There have been many happenings here in Budapest since the last time I wrote. I hope that you all had a blessed Easter and were able to set aside time to be with God and thank Him for the sacrifice of His Son. Experiencing my first Easter here, I learned some of the differences between Hungarian and American Easter. For one, the day we call Good Friday is known here as Nágy Péntek (literally big Friday). I had more that one Hungarian ask me why we call it ‘Good’ when it’s really the day we crucified Christ, great question. Another difference is that the day after Easter is a national holiday and shops are closed. Traditionally on this day, young men recite poetry to their lady friends and douse them with cold water in return for home baked goods. Today this tradition is less popular and has been largely replaced by spraying the girls with perfume in return for chocolates.
Another neat opportunity I had in the past few weeks was to attend the dedication of a small community center in a village called Tartar-Szent-Gyorg that my church helped to build. The village is almost entirely Roma people (who are looked down on by other Hungarians) and has had a lot of crime and a high percentage of students dropping out of school. This past year a young Hungarian couple moved there as missionaries and this community center will help them provide a place for students to have fun and build relationships while staying out of trouble. It is exciting for me to be a part of a church here that is reaching out to other places in Hungary.
This past month I have continued to feel encouraged about growth in my relationships. Last week Wednesday I had the opportunity to spend half a day with the woman who I meet with for Bible study one on one. We went to an arboretum, had lunch and went second hand shopping. I truly believe God is working in her heart, and I think she is very close to making a decision for Christ. The past few times we have met, she has been brought to tears by the words of Jesus, how the disciples interacted with Him and by praying together at the end of the lesson. Please pray that God would continue to call her to Himself and that the barriers that are keeping her from placing her trust in Him might be removed.
Another relationship that has been on the forefront of my mind is my relationship with the young woman from Karoli University. I have been meeting with her once a week and we talk about life and purpose and relationships. I have been able to really share about the amazing things that God has done in my life, and I have been able to listen to her heart and her dreams. She grew up in a nominally Catholic home where her family believes in God, but doesn’t read the Bible or attend church. When I invited her to come pray with us after class, she said she would like to, but didn’t have the ‘prayers’ memorized in English. I explained that you don’t need to say the right words, just to come and talk to God. She came the past two weeks and really loved being there and praying with us. We got together again last night and as we were talking, she started sharing how she wishes that she could convince her family to go to church with her. In just the short amount of time that I have been able to spend with her, I can see God moving in her life. My big pray for her right now, is to understand the difference between being religious and having a personal relationship with Christ.
The last big piece of news that I want to share is that I had my first visitor from home! My friend Ashma had a conference in Vienna last week and was able to come to Budapest for a day at the end of the week! Then Friday afternoon, I took the train back to Vienna with her (only about a 3 hour ride) and hung out and spent the night before she had to fly home Saturday. It was so wonderful to see her and to catch up on some of the news from home. It is also fun for me to get to be a tour guide here in Budapest and spout off all of the random things that I have learned in my first 7 months here :) It was my first time in Austria and we even happened upon some kind of festival happening in the city filled with people in the traditional Austrian dress. So cool!
So thank you all for you prayers, support and love. As always, please feel free to get in touch with me as I love to hear from all of you (even if I am slow to reply)!
Liz