Check Out Our Panzio

In case you were wondering about where we stayed in Hungary, here are some pics for your viewing enjoyment.  We shared a panzio (condo/apartment) with the Daubenspecks from Pennsylvania.  They usually understood us, even though our accents were very different from what they hear around "Philly."  (Brad, if you ever see this, yes, you took some of these pictures.  I "borrowed" them!)

Our kitchen/living/dining area

The VERY narrow hallway/entry way

downstairs bathroom

dining area

downstairs bathroom

Our view across the street was of corn fields, hundreds of tomato plants, and an orchard.

This is the view of the clothes dryer (line) from our balcony.

Side yard

This is where Phil cooked one of the best meals we ate.

Our wonderful meal of sausage, chicken, sauteed mushrooms & veggies.  And of course, Coca-cola.

upstairs bedroom 

 

 The garden in the front yard had some beautiful roses until the horrendous heat wave.

Messiness....  sometimes it was too hot to care about cleaning.

Hello, again!  As promised, here are more pictures. Also, as I said in the previous post, some of these pictures may have been taken by another Speak Out staff member.  I was filled with photo envy as I scrolled through my staff friends' Facebook albums and couldn't stop myself from swiping some of their pics.  My apologies again if some of you readers happen to see photos that you actually took.  Let me know, and I'll give you credit:)

 

Now, here are some photos of some of the wonderful people we worked with in Hungary.

 

In real life, Drew actually does smile.  I snapped this picture of him with Grace, a college student / missionary kid from Georgia (the country, not the state).  If I could choose someone for Aubrey to be like when she's older, I'd choose Grace.  She has a tremendous heart for the lost and for bringing glory to God.

I love this girl!  One of the highlights of the summer was meeting Betti, a young woman from Hungary.  Betti studies languages and is very fluent in English and in Spanish.  She told me she would like to become either an interpreter or a translator.

Another highlight of my summer:  spending time with this awesome young lady. I love her, too! Rebeka is a sweet new friend who also lives in Hungary.  She's planning to study medicine soon--if she hasn't started already. Look at this cute pic and then I'll tell you a cool story about Betti and Rebeka.

 

 Ok, one more cute pic:

(They were dressed up for a scavenger hunt.)

Ok--cool story.  Betti went to Speak Out as a camper last year, and Rebeka was on staff.  Betti was already a Christian when she attended, and Rebeka suggested that Betti return this year to be on staff with her.  So, these two ladies worked all month with the rest of the Hungarian staff.  They all spent time with campers each day and made sure that the campers were understanding everything that they were hearing from the English-speaking staff.  They also went out each day to the towns around Lake Balaton to witness to strangers. They are my heroes!  Betti and Rebeka were so fired up about learning how to share their faith confidently that they came to our final group meeting in Budapest 2 HOURS EARLY; why so early?  so they could spend time sharing their faith with people at the West End Mall before our final meeting began!!!!  They are such an inspiration to me!



He simply must hold any available babies.

Sometimes, he HOGS the babies.  (Sometimes.)

(See?)

That little dude is the newest member of the Partin family.  They are from Tennessee but have been living and serving in Budapest for several years now.  They are some of my heroes, too.

This little ray of sunshine has been living in Budapest with her family for about seven months.  We love her and miss her so much.

Phil with Csabi and Daniel.  Csabi was on the Hungarian staff; his name is pronounced "Chubby."  Daniel is part of the Daubenspeck clan that we lived with for the month.

Kar-Lai works full-time at Cru headquarters in Orlando.  She is an amazing young woman of God.  She spent the first part of the trip in Slovakia serving as worship leader and photographer for the Slovakia Speak Out.  When that camp ended, she came to Hungary to finish out the summer with us. I'd love for my daughter to be like her, too.

This is us sweating nigh-unto-death in a tutor group or American staff group meeting.  My eyes are closed in the picture because I probably was losing a battle with jet lag.  During our first week in Hungary, the country's heat record was broken, and Budapest was the second hottest city in the world.  **And we had no AC. At all.  And we survived.

