Diósd

Picture this.

It’s the middle of June and there’s no air conditioning. You take five flights of stairs to reach a large attic space full of chaos. Music is blasting, people running back and forth, shouts in a foreign language. Your body is sore from constant exercise and your brain is running on American time which feels like 2 am. Everything about this place is overwhelming.

And yet it’s over overwhelming with love.

Since I was ten, I went to Diósd, Hungary for six summers and experienced all of that chaos. Hungary was not unfamiliar to me; in fact I was born there. My parents were missionaries in Budapest, Hungary for four years. After we moved back to the states and a few years passed, we found a church that did short term mission trips to Hungary. My family was hooked and jumped right in.

For ten days, I traveled with eight to ten other adults from my church to assist our partners, The Paulus Ministry. The Paulus, nestled in a tiny parking lot across from an international school, ran VBS camps during the summer. The camp not only taught God’s word but also dance and sports to a hundred elementary-aged Hungarian children. 

Dancing is what drew me in. Growing up with a dancer mother and being a ballerina myself, I am a very energetic and active person. Before my first Hungary trip, my mom went by herself the year before and led the dance portion of the camp. I watched a video of her teaching Hungarian girls how to move their feet and count the music. I saw girls, my age, my height, my hair color, loving the thing I loved most but they weren’t exactly like me.

Hungarians tend to be reserved and shy compared to Americans. During my first trip to Hungary, I was generous with my hugs and high-fives, cultivating relationships with the kids and chipping away at any awkwardness. During lunch, I sat with the kids in the cafeteria instead of outside with the other adult team members. To overcome the language barrier, I encouraged the kids to teach me Hungarian phrases, even when I sounded foolish. I fell in love with the kids and after day two, they came up to me and said “I love you”. And they meant it.

How? After knowing me for 48 hours, how did they love me? After going on more trips and maturing in my faith, I can safely say I know “How?”.

God.

God touched their hearts and showed His love through me.  God showed Himself to me through the kids and through the other team members. God showed Himself to me through the kindness of the Paulus Ministry. God showed Himself by letting me go back to Hungary five more times. And God is showing his love to me back letting me go out into the world to show His love.

My heart breaks that I haven’t been to Hungary in 4 years but God is ready for me to go share His love in new places. He is ready for me to help families in Guatemala. He is ready for me to give high-fives to the children of Cambodia. He is ready for me to pray with the parents of eSwatini. He is ready for me to hug the people in South Africa. 

God used Hungary to grow me and I’m ready to grow some more.