SpeakOut 2016: Hungary Mission

2015 SpeakOut Staff

Last summer, I had the incredible opportunity to serve with Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) at SpeakOut in Hungary. God taught me a lot about serving Him, witnessing, and trusting His Him through that experience. Since coming home, I have been able to take the training and experience I received there to continue to share the gospel.

This summer, I am excited to be returning to SpeakOut. SpeakOut is a unique ministry opportunity. It's a five week program, running from June 30th through August 3rd, where Americans live at a college dorm and run weekly English camps for Hungarian campers. As an American tutor, I will have 3-5 girls in my tutor group. Each week, a new group of campers come, and through daily "tutor times," we share the gospel with them. My favorite part about SpeakOut is that we share the gospel by living our lives with them: we go to the beach, the town square, the cafeteria, etc, and simply live life with them while showing them the love of Christ. SpeakOut is based on the idea found in 1 Thessalonians 2:8: " Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us." By sharing our lives with our campers, the American tutors are able to share the gospel in a very personal way. I think this is what makes SpeakOut such an amazing ministry project.

In order for me to take part in this ministry opportunity, there are two specific needs. First, I need prayer partners. This would be completely impossible without a lot of prayer. Would you please consider committing to partner in prayer with me? The second need that I have is financial support. The total cost for the trip is $4,350. This includes airfare, lodging, food and ministry materials. This is a daunting need, but I faith that it can be met. Would you please consider praying about joining me as a financial partner? The ideal date to have all of the funds raised by is June 1st.

If you would like to commit to being a prayer partner, please let me know! I will be sending out specific prayer requests leading up to the project and during the project as well. If you are interested in supporting me financially, you can do so by donating online at https://give.cru.org/0760455

As I prepare for this project, I am reminded of Romans 10:14: "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?"

Thank you for considering partnering with me to help share the gospel in Keszthely, Hungary this summer.

The Most Important Question

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We all answer lots of questions every single day (if you spend time with kids, you answers lots and lots of questions in a day). But what is the most important question you need to have an answer for?

It isn't:"What do you want out of life?"

It isn't: "Who do you want to be?"

It isn't: "What will my future look like?"

These are all questions we all find ourselves facing at some point. But none of them matter nearly as much as the most important question.

The most important question to answer is "Who do you say that Jesus is?"

In Mark 8:29, Jesus asks His disciples "Who do you say I am?" Our answer to this single question determines how we live our lives. In the inductive study on Mark that I am working through, Kay Arthur declares, "What we think about Jesus determines our destiny." If we think that Christ is a myth, we'll live according to the belief. If we acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah, this belief will revolutionize our lives.

If you have answers for every little question regarding your future, but do not have an answer for who you consider Jesus to be, you've missed the most important question of all. We have to know who Jesus is so that we can live our lives according to who He is. Our belief in who Jesus is has eternal consequences.

Kay Arthur concludes the study on Mark 8 by saying, "We are called to declare Jesus as the Christ and to commit ourselves to following Him, no matter the cost."

Many questions seem important, but there is only one that is truly the most important question: Do you have an answer to the question Jesus asked his disciples in Mark 8? Do you live your life believing that Jesus is Christ?

Perfection

Confession time: I've struggled with perfectionism for as long as I can remember. As a natural overachiever, I've always leaned toward expecting myself to be perfect.

But that's not possible. It's never going to happen. 

Why do we place so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect? To have the perfect life plan after college? To always be perfectly in control of our emotions? To have perfect relationships? To love perfectly? To create the perfect life in general?

We can't work toward perfection. It'll just cause anxiety. We all want to be more than we are, but God's intent for humans was renounced in the Garden. When sin entered the world, perfection left the world. Sin and perfection can't exist together. 

