g a r r e t t

Winter 2009/10: Bucharest, Romania.

2009-12-30T07:22:00.001-08:00

I received a month off for winter break and decided to roll with a friend and fellow intern (Jean) to his home town of Bucharest Romania. We're staying at Calvary Chapel Bucharest and have been working with local youth; ie- participated with a gift exchange, street children outreach, homework clubs, and presentations/teachings with youth clubs.

I need to be back in Hungary by Jan 17th to serve at a couple conferences at ccbce(.com) and finish out my internship, which expires Feb 10th, 2010.

What's next? I've been meditating on moving to Ireland/UK to seek work. I'm in the process of attaining Irish citizenship (due to my late grandfather), which would allow me to work, live and get benefits in most places in the EU. If doors do not open in this direction, i will most likely move back to the States.

Please pray that He'd strengthen my walk, provide vision/provision for the next step and hook Jean and i up with solid opportunities/motivation to get out of the cozy building we're staying at to meet people.

Happy New Year y'all!

Backa Topola, Serbia; Dec 2009

2009-12-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

This was my last and perhaps best weekend outreach trip of my two years of bible college/internship; we are required to take at least one of these trip per semester along with a 10-day-outreach. The ministry in Backa Topola is headed up by Pr. Tiawo who is from Nigeria. He married a Serbian gal, and has been serving in Northern Serbia for quite a while; they were very hospitable hosts. Our team got along great with each other and the church, who seemed to have been on their own mission to make us gain weight through excessively feeding us delicious authentic Serbian meals; they were very successful! Viva Serbia!

We were able to serve and encourage the young adults, youth & children's ministry during our stay. We also met many of the city's youth, by playing music in the city centre, which lead us into some great conversation in regards to why we were in there. It was amazing to witness how many Serbian kids actually speak proper English. Kids were very open to talk and were surprisingly friendly with us and intrigued by our team.

Moldova pics from Oct 2009

2009-12-13T10:38:00.001-08:00

Took our team over thirty hours to arrive in Moldova in the two rent-a-cars we borrowed; we had delays at the Ukrainian and Moldovan boarders, trouble exchanging money in Ukraine, got lost, shared the gospel a few times, etc. This team was awesome and i can't recall hearing anyone complain the whole way there; it seemed miraculous :) The roads through Ukraine were really gnarly; tons of unexpected potholes on narrow roads flooded with semi-trucks.

Once in Moldova we met our hosts Steve and Teresa (see pic of couple holding baby); they were really cool, made us feel at home and kept us busy, but not too busy to burn us out! We spent time at a local youth club where we taught and gave testimonies, visited youth who were attending a delinquent school, invested a good amount of time on the streets talking with city teens, taught English classes in a primary school, visited a local hospital, went to a drug rehab centre where we performed the 'Everything Skit', visited local villages, spoke at a church in a neighboring town, and spent a lot of time hanging out with the local church body in Briceni.

The drive home was much quicker then our trip there (about 16 hours on the road total) and proved to be perhaps the most epic drive of my life! On our way to Moldova, the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, proved themselves to be very toilsome, yet our return voyage home presented a full moon with a cloudless night sky, leaving me in unspeakable awe by this breathtaking and ancient stretch of terrain of staggering slopes, corners and bounds. We almost didn't need to use our headlights it was so bright. I honestly felt like i was on another planet at times, and found myself in complete jaw-dropping worship, in light of my minuscule stature, in comparison to this nocturnal & peaceful range of creation, formerly known as the USSR. We wisely stopped at Nagy Isti's parent's house on the Hungarian/Ukranian boarder before making it back to the Castle.

Greece Pics from Sept 2009...

2009-12-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

The top four pics are at Phillipi, the fifth is the city of Kavala (a.k.a. Neopolis of Acts 16:11; the first city in Europe that the Apostle Paul went to), the sixth pic is at our camp site in the district of Thessaloniki (time of worship facing the Mediterranean and then Pr. Phil read 1st Thessalonians), and the final three pics are in the city of Thessaloniki.

Amazing bus rise there and back. We had some great opportunities to meet kids from the former Yugoslavia at the long boarder lines, who were on school trips down to Greece. I learned so much from listening to what life was like for them, and it was funny to hear all the stereotypes they had heard about American. Serbia was so beautiful and Macedonia really reminded me of highway 101 in California with it's many vineyards and rolling hills; go figure!

