Final Newsletter June 2019

This is my final newsletter as a missionary and a teacher in Hungary. I can't believe it's been almost seven years! I remember being sent out on a Wednesday night along with Nick Groenewold. I said I was only going to be in Hungary for 6 months... shhh, don't tell anyone I stayed longer!


I have learned and grown so much in my time here. It is so overwhelming that God has used me. I thank Him every day that He has worked through me here, often times despite me. I think you know what I mean.
I guess what I am saying is that I have learned to give grace, not only to others, but also to myself. I think of Psalm 8, "What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you should care for him?" How could God have used me? I see my brokenness, my failures, my insecurities, but what does He see? He sees Himself. Wow. God uses us! I need to see myself as God sees me. Not as a failure, but as His child! When I live in this revelation, the guilt, the fear, the shame vanish in His presence. I John 4:18 says, "God's love drives out fear." There is nothing like God's love. I am so thankful for it.


Two weekends ago I attended what was my last GGIS graduation. It was a beautiful, anointed time. All 14 seniors stood up and gave speeches about their time in the school. The thing that impressed me the most was when, one after another, the graduating Chinese students (many of whom accepted Christ during their high school years) shared their favorite verses in their speeches. No one asked them to do this, but it was on their heart. I have never felt God move so mightily in a graduation! There wasn't a dry eye in the room and even now, as I type this, I feel a little misty eyed myself.

This past weekend, we had a baptism at school. One graduate, who has also been my translator in the Korean church that I work with, asked if I would baptize her. I am so proud of this young lady. I have known her since she was in sixth grade and now, she is going off to college with a treasure in her heart. She said she wants to come visit Baltimore for the convention next year, so please keep that in your prayers! (I'm still trying to convince her to go to Bible College too.)


While I am certainly going to miss Budapest, I am looking forward to what God has in store in the future. Thank you all for reading my newsletters these past seven years, thank you for your prayers and support, and most of all, thank you for the encouraging words you've shared. It has truly been a blessing to live and grow up here, and it wouldn't have been possible at all without you.


Love,
Jon

May 2019

Have you ever felt like God has put you somewhere for an exact time, maybe even an exact moment? Some might call this serendipitous or a coincidence, but I have to believe it's the hand of God.

Looking ahead to the month of April, I was thinking, "Wow, this is going to be one of the best months of my life." I was finally going to Korea after years of anticipation and then the school would have a high school retreat with a special guest speaker, Pastor Love.

As March turned to April, things didn't go as planned. In my last newsletter, I asked for prayer for some health issues I've been battling and those only issues only became worse. I was going to the doctor a couple times a week for different tests and was wondering if I might have to cancel my trip to Korea. (Luckily I didn't.) There has also been a lot of discussion going on in the school on various things about which I have a very strong opinion so there was a meeting about that right before my trip. Perhaps you've been in a meeting before where your stomach just churns, your hands become sweaty and your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. It's not fun.

All of this happened, I believe, as an attack to try to distract me from the incredible things that were about to come.

Korea is fantastic. It's everything I imagined it would be. In all sincerity, I am so thankful that Korean people exist. God has truly blessed them and I feel blessed to be able to work with them in school and church. I also want to thank P. Dunbar again for hosting me while I was there for a week. Watching him, completely in his element, glowing as he walked down the streets of Myeongdong smiling at everyone who walked by, was like watching Moses come down from the mountain, shining with the presence of God.

Here is a picture of a group that went on outreach after church the Sunday I was there. 

The second part of April was the Retreat. I love retreats. They are my thing. I love to plan them, run them, and see how God moves during them. This one was no exception and was one of the best ones we have ever done. However, the bus for the boys didn't show up on our day of departure. It was so obvious that the enemy was trying to hinder us that it was almost laughable. We sat for an extra two hours, but we made it. God moved. The Spirit filled every message and chapel service. Students prayed to receive Christ. The testimonies shared revealed God working and moving among so many students. Amazing.

