More banquets!

Some of my 12e students!

Zsolti....who did very, very well on his final exams!

Eniko and Nora, from my 12a class.

Brigi...thankful to be finished!

Kata, who is always a lot of fun!

Last Friday night, I had to split time between two different senior banquets. The first was with my 12e class and the second with my 12a class. Again, more wonderful conversations with some of my now former students and great food and fun!

End of the year English teacher's party!

With flash..........

.....and without flash!

I now have a new favorite Chinese restaurant here in Szeged! We had our annual end of the year English department party here! I believe we are the only department in the school that has such a tight-knit community with parties happening at least 3 times a year! These are some of my wonderful colleagues!

More banquet pictures

We actually passed?

The tough guys!

Me and Andras...who wants to be an English teacher!

Here are more pix of 12B banquet.

End of the school year banquets

Students and teachers before the meal!

Ah, final exams are finished!

Celebration time!

Very smart and wonderful young adults!

Lovely women!

Even after 8 years of teaching here, I never tire of senior banquets! Each senior class (groups of about 35 students make up one senior class) invites all their teachers to a final banquet dinner at a nice restaurant in town. These are special evenings for teachers and students alike as we get time to talk about the past four years and move beyond the teacher/student to a more "personal" connection.



This particular class, my 12B class, was a great group. I taught 1/2 of them for 4 years and all of them for 3 years. Great students, for the most part, and interestingly, a number of them want to become teachers, so that says a lot about all the teachers they had during their high school years! I'll miss you all, but please keep in touch!

Alternative to $8.00/gallon gas

Yep, I paid $8.00/gallon for gas today! So, the above are fast becoming one of the best alternatives to driving for us here in Hungary!

Joys of moving!

Aron and Erik taking a break from lifting....Tobi in the background...and my "faithful" Honda Jazz!

Tobi, a medical student, taking a break along with Erik's skeleton (medical student you know) and standing guard over the few remaining items as the rest of us drive Erik's stuff to his new flat!

One of the MANY blessings of having a car here is so that I can help people when they have a need for "wheels". Yesterday, Aron and Tobi and I helped Erik move his things to his new apartment, (which is closer to his girlfriend Sara, only two streets away as opposed to "across town" :-)))))

For those of you concerned about me, rest assured, I did not lift anything! I just provided wheels! The greatest part about this whole moving adventure is realizing that amongst the four of us, we represented four different nations...America, Hungary, Nigeria and Sweden! I LOVE living amongst internationals!

"Last" ICF for this school year!

Katie Driver, visiting from the U.S., and Kimberley Davies, hamming it up before ICF begins!

Markus in worship!

Erik, Cathy and Timi leading us in worship!

Eszter, all smiles, teaching!

Katie, Kimberley, Tobi and Bunmi working hard on their John 1-9 activity!

We had a great time at the final ICF meeting for the '07-'08 academic year, as you can see from the pictures above! Eszter Szabo, former high school student of mine ('91-'93), now professor of linguistics and writing at the University of Szeged, fellow inner healing and deliverance minister, and most importantly, GREAT friend, brought a fun activity for us to do as a summary of John chapters 1-9.



Erik and his team led worship, and the Lord truly blessed us with His presence and peace.



We will say goodbye to Markus at the end of this week as he moves back to Germany to continue his medical studies there! Pray that God leads him to a wonderful, Spirit-filled group of believers there where he will grow and find support, love and encouragement in his walk with Jesus!



Many students have finished already and have gone home or to other nations to work; more students finish exams this week, and we are looking forward to a swim party at a local pool with really cool slides this coming Friday, when the temps will be 96 F.



Rejoice with us as we see ALL that God has done in and through this international fellowship here in Szeged, and pray for us as we "scatter" to the nations this summer...that what God has planted would grow and spread, and He would bring us all back together in September with much to report about God's continued love and faithfulness!

Hillsong London and Matt Redman in Budapest!

Hillsong London and Matt Redman in worship concert in Budapest!

What a blessing to see these two groups in worship together, declaring over the city God's praises!

Dancing and jumping surely would have broken out had we not been on a "very thin" roof over the train station!

Arden and Kimberley whose lives are being transformed by His Great Love!

Joanna Foley and Arden...Jo is teaching and serving as a missionary in Budapest and brought some of her students to the concert!

Hundreds from many nations were blessed on Wednesday evening in Budapest with a time of worship and praise led by Hillsong London and Matt Redman, on the roof of Nyugati railway station, where we were instructed not to JUMP up and down as we worshipped because we were literally right above trains!



All day long it had poured down rain, and there was talk of cancelling, even up to an hour before the concert. As Hillsong and Matt Redman stepped onto the stage, the late afternoon sun broke through the clouds and shone brightly as the praises of God were lifted high!!!



Yes, we stood for 4 hours, packed a bit like sardines onto this rooftop and watched God do His thing through the music! After the Gospel was presented, many raised their hands to become followers of Jesus...sooooo many young people!!!