10-day trip to Moldova (Oct 23 - Nov 1).

2009-10-21T12:13:00.001-07:00

Hi y'all!
I'll be leading a team of 9 students on a 10-day outreach to Briceni Moldova (north on the first map shown...they spell it a bit different then the map shows); it's between Ukraine and Romania. Please keep us in your prayers:
1. That we would unite as a team with the church there and with each other.
2. For a fruitful time engaging with the community
3. For our time at the hospital we will visit
4. For the skit we are planning on doing
5. For a girl on our team who is sick; Candace.
6. Travel mercies: we only have two drivers and are using 2 cars (Isti and i) for a 13 to 16 hour ride; should be an intense journey... lots of pot-holes in the road in Ukraine... grace with the boarders and police there.
thanks for reading!!!
blessings...

Greece trip on the horizon; 9/24/09 to 9/28/09

2009-09-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

A door has been opened to visit Greece next weekend. We'll be going via bus through Serbia and once in Greece, we'll visit Thessalonica and the ruins of Phillipi. I'll be staying at a camp site on this trip to save a few duckets; should be some field trip as this was the apostle Paul's stomping ground!

Fall 09, Vajta Hungary

2009-09-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

Hello there! The summer has past and we are in week two of the semester at CCBCE (www.cbce.com). During the summer i managed our dishroom during conference season; we washed approximately 40,000 plates, cups, eating utinsels during our conference season.
A new intern has taken over the dish room and i'm overseeing 7 other ministries; Book Reports, Morning Devotionals/Announcements, Guys Dorm, Servanthood (Assigning/overseeing campus job detail), Off Campus Student Correspondence, Weekend Dishroom/Dinning Room/Conference Overseer. Things have been pretty non-stop!

Top pic:
My friend Jean (fellow intern from Bucharest) and i at Norbi's wedding last week.

Middle Pic:
Former student and friend Jake Stockill from Bradford England just paid us a delightful visit.

Bottom Pic:
I'm excited to be sharing a bunk with my good buddy Nagy, Isti from Budapest; ie- holding the napkin. New students: to my left is Kálmán (Romania), Arpi in the back, and Piros on the right (both from Hungary).

Upcoming events:
- Planning on leading a team to Moldova (between Ukraine/Romania) for our 10-day outreach (Oct 23 - Nov 1); that is, if students sign-up and doors continue to open. Pray for the pastors out there (Steven and Teresa), the community, and for a potential team to follow me out there. Sounds like a cool work and potentially an adventurous trip.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2881291.stm (BBC News article on poverty in Moldova).

Summer Itinerary (in a nutshell)...

2009-06-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

Summer Conference Season:
The Zichey Castle (here in hungary) goes from bible college to a busy conference center during the summer season, which is run by staff, interns, SOSers (summer of service) and A Vision-4-Life students (check out ccbce.com for details).

Summer Goals:
Daily Hungarian language studies
Finish last class

Next on the horizon???

14 days on the East Coast of the U.S. (July 1st-14th) for a family reunion, meeting up with Cros & Miria Morton to attempt to minister in NYC/Boston, and also trying to meet up with East Coast friends from High School era; should be adventurous.
I'd also like to make it out to England to visit some friends if the "Lord is willing and the creek don't rise;" as Mr. Harry Miller from The Family Care Network (FCNI) often said.

If you're the praying type, then please pray:

for the formation of this 14 Day trip; ie- for family, friends
for organization/locality/inspiriation of the the post reunion excursion w/ the Morton's.
for kids/students coming for AVFL/SOS... intimate life changing encounters/hearing, etc.
for staff/interns- unity/harmony/maturity/growth/break-through/etc...

Split Croatia 10 Day Outreach; Spring 09

2009-05-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

10 days in Split:

Split was an experience for sure. Most of our time was spent in the following ways:

1) Spent time with youth who frequent the coffee shop.

2) Trips into town to meet and converse with local youth and invite them back for coffee.

3) Assisted running the coffee shop that Calvary Chapel Split Croatia owns/operates.

4) Construction work at the coffee shop; painting, sanding & staining the spiral stairs, etc.

5) Hosted an open mic night.

Testimony: "stolen goods."

