January 2016

Happy New Year! Can I still say that a month later?

This marks my third anniversary living in Hungary.

At the beginning of the month I climbed up Janos Hegy, (John’s Mountain) a small mountain on the outskirts of Budapest.

For a little while I had been struggling with the decision about whether I would want to return next year or not. I really do love living here but I especially love the school. I never thought I would connect with teenagers the way I have and God has really revealed, in a more deeper way, the call He has for me. I want to work with kids wherever I am, and for now, I know that I am called here.

We have had quite the month at GGIS. Please pray for us. There seems to be a bit of a bug going around, spiritually and physically. I haven’t gotten it, but many students have become sick and some teachers are also suffering from it. Also, as some of you know, we are currently in the process of becoming accredited by ACSI, the Association of Christian Schools International. This is a great thing and has taken a lot of work from all of us on staff. A committee comes in April to check things out and give the final word which you can also be praying for. I think that when there is a major work of God, Satan is right there waiting to attack it.

In a recent Bible class, a girl asked me what the difference between a test and trial is. I think the difference is that a temptation is Satan trying to influence you to turn away from God whereas a test is God revealing to Satan that you won’t. So often God can turn temptation into a test. We may not see the usefulness of a situation in our lives but it doesn’t mean that God isn’t using it. I am reminded of Romans 8:28 where it says all things work together for good. I think that God just loves showing us off. We are not perfect but He has given us Perfection. When I trust God instead of turning away from Him, I am living how He wants me to live, not perfectly but just relying on Him. This is what I have learned the most in the past few months and this is what I shared with that Bible class.

I am re-taking Pastor Schaller’s Homiletics class from 2011 online with my friend, Tim. It’s funny to watch myself sitting there on the videos from all those years ago. So much has happened but God remains faithful. The messages are still relevant and just as useful for me today as they were then.

Just a few days ago, my friends Pasha and Ruth had their baby. She looks just like Pash!

Thank you all for praying for us here, five months has turned into ____ years!