I had the priviledge of attending a worship seminar before the concert where the "leader" of this small group of worshipers from Hillsong London (they have about 150 people on their full worship team there in London at their church of 6000!) and Matt Redman spoke about the church and worship. Many excellent things were shared, but one thing that struck me was what Peter shared. "The leader of UNICEF figured out some statistics and found that if every person on the earth who calls him/herself a Christian would tithe, then poverty in the world would be eradicated with over $73 billion dollars left over!" This is something for us believers to think about and pray about, no?



Matt Redman shared an excellent thought about worship songs: "In a worship song, we first need to present to people the greatness of our God, His majesty and mystery, and invite people into that mystery, and then in the refrain, turn people's hearts to the worship of that Great God!" He gave the example of "Heart of Worship" as a good example of this kind of song.



It's exciting to see God moving in this nation of Hungary, and may His freedom penetrate the hearts of many!!!

Healing confirmation!!!

Here is little Denes, the night Anita, sitting in the beige jacket, brought him to ICF with the rest of her family, and we all prayed for God to heal him of what is called, in English, "floppy baby syndrome". Sara holds Denes, and Eszter looks on.

Stay tuned for a few blogs in the next day or so...but I wanted to start with the most glorious praise! Read this:

Hi friends,Please see below....and celebrate with us! In Jesus' healing love and mercy and grace, Arden

Sziasztok! Katona Márta called us this morning to go to the clinic because she wanted to show Dénes to Prof. Füzesi Kristóf as I told her earlier that I didn't want to have the examination in narcosis (laringoscopia). We went, he examined him and said that Dénes was PERFECTLY HEALTHY!!! Instead of recommending the examination, he explicitely DOES NOT recommend it, as "it is senseless but not riskless".

God our Healer is soooooooooooooooooooo good!!!

Arden, Pepus, will you please let ICF people know about this? I feel like it is a "lesson" from God not just to our family but to these people as well, teaching us all-

that He is the healer,-

that we should gather and ask Him in His name and He will provide,-

that ICF is a place where He is present and where people get healed, in Jesus' name!!!

I would like them all to know this! Thanks for sharing. We can't go tomorrow as we are meeting my whole family at Balaton.

Love,Anita

If you are a lover of Jesus, please take a moment now to thank HIM, worship Him and glorify Him, the great healer, for this miracle of healing, which He accomplished for His glory alone!

Friday at 7 - ICF

Tobi (from Nigeria), Erik (from Sweden), Matyas (American now from Hungary), and Markus (from Germany)...the men hanging out during fellowship time!

Tom Foley (from U.S.) blessed us with a message from John 9...here with Kimberly Davies (from Britian but lives in Hungary).

Bunmi (from Nigeria) and Timi (from Hungary), getting to know one another!

Claire (from U.S.), Markus, Kimberly, Cathy, Tobi and Bunmi!

Timi, (from Romania) and Sophie (from U.S.) enjoying chocolate chip cookies!

You know how it is to anticipate something? When that something has both positive and negative sides to it, the anticipation is interesting! Last Friday was our next-to-last meeting for ICF for this academic year. Already some students have finished and returned to their home countries, and more will leave this week, and some the week after. Some have left "for good"...i.e. won't be back in the fall, and some will return in September. So every week for the past month we've been anticipating great meetings, saying goodbyes, and saying see-you-laters. Through it all, the Lord has continued to knit our hearts in our fellowship so that His love, peace and joy sustains us and build us up in HIM!

Update on Denes

If you scroll down, you will see the original post on little Denes Lauko, who came for prayer last Friday. The update on him is this: God has healed this little boy! Just one hour after we prayed for him, his mom took him home and he was lifting his head on his own for the first time in his life. Now, when he is in a sitting position, he is holding his head up, he is eating like a "horse", and growing stronger every day! Praise God for HIS healing of this little boy! All Glory to God alone!!!!

Simon update

Well, as you can see from the picture above, Simon is back to his "old self" again...yep, it's kinda hot here in Szeged, Hungary! Actually, I'm pleased that Simon has not returned to his "old self" 100%...he's a bit less "scrappy" and cantankerous than he was prior to "collar time". He's also a bit more loving and affectionate. Amazing what changes can come about when things are turned upside down in our lives...when we allow God to step in and change us, we too become more loving and maybe a bit less cantankerous!

BASEBALL!!!!

Our 9th grade bilingual classes! Click on the picture to get a closer look!

Yes, one can wear a skirt and play baseball in Hungary!

My 9th grade bilingual students waiting to bat!

Zoli, an 11th grader, ready in the outfield!

My 11th grade bilingual students before the big game. Sooo serious!

It's that time of the year again at Deak Ferenc High School!!! The last week of school, and all the native English teachers are out beahind the school playing BASEBALL with their classes! We have so much fun, when we don't get too competitive, and by the time these students are juniors, they know the rules quite well, with a falter here and there. I'm VERY sunburned, but at least this year I've not gotten smacked in the shins with ground balls!



I have just two more classes this school year! Both are in stiff competition with the other classes against whom we played the previous two days, so the tournament will come to a close tomorrow! Our ballpark is actually an outdoor handball court...yep, blacktop, so not a lot of sliding into bases going on...hee hee hee. This is such a GREAT way to end a long teaching year!