***2 weeks later, people were wearing jeans and sweat shirts.

I was in a discipleship group with these lovely ladies.

Eszter and Liz--These ladies were an inspiration to me as well. 

Eszter was saved as a result of a Speak Out camp a few years ago.  After camp, the Cru staff followed up with her, and she began meeting weekly with a staff member who discipled her.  After a year or so of discipleship, Eszter's mentor showed how to share her faith.  Since then, there has been no stopping this beautiful young woman; she has such a passion to share Christ with other Hungarians.  I asked her if she ever gets nervous about sharing her faith--especially when she's talking to strangers--and she said, "Of course!  But then I think about where I would be if someone hadn't told me."  She also said she shares her faith because she's so grateful to God for what He has done for her.

 

Liz worked on staff with the Cru team in Hungary for two years.  After college, she signed up for Stint, a program that Cru offers to people who want to experience life on the mission field for one or two years.  While she lived in Budapest, part of her "job" was to disciple young women like Eszter.  Can you think of anything more amazing than sharing your life with people like that?

Hungarian and American staff on a scavenger hunt

Jen was a discipleship group leader, which meant that she led weekly Bible studies for women on staff, and she also met with her group members individually to provide support and accountability.  She's also a full-time Cru staff member in Budapest.  She and her husband and three sons have lived there for about three years.  She and some of the other missionary moms took turns playing with the staff kids with the parents were busy with camp activities.

Some of the guys from the American staff.  Jeremy (far left) has lived in Hungary for 7 years now as a full-time staff member, and J.R. (dude with the goatee) has been working on staff in Budapest for a year.

D-Group meeting at a cute coffee shop. 

Some of the Hungarian staff.  The way they care about the souls of their countrymen inspires and convicts me.

This beautiful family was such a blessing to us; I don't think I've ever met anyone with such sweet spirits as the Alleman family.  Abby and Jared did a "stint" in Hungary several years ago.  They went back to America to start their family and to raise support to return to Hungary full-time.  They've been there --full-time-- for over seven months now, and Abby will be delivering their third child in just a few months. 

American Tutor Group--This group met daily to practice their faith-sharing skills and to help each other work through any challenges they were experiencing in clearly communicating the gospel with Hungarian campers.

During our orientation week, the Fek praise band led us in worship everyday.  O. My. Word.  I think I experienced just a little bit of heaven.  We sang some songs in both English and Hungarian--at the same time--and it was magnificent.  I can only imagine what it will be like before the throne of God when people from every tribe, tongue, and nation are singing praise....

 

Click HERE to listen to one of the songs they led.

 

And just for fun, click HERE to hear "How Great is Our God" in Hungarian.

This is Dan Butts--the camp director--teaching us during one of our training sessions.  He and his wife have lived and served in Hungary for about 30 years. Or was it 20 years?  Well, they've been there a L-O-N-G time.

Working to develop our witnessing skills

prayer time

Two American staff girls sharing their faith

meeting and eating

 

More prayer time

Yes, I stole this picture from Facebook.  Wouldn't you, too?  These folks are Csaba (full-time Hungarian Cru staff), Amanda (from Memphis), Summer (from Arkansas), and Ingrid (from Arizona & now Hungary).  Ingrid was my D-group leader, and she became a dear friend.  During our camp, Ingrid, her husband J.R., and their three children celebrated their one-year anniversary as Cru staff in Hungary.  He was a computer tech guy and she was a full-time mom/former sophomore engineer that did something with Apache helicopters (I can't remember exactly how to word it).  They got bored with the American Dream and wanted to do more for God.  So, they prayed, raised support, and moved to Hungary. I love and admire them so much.

 

Rivers and Dave Partin

Wonderful people.  Simply wonderful.

 

American tutors practicing "The Diagram"--the diagram has been one of the most effective methods of evangelism in Hungary for over 20 years.  You can use it to verbally and visually communicate the gospel in about 3 minutes.

Speak Out Staff 2012

Want to meet some of these folks and experience Speak Out for yourself?  Send us a message and we'll be glad to talk to you about it.  It will change your life.

Want to see pictures of the location of Speak Out?  Click HERE.