A Lesson

In fall 2007, my family and I moved to Massachusetts. In January 2008, I went to Ghana, West Africa for a couple months, and when I returned, I found that my neighbor had bought a little Bulldog puppy. From that moment on, I have always wanted on for my own.
A little over two weeks ago, I bought a French Bulldog Puppy. Saturday, I gave him to a nice family who had another dog. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
I didn't pray about this decision before I made it. I wanted the dog, and I got it. I named him Mookie after my favorite baseball player. We played together, ate together, slept in my bed at night. He was great! I realized very quickly though that he was consuming all of my time. All I could think about at school was "I wonder how Mookie is alone?" or, "I hope when I run home on my lunch break there isn't a mess". I was stressed out.
One of my coworkers asked me last week if I wanted to go to Korea for a short trip with him this spring. This is another one of my dreams, and one I know I feel God leading me to follow. With that in my mind, I had to make the decision to give up Mookie.
When my plan for my life and God's plan for my life butt heads, one will win out. I have learned that my way never leads anywhere. I get what I want but without a plan for the future. This is how it was with Mookie. I got what I always wanted, but there was no plan for him. It wasn't fair that I was stressed and ignoring my ministry. It wasn't fair that he was home alone all day.
I WANT TO GO TO KOREA. I posted Mookie on a Facebook group and later that day he was gone. I am not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two, but I know that God has a great purpose for my life than taking care of a dog for the next ten years. I need to focus on my students, the youth group, missions. That's why I'm here. God has a plan and it's longevity of vision is greater than mine.

November 2016

Hello again from Budapest!

It seems this month has just flown by. We had a much needed fall break at GGIS, there was a Korean festival and youth group event that I led, and we had an amazing harvest party at school.

School started at the end of August and we hadn’t really had a break until last week. Let me tell you, it was much needed! You don’t realize how tired you are until you have a chance to rest, and then it’s like, “wow, what just happened?”

The Saturday before the break I went with the youth group from the Korean Church of Budapest, where I have been ministering as a youth leader, to an escape room. An escape room is one of the coolest things ever. You are locked in a room, which usually leads to other rooms and have to find clues and keys to get yourself out. This is usually done in teams of a few people at a time. We split up into two teams-boys against girls and the one who escaped the quickest won with the losers buying them ice cream. We all had such a great time working together and getting to know each other all a little better.

Right now the way the service on Sundays goes is that I sit in the message (with translation) and then the teens separate after and talk about the message. I am there to kind of facilitate this talking time and also just be a friend to them. It’s really a great privilege and I have really enjoyed my time so far. I think we are really starting to click.

The following Saturday, at another international school in Budapest, all of the Korean community got together and had a sports day. I was invited to attend and am so glad I went. It was great seeing so many people from so many different churches, schools, jobs all coming together and enjoying each other.

Every year GGIS puts on a harvest party where we invite families and friends to come to school, dress up, play games, dance, and eat lots of candy. I look forward to this event every year, it’s an incredible opportunity to connect with students’ parents in a nonacademic fashion. After the festivities, we have started a new tradition-watching a movie on our sports field with the high schoolers. This is the event that really makes the whole night worth it. Last year we watched God’s Not Dead (actually a surprisingly good Christian film) and we had such a great response that this year, we watched God’s Not Dead 2 which just came out. After the movie I got up in front of the students and spoke a little bit. One girl accepted Christ as her Savior! Praise God!

My friends, Tim and Myriah, were able to adopt their baby! Her name is Agnes. Maybe next month I will be able to send a picture!

October 2016

School is in full swing. I have finally gotten in a rhythm as far as my schedule and preparation for classes go. It’s really been an amazing year. I kind of dreaded coming back this year, actually. There were going to be so many changes, so many new staff members, so many new things I had to learn. This has been the best start to a school year I have had since I moved here. God is so fully and evidently working in what we are doing here, I am constantly catching myself not being stressed out. Toward the end of the school year last year, it seemed like I was too stressed out to even think about anyone beside myself. All summer I felt like a zombie, I didn’t know what God was going to do with me. I had basically already made plans for this to be my last year in Budapest. Oh me of little faith! What a terrible place to be!

I had this thought just a minute ago that since moving here in 2013, I have really turned my attention outward. It seems like without fully realizing it, I am purposely doing more and more for other people. What joy I find in doing this! I just finished baking cookies for my students to have at a Bible study after school tomorrow. I had the biggest smile on my face as I made them. I just prepared for my Bible classes next week and was totally blown away by the messages God was giving me- I give grace as an outward expression of the inward grace I have received from God. Holy cow, I am going to teach on something next week that I am just realizing has actually been happening in my own life for years! Incredible.

The new staff members are amazing team members, so encouraging. The changes in the school have consistently provided new and more expedient ways to do things, ultimately creating more time for me to minister to my students which is my whole mission!

Pastor Schaller, my Pastor, was here in Budapest for ten days. Last night at church he spoke about families. We are in God’s family and we have brothers and sisters in Him. We have a name and we have a place. God has given us so much. I feel so free. It is such a privilege to be a part of His family and to be able to fellowship in grace.