After walking a friend home with three people from my team, I approached a group of about 5 rough looking teenage boys. The alpha of the gang seemed to be in the process of fixing his scooter, while giving me about half of his attention as i verbally engaged he and his posse. Before sharing the good news with these lads, i began w/ the bad news by giving the good person test; ie- comparing oneself to the 10 commandments, while admitting my own failure to keep God's law. The leader replied with honesty and said, “sure, I’ve stolen thousands of times.” He then looked over his shoulder and then grabbed his lighter, running it over the front of the ignition socket. I suddenly discerned what was happening as he began to pry the front of the scooter off. He then speedily walked off with the aid of an accomplice to stash his newly stolen goods.

We began to pray for this young man and his friends and moments later he surprisingly returned to finish the conversation; it was so random but felt miraculous that he would return, yet perhaps he was perplexed that a person would talk to him about steeling in the process of his transgression of this civil and moral law. Robbery seemed to be so second nature to this lad, that he didn't seem to think anything of it.

We talked with the boys for about 45 minutes about the love of Christ, co-mingled with His justice, and substitutionary death and also about religion vs relationship with God. Seemed like most of these kids could really benefit much more from a mentor rather then a theological conversation from bible college students, but when your on the move, that's how it goes and God's word never returns void.

Please pray for:

For this young lad and his friends.
Scattered seed dropped in Split Croatia.
Tim and Grace's team of 7 that are living/serving/church planting in Split Croatia.

Preparing 4 Split Croatia 10 day Outreach; April 17-26

2009-04-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

Departing soon:
We are getting ready to depart to Split Croatia this Friday (April 17th - 27th).

The Team:
This team consists of 10 people from diverse backgrounds; I am very stoked on this!

Ági and Simona are from Budapest Hungary
Lilla is from Vajta Hungary
Danjiella from Bosnia; raised in Austria... she speaks lots of languages!
Claudia from Romania
Brooke (Temecula) & Rachael (S.D.) are both from Cali
Danni from Serbia
Joe (an older gentleman) from Florida

Croatia...
is one of 7 counties that made up the former Yugoslovia; ie- Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Montenegro & Macedonia. Croatia has been an independent country since 1991; wickopedia it if you have time and are interested on more detail!

Split is a popular vacation town for many European travelers; i've been told that there are many english speakers there :)

Tim and Grace have planted a church in split and will be hosting our team. We will be boarding in the coffee shop that they run.

Please pray:

For team unity, maturity, humility, supernatural love (toward eachother and those we encounter); ie- overflowing fruit of the Spirit, etc (Gal 5:22-23).
Spirit lead worshipful, service, prayer, traveling, etc.
For fruitfulness, sensitivity to His leading, divine opportunities to serve/speak.
For the miracle of Him using flawed/imperfect humans to carry out His eternal purposes.

ps- the statue above is of Diocletian who had/has a palace in Split; he lead one of the most intense persecutions upon the church in history.

Return to Eger Hungary...

2009-04-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

I just got back from an outreach where we hosted a youth club in a neighboring city to Eger Hungary, with 7 others from CCBCE, in support of CC Eger. We created activities, games, skits, presentations/teachings and had an easter egg hunt.

The trip was a blessed time. We had amazing weather, a solid team & high spirits. We also were able to play music on the streets and had some great interactions/conversations with local youth about the Lord :) Good times!!!

Winter in Hungary; nagyon hideg télem volt!

2009-02-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

During the winter break, Josh & i had the opportunity to serve at a youth camp at a castle that was rented in Tizadob, Hungary. Selected special need kids from surrounding villages were invited to join us for a camp and New Year's celebration; good times! We had a castle wide scavenger hunt, played some crazy hungarian games that i had never heard of, as well as some amazing games in the labyrinth outside, did presentations and had short times of teachings; this place was a youth leaders dream facility and the options in regards to activities seemed endless.

We spent Christmas w/ Balas and Leah Stanzels (great cooking/hospitality) where we got to spend some time serving in the community, then ten days in Eger (N. Hungary) doing practical outreach and we spent a couple weekends in Budapest (we saw Delirious...anointed concert!).

I learned much from my time & am happy to be back at the Bible College/Conference Center to start a year long internship here (ccbce.com).

If you're the praying type, please pray for:

Students, staff, interns and the many church plants in Hungary, E, Europe and beyond...
Direction/location for the 10 day outreach the interns will be attempting to lead... leadership would like to know where i might go by this Tues (Feb 10); pray for God's leading and vision to come.
Intimacy with the Lord...+ gratefulness for singleness!
Supernatural love for people on campus & in town (Vajta) & ballance w/ my responsibilities.
Diligence in my Hungarian studies... Igen!!!

peace and love to you all!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-23T04:11:00.000-08:00

I've decided to stay in Hungary over the break this winter and have made a commitment with Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe (CCBCE.com) to intern all of next year.