Perfection is impossible for us in this fallen world, yet God commands it in Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  

Perfection isn't an attainable goal for us on our own. That's the point. God wants us to rely on Him to be made perfect. Think of the consequences of trying to be perfect on our own: we get anxious when we fail, we end up having a negative view of ourselves because we keep failing, we promise ourselves we'll do better, then the cycle starts over when we fail for the umpteenth time. Instead of relying on God to work in our lives, we rely on ourselves to change our own lives, which could never work. Striving for perfection on our own is like believing that perfection is possible without God. The truth is, we have to continually be turning to Christ to work in our lives so that we can be molded into who He wants us to be. And when we fail, grace meets us where we at.

I'd much rather live knowing I don't have to be perfect because God sent His perfect Son to take my sin, than live a life trying to attain perfection on my own. God commands perfection, but extends grace to us because we can never achieve it in this fallen world.

In Philippians 3:12, Paul writes "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." Like Paul, we must press on. We can't achieve perfection, but we can trust that God's grace never fails. We are to be like Christ, but God gives us remarkable grace in pursuit of this command.

I've gotten much better in my struggle with perfection. But certainly not because I've gotten anywhere remotely close to reaching it. There are days I fail at loving, fail at nurturing relationships, crumble at the idea of thinking about having a life plan figured out, and completely bomb controlling my emotions. I'm not perfect. It's freeing to know that God's grace covers all of my imperfections. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 is a comfort to me tonight: "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

{Book Review} "Jesus: Understanding His Death and Resurrection"by Kay and David Arthur

Jesus: Understanding His Death and Resurrection is part three of the 40 Minute study on Mark. Just like in books one and two of this study on Mark, this book guides readers through an inductive study of Mark. This final installation of the series focuses on Mark 14-16. The three chapters are split into six concise "lessons," each intended to take forty minutes or less, which makes the study ideal for groups with limited meeting time. 

Each week of the study begins with an introduction to the text, then proceeds to guide readers through "observing" the text by marking it inductively, then continues on to ask discussion questions. Each week is nicely summed up in a "wrap it up" section at the end of each lesson. This third book of the series is a wonderful way to study the final three chapters of Mark as readers are guided through understanding Jesus' death and resurrection. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of the book of Mark through completing all three parts of this 40 minute study.

Inductive Bible studies are a great way to really dig into studying the Word, and this study on Mark is a great starting point for those new to the method. 

My inductive study of Mark 4

I received a copy of this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this honest review.

Stepping Out: Summer Missions

Town Square in Kesztehly, Hungary

Today I finally submitted my application with Cru Summer Missions for SpeakOut 2016 in Hungary. I filled the application out back in November, but I wasn't ready to submit it. Until today. I finally felt ready to hit "submit."

Just like when I filled the application out for the same project last year, I was incredibly scared at the idea of actually getting accepted and going to another country for five weeks. Hitting "submit" means I am willing to go if the project director approves me. Having faith that God already knows how He will have me spend this summer was hard for me. Hitting "submit" felt like too big of a commitment for this noncommital girl. But I'm so glad I did.

SpeakOut 2015 American team selfie in the DC airport before heading to Hungary

When I was leaving SpeakOut last year, several of my campers asked if I would be coming back in 2016. I told them all the same thing: I simply don't know.  I'm not one to enjoy thinking way far in advance, and contemplating my future downright petrifies me, so when I got asked about my plans for the summer of 2016 back in July 2015, I couldn't even wrap my mind around thinking about whether or not God would bring me back to Hungary. I had other people on my team who were already saying they planned to come back. I couldn't understand how they could possibly know that already! I envied their ability to think that far in advance.

 When I came home, I began to pray about whether I would go back. After months of prayer, I finally felt like it was time to finish my application. So today, I hit "submit" and decided to trust my summer to God. Last summer, at the end of SpeakOut 2015, I had no idea if I'd return in 2016, but God knew that I would eventually realize He is calling me back. I'm so excited about the idea of going back and ministering to many more Hungarians!

SpeakOut 2015 team selfie on a boat on Lake Balaton

Cru has many summer mission project, both in the U.S. and globally! Check them out here: http://www.cru.org/opportunities/mission-trips.html

Sharing My Testimony

My first week campers from SpeakOut in Hungary.

 They were the first Hungarians I shared my testimony with. 