I was speaking to my friend, Tim (if you remember, he and his wife are adopting a baby), and expressing how free I am feeling this year. I wholeheartedly believe this will be the best year in GGIS history.

Thank you so much for praying for me and supporting me here. Your prayers are definitely felt (but still needed!) The Korean church has been great, we are currently planning some events with the teens on Saturdays. The Bible study at school on Fridays has been incredible, we are averaging 20+ kids a week who stay after a long week to hear a message and have fun.

Please continue to pray for all of the things I mentioned above. I want to see the entire high school coming to Bible study on Friday nights. I want to see the Korean youth group grow exponentially. I believe God can do it and that He will do it. Please continue to pray for my friends Tim and Myriah and their ongoing adoption, it looks like the search for a child will soon be coming to an end.

Most of all, pray for people who don’t know Christ to come to the knowledge of Him. This is a crazy time in our history and there are so many things that can stress us out and weigh us down. God has such an amazing plan for the lives of my students, their families, the staff here, and for you. Don’t forget it!

September 2016

Hello everyone! I have been back in Budapest for about three weeks after a great summer in America. It was so good to see all of you, to spend time with my family and friends, and to be able to go to the conference in Baltimore.

I was kind of nervous to return and start a new school year. There have been some big changes, including a new principal, new classes for me to teach, and also new responsibilities. So far everything has gone great! I was really praying this summer for peace, and ease in the transition, and God has worked mightily in it. It’s so funny when you expect one thing to happen and God does something so much greater.

On Sundays, I have been working with the Korean Church of Budapest’s teen ministry. I had visited them before and spoken a couple times, but just before the summer they had asked me to be their full-time youth leader. It is really amazing. I love the Korean kids I have gotten to know in GGIS, and then by extension their families, so now to be able to minister to other Korean teens regularly… Wow, what a blessing. This weekend the church had its end of the summer conference so we will be having a full special service today with the youth group, we will have music, prayer, a message, and then games. I can’t wait.

Also this weekend, GGIS had its annual High School Retreat. This is a time when we take all the high schoolers out into the country side for three days. We play sports, have crafts, sing, dance, have bonfires and s’mores, and of course, we have some amazing messages. I was privileged to be able to speak to the whole high school the first night we were at the camp. I spoke about Jacob going to meet his brother Esau and wrestling with God. God touched Jacob and Jacob was never the same. I said that God will speak to us this weekend and we will be changed, however, we can’t rebuild walls. Have you ever kicked an ant hill? (be honest) They immediately come out and start rebuilding it. In the same way, we can have an incredible experience with God, we can have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in a message, and yet as soon as we leave, we start building walls back up between us and God. I think it was a good message for the students to hear. So often at these retreats, I see that kids claim to have had an indelible, life changing time, only to forget the whole thing when Monday rolls around. But can’t that happen to all of us? I think it can. I didn’t just preach it for them but also for me. I have to constantly remind myself of what God is doing in my life. I can’t get overwhelmed by what I think will happen in the future, but I have to live right now, seeing what God is doing today. His mercy is new every morning.

I have also started teaching a Bible class in school called Theology of Grace. I am really excited about it, but please pray for it. I really want the students to understand the grace of God and thereby the love that God has for them in this class.

A few other things you can pray for are: the Korean Church youth group, the changes at GGIS and the continuous school improvement, for salvations among the student body, and also my friends Tim and Myriah who are waiting to adopt a baby. It could be any day between now and … who knows.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!

June 2016

The school year is coming to a close. I will be in the US for 6 weeks this summer, which is the longest I have been back in a while. I am really looking forward to my time there. 

God is working in so many lives right now, it’s incredible. As I mentioned a few months ago, I had a girl from the senior class pray with me at Eurocon, she was so broken but her life has really been changed since then. I think this opened up doors in the rest of the senior class…

When I first moved here there was a student in 9th grade who was just different. She was so sweet and kind but she was not a believer. She is Chinese and her parents had told her that if she became a Christian in GGIS that they would disown her. I have been praying for that girl for four years now and a couple weeks ago she accepted Christ as her Savior. I am ecstatic. I had a great conversation with her about what it means to be saved, how no one can ever take it from you, and about getting to know God through church, prayer, and the Bible. She had so many questions and was so sincere. She has had Bible class every day so she already knew so much about Christianity, but it was cool to actually see it become real to her in her final days at GGIS. I am thankful to have been the one to pray with her and see the fruit of my prayers after all this time.

Shortly after that girl prayed with me, another girl emailed me and asked if we could meet. We spent an entire hour going over what it means to be saved. She has resisted Christianity so much since she first came here two years ago, but God wore her down. Right there in my classroom, she also prayed to accept Christ. 

These three girls, plus Feng, who I asked you to pray for last year, and who was the first of them to get saved, are going to sing a worship song at our school baptism this Friday. I am so proud of these four. I know God is going to work mightily in their lives, and I am so proud that their time in GGIS was not just fleeting but rather had eternal meaning.