This all brings me back to my original thought. Looking ahead to April, I was ready to have the best month of my life, but during it, I had to realize that I am in a spiritual battle. While there were seemingly difficult circumstances, God used everything for good. I also fully believe that I was led to return to GGIS this year, just for the month of April. Actually, on second thought, maybe it was just for that one meeting at the beginning of the month. I feel like God used me, even though, at the time, things got a little bit rocky.

Thank you all for your prayers! Stay in the battle! Follow God's leading, you may be where you are (even if it looks bad) at exactly the right time for His purpose.

Please continue to pray for those same things I asked for last time, including my ongoing health issues. I go for more tests later this month.

April 2019

As my time in Budapest is winding down I would like to ask you to keep me in prayer for several different things. 1. I have been dealing with some physical problems lately which while not really serious are still concerning for me. 2. The details of my move back to America, specifically that I am able to find the perfect place to live. 3. I am taking a one week trip next week to Korea to visit P. Dunbar. 4. For my final days in GGIS to be fruitful.

My dad came to visit for Eurocon a few weeks ago and we had a wonderful time together. It's funny to think that when I move back, it will be the first time we have lived in the same location (Maryland) as adults. There has always been distance between us and I have never really lived close to any of my family in my adulthood.

 

At times I grow impatient with life. I like to do everything quickly and move on to the next task. I have been learning more and more that that's really not how God operates. There are many things that have been on my heart and that I am praying for, and at times I think I get a little frustrated because they don't happen when I expect them to. Do you ever feel like this? I know that there are several reasons for this, God is working patience into my life, maybe it's not His will for that thing to happen or maybe it's not His perfect timing, but I am reminded of another possibility. Do you remember in Daniel 10:12-13 when the angel appears to Daniel and tells him that from the first day he began to pray that his prayer was heard, but there was a spiritual battle going on.

I think often times we can forget that our battle isn't physical but spiritual. Daniel prayed for 21 days with seemingly no response from God because there was spiritual warfare. We need to realize that we are also part of this war. What happens when the answer to my prayer is delayed? Do I give up? Do I keep praying? I think that this has been happening in my life. I can only remember one other time when I have prayed as much as I am right now.

Even though the answers or solutions I want have not yet (and maybe never will) come, just the prayer itself has been enough for me. I believe it was Pastor Schaller at Eurocon who asked the question, how often do we go to God in prayer with a complaint only to find that we are just complaining and not actually praying? I think there is an attitude which differentiates complaining and persisting. Complaining is focusing on the negative whereas persisting is a constant seeking of God to intervene.

Perhaps this newsletter is a little convoluted, I am continuing to ponder these things in my mind. I hope were able to follow that winding train of thought. Please keep me in prayer.

March 2019

I have been thinking recently a lot about love. I Corinthians 13:13 says that the greatest thing is love.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a chapel for the high school and spoke about I Corinthians 13, but really the second half, “Now that I have become a man, I’ve put away childish things.” The next week in the weekly Bible study, we spoke about how I love allows me to put others ahead of myself. The week after that, we spoke about how powerful our words are, not only in our lives, but also when we speak to others. Finally, last night, our topic was God is love.

Each of those thoughts is really incredible. Think about them with me for a few minutes.

Maturity is loving not only others but myself. I put away childish thoughts and speech, and just love.

When I am motivated by love, I lay down my life for others. No greater love has any man than this- that he would lay down his life for his friends.

God created us in His image, and He created everything by His word. We obviously can’t create physical objects with our words, but we can influence people for good or bad with our words. I can create barriers for someone or tear them down with my words. With loving words I can inspire hope in someone, I can encourage someone in their faith, I can impart Christ to them.

Finally, God is love. What a powerful statement. What does it mean? At first it seems like a nice Christian phrase, but when you think about it, what is the point of John writing this?

God is love.

God isn’t childish. He is our Father.

God is the best I can ever give someone.

God is who I need to speak about.

There are so many things to speak about in the world today- celebrities, politics, education, finances, even religion, but don’t forget that God is love.

