This past week, I returned to Budapest, Hungary for a week of ministry in Hungarian high schools. Here are some of the highlights of the week:

Monday – I had the chance to share a little bit of my testimony in a classroom with a small group. After school, I went with 2 teammates to do some random evangelism. We had an opportunity to talk with a group of 7 students that we had met earlier in the day while speaking in their English class.

Tuesday – My teammate Jillian got to share the gospel with a girl, Nori, that I had met on Monday in a Hungarian school. Jillian spent 4 years living in Budapest with her family. They are with Campus Crusade. Jillian shared the gospel in Hungarian and then I had an opportunity to share my testimony as we were answering some questions that Nori had.

At the student leadership meeting, I had the joy of seeing George. He was a student in Debrecen and was involved in the ministry while Anne and I lived there in 1998. I had not seen George in almost 10 years. He and his wife are on staff with the Campus ministry in Budapest. It is exciting to see enduring fruit from the ministry that we were involved with in Debrecen. He also caught me up on several others who had been student leaders in our ministry there.

Wednesday – I got to go back to a Catholic boy’s school that I had been in a year ago (pictured above). I saw Balint, a boy that I had talked with last year but did not get into spiritual things. I found out that he is a Christian and has been involved in the high school ministry here in Budapest. He has gone out with several of the staff when they have shared their faith. It was exciting to hear what God is doing in Balint’s life. (There is a picture of Balint on our February newsletter.)

Thursday – We tried to pass out flyers for the Battle of the Bands outreach. This day was a national holiday. We did not find a lot of students but did get to witness a couple of political rallies in the city. Hungarians are unhappy with their present government and there were threats of large demonstrations and even some violence. There was a small element of right wingers who caused some minor problems. We were never in any danger because the problems happened at night and we stayed away from the areas we knew would be a target.

Friday – Hundreds of students attended the Battle of the Bands outreach. I do not yet know the numbers or how many showed spiritual interest.

Earlier in the day, I witnessed some university students playing softball in a park. This was an unusual thing in Hungary. I approached them to ask about it and next thing I know, I got to play with them for a couple of hours. It was a very fun memory of my time here.

Today I am enjoying some good time with my Hungarian friend Laci. I met him 17 years ago when I first came to Hungary on a summer project. I added a couple of days to my trip so that I could spend time with him and his family. They are about to have their third child so both of our families are on a similar life course. Laci directs the university ministry for Campus Crusade for Christ in Budapest.
On Friday, my team and I finished up our week of ministry in Hungarian high schools. We enjoyed going into the classrooms and having conversations with Hungarian students. I was able to talk a little bit about my faith in different discussions.

One of the highlights of the trip for me came last Monday. After school, I was out with Jillian and Caleb, 2 students from Orlando. We had the opportunity to talk with a group of 7-8 students. About 3 of them were very interested in spiritual things and we had the chance to share about our lives and give them 4 Spiritual Laws booklets. It was fun to hang out with them. One of the guys offered to buy me a beer which was a very gracious gesture. (I very gracefully refused but did my best to show my appreciation for his gesture.) It shows how much they trusted us and enjoyed engaging in conversation.

Later today, Laci and I are going to a university to try to talk with some students and share our faith. I look forward to a chance to do ministry with my good friend and do ministry in a university which I have not done in Hungary since we lived here almost 10 years ago.