Who’s Kurt, you ask? No, Kurt is not a person; it’s the nickname we’ve given the yurt (traditional Hungarian tent) that, over the past few weeks, we’ve been turning into a prayer room. Kurt stands in the back corner of the MHOP hostel’s backyard/field.
Meet Kurt, the prayer yurt!
Kurt when we first arrived.
Kurt, prepared for the prayer retreat.
We rushed to complete the furnishings for Kurt last Wednesday, and from Wednesday night to Sunday morning, we had our very first 24-7 prayer retreat in it!
The purpose of the prayer retreat was to spend time with God, be open to hearing His voice, and for Him to work on something in our hearts/our lives. It was also a time to pray on behalf of each other and for needs around the world. Each person signed up for hour-long prayer slots throughout the day. There were also four group-prayer sessions each day, led by Brett (our host). Some young Hungarians from the Catholic church also joined us for the retreat.
In the middle of the prayer room, we had the altar. We also had four walls, the Wailing Wall, the “Enter His Courts with Thanksgiving” Wall, the “Fishers of Men” Wall, and the “Map of the World” Wall. On each wall we were free to put up prayer requests or praises and to pray for the requests that others put up.
The "Enter His Courts" Wall, where we put up prayers and thanksgiving to God. The "Map of World" Wall, where we put up prayers for world issues.
The "Fishers of Men" Wall, where we put names of people close to us we pray to be saved. The "Wailing" Wall, for personal prayer cries and pleas.
When I first learned that we were going to participate in a prayer retreat, I was really excited. I felt that there was so much more to prayer than I knew. Some people can spend hours in prayer. Prayer is a way to speak to God. Prayer changes things. What more can I learn about prayer?
In Bulgaria, one of the biggest things I learned was that we are always in spiritual warfare. All around us, in physical places, there is a battleground going on for souls. In Hungary, it was a continuation of that lesson. There is also a battle, our whole lives, going on in our hearts. And once we become believers, we allow the Holy Spirit to fight in our hearts and to claim territory for God’s Light – for love, for justice, and to live lives that please Him. We need His help in convicting us of our sins, in helping us shed off Bitterness, Anger, Jealousy, Pride, etc., and to take on the virtues of Love, Gentleness, Patience, Self-control, etc.
I also learned the importance and joy of being in His Presence. Something that REALLY helped me was reading a book on meditative prayer. I had been trying to spend more quiet time with Him in Bulgaria, but lost the habit when I came to Hungary. During my first few shifts in the yurt, I wasn’t sure what to pray for so I started reading this book. It talked about how meditation was like digging the gold from a gold mine, or chewing and digesting the flavour and nutrition from food. Meditation allows God and His Word to transform us. Not reading and analyzing and intellectually understanding what the passage means, but asking – “Is Jesus really ___ to me?” “Am I really allowing Jesus to do ___ in my life?” I slowly became aware that I was in the presence of the Holy, Almighty, LIVING, LOVING God…that He is hearing my every prayer and patiently, lovingly doing an active work in me…and that gave me so much assurance and joy.
Kurt after the prayer retreat was over, with its walls filled with prayers.
I think that even though this month wasn’t a month of a lot of relational ministry (we did a lot of yard work, painting, decorating, and reading), God knew what each of us needed. He needed to change us before we could change others…He needed to remind us that it is, after all, all about HIM. He showed us things inside of us in a way we hadn’t expected. We’re thankful for His lessons, and hope to take what we learned to our next stop…INDIA.
We will be taking a train from Budapest (Hungary) to Bucharest (Romania) on Friday. Then, next Monday (Sep 12), we will be flying to New Delhi, India, and taking a 32-hour train to our ministry site, Ongole, in South-eastern India.