Before I went on my mission to Hungary last summer, I spent a lot of time preparing my personal testimony. I practiced it and practiced it until I felt I could share with my campers in the clearest way possible. Today, I thought it'd be nice to share my testimony here.

When I was twelve years old, I went with my youth group to a Student Life summer camp. I was raised in a Christian home, and have gone to church for as long as I can remember. Up until that point in my life, I was what could be called a "cultural Christian." I went to church because it was expected, I prayed because it's what everyone else did at church, and I tried my best to always do the right thing.

The worship band at the camp played a song one night called "Friend of God." It was then that I realized that the Creator of the universe, and the One who sent His Son to die on the cross for my sins, wants me as a friend. I had been living the cultural Christian lifestyle without ever deciding to have a personal relationship with my Savior. God wants to be my friend, and all I had done in return was try not to do anything bad. I had been told many times that Christ died for my sins, and I believed it. But it wasn't until I realized I had only been living as a cultural Christian that I knew I needed to make a change.

That night, on July 12, 2007, I recognized my need for a Savior and began my relationship with Christ. Since then, I have grown in my walk with Christ, but I still fall short. I am so thankful for the truth John writes in 1 John 1:9, which says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is so comforting to know that no matter how badly I mess up, I can turn to God for forgiveness. God's grace is amazing, for sure.

Listen to "Friend of God" now!

Contentment

I think my word for 2016 needs to be "contentment." Lately, this has been a real struggle for me. But not in the way you might think. I don't have any problems with being content with what I have. I know I am blessed to have a safe home, a wonderful family, amazing friends, food, clothing, etc. The thing that I struggle to be content with is where I am. My contentment struggle has nothing to do with what; it has everything to do with where. 

Almost four years ago, I moved from Nashville to Memphis. To say that I hate Memphis would be an understatement. I love and miss Nashville so much. I miss my friends there. I miss the city. I miss the life I had there. This year, my goal is simply to have a better attitude about living in Memphis. I know that God has me living here for a purpose, and not being content with where He has me is wrong. Knowing this and actually living like I believe it are two different things. It's easy to say that I need to be content with living where I live. It's much harder to actually be content here.

When I looked up Bible verses on contentment, I ended up in Philippians. 

Paul wrote this while he was imprisoned. Here I am struggling with being content living in a city I simply don't like, and Paul is writing that he is content...in prison! Wow. God had Paul in that prison for a purpose, and He has me in Memphis for a purpose. I have to seriously work on being "content in whatever circumstances I am." Paul was content in prison; I have no excuse for having a negative attitude and being discontent in Memphis.

In 2016, I am going to actively work toward being content in where God has placed me. What area of your life do you need to work to be content with?

Satisfaction Part II

I was reading through my journal entries from a study I did on satisfaction with a couple of friends and came across another entry I'd like to share.

August 9, 2015

Today for my study on satisfaction, I want to discover how trust in God is related to the satisfaction we find in Him. Today, my friend made the connection to our fear of the Lord directly impacting the satisfaction that we find in Him. Tonight, I'm just going to see where my wandering mind takes me.

When my friend linked our fear for the Lord with the satisfaction that we find in Him, it got me thinking about another thing that is directly related to the satisfaction we receive from God: our trust in Him. Pslams 9:10 says, "And for those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." First, we have to know His name. Knowing His name leads to trusting Him. When we trust Him completely, we find our satisfaction in Him alone. If we don't first trust God, we'll never find true satisfaction in Him. If we trust Him in all areas of our lives, turning to Him for satisfaction will be natural. I think that not fully trusting that God has a plan for our lives can lead us to search in other places for satisfaction. We look to our friends, family, work, relationships, substances, etc for satisfaction instead of trusting God to bring us full satisfaction. We have to trust God completely so that we can rely on Him for full satisfaction. We know His name and know that He won't forsake us. This is so amazing. 

