girls how to stack, layer and then eat the pancakes because one of the girls tried to roll them like palacsinta (their version of a pancake) which proved to be very unsuccessful.

Afterwards Samantha gathered the girls around in the living room for the final bible study. She taught on Ephesians 2:1-10 (Stance before God) and did an amazingly wonderful job! A couple of students read the passage for us and we began to discuss it. Either we are in the Kingdom of Darkness, or the Kingdom of Light. Placed on a door, Samantha drew two castles, colored accordingly to the kingdoms. Each student was given a notecard with a description on it. "Dead in sin," "following Satan," "alive in Christ," "obedient", etc. One by one the girls taped their cards underneath the kingdom it belonged to. Samantha then went on to explain how we are all born in the Kingdom of Darkness. No one has to teach a child to disobey, lie, or be selfish. We are all born that way. So how do we get into the Kingdom of Light? Is there hope? Samantha placed a cross between the two kingdoms. Only through Christ can one go from the Kingdom of Darkness to Light. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that its by Gods grace, not by our works. We cannot get to Heaven through our own merit. Christ died for us, this is how we are able to be in the Kingdom of Light and have communion with God, through Gods gift.

Throughout our time with the girls we emphasized that without a personal relationship with God, our identity is not "redeemed," "chosen," or "new creation." Without him we're still in the Kingdom of Darkness. Thus the message puts us in a position to make a decision. We will believe in Gods word or choose to ignore it? Where does your identity lie? Are you going to let the world define who you are or are you going to let God?

Many of the girls seemed to have been soaking in every word and really thinking about what was being said this past weekend. Please pray that they would continue to think about all that God has done for them and the great love he has for them.

Love and miss you!
Kaitlyn

Város Napja (Town Day)

Petra, Vírag, Megan, Me and Samantha hanging out during Város Napja

Fire Works Show! We had the perfect view from our balcony! 

The girls and I learning how to cook traditional Hungarian food for a Goulash party

A beautiful little village we came across while taking a Sunday drive