Why Hungary?

In six months, I'll be leaving my home for the past five years and moving to Budapest, Hungary. Ever since I first went to Hungary in the summer of 2015, I've had a hard time conveying to others the love that I have for this little Central European country. For a while, whenever I tried to tell people about my first summer spent in Hungary, I just couldn't get out a single coherent sentence. A year and a half later, I've now traveled to Hungary three times; twice to serve with the mission organization, Cru, and once for a vision trip to see what life will be like when I live there. These additional trips have helped me to expand on my answer for the question "Why Hungary?"

Heroes Square

God has placed a passionate love for Hungary on my heart. He's called me there twice, and each of those mission projects profoundly impacted me in different ways. The first summer I served at SpeakOut Hungary, in 2015, I was stretched to learn how to be open and transparent in a discipleship setting. I also learned new ways to evangelize and got to experience the joys and challenges of sharing the gospel with Hungarian students. God grew me a lot that summer in Hungary. When it ended, I saw, yet content, to return to my life in Memphis. Upon returning, I decided I probably wouldn't go back to Hungary. It was an amazing experience, but I didn't feel the pull to go back.

Parliament

In January 2016, however, God made it clear He was calling me to Hungary again. This time, I'd be going to SpeakOut without my best friend, and I was a bit reluctant to go because of that. God ended up using my time at SpeakOut 2016 to expand my ministry vision, and give me a clear direction of His calling on my life. Up until now, I've been working as a private tutor and nanny, which I knew wasn't my long-term plan. I just didn't know what God was calling me to long-term.



 About a week into my second summer in Hungary, God placed the idea of teaching in Hungary on my heart. At first, I began considering teaching at the international Christian school in Budapest. Two of my American roommates grew up in Budapest and attended that school, so I was able to ask them lots of questions. Then, I started talking to my discipleship group leader and found out she previously taught in Hungarian high schools. I had no idea that Americans could teach in public Hungarian schools. She encouraged me to pray about the opportunity, so I left Hungary that summer praying about where God is leading me. Through her, I heard about the organization Teach Beyond, which is the organization I am now partnered with.

My time in Hungary has given me a deep love for Hungarian students. I appreciate how open they are, their general eagerness to learn, their love for wanting to make a change. I absolutely love Hungarian culture. My vision is to see Hungary transformed for Christ. I can play a part in this by ministering to students as an English teacher. I'm incredibly excited for this calling God has for me, and I can't wait to spend my days working with Hungarian students this fall.