BHHP

We had an extremely effective week with the help of 32 American volunteers who came for our mission trip (called Bringing in the Hungarian Harvest Project, BHHP). Over 700 students showed up at the 7 dorm outreaches and at the two special outreaches we had for campus and high schools students. Also we went to about 100 classrooms to speak to students and invite them to after school activities. I can't share all the great stories, but the following four short stories are summarizing well what we see happening in YTL.

Story # 1: We've closed the BHHP mission trip with our annual YTL educator's symposium. 160 educators from all over Hungary came to spend the whole weekend with us to learn how to use our program and curriculum. (From their written feedback we know that they committed themselves to teach YTL to over 12,000 students this year). As always it's is our practice at these symposiums we've shared the gospel with the participating educators through Dave Robinson's and Gabor Gresz’s testimony and ask them to consider giving their life to Jesus. Four educators indicated a decision. After they shared their testimonies, the gospel and asked them to consider turning their lives to Jesus, one educator, named Beata came up to them. She shared that after hearing how God changed Gabor’a heart and made he able to forgive to his abusive father, she immediately realized that she lived her life in a prison. In the prison of not forgiving her mother. She has spent her whole life to prove herself to her mom. She preformed really well, but by now she got to a point where there is a lot of hate and bitterness in her and she can't forgive her mother. She never considered the existence of God, never believed in God. But now she felt so compelled by the pain in her heart and the freeing love of Jesus that she opened her heart "just a little" - as she said - to Jesus. She said that during the whole symposium she felt that everything was for her. In tears she said her first prayer in her life with very little faith, but with an honest and broken heart! And we all know that God take those prayers very seriously!

Story #2: Saturday noon an educator came up to Gabor before lunch. She wanted to introduce herself. As she said her name he immediately recognized the name - one of the newly converted student's mother. She told her story why she came to the symposium. Her daughter - Fanni - was a teenager who got into a lot of trouble. The parents couldn't handle her, they had a tons of conflicts at home. The parents even had been called in by her school many times because she got into big problems there. They were miserable as they saw how they are loosing their daughter. They've sent her to our "SpeakOut" summer English camp a year ago. And Fanni's live has been changed dramatically. Her mom said this to me: "I've never imagined that in one week this could happen with MY daughter!!! Fanni came back a totally different person. So now I came to this educator's symposium to find out what is this YTL thing that saved my daughter and our family!" Fanni's life changed because Christ changed her life. And now her mom understands this. Since then she is turning her school up-side-down in a good term. She is sharing Christ with everybody - students and teachers, and bringing them to everything we organize. Fanni is a very outgoing, leader type of person - a really fireball! Before knowing Christ she used all her energy to make her family's life hell, now she is using all of that to get others into Heaven! The teachers are amazed how she has changed. They really like the "end product", but they don't understand the "process".

Story #3: One educator at the symposium shared with us that 6 years ago she came to a YTL symposium and prayed to receive Christ. Since then not just her life has changed, but she felt called to help other educators and students to find Jesus. She led one of her colleague to Christ and brought her to this symposium. This past year God opened a huge door for them in their city, named Vac to teach YTL in all the high schools. As a result of their work we've started to travel there last year and even this week we are holding a two day assembly to all the high schools there. Thousands of students are hearing the gospel this week because one educator 6 years ago came to the symposium and her life was changed!

Story #4: God used this week to change the life of the Americans who came to BHHP. Many of them expressed what a faith step this was for them to share their faith and how this impacts their everyday walk with God as they go back. But there was one American couple out of the 32 participants in the group who - during this week - got convinced that the Lord is calling them back to Hungary to full time ministry. Laborers are the most needed resource in the mission field!

Sometimes we just wonder what is going on! How many lives are changed and impacted. And we just only see the surface!

Festival of Folk Arts in Buda Castle

Every year for four days Buda Castle is in the centre of interest all over the country. Thanks to the Festival of Folk Arts about 800 craftsmen and 80 000 visitors spend these days in the spirit of traditions.

The Festival of Folk Arts, this traditional meeting of folk artists, will be held for the 25^th time this year. In the historic environment of the Buda Castle, for four days craftsmen will be displaying traditional crafts and skills in open workshops and visitors will be involved into the process of creation. In addition to the folk craft shows the craftsmen will also offer their goods for sale in the traditional folk art fair. Hungarian and foreign folk dancers and musicians will perform on different stages and there will be a traditional – wear parade entitled “Ages and age groups – casual and formal fashion” everyday and holiday attire of the Galga the Sárköz the Kalocsa and the Rábaköz regions.

In day time hours visitors will be entertained in a lively fair atmosphere: street theatres, puppet shows and childrens programs and in the evenings they will be invited to dance in the dancehouse. This year the Festival of Folk Arts will share an anniversary with the 20 years old Wine Festival. That will give an opportunity for a series of programs that popularize vine culture as well. Lopózás – “colouring corner”, “bottle it yourself” programs and a winemaker's training courses for children will wait for the youngest visitors.

I visited this festival for a half day to look around and find some nice gifts to my friends. I hope you will enjoy my pictures and will like the Hungarian folks.

