End of the semester!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s that amazing time of year again. When school is passed and summer begins! Not that we are at all glad the semester is over, that means many friends and loved ones are to depart back to the states or other parts of the world. We are just excited for this next season of life.

                Jono and I will be here for the next three weeks approximately. We are going to be helping out here at the school with conferences and daily service needs until the Day of June 9^th, when we will meet Chaney in Budapest! We will be travelling with my best friend Chaney this summer via Planes, trains and automobiles all over Europe.

                Your next Question is probably “Where in Europe are you going?” I know this is the next question you would ask because 99% of the time people ask that after I tell them we are backpacking for the summer, which is great that people actually want to know! However, I always respond “Everywhere”! as we are indeed, going everywhere. We are starting in Budapest, going down to Croatia, and from there, everywhere else. We plan to do 15 countries in 5 weeks, overambitious yes? Fun, definitely Yes! We are very excited, nervous, happy, and every other emotion one could feel in these moments.

                We have been praying and asking the Lord, Jesus for direction for our lives after this. We have had a few offers in ministry, but we feel that the Lord is leading us to stay here, in Vajta. We decided to step out in faith despite the lack of funds, and now here we are, some of the next interns for the fall semester! We have been accepted into the internship program. From this we will receive the last remaining credits we need to get our bachelors, and will also be serving the students and staff as well.

                The only problem, which is really not a problem, is we are waiting on the Lord to provide the necessary funds. We feel that the Lord is leading us here and if He really is, He will provide the money. We know that He can and He will, but please pray for us as we move in this direction that the Lord would provide for us to be here and that we would have faith in him and his past faithfulness to us.

                The internship program is a 13 month commitment, and if we started in the fall we would not be finished until Next September, 2013. This is a big commitment, and truly quite sad for us and many of our family and friends. Our deepest regrets to all or family and friends that we will not be with you for a while longer, we dearly love each and every one of you! I am reminded of a verse my teacher shared with us. “Though I am absent from you in the flesh, I am with you in Spirit rejoicing to see your good order and steadfastness in Christ!”(Colossians 2:5).

                We will try to keep you updated until our departure! Please let us know if there is any way we can be praying for you all, we are with you in Spirit!

Love,

Sarah and Jono

Life as we know it...

Its been so long since we have written, I am slightly embarassed.

        We have been on our annual ten day outreach. Every semester all the students are required to go on a ten day outreach. Jono and I went to Budapest. We did many activities there such as homless ministry, street evangelism, street dramas, working the church cofee shop, and decorating the Baby room. We were super busy as a result, but at the same time we had a wonderful time.
       The plans for the baby room was to redecorate, but the church as well as the baby room is in a historicla building. So even though there were these great plans to redecorate, the city has to be ok with any updates they do. we started working cutting out shapes and sewing them on to banners, as well as making these flags that would hang from the ceiling. We worked on this every day, and we didnt even finish which is extremely vexing. It was so much work!
       A group of us each day would go to the homless shelter and serve making and serving meals. My experience there was awesome. The homeless people there are very well take care of, as this is one of 40 homless shelters there. Even though I can get by in Hungarian with a few words and phrases, it was difficult to understand the homless people. They would often start talking to me in German haha, apparently I look German. Jonathan was able to share Jesus with one of the ex convicts that was doing community service there too. Such a sweet time!
         We also had this really cool band come and stay with us in Budapest in Travis and Autumns tiny flat. There were 14 of us in total! This band, called the New Divide, travel around Europe doing free shows and telling people about Jesus. Its a super cool minsitry, one that I would love myself. And its cool beacuse they really just had the same heart we had on our ten day, to point people to Jesus.
        They did a show in Tatbanya, a small town about a half hour outside Budapest. There was a big event that day, and therefore there were many kids at the park. They did thier set a couple times, and it was amazing how well the kids responded to them. They loved them so much they got thier autographs. Then to my suprise they wanted the other Americans autographs too. I guess in Europe even the roadies are cool! It really opened up a lot of doors for us to talk to the youth there. So all in all even though I had cold showers for a week, it was a blessing to have them there with us!
      One of my most memorable moments was when the band did thier set in Budapest at the Calvary Chapel. They had an evangelistic message, and afterwards there was a frenchman who wanted to talk to someone about what was going on that night. The pastor remembered that I spoke a little French, and as a result he came and asked me to talk to him. I was scared but I was able to share the gospel with him, in French! I am not sure how well I did, but I know that the Lord can use it. I am continuing to pray for Phillipe, and if you think of it please do too. It was an amazing experience, as it was one of the first times in my life I was extremely comfortable sharing my faith, even though it should have been uncomfortable becuase my French is soooo bad!
      All in all, it was an awesome ten day outreach. I have been blessed hearing all the stories from my fellow students about how God has been working in thier lives through ten day outreach. Since we have been back, it has been nothing but homework homework homework... As there are only two weeks left in the semester! How amazing is it that it went by so increadibly fast!
      I am also organizing the Talent show this year. I have bever done anything like this, but it is really fun and I am really excited for it! Jono and one of the pastors here are going to be the M.C.'s. I hope I can post a video too for all of you to see.
    Lastly, Jonathan and I along with my best friend Chaney are working on making arrangements for this summer. As some of you might know we are backpacking all over Europe! I am so excited as this is one of my life long dreams. If you can, please respond by posting on this blog your favorite place to visit in Europe, or any reccomendations you might have. We are totally open to suggestions!

