GREAT thought!

I can take NO credit for this quote, but it is so right on.... ponder this:

"Never make someone a priority who makes you an option."

Great food for thought......

Oh, by the way, this will be my last post from Hungary for quite some time! Sad cannot capture the full range of emotions...but the peace of Christ rules in my heart this day and forevermore!

Last days..........in Hungary :)

Wow! What a whirlwind these last days in Hungary are! Ah, but how amazing they have been! Were I to post all the pictures of all the friends I've met and the precious times we have shared the past couple of weeks, the blog would be FULL! I'm hanging on to every precious memory, floored by the outpouring of love that has been shown to me. If this is what love and friendships are like here, then what a party we are going to have in heaven!

One of my boys...

This is my precious kitty, Simon. For the past 2 months, he has slept right next to my head...I think he knows something is up and he's not really happy about it.

In the last stretch...........

When I was in high school, I ran the 1600, the 800 and the 400. It didn't matter which race I was running because the last stretch, or some call it the 'home stretch' was always the same: the last 100 meters. Coming around the last curve, we were trained to lean forward, drive with our arms (thus the upper body weight training), and extend our stride for the final 'kick' at the end. Most importantly, we were instructed to run hard THROUGH the finish line, no matter what! Even if you were not in the lead, maybe you would set a new personal record! Inside, there was always a lot of pressure, and of course the competitors provided pressure from the outside as well!

I feel a LOT like I'm in the last 100 meters of my "race" here in Hungary right now. My calendar for these remaining 4 days has been FULL for days now. Yet, I am receiving calls from friends today, "Arden, can we get together?" "Arden, do you have time to meet? You only have one hour for me?" I feel loved, of course. But I also feel the pressure of packing up my LIFE here into two suitcases and a carry-on bag, leaving the flat clean and ready for the next person moving in, trying to meet with everyone I love and cherish, getting my cats ready for traveling with me in August...i.e. vet visits, and....and.....and.....the little things that come up.

Today, an unknown person called me, who does not speak English, and wanted to meet with me to talk about how I can help her get a job in the U.S.!! Oh, and this morning, I awaken to discover my internet has been shut off 5 days early...so I have to spend 2 hours, that I really didn't have, finding a solution to their mistake! (obviously, the solution was found! :-))))

Anyway, I am coming into the last turn...I am leaning forward, I am driving with my arms and extending my stride as long as I can....the pressure on the inside is real, and so are the pressures from without...but GOD! Now if I can just find 30 minutes to get quiet before the Lord and just be still! Help me Lord to run ALL the way through the finish line!

"Father Make us One" - by Floyd McClung

I'm still having my world challenged by wise words:

"The Old Testament prophets who called others to repentance did so in brokenness and humility, often weeping over the sin they were confronting. They openly identified with those God had sent them to warn, rather than setting themselves above them and levelling accusations against them---an attitude that is all too prevalent today. We need broken-hearted prophets, men and women who have heard from God and will call his church to holiness and love for one another.

Let us stand together in true love and unity as Christian brothers and sisters demonstrating to the world the presence and power of Christ. Let us turn away from the manipulation of information and the judgemental attitudes that so often cast a slur across the whole body of Christ. Instead, may each of us determine to strive for unity and not divisiveness, and may those who feel God has called them to correct others in the public arena do so in brokenness and humility." (pp. 87-88)

Goodbye party with some former Bible study folks

Klari's dad.....a great man of God!


Gabi, Jozsi and Timi.

Arden with my dear friends, Franci and Klari!

Zsuzsi and Aron...a little worship time.

Elza, my sweet friend!

My dear friend and sister in the Lord, Klari, and her husband, Franci, organized a small gathering of those who could come, who were a part of a home Bible study I hosted in my flat from 2000-2006. I am so blessed by these men and women who love the Lord, and it is exciting to see how HE is leading each of them!

The party began about 5 p.m. and Franci drove us all home at midnight! I LOVE that Hungarians know how to spend time with one another and I will miss this aspect of this culture!

More importantly, I will miss these dear, precious friends!

More pix from 12b banquet!

Dancing fun with the 12bs!

My smiling beauties!

Great kids!

Nice to see these boys smiling!

Sweet girls!

Oh what fun we had at the 12b banquet Sunday night!

12b class banquet!

One of my favorite groups this year at school was my 12b class! I had the blessing of teaching them for four years, and all of them were wildly successful, specifically in English, on their final exams!

Every year, after exams, each class has a banquet...a dinner with fun and talking, etc., and they invite the teachers to be a part of it! I love these banquets, and in fact, planned my return to the U.S. so that I could attend them!