God-Thing: Looking for Ways to Love

A couple of nights ago, I was feeling really sick and pretty much not up to doing anything. I couldn't eat much, but I was able to keep down a Naked fruit juice drink for dinner. I had plans to leave for Nashville at five the next morning, so I decided I should buy another fruit juice drink to have in the morning since my stomach seemed to be able to handle it. I had already changed into pajamas and felt just plain terrible, so I convinced my little brother to come with me to the store so he could run in and get it for me, and I wouldn't have to get out of my car. So, at ten o'clock at night, in pajamas, I headed for Kroger. 

We got there right before it closed, and my brother went in to find the drink. He called me twice to make sure he was getting the right one, and assured me he had read the nutrition label to make sure I wasn't allergic to it. He came back out, and I started to drive off when he noticed a homeless man outside of the other entrance. I don't give money to homeless people because I don't feel like that is the best way to help them since they could spend the money on drugs, but I like to look for ways that I can help. We happened to have some snacks in the car, so we gave the man some granola bars and coffee cake, since that was all we had. I started to drive off, but felt that we should go back to help him more. I gave my little brother some more money and told him to go buy the guy something to drink. When my brother walked by him, he asked the man what kind of drink he would like, but the man said we'd helped enough and wouldn't accept my brother's offer to buy him a drink. 

My brother got back in my car and we started to leave the parking lot, but my brother suggested we go to the fast food restaurant at the other end of the parking lot to get the man a gift card. I parked and, and my brother ran inside to get the gift card. While my brother was inside, I saw the homeless man starting to leave, so I got his attention and explained that we wanted to give him a gift card. While my brother bought the card, I was able to talk with the man. I found out his name is Willie and he frequents this Kroger. I told him I live nearby, and come to this Kroger almost daily, but I'd never seen him. Then he told me he recognized me, and that I normally walk really fast through the parking lot. He said he recognized my brother, too.

After my brother came out and gave him the gift card, he thanked us and told us we are beautiful people. We told him we'd be praying for him, and then headed home. As we pulled out of the parking lot, we saw the man hurry inside the restaurant. On the drive home, I asked my brother if he had ever seen the man before, and he said yes, but that he'd never talked to him. How many times had we both just walked right by Willie when we could have helped him?

I explained to my little brother how that night was a total God-thing. I don't normally talk to homeless men when I'm alone. For safety reasons, I don't really talk to any guy when I'm out alone at night in Memphis. Because I was sick, my little brother came with me, and God used us to show His love to Willie. If I hadn't been sick, neither one of us would have been at Kroger that night. If we hadn't been planning to travel the next morning, we wouldn't have had snacks in my car, and we wouldn't have had anything to give Willie. God orchestrated that night so beautifully, and I am so grateful God gave my brother and I the opportunity to shock WIllie with Christian love. I am praying that I can see him again. I've been back to that Kroger several times since that night (twice today, actually) and haven't seen him. I pray that I never pass by him again. It was so convicting when he recognized me as the lady that walks quickly past everyone in the parking lot. How many times have I just walked by him? It is my prayer that I never forget to look for ways to love. 

Shocking People with Love

I teach high school English, and an assignment I like to give my students at the end of each class involves me giving them a quote and having them free write for ten minutes about what that specific quote means to them. I like to make them think about things that wouldn't normally spend much time pondering.
In a recent class, I asked my students to write about what they think about Marjorie Hinckley once saying, "There isn't a person you wouldn't love if you could read their story." I instructed my students to really think about whether or not they agree with that statement, and how their opinion affects how they live their lives. I had one student share that he disagrees because even if we could know everyone's stories, there are still some people, like Hitler, who would just be impossible to love.

The truth is, unfortunately, we can't know everybody's stories. It's impossible to know the history of everyone we come into contact with. It's much easier to show love to close friends than to total stranger who harm us in some way. I think this is because we show our friends extra grace because we know about the hard things in their lives. As Christians, we're called to love everyone, even though we don't have the opportunity to know everyone's personal stories. I don't know the story of the man that mugged an older lady in a parking lot I was in last year, which terrified me, yet I'm still called to love that man.