Thank you all for your love and prayer! hope to talk to you soon!
Sarah and Jono

Easter weekend......

Like I always say, been super crazy, no time to write. So here goes.....I'll try to catch you up.
     We had a wonderful action packed weekend in Slovenia with the Fitzgerald family. The missionary's in Slovenia are some of the most gracious, loving and hospitable people I have ever met. They totally opened there home up to us, and if you think of it, pray for Ales and Whitney serving in Celje, Slovenia. They are so very busy with the work of the Lord, but the Lord is blessing them immensely.
    The very next weekend my best friend Chaney came to Hungary to visit over her Easter break. We went with Martinah, Autumn and Travis to Budapest for the weekend, as where we live in Vajta is very far from the airport. We stayed with Travis  who is a missionary in Budapest. It is soon to be Autumns apartment too, as Travis and Autumn are engaged to be married on June 9th. We will be attending their wedding as well., and are very blessed to have them as friends. They were very gracious hosts as well, pray for their wedding and marriage as they are in full time minsitry as soon as they are married. We picked up Chaney from the airport on Saturday at 12:15, and for the rest of the weekend we explored Budapest. Our photos were posted on Facebook, and in case you don't have a Facebook, here is a link that should allow you to see them. (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.690569661224.2115080.52304402&type=3&l=140fcc04aa)
     Chaney was very welcomed here at the campus by all the students, they were very sad to see her go. For her last weekend here, we all decided to go back to Slovenia, as the part we saw wasn't even the "good part." We rented a car and took off to Ljubljana first, the capital of Slovenia. It was a very beautiful, very clean city with a castle overlooking the city. We thoroughly enjoyed it here. Definitely the type of city I could live in.
      That night we left and went straight to the Mediterranean coast, or technically the Adriatic sea. Even though it was overcast it was beautiful. We ate breakfast the next day by the sea and proceeded to walk around in Koper. We wanted to go drive on the coast for awhile but we had a little trouble getting around as they only drive manual in Europe, and none of us have ever learned how to properly. I thought I knew, but when I stalled turning onto the freeway right in front of oncoming traffic, I realized I had no idea what I was doing.
      The worst incident happened in Koper when Chaney was driving. We knew that hills were hard for us, and upon seeing a hill in the near distance I directed Chaney to turn into a little parking lot to turn around. When we turned back onto the street she turned right back into the direction of the hill, the very direction I was trying to avoid. About a third of the way up, she stalled, and we had to literally reverse down the hill backwards with our emergency lights on. This took a long time, as we would stop anytime a car would approach us. The when she got to the bottom of the hill, instead of turn around, she went right back up the hill again! It was so awful, and I think I aged a few years from the stress...
       Short story long, parents please teach your children stick shift! we went to Bled, Slovenia next. This is my new favorite place in Slovenia. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A very clean  city again, with a small lake and an island in the middle. You could rent boats to row to the island with an old Catholic church in the middle, however it was snowing and raining and we were unable to.  It rained the night we got there, so we went to the amazing castle overlooking Bled on Easter Sunday. We found ourselves watching traditional Slovenian dances in the castle, followed by an Easter egg hunt in the castle! The best egg hunt ever! We all three found an egg, (well we found one for Jonathan), which we redeemed for amazing prizes. It started to snow again so we were on our way again.
      After Bled, we went to Vienna, Austria. This was beautiful drive through the Austrian countryside. (We sang the sound of music songs a few times!) We arrived in Vienna, and it was even colder and windier than Bled. We saw St. Stephens cathedral in Vienna, and made it in time for their big Easter mass. Cool to see, but extremely vexing as they charge 8USD to go to the service. So we stood in the back, which was free, but we had a nice time anyways. We saw a few more churches and cathedrals, but all in all, Not much to see in Vienna. Just a big cool European city like any other.
      We ended up going back to Budapest early, but most everything was closed as Europeans take the Monday after Easter off too. I was sad to see Chaney go, but we had a great time. She will be back soon too, as we are still backpacking this summer.
.....Sorry this was such a long post, I just had so much to say!
...........and for the new European food of the week, we tried the Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna. We thought it was a hot dog sausage-like food, considering the word "wiener," but really it was just a breaded chicken breast. Not as cool as we though, but still good. The strudel made up for it...
Love you all!!