In regards to the break, i plan to travel exclusively in Hungary with a friend from the bible college named Josh (to my left in the above pic). First we'll be heading down to Pecs to spend Christmas with Leah and Balas Stanzel, then back up to Budapest for the weekend to catch a ride to Tizadob to work with an orphanage for a few days (including new years eve), then over to Eger and then Tatabanya for about a week each, to come along a couple new church plants; i have to be back at the bible college on Jan 20th to start the internship. I'll try to get some pics up asap!

Prayer requests:

Please pray for unity/growth/fruitfulness between Josh and I
12/29 - 1/1: for the kids at the orphanage outreach in Tizadob and for the team of about 10 going to serve.
1/2 - 1/19: for vision/effectiveness in regards to the new year with our time in Eger/Tatabanya...
Diligence in learning the Hungarian language and in regards to a class I'm taking over the break!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Grant Shea Crumpler 11/11/08

2008-11-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

My sister Carey had her first baby this month; what a handsome little guy...

Tatabánya, Hungary: Ten Day Outreach (10/16 - 10/26)

2008-11-25T05:34:00.000-08:00

For this semester's ten day outreach, i went to Tatabánya Hungary. We stayed at a very humbling dormitory with Hungarian and Romanian factory workers and university students, while hosting a rock concert in the basement, which was packed out with about 200 people. We spent time hanging out with youth in the skate park, while hosting activities and playing music (as seen in pic above), visited, taught and preformed music at an English club and also played music, taught and facilitated discussion at a local High School. We next visited a retirement home, where we performed a prodigal son skit. Very blessed time indeed!!!

Please pray for Pr. Janni and Pr. Matt who are planting a church in this town; for their families, provision, laborers and for the community of Tatabábanya)!

Crosby and Miria Morton... (9/6/08)

2008-11-25T05:10:00.001-08:00

Crosby and Miria Morton got married Sept 6th 2008; good times! The wedding was on the beach at Shell Beach. We chose an old hymn called "Here is Love" for communion; it's on the 'Passion Hymn' cd- rearranged by Matt Redman.

The song states, "here is love, vast as the ocean." While we chose the song, it was unbeknownst to me that the ceremony would be held on the beach, facing the Pacific Ocean. It was a amazing visual of the unsearchable limits of God's grace & love...

"no love is higher, no love is wider, no love is deeper, no love is truer. No love is like Your love oh Lord!"

2008-08-15T01:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished a three week long kids camp (Kid Zone) in Bradford England and will be preparing to leave for Hungary in 5 days; where i stay for a week before leaving for California. I will be in the States for 12 days and plan to be at Calvaryslo on Sept 7th. Looking forward to reconnecting! I am not permitted to put pics of the kids up from the camp due to confidentiality, although the last pic shown, is one of a couple big kids at heart; especially Luke Stockhill, who was dressed up as 'Super Nerd!!!' He even has a pocket protector if you look close enough.

Pic 1) Kid Zone Team 2) Pr. Jim 3) & 4) Preping for outreach in Quaint English town (forgot the name) 5) Luke Stockill dressed up by our kids for Super hero week at Kid Zone; Luke won best costume as Nerd Man!

At Buckingham Palace w/ the Hungarian Grain of Wheat Camp.

2008-08-15T00:57:00.000-07:00

During my first 10 days in England i was able to finally check out London with the team from Hungary; amazing city! Wish we could have spent more time there but we had an intensely busy schedule! In this pic we are in front of Buckingham Palace.

!st week in England (Scunthorpe); group 1 from Budapest...

2008-06-25T14:57:00.001-07:00

Just made it over to England last week and have been working with the above kids from Hungary this last week; touring England, bible studies, English lessons. We went to London today; amazing city!

If your the praying type... please pray:

That these kids would come to know the love & greatness of Jesus
Same for the next group of kids from Budapest (coming 7/5 to 7/15)
For the city kids i'll be working with in Bradford Engalnd (from 7/16 to 8/9)
For a personal anointing in regards to leading, teaching, loving these kids
For intinacy with the Lord...ability to practice his presence through the day...

In Budapest at Istvan and Peter's apartment...