Lastly, there is another Chinese senior named Cheng. He’s a really funny guy and I had some great conversations with him throughout the year. He has been in GGIS for five years but he kept resisting. His biggest fear was that he would have to start acting right and being a “good boy” for God. After hearing this excuse over and over again, I kind of just told him that that was a terrible reason to not believe in Jesus. God doesn’t care what you do, He loves you for who you are. You don’t have to clean up your act before coming to Him, in fact, you can’t. You simply have to believe. I was a little forceful as I explained this to him, but he needed to hear it and God used it. I could see the love of Christ making sense to him in that moment. He didn’t have to live up to some standard or change his life to come to God, he just had to believe. And he did. 

That’s it. This is why I’m here. Four more seniors are leaving GGIS as Christians. I think there is only one girl in that class who didn’t get saved in her time here. Pray for her. God will work in her life.

My friends Tim and Myriah had their last adoption visit the other day and are ready for a child any time now. Please pray that God gives them the perfect baby in His time, and also that He gives them patience as they continue to wait.

Also, please pray for me, I have had some pain in my shoulder lately but all the tests keep coming back negative. 

May 2016

Spring has arrived in Budapest. It’s so beautiful here when the weather is warm. In the winter, there is a grey cloud that hangs over the city for four months and makes everyone sick and depressed. That cloud has now dissipated, and things are looking bright again. 

It’s funny to me that this happens here. People actually have to take Vitamin D pills because there is a lack of sunlight in the winter. The whole attitude of the country changes. I can see it in the faces of people on the trams and busses, the kids in the school are different too. Whereas a month ago, no one wanted to be there, and they were all counting down the days till the end of the year, now, students are coming in every day smiling, happy to be here. I feel the same way. I do get down sometimes living here. I miss my friends in America, I miss Walmart, I miss driving, but then I have to remember why I’m here. I didn’t move to Budapest to sit by the Danube and sip coffee. I moved here to be a part of the work of Christ that is happening. I moved here to minister to Hungarians and students from different countries. There is no other reason I live in Hungary than to do that. 

At times, this is a disturbing thought for me. It’s very easy to get sucked into the culture, to become depressed and only want to live for myself all winter, but I can’t live like that. Number one, that’s not who God has created anyone to be, and number two, what good am I if I become just another person who lives here? I constantly have to remind myself of my purpose for being here. 

There is nothing greater than being in God’s will and serving Him. When you are in that place, new worlds open up all the time. People come into your life that you would have never gotten to know otherwise and it’s all part of God’s plan. I am so privileged to minister in Hungary, and you are so privileged to minister where you are. Let’s not forget this! Keep going forward! Don’t forget that God uses those who are available, no matter where they are.

I have been approved by the Missions Board in Baltimore to come back for another year! I’m so happy and looking forward to what God will do in the next twelve months. 

I will be returning to the US for about 6 weeks this summer to visit family and friends. I can’t wait to see all of you.

The school year is coming to a close, please pray for those staff members and missionaries who are returning next year, as well as those who have decided to leave. Our principal and his family will be returning to the States this summer and a new principal will take his place. Please pray for this transition time and all the little details of housing, transportation, finances, etc. for these amazing missionaries both coming and going. 

April 2016 (Honors Choir)

As many of you know, there will be a team from ACSI coming to GGIS next week to determine whether we can be accredited or not. Please continue to pray for this as we prepare for their arrival.


I am currently sitting in the lobby of another Christian school in Budapest called ICSB (International Christian School of Budapest) chaperoning an event called Honors Choir where Christian students from all over Europe come together and sing at various venues every year. This is an ACSI event and the first one that I have attended. GGIS sent eight students which is just a small percentage of the 100+ students that are here. I’m amazed to see all of these students come and be so unified in their purpose even though many of them have never met. Right now they are practicing a song about The Creation and they sound incredible. I love to hear these voices praising their Creator, not out of some religious duty, but simply for the joy of praising Him. There have been devotionals by different missionaries and team building exercises that have helped bond the students.


I don’t know how many of these kids really understand what is happening but I am finally getting to see what ACSI is all about. They aren’t just coming together to sing, play sports or work on accrediting schools, they are expanding the connections in the global Body of Christ. I am staring at a room full of teenagers going forward with Christ and meeting other people their age who are doing the same things they are doing. These are the times that make a difference, the times that change their lives, the times that stir them up to dive deeper into their calling. I’m so privileged to be a part of this.


Please pray for the youth group, GGYG, that I am leading. I really want to have a greater influence in the school, for it to be so engrained in the culture that students don’t even think about coming, they just do. I don’t know how to accomplish this other than just asking for prayer about it. I think the one thing that kept me in church as a young person was going to Camp Life, Spring Rally, the Blitz, and the Teen Studies in Baltimore. Pastor Love and many others invested so much in me through these events and I want to share a part of that with the teens here.