Sunday night, I enjoyed being with my 12bs so much, and realized that I will surely miss them.

More from Floyd McClung

As I turn each page of "Father, Make us One", there are kernels of wisdom worth posting here!

"Real love desires the best for others. Real love is not only tender, it must also be tough. Tough in our convictions, but tender in how we express them to others. It means getting involved with difficult people, confronting those who hurt us, and standing up to those who try to use us. It involves gently disciplining those who fall into sin, and expecting a greater level of accountability among our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ."

I've made the decision: this little book is coming with me to the U.S.

packing, sorting, tossing and finding!

As I was going through books, I found one I'd read long ago by Floyd McClung entitled "Father, Make us One". I did what I sometimes do and just opened it to a random page. Here's what is on that/those two pages:

"As Christians we may often idealize fellow believers in the same way, putting them on pedestals, only to be hurt and embittered when they fail to match up to our expectations. We must come to the place where, in an attitude of love, we can embrace one another while still acknowledging one another's faults. Refusing to accept each other in this way may well lead us to becoming the policemen of the church----judgemental and critical.

In our relationships with other Christians, we often lose sight of this principle. We are busy trying to bring conviction to those we do not agree with, or to those who have some obvious fault or weakness that we feel needs correcting. But instead of helping, we bring strife and disharmony.

It is essential that love takes prime place in our relationships. Where there are differences, we must reach out in love to our brother and allow the Holy Spirit to do his convicting work in both our lives. He, after all, is the only one who is able to do this justly, since he knows the thoughts and intents of our heart."

Whoa.....do you ever just open a book and something jumps out that is exactly what you are going through or have gone through and there are the words? This was my experience a couple of days ago with these words. I could have opened to ANY page...but here lay these words.

And so, I'm now deciding whether to pack this book in my suitcase and take it with me to the U.S. :-)

Weekend in Gyula

Mari hitting the water coming out of the slide! Me watching.....




Fun in the wave pool.




I used SPF 50 suntan lotion and so the water beaded up on my legs like water on a freshly waxed car! ha ha ha!





Walking in Gyula near the fortress! Kati and Mari!

In the Szazeves cszukrazda.

Mari, Kati and I spent some time in Gyula this weekend, and it was a very blessed time! We stayed in a nice apartmenthaz, enjoyed the best hamburger place (Donna-neni would be proud), also enjoyed cakes and ice cream at the 100 year old confectionary...it's actually older, but who's counting....and the pools!

In the winter time, a group of us gals went to the Gyula baths, and I didn't really pay much attention to the fact that they have a HUGE outdoor territory with lots of different pools and slides, etc! We soaked in the sun and had a super day there today!

It's so good to get away and just disconnect for a couple of days! Thank you Lord for this precious gift with these precious friends!

Last ICF meeting for 08-09 academic year

Here's Tom Foley, the CEO of CEO, playing frisbee....ooops, missed! :-)



Erik, leading us in worship, alongside his fiance, Sara! They will get married in August in Sweden and I get to go to the wedding! whoo hoo!!! They will also continue to co-lead ICF again from September!



Fellowship, worship, writing down prayer requests! There are 7 different nations represented in this picture....Sweden, Nigeria, United States, Great Britain, Romania, Serbia and Hungary!!!

Choosing who we will pray for!

Frisbee fun!

The weather was crisp, clear and perfect for our last meeting with ICF folks, outside at Mattyas square. We played frisbee, sat and talked, worshipped the Lord, wrote down prayer requests on paper and then did a grab-bag and chose one person to pray for during the summer, said 'see you laters', and just enjoyed being together!

I'm sad..........

It's hitting me slowly...........

I won't be here, but ICF will carry on, praise God! It's His anyway!

I will miss everyone terribly............

OUCH............

Feeling very loved!

My dear friend, Krisztina, organized the whole party and hosted it at her lovely home!


My precious English department colleagues!



What a fun gathering!

Krisztina and her family, Zoli, Adel, Dani and Barnabas!

I don't think anyone has ever been able to pull off a surprise party for me! I've always "known" somehow. But my colleagues were successful, and I was floored by a wonderful surprise party for my "going away" yesterday! I cried, others cried, we enjoyed FABULOUS food, laughed, talked, and enjoyed being together! I will miss these friends....not just colleagues, but really friends....and I say THANK YOU to them!!!

More goodbyes..............

Saying goodbyes at ICD!

I love this picture of Edith! :-)

This will be a month of goodbyes. Lots of tears, lots of heart-wrenching moments, and busy-ness beyond imagination! Alas, God's grace is sufficient.

