Monday, September 27, 2010

Back into the Swing of Things


Summer is over and there is a chill in the air. Fall is here, the trees are beautiful and the house is decorated with Gourds, pumpkins and scarecrows.
With Fall comes a crazy time for us as we anticipate the arrival of the new Bible Students and Interns. Andy is the Academic Dean and Intern Coordinator so his plate becomes extremely full the beginning of Sept.

This has been such a whirlwind month for us. Opening Weekend for the Bible School was on the 10th and we dived right into our new school year. This year we are so excited to see 38 students from 12 different countries!! How amazing to see the Lord bring such an unique diverse group of believers together with the sole purpose of studying His Word, serving and ministering together for the year.


This year we are beyond blessed with 24 interns!!! Without the interns this ministry would not happen! I cannot help but smile thinking of the Lord's provision through these individuals. They have committed to serve the Lord this year by making beds, working in the office, maintenance, housekeeping, admissions, video, translation, teaching English, Dean's Dept. which really means they works 100's of hours to make this ministry happen :)

The first week of classes brought us Sam Frey from Schroon Lake NY to challenge the students to share their faith on Open Air Evangelism. All staff, interns and students were asked to go into the streets of Budapest and share their faith. Over 25 individuals accepted Christ as their Saviour and 100's heard the message of Jesus Christ through conversation, song, sketch boards, drama, illusions and rope tricks. How encouraging to see the students and interns step up and share their faith. Andy and I were both able to share our testimonies and witness in Hungarian! I had to have a quick Hungarian lesson to learn the words for sin, cross, Saviour, forgiven, and heaven. I praise the Lord for giving us the courage and for bringing me people who knew just as much English as I did Hungarian, it was perfect.
This past wknd we were blessed to have Rich Andrews fly over from WOL Florida come as the guest speaker for our Youth Worker's Conference. He challenged us on the Power of Influencing, Fruit that Remains. We are all influencing someone through speech, actions and reactions, but are we influencing others with eternal results. Are we living daily a life of Obedience, are we serving others while staying meek and humble and are our prayers built on trust, having faith the Lord will answer. I was challenged and confronted on many things I need to work on. Do I love those I am discipling and mentoring enough to confront sin to see them grow? Would Christ be pleased with the way I am influencing others?
Sunday night we were able to kick off this year by having the interns over. What a great bunch of interns we have! We spent the evening playing games, eating food and having way too much fun! I cannot believe our home fit everyone! It's crazy hearing so many languages being spoken at our kitchen table. Reminds me again that we are all here with the sole purpose of serving each other.

I have a feeling this year is going to be incredible!




Saturday, September 4, 2010

Scarlett and Maria knew what they were doing...

As a kid and teen I remember repeatedly watching those scenes in Sound of Music and Gone with the Wind of the VonTrapp children and Scarlett proudly playing and prancing around in their clothing made from curtains.
I knew one day I would do it, but still cannot believe how beautiful a "curtain dress" can turn out! I have found this wonderful 2nd hand shop in Jaz. a few towns over. Once a week they have an incredible sale where all clothing is 500ft. per kilo. Which means it's about $2.50 for 2 pounds of clothing! So along with another pile of clothing I found some beautiful, soft vintage curtains. Here is the end result.