2008-06-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

I am in budapest staying with twins Istvan and Peter and will head back to CCBCE in Vatja to grab my bag and guitar and head back to Budapest the following day to prep for my road trip to England with a group of kids from Budapest. The camp is 10 days, then there is about a 14 day break before my next commitment in Bradford England, where i am planning to do another kids club with city kids for about a month. Please be praying for the kids i'll be working with...sounds like for the first club not all know the Lord and the second group of kids in Bradford are a pretty rowdy bunch (a fist fight broke out during the last kids club night i attended during my 10 day outreach last April... they come from rough neighborhoods).

Ternopol Ukraine....final stop in Urkaine

2008-06-14T03:36:00.000-07:00

Ternopol was a blessed time; i was there for 7 nights at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base. Got to visit orphanages on three occasions to brings juice boxes and snacks, games, etc., served with the worship team (via music), went to an english club, spent time with pastor george, studied Ukrainian a bit, prepared for the next kids camp that i'll be teaching english and the bible at, and got to share about the love of Jesus with African students- as there is a hefty African population in Ternopol.

I often found myself explaining the importance of how a good country needs legitimate justice and judgment toward violators of the law (this is not a stretch for Africans/Ukrainians)... and how God also must execute justice/judgment in order to truly be good (similar to how an earthly judge could be in contempt of court if he allowed the guilty off)... i then explained how God took upon Himself our judgment at the cross, so that he could be both just and merciful.

Ternopol Ukraine to Budapest to Ternopol....4th destination

2008-06-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

Got to help my former church history professor from CCBCE (John Chubik) move some of his library from Ternopol Ukraine to Budapest...then spent the day in Budapest and took another sleeper train back to Ternopol. John has been in the field for some time now and seems to have much wisdom and humility; and it was blessed getting to serve and mine his mind a bit.

The Capital City of Kiev... 3rd stop in Ukraine.

2008-06-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

The capital is an amazing city; from what i was told, it got demolished during WWII and was rebuilt primarily by German prisoners of war. Got to spend three days in Kiev. We did a music outreach in the subway, spoke to people about Jesus on the streets, got to check out there sundaz service then met with CC Kiev's Pastor for lunch the following day.
Kiev is a beautiful city...it's a must see if you make it out to Ukraine...

Chernegiv Ukraine....2nd stop

2008-06-14T01:52:00.001-07:00

Got to spend a few days in Chernegiv where Jake & Anya Knots, Kris Zerboch and three others are church planting. I was able to attend an English club and got to spend time conversing with street youth about Jesus with Kris translating. I also attended a prayer meeting with the church and later spent time with some folks from Peace Corps.. Chernegiv is a well sized and influential city in Ukraine and it was blessed getting to visit a place I've heard so much about!

Nizhyn Ukraine...1st stop

2008-06-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

In Niyhyn i stayed with a former roommate (Will MacIntosh) and his wife Ira. We laid a cement foundation to the church CC Niyhyz is building the first week, dialogued w/ university students at English clubs, met with youth, visited an orphanage, engaged in street witnessing with Sergay (ie- big bear), watched the church get passed down from Pr. Paul to a national. In total i spent 10 nights in Nizhyn.

From Budapest to Kiev Ukraine

2008-05-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

(picture above is Bencee my former maintencance suppervisor and on the right, Sam my former dorm steward)

Greetings! The semester ended last week and I just took about a 26 hour train ride from Budapest to Kiev, where i was met by Will MacIntosh; he's serving with CC Nizhyn. He lives with his wife Ira in a town called Nizhyn (East of the capital). These past two days we've been helping build the foundation for the church that's being prepped for Calvary Chapel Nizhyn.

I plan on being on the east side of Ukraine for 10-14 days, then over to a town called Turnople for about a week, which is on the West side of the country- the church there is said to have an international foundation and i'm excited to check it out!

Please pray:
a) for the Ukrainian churches/leaders/nationals.
b) for the Lord's direction; there are some possible opps to travel and serve and i'm trying to discern His leading/vision for these next few weeks.

peace...

Weekend outreach: Pecs Hungary

2008-05-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

Bogdan (from Ukraine) and i headed down to Pecs (S. Hungary) for a weekend outreach. We stayed with Balazs, Leah & Eli (baby with the broom) Stanzel. During our time we helped build a fence and got to check out a typical weekend in S. Hungary; ie- setting up for the Sunday service, helping with childcare.

