Hungary - Part 3

On Monday morning, the four of us gathered together with Ilona, Zsolt and Istvàn for a time of prayer and devotions. This prepared us for the day ahead. We continued to do that for the rest of the week. 

The first day was the hardest as we were meeting the children and we weren't sure how they would take to us. It would be difficult, as here we were, four foreigners who didn't speak their language and children who didn't speak our language. But, that was a hurdle we would soon overcome. 

Throughout the week we would all meet in the church (which was on the campsite) and Ilona in Hungarian would go through the theme of the day and also the Bible verse, which was both in English and Hungarian. She would then call all four of us  English speakers up to the front to teach the children a song. The songs were in English and we made up actions with them to help make it easier for the children to learn. The songs were as follows: 

Day 1:

Our God Is A Great Big God


Day 2:

God is Wild About Us


Day 3:

Lord I Lift Your Name on High


Day 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKVery4zI2c

No Greater Gift than God's Great Love

(I couldn't get the video to come up on the page, so you can see the video by clicking on the link above).


Day 5:

Walking in the Light of God

We did encourage the children to join in with us and by the end of the week even the teenagers were doing the actions - which we were really pleased about! The five days each had different themes all of them relating to God and His son Jesus Christ. The main aim of the camp was to teach children the Gospel and the unconditional love of Jesus, as well as teaching them the basics of English. The theme of the days all corresponded to a different colour and each colour had a different message and a different story.

On the first day the theme was Yellow is for God. The story relating to that colour was the story of Creation and during our English teaching lessons we would teach the words that come up in the version of that story for example: sea, stars, sun, moon, land, animals, birds and fish. The children would learn the Bible verse for that day which was taken from Jeremiah 29 v 13: "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

On the second day the theme was Black is for Sin. The children learned the story of Adam and Eve and how sin had separated them from God. They also learned that God can forgive them if they sin and they are truly sorry for what they have done. In the English teaching lessons, I asked the children if they knew what different English words were good and which were bad. They answered correctly each time and I was really impressed that they knew their good from bad in English. The Bible verse for that day, Romans 6 v 23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." 

The third day the theme Red is for Jesus. This day was slightly different to the others as the children were shown a film simply known as 'Jesus'. The Jesus film was made in 1979, but various translations and different versions of the film have been produced since then. This one was a children's version and it was in their native language, so was easy for them to understand. Normally back at home children become restless when sitting down for an hour watching a film which normally they're not interested in, but here it was different. At the crucifixion scene the room was silent and there were a few tears shed from a number of the leaders there. It was just amazing how the kids were able to sit still and take it all in. During our English lesson we read the story of Jesus to them again and filled in various worksheets and towards the end of the lesson got them to occupy themselves by colouring in. The Bible verse for that day is probably the best known of them all John 3 v 16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life."

Day four had the theme White is for a Clean Heart. The story was that of the Ten Lepers, whom Jesus healed and only one came back to say thank you. The Bible verse learned that day was from John 1 v 12: "To all who received Him to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." The final day we learned about the vine and the branches, how the Lord made us to produce much fruit, in other words to do many good things. The colour for the day was green and the theme Green is for Growing. As Christians we are still very much growing spiritually, praying and reading God's word and trying to live like Christ. The final Bible verse: "I am the vine, you are the branches if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit." John 15 v 5. 

During the afternoons at the camp the children involved themselves in crafts and in games which were a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed learning the numbers in English through card games such as Skip-Bo and Uno, learning names of animals and objects in the game Who Am I? and of course playing games where we were just simply having fun. 

We encouraged the children as much as we could to learn these Bible verses and if they had any questions about God or Jesus to ask us and we would try and answer them as best we can. It was so incredible to see these young lives touched by the camp and how by the end of the week we were their friends. It was also great to meet the parents of the children on the Saturday, where we spent the day playing games, talking and interacting with them and generally having a good time.

The camp is probably the only place these kids get to hear the Gospel and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. 

Hungary - Part 2

The next morning started off with breakfast between 8-9am. We all took the opportunity to get to know each other more and talk about what we were expecting for the week ahead. 

At 9.30am Jill started the orientation session. It was a morning and afternoon session getting us prepped up for the children's camps which were happening that week. The orientation including being given a talk on Hungarian culture and also an intense Hungarian language lesson, courtesy of Istvan. We were often put on the spot but it was so much fun! 

During the session, Ilona and Zsolt Csernus came to the Training Center. They serve with OM Hungary and have two sons called Benjamin and Daniel. They would be the leaders at the Balatonfűzfő English Camp, which was the camp myself and three others were helping at. 