Saturday night, I was back in Debrecen after my brief visit to Ukraine and took part in a worship service at the International Church of Debrecen. After the service, they had a going away party for Edith Bond, a dear friend and fellow missionary from New Zealand, who returns to her home country to care for her aging mother.

I've been blessed to know Edith for the past 4 years, learn from her, laugh with her, pray and worship with her, and see the Lord use her in mighty ways in mine and others' lives!

God-speed, Edith, as you return to kiwi land and serve the Lord by caring for your mother! I will miss you!!!!

Treasures in God's heart

Gitka, Valentina and Zsuzsa.....about 1/2 an hour before my departure....


We played some soccer together! :-)


Valentina did NOT want her picture taken and kept saying, "I'm not a monkey!"

Veronika, Anna and me.

I don't know this little one's name, but she is precious!!!

I made my "last" trip to Ukraine, for a while, to visit the Good Samaritan orphanage for girls there, where the Lord directed us about 3 years ago. It was 3 years ago that I met these precious girls who live in a Dutch Reformed Church sponsored orphanage in the village of Nagydobrony, Ukraine. They still speak Hungarian in this formerly Hungarian village, and even keep Hungarian time...Ukraine is one time zone to the east.

These precious girls, many of whom are handicapped, are precious children of the King. Many are severely wounded in spirit from having experienced traumas many of us will could never even imagine. I haven't even bothered to ask about their stories but some of them have been told to me...stories like one little girl whose mom murdered her twin brother right before her eyes; another couple of girls whose family is so abusive that they have been removed for their own safety; and many who, because of being disabled were turned over to the orphanage to raise because it's too hard for families to provide for them.

So, it was bittersweet to visit...the visit was too short for me and for them. The precious ones I got close to before were very stand-offish with me...angry that I'd not come to see them sooner, frustrated that I was not staying, and confused that I am returning to the U.S. Patience, prayer and perseverance finally broke down some of the walls, and in the last 4 hours of my visit there, these girls finally let me in to love them.

I sort of felt like I got a small taste of what God must feel with the children of the world (us) when we resist Him...when we are stand-offish with Him...when we reject His love...when we bring our own misconceptions and self-protecting posturings to Him and make demands that things go 'our way'. His patience in waiting, continuing to love, and again, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son (see blog below), the Father waits, looking and longing to embrace....and runs to those who finally come home to His love and embrace!

What a beautiful young man!!!

Today, I've received a "kiss" from the Lord and a clear confirmation of His grace and mercy.

Three students out of eleven in one of my classes chose to plaigairize very blatantly on a recent paper I gave them. So, I went into the class today and gently, but firmly and lovingly let them know the consequences and told them they could come talk with me if they had questions or wanted to talk.

One hour later, one of the young men came to see me.

"Miss Campbell, I want to tell you that I am so very sorry for what I did. It was wrong I know, but I struggle so much in writing correct sentences. I spent about 3-4 hours trying to write and I know I should not have copied from the internet or gotten help from my English teacher."

At this point, tears are rolling down his cheeks and tears are filling my eyes as well.

"Miss Campbell, please forgive me. I'm embarrassed that I did this."

True, heart-felt repentance. No excuses. No justifications. No blaming me or anyone else. Complete ownership, with a humility I've not seen in someone in a VERY long time. This young man was completely broken...broken over his sin, broken over his own short-comings, and tearfully apologizing and asking forgiveness.

We both stood there in the school hallway crying together. I reached out and took his arm and had him look me in the eye: "I forgive you and I am so proud of you; I respect you so very, very much and I see your heart so clearly; I love you so much and am so happy you came to talk to me!"

By this time tears are flowing from both of us! I asked him if I had hurt him in any way or had done something wrong, and he, once again, took full ownership and even said, "No, you haven't hurt me. Yes, I feel hurt, but it's a necessary hurt because I know you love me and want the best for me."

I was floored....this from a 17 year old Hungarian boy!

Am I giving him another chance? Of course!

I also told him that next year, when he is a senior, he needs to email me his papers and I will help him and correct them! A smile finally crossed his tear-streaked face.

"Thank you," he said, and I squeezed his arm again, told him that I don't think anything less of him, and in fact, I have such a love in my heart and a tremendous respect for him for coming and doing what he did.

What a beautiful young man...and what a sweet kiss from the Lord this was for me as it reminded me of the story of the Prodigal Son, whose brokenness, so genuine and so complete brought showers of love and forgiveness from the Father.

"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you...."

"Bring the best robe and put it on my son!"

I want nothing but the absolute best for this student of mine, and for the other two boys as well...yet like the father in the biblical story, who did not go out searching for his lost son, but waited, expectantly, I wait expectantly, with arms open wide, ready to run and embrace these young men. I pray that day comes!