Pecs is a beautiful and historical city. The Turks controlled Pecs around the 16th century and left their mark; ie- we got to visit a catholic church that was once a mosque that still has Arabic writing on the wall and on the roof, there is a crescent moon under the cross.

Spring 08' Outreach; Traversing to Kendal England; the Lake District

2008-04-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

We headed up North to Kendal England (Lake District) for the 2nd to last day of our trip. It was a good time sharing with people on the streets. The drive was beautiful and very scenic. Lots of sheep up there in N. England; they run deep in regards to sheep.

Spring 08' Outreach: Got Gulyas?!?!

2008-04-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Got to spend some quality time with my roommate Adriel in Budapest before our flight to England b/f our 10 day outreach. I finally got to taste Hungary's most famous dish; Gulyas!!!
It was pretty good and it came in a really cool artistic Euro bowl. Adriel's a solid brother and i've been really stoked to share a room with him...

Spring 08' Outreach; Day trip to York England

2008-04-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

We got to take a day trip to check out York; it was about 10 times bigger then i thought. I got to check out the Calvary Bible College College Campus upon arrival. The college rents out the castle which is a coffee bar/library for students. The campus owns flats on the other side of the street where students live. I have strongly been leaning toward spending next semester in York. I had an amazing afternoon talking with people (primarily teens/college students) about the Lord. Since England is deemed a post-Christian culture, it is amazing how ignorant many kids are in regards to who Jesus was, is and is to be. People seemed really open in regards to conversing about Jesus.

Spring 08' Outreach; Bradford England

2008-04-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

While in Bradford we primarily served by 1) cleaning trash in peoples yards 2) spending time with community kids 3) on the streets sharing the gospel, playing music & performing a skit 4) spending time with men from the Agape house (substance rehab house); our host (Church on the Way) is really involved with the community!

1) We were able to clean yards (pick up trash) in a low income Muslim neighborhood, while offering baked goods; people seemed really blessed!

2) We also worked with various youth ministries which reached out to church and community kids. The Community kids were tougher then i thought they'd be; ie- a couple 9 year olds broke out into a fist fight during the beginning of our Friday night kids club. We were not allowed to take pics of the kids due to confidentiality. Might not have been good to have a nice camera with this crowd; these were some of the toughest kids i've worked with; very physically and verbally aggressive and generally speaking, intensely disrespectful. We learned much from the club leaders.

3) We spent much of our time in Bradford at Preachers Corner (see bottom picture) sharing and playing music. Preacher's Corner is a renown place where some of England's famous preachers of the past used to conduct open air meetings.

First snow of Spring Quarter in Vatja Hungary

2008-03-23T06:41:00.001-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning and notices snow falling into the gutter outside of my window; the guys doom is sort of below ground level. I ran upstairs with my camera to and took some pics. There was just enough snow to instigating a few snowball fights. It's interesting to see how snow can bring out the child in a person...

Pic #:
1) Bondi, Bogdon (both from Ukraine), Andros, and myself
6) Daniel Kiss- doing his best statue pose.
8) My Philippians teach who's from New Jersey; the state where i was born i'll have you know!

Day Trip To Budapest

2008-03-23T06:12:00.001-07:00

I was invited to join a group who were heading into Budapest two weeks ago. The driver up front is Benson who wanted to vote; he's from this Budapest and is crew chief on my maintenance team. Bondi (backseat) is from Ukraine & also on my maintenance crew. He needed to catch a train in Budapest to visit his home. Kristina (backseat left) was meeting up with her family who live in the Budapest. I myself just wanted to get out of the castle and check out Calvary Chapel Budapest/the city.

Calvary Chapel Budapest (pronounced Budapeshd; as s sounds like sh) was planted about 12 years ago and currently has about 800-1000 people who attend weekly. The church rents out an abandoned movie theater as you can see from the above pics- they definatly pack that building tight. They had a baptism service that weekend and it was blessed be immersed in the culture of this very international church/city.

The older couple in front of the theater were attendees of CC Budapest...

To note in the above pics:
1) The 2 pics of the city (above) are what you see if your back is to the theater
2) the coffee shop (bottom pic) is within the theater...

Meet my roommates...

2008-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Interested in briefly meeting who i'm living with and leaning (in a nut shell) why they came to Vajta Hungary?