Ilona and Zsolt at the campsite

In the afternoon, we learned the actions to the songs we would be teaching the children at our respective camps. For 'Walking in the Light of God', we tried all the different moves to the song (hop, skipping and jumping) and ended up almost falling over each other. Later on, the Pest Lorinz group stayed downstairs to discuss the week's programme, while us, the ones going to Balatonfűzfő went up the stairs with Ilona to discuss the teaching materials and which age groups we were going to take. 

After an afternoon of preparation for the camp it was time for dinner and another chance to get to know the people I was on the mission trip with. To break the ice we played a few games with one hilarious miming game and another game called 'Consequences' where we had to finish one another's stories on a piece of paper. Well, I have to say I haven't laughed so hard in ages!

It was also the last night before some of us were separated from each other for a week. The Pest Lorinz team were leaving early for their church on Sunday morning and then spending the week at a camp near Budapest. At 8am on Sunday morning, eleven people left along with Jill for the Pest Lorinz camp. It was only four of us going to Balatonfűzfő. Despite the small numbers I knew we would still do well and I think we were all glad we could relax before the busy week ahead! 

Our Sunday morning was spent at Erd Baptist Church, where a woman who attends that church was actually going out on mission to the ship with Operation Mobilisation. So it was very exciting to actually meet a Hungarian woman going away from Hungary on mission and we were in Hungary on mission from the UK and Canada. After church was over, it was time for lunch and we headed to the food court in Tesco, where we tried some  delicious Hungarian cuisine. The rest of the day was spent being given a tour of the OM Hungary office and then relaxing at the training center, before Ilona and Zsolt came and picked us up at 8pm. We arrived at Balatonfűzfő around 10pm, where it was very dark but the stars were scattered around the sky shining beautifully. Once we were settled into our chalet it was time for bed. When we would wake up in the morning it would mark the start of a very hectic, but exciting week. 

Hungary - Part 1

In March this year I applied to go on a short term outreach with the well known Christian organisation 'Operation Mobilisation'. In April I was accepted onto the outreach team and from then prepared for what was going to be a very exciting step in my life.

The country which the outreach was based in, was as you have read from the title, Hungary. Not much is known about the country apart from it was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and two-thirds of their country cruelly taken away from them after World War I. The country was also affected by the harsh rule of communism until 1989. Despite that,Hungary today is very much a thriving country with areas of opportunity and prosperity.

The outreach was taking place at an English language camp in a town called Balatonfűzfő. It is one of the many towns which surround Lake Balaton, the largest lake in central Europe and also known as the "sea of Hungary".

On Friday 9th of August I arose at 5am and headed off to Aberdeen Airport with my parents. Once I had checked in and had breakfast it was time to say goodbye to my mum and dad as I went through the departures gate, through security and to the gate where my first plane would take me to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. 

I arrived at Schiphol airport at 11.30am, twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. I had over two hours to wait for my next flight, so time was spent wandering the duty free, giggling at the fact that they sold Scottish shortbread there.

At 2pm I then boarded the plane to Budapest. It was all very exciting, as soon I would be in Hungary. The day which I had been waiting for since the end of April was finally here. The plane landed at 4pm and by the time I picked up my suitcase it was about quarter past four.  I knew that there would be a delay in getting picked up by OM, but I didn't know just HOW long the delay would be. It turned out I was waiting 2 hours and 35 minutes. For the first hour I was okay, as I knew that they would be a bit late, however after the first hour has passed I started to get a little bit worried. Texts were going back and forth to Jill Hitchcock, Personnel and Member care of OM Hungary to ensure that someone was picking me up and was just running late. Eventually at 6.45pm, István a worker with OM Hungary came and collected me from the terminal, much to my relief. It was there I met Jonathan, Susanna and Lena - two of whom were going to be at the other camp during the week and Lena who would be with me in Balatonfűzfő. The journey to the training centre took roughly 40 minutes from the airport and during that time, we all got to know each other in the van, Jonathan and Susanna had just finished studying at Oxford University. Jonathan, originally from Suffolk had finished studying music and after the mission trip was heading to Kent to teach music at a school there. Susanna, originally from Northern Ireland had finished studying Hebrew and Jewish studies and would be taking up a post as a student support worker at her church. Lena was from Winnipeg, Canada who ran her own health and well being business. To top it off Jonathan had been in Britain's Got Talent in 2011 with an Oxford University all-male acapella singing group called 'Out of the Blue'. So it was interesting to meet so many talented people!