Friday at 7 - ICF

Denes Lauko, Sara Gisel, and Anita Pelle. Pray for healing for Denes as he is experiencing "muscular issues" which are affecting his breathing and all the muscles in his body. Anita and family came early to ICF, during our prayer time and we prayed for Denes! Denes and family stayed for worship, and his older brother, Tamas, who was healed in the womb, danced like David, with all his might before the Lord!

Ed Courtney, pastor from International Church of Debrecen, blesses us with an encouraging word from both Psalm 23 and John 8!

Mary Jill Callery, Ed and Sybil Courtney and Edith Bond...fellow missionaries and faithful friends in Jesus!

"I sensed SUCH FREEDOM tonight at ICF!" said one sister in Christ! Amen and amen! That is God's desire...that we as His children are FREE in Christ, to worship Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength!

My dear sister Anita Pelle brought her 3 month old son, Denes, to ICF early to have us pray over him...see picture above! The update on Denes is that he is lifting his head on his own, which he has never done, and when he sits up, he holds his head up now, instead of letting it fall backwards! God is healing this little boy for HIS glory! Rejoice and continue to pray for God's 100% healing in his body!!!

As we approach the end of this first year of ICF (we are on a school-year meeting schedule), it is so exciting to see God continuing to bring new people...we had 2 more young ladies visit for the first time, brought by Judit, or resident evangelist!



Ed and Sybil Courtney from Debrecen made the trip again to Szeged to bless us with their lives and a word from the Lord from John 8.



God's goodness overwhelms me!

ICF end of year leadership team meeting

In the fall, Erik gave David, son of Jim and Tanya Person, a guitar and he has basically taught himself how to play..here he is leading us in "Lord I Lift Your Name on High". From left to right, Bethany Person, Mary Jill Callery, Tanya Person and David Person.

Jim Person, Sara Gisel, our intercessory prayer warrior, and Erik Ottosson, our worship leader!

Front row: Bethany Person, Sara Gisel, Erik Ottosson, Judit Kaszas, and Jennifer Person. Back row: Mary Jill Callery, David Person, Tanya and Jim Person, Edith Bond, and Arden Campbell...4 different nations represented on the ICF leadership team! American, Hungarian, New Zealander, and Swedes!

Well, miraculously, 11 of the 12 people on our ICF leadership team (4 are children) were able to find a common time in all of our schedules to meet here in Szeged for an end-of-the-year evaluation meeting! It was an encouraging, fun, and worshipful time together looking back and looking forward to what the Lord will do next year! I am humbled by God's goodness in giving us to each other, in what He has done this year in and through ICF, and what He will do in the future!

People from at least 10 different nations visited the fellowship throughout the course of the year, we had approximately 10 different individuals step in to teach the Word of God, Erik, who had never led worship "in front of a group" stepped up into God's amazing grace and ushered us into God's presence like someone whose been leading worship for years, we hosted a special teaching weekend on relationships which people from various fellowships around the city attended, we saw people encouraged in their walks with Jesus and grow in their love for Him, and probably most significantly, two people gave their lives to Jesus this year!!!

At the end of June, we will take a break for the summer months since many will be going home to their nations for the summer...pray for them as they take freedom in Jesus home to families and friends in the nations!

Swimming fun!

Yes, it is a very nice swimming pool! God is very good to me!

MJ and I drying our hair after swimming!

For all 3 of you who read my blog, I finally decided to take a picture of the pool where I swim so you can see the place where many blog thoughts have been birthed! Mary Jill and Edith are here from Debrecen for a couple of days, and thankfully, we got to the pool yesterday before all the rain hit...it's still raining...we had a great swim, a great time at the university library cafe where we got to talk and encourage some of our Friday at 7 students who were there studying at the library!

Fruit

I know, these are pictures of flowers, not fruit. However, the "fruit" of the plant, the flower, teaches us a lesson in itself. You see, I bought these plants from a man who has his own greenhouses in his yard. I told him I wanted pink flowers. So, he handed me these two plants, with blossoms on them. He was sure they were both pink. After a couple of days, when the blossoms finally opened, the one was pink, but the other was red AND white! At first, I was a bit disappointed, but then I was thankful because the plant is really unique and beautiful, and very different than what I expected!

I had wanted a certain kind of "fruit" to emerge...but a different kind, still beautiful and still in keeping with this plant's true nature, burst forth. Sometimes in our spiritual lives with God, we look at people and want to see certain fruits. Of course in the Bible it is clear what the fruit of the Spirit is and these are essential...but sometimes, I wonder if we don't have our own "ideas" about the fruit that should be evident in people's lives, and if the fruit that emerges doesn't quite "match" what we had in mind, then instead of finding the true beauty in that particular fruit, we get frustrated, and want to see something different.

We are all on this journey together, some growing in their walks with Jesus faster than others, some producing "pink" fruit, and some producing "red and white" fruit...but the fruit itself is still good, in this case. May we be patient with one another, bear with one another, and love one another as God does His great work of producing HIS fruit in each person's life.