Let’s put aside idle talk and talk about God. Talk about Him when you are with your family. Talk about Him when you’re with your friends. Talk about him in school. Talk about Him at work. Talk about Him when you are alone. God is love and love is greater than anything else in the world today.

God bless you guys! I hope to see some of you at Eurocon!

February 2019

Recently I have had quite a few thoughts swimming through my head about life and what it means to walk with God as a Christian today.

January and February are brutal for schools. You are cooped up inside all day, get to school as the sun rises and leave as the sun sets. In these times, (and again, this happens especially with students year) I think it is very easy to become negative or pessimistic about what’s happening around you. There also seems to be a trend in our world today in which it is fashionable to pass blame. It reminds me of like that old saying, “I’m rubber and you’re glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you,” except this is happening with responsibility for personal decisions- it’s always easier to blame someone else than to accept responsibility for my own actions. This attitude has cultivated a culture of outward negativity and pessimism.

The more I thought about negativity and how it metastasizes, the more I wondered what the best way to curb its effects would be. The conclusion I came to was rather simple- focus on the solution rather than the problem. Perhaps you just read that sentence and felt a little deflated, it’s not a new idea, in fact, over and over the Bible tells us to do just that, “Look to the hills where our help comes from,” Peter looked to Jesus when he started sinking after walking on water, Hebrews 12 tells us to look to Jesus.

I don’t know why this simple thought I had just a week or two ago has seemed to capture my mind other than that the idea and the spiritual principle behind it needs to be clearly reinforced.

Let’s stop looking at the negative and focus on the solution. We have Christ! There is nothing greater in the universe than Who we have inside of us. Imagine exercising our mustard seed of faith rather than focusing on the mountain in front of us. It may not even be a mountain we even need to pay attention to!

The second thought I have been ruminating on lately came just a few days after the first and that is what is the balance of consumerism versus creation in the Christian world today? I came upon this idea last week as I observed a room of Christian high schoolers, all staring blankly at their phones. I know, I know, I’m starting to sound like a crotchety old man now, “Back in my day we created rather than consumed!”

But that’s true.

As I looked around the room, not a single kid was creating, they were only consuming. This set me on a trail of thought that I have not yet come to the end of, but which I hope to, in the future, write more about as the idea becomes more and more fully formed.

For now, I think I will just say this, we, and especially we who are Christians, are not meant to be consumers, but rather creators. We are made in the image of our Creator and with that comes the very characteristic of creating. Christians are meant to explore, to use, and to reveal God in the incredible world we have been given. Throughout history it has been Christians who have led the way in science, technology, medicine, music, art… the list goes on. But as I looked at each face gazing at their rectangles of glass and plastic, I can’t help but wonder where the desire and drive to discover new things has gone. It seems that the content created (yes, I know, content meant to be consumed is created by someone) is created more and more by the world and more and more Christians are consuming it mindlessly. Could that be why there is so much negativity, even in the church? Are we being force-fed content from a depraved world rather than actively challenging ourselves to do new and exciting things with God? Could that be why we are seeing such a radicle shift in the minds of young people today? What happened to Christians creating content that the world consumed and thereby actually winning hearts to Christ rather than the other way around?

In January I built the desk at which I am currently typing this newsletter, the light by which I seeing, another lamp (pictured below) for a lady in my church, and started work on creating a video for the school. Now, those are my gifts, and when I use them, I, to paraphrase the classic movie Chariots of Fire, feel God’s pleasure. I don’t need to seek entertainment, I am alone, but utilizing my gifts, which then bless other people. There is incredible, eternal joy in just doing what you were created to do.

You have a gift, please use it. Don’t be a consumer, but rather live in the image of Who you were made and do something for the glory of God. It doesn’t have to be something incredible, just enjoy the world that God has given you and use the resources at your disposal to exalt and bless others in Him.

January 2019

Imagine standing in front of 15 or 20 young teenagers every day who have no interest whatsoever in what you have to say, don’t want to be there, and if they have to be, would rather talk to their friends.

Imagine, even though you are sick or tired, you feel an inner compulsion to come to work, knowing that it is more work to miss a day than to just push through it.

