One, God really blessed and cared for myself and my team this month. Because we stayed an extra month in Europe, our budget was really low for food. $2.00 a day goes far in Africa but not in Europe. We began not knowing if it would be enough, but continuously throughout the month we were given free bread, cake, and other things. I was also really blessed to visit my cousin who is living in Budapest currently. His family invited us to dinner, a blessing to be treated well and to be able to relax at an American dinner table. He sent us home with lots of food and desserts.
Two, I love the city of Budapest! It is so beautiful. It is probably my favorite city so far. I found a place called Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube in the city. It is so green, peaceful and beautiful (I love nature, by the way, and could hang out in places like that for hours). The city has so many things to see and enjoy. They have lots of festivals going on during the summer. One of my favorite things was going to part of the Budapest Summer Festival. There were hundreds of people sitting out on a place called Heroes’ Square watching an orchestra performance. It was a lot of fun!
As far as ministry goes, it was great to be able to choose our own ministry and seek that out…a little more like it would be at home. I wasn’t doing everything that I would be doing at home (didn’t work with children or youth and didn’t teach), but I could immerse myself in a project or two and make my own schedule. I spent a lot of time painting. It’s great because it gives immediate satisfaction; the fruit of the work is instant.
God has also stretched me this month. I have had to learn some difficult things about community and trusting my team. For some reason I have struggled greatly with trusting my team. I have been defensive and put up walls to keep myself from being hurt, making it difficult for my team to want to reach out and get to know me (which is the very thing I was fearing). I am having to learn a hard lesson of trust and openess. We are made to live in community, which is what I would probably say has been the hardest part of this Race.
