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Hungary Missions Trip Photos - 2001
Welcome to Toalmas, Hungary!
We stayed in cabins here on the 65-acre castle property that used to belong to the noble Andrássy family of Hungary. The castle, which was built in the late 19th century in baroque style, is situated on a beautiful park, with a lake for swimming, a soccer field, and forest paths. We had the opportunity to sleep in the castle the last two nights of our stay in Toalmas, after the children had gone home when camp was over.
Upon our arrival in Budapest, we drove 45-minutes to a small village called Toalmas, where we had two days to get acclimated to our new surroundings, become acquainted with the Hungarian camp counselors, get over our jet lag, and to finish preparing our lesson plans for the classes we would be teaching twice daily once the children arrived. I taught the high intermediate group, which consisted of eleven 10-year old students who had previously learned some English in school and who were eager to learn more. While this group of students was on the verge of adolescence and sometimes proved to be challenging, I was able to teach them proper English sentence structure, the values of various American coins and bills, and the English words that represent parts of the human body. The photo to the above right is my class - a nice mixture of boys and girls, and by the end of the week, we had all grown quite fond of one another.
On the photo above left, is me and "my girls." I spent 11 delightful days in the barracks with these lovely, little 8-year-olds. I will truly miss them, as each and every one of these girls has touched my life in a very special way. The girls, with their lovely angelic faces, eagerly joined me on my bed each evening as I taught them English using many of the materials I had brought along with me from the States. Ironically, those were some of the materials that I had planned on using with my actual English class, but the class ended up being a lot more advanced than what I had prepared for. God apparently knew, though, that there would be 12 special little 8 year-old girls who would benefit from those teaching materials. Although very few of them spoke English, and my Hungarian was quite limited (the phrase I most frequently used was "nem ertem," which means "I don't understand"), there really were NO language barriers. I quickly learned that when communicating friendship, acceptance and love, there was no need for words. Smiles, hugs and kisses, and simple involvement in a child's activity, was all that was needed.
The photo above is the view I saw
of Budapest from the top of Castle Hill, where we visited the
grounds of the Royal Palace. Between the Castle Hill district
which is on the "Buda" side of Budapest, and the
more urban "Pest" side of Budapest, is the Danube
River. Here you can see the Danube, as well as the majestic
Hungarian Parliament, with it's spires and domes. It was an
awesome sight to see!
Here is another view of Budapest,
taken while standing on Gellert Hill, which is the location of the Liberation Monument and Citadel.
When I look at photos like these, it really makes me want to travel more. There is so much
to see in this world, and I've merely cracked the surface with my travels thus far.
Additionally, it's important to remember that my trip to Hungary was a missions trip, where we
served others and shared God's love and the talents He's given to us. Getting a chance to actually explore
Hungary was just an added bonus of this trip!
My goal is to put together a "storybook" of my Hungary experience to share
with all. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories in the future! 
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