Imagine, in your free time, outside of the previous two circumstances, you find your mind wandering to lesson plans and how to make your class better in someway so that those students will actually want to be there.

This is pretty much the day to day life of a teacher.

You might wonder why anyone would put themselves through this.

Now think about this- the joy on one of those faces as they finally “get it”. The note you receive saying “Thank you, I’ve learned so much in your class.” The realization that even though they seemingly refused to learn at every step, your students are now making huge strides.

That’s why teachers do what they do. That’s why I do what I do. All of those things have happened, and most recently one happened on New Year’s Eve.

I was invited to go out to eat with a Christian Egyptian family, whose two children I have taught in my time here in Budapest. Admittedly I don’t know them so well and felt very uncomfortable at first (I was also severely underdressed in a sweatshirt and jeans while everyone else looked like they were going to attend a banquet).

Whenever I am invited to join families for anything, I always gravitate toward the teenagers. Luckily, as I said, I had taught both of them so I quickly shrugged off my initial discomfort as I chatted with the two kids.

As the night wore on the older of the two mentioned how much she has enjoyed being in my class the last two years, how my encouragement helped her realize how much she enjoyed writing (by the way, she is the best natural writer I’ve ever taught). Shortly after this I was taken by surprise as she turned the conversation toward Christianity and her faith. I haven’t ever spoken to her about this topic, though I know she is a Christian, and the faith that poured out of her as she spoke was palpable.

She spoke about how she will be looking for a community of Christians in her college next year, how she has grown in her faith more and more each year, and how she longs to learn more.

After all I have mentioned, I suppose it may seem like I am bragging, but in reality, I have never considered myself a great teacher, and rarely do I think that I am even any good at teaching. The one thing I have always tried to do, however, is form a bond somehow with my students. It could be around anything, for instance, I started watching Korean Dramas because I constantly heard the Asian community in school talking about them. I don’t actually like watching them… ok, maybe I do a little… but I’ve come to realize that that connection is vital. That love and desire to connect with them is vital.

This is the same in ministry. A connection based on love is vital. You may not feel like a good or even great evangelist, but when it comes down to it, you don’t need to be. All that you really need is a love for the people.

I hope you all have a great new year.

December 2018 (Goodbye)

Hi Everybody,

In Ecclesiastes 3:1, the Bible tells us “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” I don’t know who or how many people read this newsletter, so this might be old news to those of you who do read it, but my time living in Hungary is ending. I have resigned from GGIS and will be moving back to Baltimore in June, 2019.

I remember when I first met with Pastor Schaller about coming to Hungary back in 2012. God was moving in mighty ways in my life at that time. I was just starting my third year of Bible College at MBC&S and all summer I had been going to the week night outreaches. I remember praying for hours on end about what God wanted me to do in my future. I knew I wanted to go somewhere, I had gone to Eurocon to visit Hungary and loved it.

I moved here the following January to do my practicum. That was supposed to be for six months.

Here I am six years later, and now this chapter of my life is coming to a close.

The first part of the Ecclesiastes 3:1 is what I have always thought about; however, recently I have been thinking about that second part more and more- “A time for every purpose under heaven.”

It’s amazing that an eternal God uses time to accomplish His purpose in our finite physical lives.

What was the purpose in my time in Hungary?

I have learned what my gifts are. I have learned what I love to do. I have learned who I am and who I am not. I have learned to lean on God and less on myself. I have learned patience and how to trust God when things don’t go how I want them to. I have learned how to apply the knowledge I acquire from the Word. I have learned that I have nothing to offer people except what God has given to me. I have learned that God’s unfailing love is the greatest motivator in people’s lives. I have learned that serving money leads nowhere. I have learned that I am a changed person.

I have learned that more than one-fifth of my life has now been spent on the mission field.

I have learned that I hope that someday when I am much older I can still say the same thing.

God has truly blessed me in my time here. It will be very difficult to leave when the time comes, but I know that just like God gives new seasons, He has a purpose in that season.

I look forward to seeing what God’s purpose is in this next season.