and for the pics of our Easter weekend trip...

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.692564942664.2115484.52304402&type=3&l=477ed58955

Another week flys by...

                .....and again we have so much to tell! Jono and I had an amazing time at the marriage conference last weekend. Overall great experience, but its funny how you can think you understand marriage so well... You think, I am going to be the best wife or husband. I am really pretty humble, pretty nice, and I like to serve people. But then two weeks into your marriage and reality sets in, and as time goes on you realize how awful you are at marriage. Its definitely not what it is portrayed sometimes. Like the fact that the Pastor speaking at the retreat, Ken Ortiz, still gets in arguments with his wife that lasts hours is definitely an encouraging thing to hear. The Lord is working mightily in our lives and our marriage as a result. It was such a blessing to have the other students serve the retreat as their weekend outreach. It was so busy during the day but great to be able to relax at the meals, be served like at a restaurant, and not have to rush off to homework! We met some amazing people too, Hungarians, Canadians and Americans that all live in Hungary. Who knew it was so diverse?
               In addition we have just finished speakers week which ran Monday through Friday. A week long of amazing Pastors with a specific message from the Lord to each of our hearts. The Lord has been doing a great work here among the students. There is a real spirit of unity and love here. But it is amazing how tired I am after two long weeks. We had two classes every morning, and one at night. All about lectures in ministry and theology. The topics ranged anywhere from the need for a great prayer life, suffering and trials, to a need for wisdom in our lives. I know I learned so much this week and I am looking forward to some rest.
             This weekend right after Saturday brunch we are heading down to Slovenia! Seriously one of the prettiest countries in Easter Europe, definitely at least top 3! We have been asked by one of the Teachers/Pastors here, Kevin Fitzgerald and family, to accompany them while Kevin is speaking at the church in Celje, Slovenia. We are so excited to accompany them, we have already met one of the deacons of church, Allish (phonetic spelling as I have no idea how to spell it). He is Slovenian by descent, but is married to a girl from our home church in Boise, Idaho. We are very excited to meet her and spend time not only with their family's but in the beautiful country of Slovenia. It will also be such a blessing to be around the Fitzgerald's, as Kevin has been serving as the pastor of Calvary Chapel Dublin for the last ten years. We are excited to see how their family dynamic is, and to be discipled by them in a way.
           Thank you all for following us on our blog, if you would like to get in contact with us get on Skype or sign up! We would love to hear from you in any way really. Ishten Aldom! (God Bless You!)

and Sarah's new favorite dessert, traditional a cake that has a layer of burnt sugar on top. Its called, "Dobos cake" I seriously need the recipe. And its not super sweet like American cake, its like the best cake you have ever had good!

Sziastok baratom!