So, while I see why my student struggled with the idea of loving everyone if we could know their stories, I can't agree with him that it's impossible. It's hard, yes. Very hard. Sometimes loving people we know closely can be tremendously difficult, so loving people whose personal backgrounds are a mystery to us can be even harder. I think that Hinckley has a point when she says it'd be easier to love if we could know everyone's stories, but at the same time, I think my student has a point as well. While knowing Hitler's life story may make loving him easier, it wouldn't magically make loving him easy.

Thankfully, we have Jesus as our example of love. He loved the very men who put Him on the cross. Now that's love. The next time I struggle with showing love to someone, I need to remember that I don't know their story, and giving them grace is the best way I can show Christian love. Francis Chan says that he "Wants to shock his enemies with Christian love." I adore this quote. I often write the word "shock" on my hand as a reminder to love fiercely.

So, while I do think knowing everyone's life stories would make loving people much easier, I can't let the fact that that's impossible stop me from loving. It just makes the responsibility a little harder. Today, I hope I was able to shock a few people. This is my prayer for everyday.

Trusting God: SpeakOut 2015

Emily and I in Budapest

Random fact: five minutes after meeting my best friend, Emily, we agreed we needed to go to Europe together someday. Last summer, three years after we met, we actually found ourselves in Europe together for five weeks.
Around this time last year, Emily and I were talking on the phone about who-knows-what when the conversation turned to mission trips. She told me that she was thinking about going on a mission project with Cru to Hungary. "That's cool," I thought, and we didn't talk about it again for a few months.
In February or early March, she told me she had applied and been accepted. She was super excited and continued to tell me all about it. I found out it was a five week long project called "SpeakOut." SpeakOut is an English camp that Cru puts on for Hungarian high school and college students. Basically, Emily told me she would be a tutor who would share the Gospel with her campers through tutoring them in English. I have an English degree, and I had been praying about an opportunity to teach English overseas, so when she told me more and more about the project, I got excited, too. I began to pray about whether I should apply to be a part of SpeakOut 2015.

The deadline to apply for the project was March 31st. On March 30th, I still wasn't sure if I should apply. I have some serious food allergies, and I was hesitant to apply to go somewhere for five weeks where I would have to trust the school chef to cook food that was safe for me. This probably sounds ridiculous, but I have major trust issues when it comes to letting people cook for me. Being allergic to gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs, grapefruit and chickpeas pretty much means I'm impossible to cook for. I don't even trust my family to cook for me.  This sounds so dumb to me now, but the biggest reason I was afraid to apply for the project was that I was afraid I'd get sick from the food. I ended up emailing the project director about this, and he reassured me that the school cooks would make meals safe for me, and that I shouldn't let that keep me from applying. So I did it. At eleven p.m. on the day of the deadline, I filled out the application. I will forever be glad that I did.

Emily had to wait about a month to hear that she had been accepted. Three or four days after I applied, she and I were talking on the phone, and I told her that waiting to hear if I was accepted was killing me. I just wanted to know! Little did I know that while I was on the phone with her, the project director had emailed me letting me know that they would like me to be a part of the project. And just like that, I found myself overwhelmed at the idea of going to Europe for five weeks. The only thing that kept me from freaking out whenever I thought about it was prayer. I'd pray nearly every time I thought about SpeakOut because the thought of it made me worry about a million different things. Before the project even began, I was having to work on trusting God more than ever.

I went to Hungary praying that God would use me to change people's lives, but I believe that God used SpeakOut to change my own life as well. I learned more about trusting Him, not putting Him in a box, the important of Christian community, and how to be bold in sharing what I believe with others--even to people who speak another language--and so much more. If I had let my fears about applying for the project keep me from applying, I would have missed out on all God had in store for me in the small city of Keszthely, Hungary. Something as small as my inconvenient food allergies came close to keeping me from following where God was leading me. I am grateful God gave me the courage to trust Him in this endeavor because it led to one of the best experiences of my life. I just had to trust God to take that first step in applying for SpeakOut. It's true that the first step is the scariest. Hitting "submit" on my application was daunting, but led to the most amazing summer of my life and led to friendships I now cherish.