March Update from the Zichy Kastely; Vajta Hungary

2008-03-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

HELLO! Here are some pics of new friends. I've been learning alot about myself through living with people from different cultures. It's been exciting seeing people start to bond as we are now about a month and a half into the semester....

PICS:

1) my new backyard

2) post jam session pose

3) Bondi is from Ukraine and on my maintenance team...i am responsible to do 8 hours of maintenance each week; i.e.- sanding, painting, moving stuff, using power tools. He speaks Ukrainian and Hungarian and is learning English...he's a really cool guy and likes making strange faces in photos...as you might notice!

4) Bogdon is from Ukraine and it is rare to find him lounging without a guitar...

5) Maximas is from Serbia and speaks Syberian, Hungarian and English all very well; very impressive!

6) Andros is a first semester Hungarian student (pronounced Androsh since 's' in pronounced as 'sh' in Hungarian); Hungarian's for the most part are Gypsy and/or Caucasian.

7) Adriel from S. Cali and me!

8) Zichy Castle- the weather's been warming up around here...

9) Tom, giving up the westside sign for you folks back home is from Bradford England- Tom is leading my 10 day outreach to Bradford England which is from April 4th to the 13th. We will get a lot of opportunity to share with folks there about Jesus on the streets every day and we also should be able to check out the bible college in York.

10) Argow and Mekdas are refugee's from Etheopia; Argow came up here to train Hungarian Olympic athletes when the political climate shifted in his country and they would not let him return; Argow is one of the most sincere and loving people I've ever met; you can read his testimony and others from my pics at ccbce.com.

11) Goofing around in the dorms

12) the laundry station

13) Misi (pronounced Mishi) is a first semester Hungarian student; his English is improving quickly.

14) Pablo is a Cuban refugee and the oldest student here; think he's in his early 60's...

PRAYER REQUESTS....
Please pray for:

the preparation and unity of my outreach team as we prepare for our 10 day outreach in Bradford England.
those we will encounter and serve in Bradford- Islam is the predominant worldview in Bradford and much of the trip will be sharing/playing music on the streets.
direction for my summer outreach as a couple oppertunities have presented themselves.
diligence & revelation in regards to my studies
breakthrough and in regards to my walk with Jesus

Vatja Hungary...my new hometown!

2008-02-13T12:19:00.001-08:00

Below are some shots of Vatja Hungary plus some campus-life shots. The move out here has been pretty stretching; i.e.- loosing conveniences i take for granted, living in a remote part of the country without a car in a Christian bubble. There has also been a handful of challenges; i.e.- caught the flu my first week, my computer crashed a couple days ago... oh well. I believe the Lord has me out here to guide me out of my comfort zone & gently break me down... He is doing well! I could use prayer in regards to getting adapting to this new environment...

*Pictures*
1st Pic) Downtown Vatja 2nd) Local Ostrich farm 3rd) even the trucks look different! 4th) hi!

5th pic) My roommate Fabian from Germany giving up the West coast W

6th) My roommate Adriel from California relentlessly Skyping his girlfriend

7th) My Hungarian tutor Daniel on a coffee break during our first session.

Murrietta Missions Confrence 2008.

2008-02-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

Vincent, Andrea and i traveled down to the Murrietta missions conference last month...it really was a blessed time!

Random Jan 2008 pics...

2008-02-13T11:41:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure the origin or logic behind picking your friends up and holding them sideways during pictures... hmm?! After an unsuccessful escape, I was given the lift at my going away party; Mr. Paine also was given the lift at his surprise birthday party. Dana McGreggor... the obvious instigator of Paine's lift (far left); be not deceived by Dana's innocent looking smile.

2008-02-13T11:24:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone! I made it to Hungary in one piece. Horay! I might not look very excited in the picture due to the long flight/jet lag...but deep down ...i'm beaming w/ appreciation in this shot.

...it was about 30 degrees at about 2:30p when i arrived!

1st entry...

2008-01-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

I just set up this blog to keep people current with my European travels; i am scheduled to leave January 31, 2008.

I'll be moving to Hungary...
for a 10 months stint (Lord willing) to studying God's word through Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe (CCBCE) with 1/5th (2 months) of the trip dedicated to outreach. I originally planned on visiting Europe for a month last summer until i viewed a tour of the Hungary campus on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrgcT7DKGsE

My goals in regards to this trip are...(1) to attempt to finish my bible college degree, (2) to engage in 2 months of outreach, (3) to seek vision in regards to the next step in my life.