April-May 2015

Has it already been a month since my last newsletter?

As school is winding down here in Budapest it seems time is speeding up. We have been so busy lately, it’s good to stop and reflect on all that has happened.

Recently we had a banquet for our high school, the theme was the Hunger Games so we all dressed up really crazy and went to a beautiful restaurant. There were games and prizes, awards for the best dressed and also the teacher of the year award presentation... guess who won?

At the end of every school year we give surveys out to all of our high school students. On this survey we ask questions such as, are you a born again believer, do you know what it means to be baptized, etc. After the students fill out these forms, we look through them and pick out the ones who seem to be questioning faith or religion and we sit down with them to just talk. It’s an amazing time to be with the students and discuss the real stuff in life. I spoke with one young Nigerian boy last week. He is in 9th grade. It looks like this will be his last year at GGIS so we really wanted to speak with him. I asked him if he had any questions about God or Christianity, he has always professed to be a believer but wasn’t sure about eternal security. I explained to him that once you are in God’s hand you will never fall out. If you trust in Christ for just one moment, you are saved forever. What amazing grace that is! Even if you turn your back on God or decide that you don’t believe anymore, whatever happens, God still holds onto you. I told him that we can be so stupid and we change our mind so often that God had to make a way that if we did change our minds about Him, we wouldn’t be abandoned by Him. I love that God keeps us even when we forget Him. This is an amazing expression of who God is and what He has done for us. He doesn’t change! Anyway, after saying all of this, he prayed with me and I think reconfirmed his belief in Christ. I really believe that conversation helped him realize that he indeed is a Christian and he won’t lose his salvation for any reason. It’s important for us to realize that sometimes too. No matter how bad we fall, we simply fall deeper into the hand of God. Wow.

Last weekend we had a tennis tournament at the American school. We had 7 students participate from GGIS, including the boy from Nigeria... who came in third place! It was a great time and it was a really fun day. Also, I am now really sunburnt.

Well, that’s about all from here, my next newsletter will be the last one before I return to the U.S. for a few weeks.

Please continue to pray for us as we close out the school year. Pray for more salvations in the student body and also for safe travels as we head back to see all of you!

Love you! Jon