At the training centre we met the rest of the group: Alexia, Jorgen, Carolyn, Andy, Meike, Hayden, Chandler, Ellen, Catriona, Kristi and Carolin. It was a real mix of different people from Germany, Mexico, Canada, the UK (Scottish, English and Northern Irish) and the USA. We all got to know each other at the dinner table and everyone was really friendly. In the dorm room, I shared with Susanna and also with Lena. 

Soon after it was time to go to bed before a full day of orientation training.

The front of the OM Training Center in Érd, a suburb of Budapest

My dorm room in the OM Training Center (my bunk is the one next to the chair)

The front and back of the OM Training Center

Edinburgh Zoo

Hi all

I'm SO sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. I haven't found anything exciting to write about. Until now that is.

My church, Fraserburgh Baptist organised a trip to Edinburgh Zoo. It had been a year in the making and now on the 8th of June 2013 it was finally here. The alarm on my phone went off at 5.30am (which should be illegal on a Saturday!), but I didn't seem to mind as I was filled with excitement about going to the zoo. My parents got up roughly the same time as I did, so once we were showered and dressed we spent about half an hour making sandwiches and finishing preparing packed lunches. Although it was a gloomy morning I had my shorts on, as the forecast was set to pick up later in the day. When we arrived at the church, there were only a handful of us wearing shorts, but at least I wasn't the only one. I would have felt pretty stupid if I was. After almost being knocked out by my friend Tony's camera tripod we boarded the bus.  Me and some of my friends from Youth Fellowship headed to the back of the bus (well that is where the most fun is had, right?)

At 7.10am we headed off into the great unknown (well Edinburgh, but I like to think it was an adventure, okay?) and most of the journey was spent listening to music, chattering away to Andrew, Rebekah and Kellsey and just generally getting excited about seeing all the animals in the zoo. Normally it takes an hour to get from Fraserburgh to Aberdeen, however we were there in about 45 minutes and we picked up a wayfaring stranger (Edward, Andrew's friend from uni). The bus was now complete and drove on to Dundee, where we were desperate to get out breakfast.

Around 9.30am the bus arrived at Dundee Camperdown Park. McDonald's and KFC must not have known what hit them as fifty of us descended upon them for breakfast. I ordered blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, which was accompanied with a side order of bacon and eggs. The bacon and eggs were not so great, but the pancakes were delicious! Fifty satisfied tummies later and we were back on the bus for the last hour of our journey to Edinburgh Zoo.

We arrived at the zoo about 11.10am and all gathered in the main reception area. Once we were given maps of the park we were free to roam about and discover the zoo to our hearts content. We saw monkeys energetically swinging from vine to vine, hippopotamuses lazily basking in the sun and chimpanzees munching on fruit.

At 1pm, our group was booked in to see the two giant pandas Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine). After the zoo employees worked out there was fifty of us, they decided to have us all in one big group.

Now pandas are notoriously known for sleeping 16 hours a day, so it's no wonder people who have visited the zoo complained about not seeing them! However this day was going to be a little different. Despite being a very hot day for Scotland, Tian Tian emerged from her usual slumber and walked around her enclosure much to our delight. She clambered over the rocks, came back down and walked against the glass window, with many delighted viewers happily snapping away on their cameras of this energetic panda. Tian Tian had then decided she had enough and without hesitation climbed up a tree and slumped down on the branch, where she had decided that was probably her exercise for the day. We were all so thrilled that we got to see at least one panda awake (Yang Guang wasn't one for getting out of bed!).

Every day at 2.15pm there is a penguin parade called Penguins Rock! The penguin parade is voluntarily, so once the zoo keepers open the gates it's up to the penguins if they want to come out or not. Fortunately, on this day the penguins did want to come out so there were about 15 penguins waddling around a short distance of the park. It was very entertaining and hilarious to see. Once the penguin parade was over, it was time to see more animals - this time the King of the Forest, the Lion and also various different leopards and tigers from different countries. We also saw zebras and a horn bill bird from South Africa (which was part of the Animal Antics show). During the Animal Antics show it was very, very hot and I was sitting wishing I had brought a hat, as the sun was beating down on my head. However, it only lasted for about 15 minutes and soon were on our way again to see more animals.

Our tour of the zoo ended by seeing pelicans, ostriches and many different kinds of birds. At 5pm we all met at the gift shop where we purchased some zoo merchandise before heading off on the bus. Our day ended by getting a McDonald's and KFC for dinner and then coming back to Fraserburgh at 10pm. Despite our tiredness, we had a great day and cannot wait for the
trip to the safari park next year.

Tian Tian

Penguins on parade

Zebras