Hey friends,

        Another week is whizzing by, and I was thinking of you all, so time to update! Another day in Bible College, another day of the Lord showing us how amazing He is! I had a truly amazing John class the other day. We were talking about John chapter 8, where the pharisees bring the woman to Jesus who was caught in adultery, and they wanted to stone her to death for her sin. Jesus says to them, "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone," basically saying that He does not condemn her. Shaun Havelaar, our teacher, related to it as the "sound of grace," or the sound of the rocks falling to the ground, and the Pharisees walking away. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound," I now know what that means to me, the sound of grace. Its the sound of Jesus telling us that when we come to him, his grace covers all our sin! That is a sweet thing to hear!
       Besides amazing classes, I have had the privilege of seeing the Lord beginning to answer some prayers in my life. He is so good to us. Jonathan and I are also attending the marriage conference they are having this weekend here at the school. It is hosted by the Calvary Chapel in Budapest, and the teachers are of course Phil Metzger and a few other pastors from the states. We are definitly looking forward to the Lord working in our marriage. In addition I am taking beginning guitar, and it tis such a blessing. I am so excited to be learning a new instrument, especially one that is more mobile than piano and drums. Jonathan is moving up to the advanced Hungarian class. The teacher approached him and asked him to move up, what an honor! I of course am still in the intro class, and probably will be this whole semester haha.
   Today I am heading to Budapest for a class assignment. We re observing the church service there. Very excited to see the church, as it was planted by one of my favorite bible college teachers/pastors, Greg Opean! It will be my first day exploring Budapest, as I arrived late at night and traveled straight to Vajta. we will also be visiting parliament, and hopefully a Starbucks. I never thought I would miss Starbucks, but I can admit I do... So sad. I miss big coffees. In Hungary the coffees are more like a large espresso, not like a sixteen ounce cup of hot coffee that is not so strong as espresso. You have to drink it faster, you can't sit and enjoy it over an hours' coffee date. So I will be at Starbucks today. And maybe enjoy some suti (pronounced shootie), it's basically Hungarian cookies. And they are so good. Miss you all and we are praying for you all! Please let us know if there is anything we can lift up for you in prayer, no matter how small!!

Missing you!!

To all family and friends we miss you very much!!

Sorry it has been more than a week since our last post. We are now going into our third week of school and it feels like we have only been here a few days! For now we are already getting closer to our midterms and papers due, its been a bit hectic! I have been leading worship for morning devos and it has been such a blessing. I have had to stretch myself as a musician and learn HUNGARIAN!!! The worship songs are usually all the ones we play in Boise, only in Hungarian. I play a few in English as most people can also speak English, whether its a first or second language. To help augment my abilities, I have joined the beginner Hungarian language class. Its pretty fun as I do enjoy languages and learning about different cultures.  Jonathan is in the intermediate class as he has already spent 3 semesters here prior. His accent and knowledge of vocabulary have really helped him, and he is well on his way to learning the second most difficult language in the world. We are currently praying about where to spend our 10 day outreach, as we have opportunities to go to Scotland, Ireland, Romania, Kyrgyzstan, and obviously Hungary. We are leaning towards Hungary as it would be the most cost effective. But pray for us that we would be wise and the Lord would lead us. As for my new favorite food here, Milka chocolate bars! The carmel and chocolate dessert are my favorite. They are sold in many places in Europe. Also the boci brand, (pronounced Bo-scee) has an amazing chocolate bar with pieces of pear in it. Who knew pears and chocolate could taste so good? Anyways miss you all! Over and Out!!
          -Sarah and Jono

Finally here!!

We have finally made it to Vajta Hungary! We left from Phoenix, Arizona at 9:15 pm and arrived in Budapest at 9:35 at night the next day. Our flights had no delays and for once I was not searched at every stop by TSA! We were greeted by one of the interns and then drove another 2 hours to get to the very small town of vajta. The campus is gorgeous, an old renovated castle in the hungarian countryside. So far we have not been up to much. Just going through orientation and meeting the other students. This semester in Hungary there are 18 countries represented! Anywhere from Pakistan, India and China to the Artic Circle, Rwanda and all four corners of Europe. This is probably one of the most diverse campuses and possibly even semesters there has been in a long time. Praise the Lord that there is unity in diversity! I have had the privelage of walking into town and visiting the Local bakery on my second day... I of course went for all the bread and chocolate treats they had, including a very interesting chochechige... or chocolate snail. Its really just a cinamon roll but instead of cinnamon and frosting it had just chocolate on the inside! So amazingly delicious. And whats even more amazing is it cost less than a dollar! I will post some pictures to facebook very soon of the campus and photos of our recent snowfall! Thanks for following, We love and miss you all!

Sarah and Jono