Speak Out 2011

"SpeakOut 2011" ended with great blessings and success beyond our hope. Numbers are very inadequate way to summarize the camp, but represents at least some of the impact of the camp.

• We sent teams to 4 cities in 3 countries.
• Over 360 non-Christian campers came to spend 3 x 1 week with us.
• Our student volunteers approached over 2,700 students at those cities and offered the opportunity to discuss about Christ.
• Over 1,600 students have heard a personal gospel presentation from one of our student volunteer or staff.
• 97 students indicated a decision. We never saw such openness and results!

We had so many programs for the campers, morning class, SpeakOut groups, sport afternoon, staff hunt, American culture night, Hungarian evening, etc. But we wanted to put this camp together mainly because we wanted to share the gospel with them. Each camper had different opportunity to hear the gospel in different ways throughout the week. While the Americans spent time with the Hungarian campers in the afternoons we Hungarian staffs and students went to the beach and shared the gospel with students there.

Statistics

There are only two types of people in the world: those who like statistics and those who don’t. If you belong to the second category, this post is probably not for you…

However, if you like statistics, here’s what we gathered during this last schoolyear:

Number of students personally approached by staff with the gospel: 4572 (only one-on-one, personal conversations)

Approached by staff by week: 10.34 (as stated above, this is only one-on-one approaches, and also, if I took my disciple with me and he shared the gospel, that does not count here.)

Evangelistic discussions: 2802 (it means that we can have a spiritual conversation with more than half of the students that we approach)

Student evangelistic descussions: 2952 (So our students shared the gospel with more people personally than we as staff did. This is a good sign in a movement, because it means that more and more is done by “the followers” and not the leaders.)

Decisions with staff: 48 (1.7% of the conversations) – This means that altough Hungarian students love to talk about spiritual things, it is extremely hard for them to make a decision to follow Christ.

Decisions with students: 78 (2.6% of the conversations) – This shows that our students – who live among other students – can be better testimonies to their non-Christian friends and classmates. Statistically speaking, 52% better…

Gospel shared at evangelistic events: 1924 (this many students heard the Good News at a talk or other event from us)

Decisions at event: 48 (2,5%) (it might show that events are more effective, but at the same time it is easier just to put an X on a response card than to commit your life when someone personally knows about your journey – but this is just my opinion:)

Entering follow-up: 136 (this many new believers started to meet with us to hear about the basics of walking with God like prayer, Bible study or going to church)

Received gospel literature: 6996 (this many students recieved the gospel in a written form from us)

Other evangelistic impact: 13492 (for example people reading the gospel on our website)

Total evangelistic impact of CCC Hungary this school-year: 45989

Prayer requests

By the time you read this, SpeakOut has already started. We have a record number of campers, more than 350 students signed up for the three weeks! Keep praying for the campers:

· that they would get on well with their tutors, that they would have a great time together

· the relationships between campers and Hungarian staffs: good Speak Out Groups, where campers can get to know the Hungarians as well, and that these would lead to great conversations

· that good relationships would form that God can use in the future

· that we would see the opportunities to serve towards the campers, and we would be available to them

We continue preparations for BHHP and the FÉK Teacher Symposium in October. We expect about 30 participants from the U.S.A. during this evangelistic week. Please pray that all can raise the necessary funds for their trip to Hungary! Every year there are a growing number of Hungarian students whose lives are changed through this event.

The annual FÉK symposium at the first of October is likely to attract about 300 teachers, many of them non-believers. Teachers’ budgets are leaner than in any previous years. Our organization subsidizes the cost of this. We need lots of prayers there as well, that the financials work out well.

Happy Easter!

"Be not afraid. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen!" Mark 16:6

Wipo: Easter Sequence

Christians, to the Paschal Victim offer sacrifice and praise.

The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;

And Christ, the undefiled,

Hath sinners to his Father reconciled.

Death with life contended: combat strangely ended!

Life’s own Champion, slain, yet lives to reign.

Tell us, Mary: say what thou didst see upon the way.

The tomb the living did enclose;

I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!

The angels there attesting;

Shroud with grave-clothes resting.

Christ, my hope, has risen: he goes before you into Galilee.

That Christ is truly risen from the dead we know.

Victorious king, thy mercy show!

During the Easter Sunday liturgy, after the Second Reading and before the Gospel Acclamation, the Easter Sequence is read or sung. This liturgical poem, composed especially for the feast of Easter, was written by Wipo of Burgundy, a priest and chaplain to the Holy Roman Emperor, Konrad II. Wipo died about 1050 AD. One thousand years later, at the beginning of the third millennium, this beautiful poem, written at the beginning of the second millennium, can still resonate in our hearts. This sequence, Victimae Paschali (Paschal Victim) can be prayed during the Easter season.

My trip in the USA

Thank you very much for your help to stay with you, to organize a party, to have a breakfast, lunch or dinner with you. I don't have enough words to appriciate everything that I got from you during my trip. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!

I hope you enjoy my photos. Unfortunately, I am not the best photographer. I put my camera to my handbag and when I left our appointment, I realized I forgot to take a photo :(