Dear Friends,
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I'm taking things one day at a time. I am praying every day for the Lord to show me why He brought me here. I am struggling to find joy in anything and having a hard time getting used to the ministry.
During the next two weeks, I will be spending all day everyday with my team mates in English classrooms all over the city. We will be advertising for "Winner Take All", a huge evangelistic outreach on October 13. Please pray for the team, that our talks would be effective and that we have a big turn out for the event. Pray for Andras, who will be sharing the gospel that night, and pray for the ears and hearts of the students who will be hearing the gospel that night.
Please pray that I continue to be faithful and obedient to the Lord. I'm struggling with my role here, but I am trying to lean on the Lord as much as I can and continue to do what I am asked.
Thank you for all of the encouraging emails and letters. It's wonderful to know you are thinking of me.
All my love, Lauren
Hey All!
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the prayers that I know have been in my name in the past two days. I know they're happening because I am seeing the results. I am obviously still struggling with my role here, but God has done an amazing job of placing encouraging, supportive, and challenging people in my life recently. Thank you to those of you that have sent a reassuring email lately. Those were exactly what I needed to see. God is teaching me lots of things right now and I am doing my best to not only figure out what he has for me, but also to just be obedient. So, thank you and please keep it up!
Second, I wanted to tell you all about the day I had! This morning, my roommates and I traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia in order to apply for our residence visas. One of the Hungarian staff members is helping us through this process, so he drove us and spent the day with us abroad. We left around 6:30 am and arrived in Bratislava around 9 am. The Hungarian Embassy was just opening and we spent the next two hours filling out papers for our application. Once we were finished, we were told that the director of the office would be back at 3 clock and we could have our passports returned then. We took this 4+ hour lapse as an opportunity to explore this beautiful city. We ended up taking a historical walking tour, having a nice long european lunch, and of course, we did some shopping. Bratislava is pretty small, and our afternoon was the perfect amount of time to see the sights. Please, please look at the pictures I put on Webshots:
http://community.webshots.com/user/ldmathewsIn case you don't have time to check out all the pictures, you have to at least see the adorable salt and pepper shaker set I bought today!
Isn't that the best?! I was also able to buy some gifts for birthdays I know are coming up. The little shop we found was so great.
Please also pray that the rest of the visa application process goes as smoothly as it did today. If all goes well, we should have the final stamps in the next week or two.
So thank you again and please know that I am also praying for all of you and am so greatful to my team of supporters :)
With love, Lauren
Dear, Dear Friends,
I need your prayer right now. These past few weeks have been very hard for me and it would really help to know that my loved ones from home were thinking of me.
I am struggling here in Hungary. I am incredibly homesick and really having a hard time figuring out why God sent me here. I am sad all the time and can really feel the devil attacking me. I feel inadequate in my work and am having to really fight the urge to quit.
Please pray for my strength. I am really, really doing all I can to lean on Christ right now. But it is so hard when I feel like this all the time. Please pray that I remember that all I need I already have in Christ. I need to be strong in Him.
Also, please be in prayer for friendships. It's hard for me here in Hungary without my trusties and I pray that the Lord would bring new Christ-centered relationships with people here in Hungary.
Thank you for your prayers. They are more precious to me than you could know.
All my love, Lauren
These past two weeks have been very revealing, and there is a lot to share.
On Wednesday, the 23rd, we traveled down to a town called Révfülöp for our National Staff Conference. All of the Campus Crusade (Timoteus Társaság in Hungary) staff in Budapest came together for a time of fellowship, administration, and teaching. Révfülöp is on the Balaton, the largest fresh water lake in Central Europe, not far from Keszthely, where we held the SpeakOut camp. It’s a good thing that we were busy with meetings all week, because Révfülöp is quite small, with not a lot to do. It also rained a lot, so when we did have free time, we were restricted inside. One day was nice, though, and Julie and I hiked up the local mountain.
The meetings were long, and somewhat tiring, but were overall very effective. We discussed many Campus Crusade global documents and priorities, as well as administrative and scheduling details. We also got to hear from Don Mansfield, a very involved senior Crusade Staff member, who has served in several countries, including England and Macedonia, and as the Country Director of Albania.
We read through 2nd Corinthians and discussed our calling and roles. Here are some verses concerning the ministry that stood out to me this week:
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphant procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” 2nd Cor. 2:14-15
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” 2nd Cor. 3:6
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” 2nd Cor. 4:1
God has called me to Himself, and to the people here in this specific place and I am so excited to see where He leads me now that I am here. I am looking forward to and praying for growth in the Lord this year. I hope that you are praying for that as well. The closer I am to the Lord, the more apt I am to go out and try to win people for Christ!
Another exciting thing that happened at the conference is that the High School Fék (Fiatalok Elet az Kuszobén, Youth on the Threshold of Life) team came together for the first time and had our first meeting! Our team consists of the three STINTers: Me, Ashley, and Kirsten, a Bulgarian couple, Jordan and Villi that are working with us this year, András and Timi, tow Hungarian Fék staff members, and Zach and Julie, our ministry directors.
I am so grateful for each person on this team and so excited to see God use us all together for His glory.
This was also a hard week, because we were without our fourth STINTer, Kenzie. We found out that due to unforeseen circumstances, she will not be joining us in Hungary this year. Please pray for her as this is a hard thing to deal with; and pray for us, as this was unexpected news to hear and we will have to adjust the ministry, as well as our living arrangements.
Now that we’re back in Budapest from Révfülöp, our ministry year is beginning. Our first student leadership meeting was Tuesday night. We all gathered together and sent emails, text messages, and made phone calls to students that have either been involved or are interested in getting involved with our Friday night ministry.
Our first official weekly Fék team meeting was Wednesday morning. We were together for several hours, discussing details and expectations for the year. We also received a list of names of students that we will specifically be working with individually.
Our first Friday night meeting is tonight. We are meeting in a large park next to the coffee shop where we usually meet. It will be a fun first night of games, food, and getting to know one another. Please pray for good weather, and that lots and lots of students would come to this first meeting.
Please also pray for our team and the local students that we’ve invited to a part of the leadership ministry.
Thank you all so much for your prayer and support. I’ll update again soon J
