Follow along with us as a team from 2911 Church in Tempe travels to Hungary. We will be posting daily updates and prayer requests.
Day 14 July 16th
Today’s Prayer Focus:
Pray for peace, clarity and safe travel for the journey home. All flights on time, no delays or distractions.
Today’s Update:
Keep praying for the team as they travel back to Arizona!
Day 13 July 15th
Today’s Prayer Focus:
Pray for team unity. Pray against confusion and discord.
Today’s Update:
Good evening Hungary Prayer Team. I am so proud of the way everyone stepped up for our team on the ground in Hungary. They saw lives changed and kids come to Christ because of your efforts! You all are mighty Warriors and Father says well done my kids!
Our Warriors on the ground will be waking up soon for the long journey home. They are scheduled to arrive Wednesday about 5:30pm Pacific Time. Let's pray them safely home to us and their families! Thank you all again for your passion to serve!!
Day 12 July 14th
Today’s Prayer Focus:
Pray continued good health and strength for team members and for their family that is back home.
Today’s Update:
Hi! This is Erin Locke. I’ve been a transplant with the 29:11 team this past trip, joining from Washington State.
I have loved doing Round 2 in Hungary with this team (having been at Vekker camp last year with a different team) and feel very blessed to have met even more brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world. So, hey fam! (:
First off, goodbyes are hard. When you build relationships with people, it never is easy to say “see you later”. The staff and students here are so precious. Please be praying for our Hungarian brothers and sisters—that more would come into the Kingdom, and that the believers here would be encouraged in their faith and that they would remain rock-solid.
Also, please be praying that they would find a pastor specifically for their youth and families at Vekker, as they are needing someone to work in that role.
Back to being rock-solid, we went to Vekker church in Veszprém again, and their pastor, Tómas, spoke on how we can have a secure identity in Christ. He went over 5 things that we shouldn’t place our identity in (as these things change) and 5 unchangeable things that we should place our identity in.
5 things we shouldn’t place our identity in:
-Our emotional/psychological condition
• Sometimes good, sometimes bad
-Physical condition
• Fatigue, Hunger, Sickness, Aging, etc.
-Our performance
• We’re not always at our ‘peak’
• We may think “am I a real Christian?” and doubt when we don’t perform right
-The people that surround us
• These are a large influence on our lives, but aren’t constant
-Circumstances
• Financial, Work, Social, Political, Spiritual, etc.
5 things that we can place our identity in:
-God’s being.
• Malachi 3:6
-God’s authority and power and dominion
• Matthew 6:13
-God’s truth
• Psalm 93:5
-God’s redemption
• Ephesians 2:8-9
• John 10:27-29
-God’s promises
• James 1:17
• Hebrews 10:23
Isn’t it great to know Who we can build a strong foundation upon? Our steadfast belief doesn’t come from what we believe, but WHO we believe in.
Love,
Erin
Day 11 July 13th
Today’s Prayer Focus:
Pray that God's word produces life changing transformation for the students and their family members.
Today’s Update:
Wow how time flies. I cannot believe that camp is over, it's been the fastest 5 days of my life. I just wish I could hold on to this week a little bit longer.
7 months ago when I joined 2911 Church, I was looking to grow in my faith. Never did i think i would be half way across the world with kids I don’t even know, but this church has taught me to love and to relax and to have community.
I know We definitely brought the 2911 Church to Hungary. Tonight i saw kids cry that don't have that relationship with God, but because they built relationship with our team they are seeing our God. They may not have a relationship with God yet, but that one smile or the invite to be a partner for the camp dance goes a long way. And for the students who knew God, they were able to see Him in a new way than they are used to. Tonight we did a walk through activity where we were taught about how a relationship with God works and I learned a new way of looking at God’s grace and forgiveness.
- Nadia Chavira
Day 10 July 12th
Today’s Prayer Focus:
Pray for revival to break out and for a mighty move of the Holy Spirit like the people there have never seen. Pray that lives and the people of Hungary will be change by our teams visit! Pray revival and the Holy Spirit will linger!
Today’s Update:
What an amazing time we have had in Hungary so far! It has been better than what I expected and before we left for the trip I had very high hopes. I was praying for God to move mightily in the lives of these incredible Hungarian kids!
From the time we met the kids at the train station to our fourth day here, we have enjoyed eating with each other, playing games, laughing, sharing, praying, and bonding with each other.
I have had the privilege to come on this trip with my son, my daughter and son-in-law. I have been able to witness them give of themselves and reach out to these Hungarian kids. They have truly blessed these kids in such a precious way! I have seen so much growth and love in their hearts for these kids and it makes me so proud of them!
This trip has also allowed me to reach out to these incredible kids as a father figure, love on them, and show them they are truly loved and special. I have dived right into their games and tried to become silly and transparent. I have participated in all of the FUN and allowed them to laugh at me in the skits we performed and the water games we played.
It is by no accident that the Lord wanted us to come on this trip so that we can pour our lives into these kids and take our eyes off of ourselves. Our whole purpose for this trip has been to bless these kids with our love and shine the light of Jesus on their lives.
I have to say that this trip has blessed us and touched us in such a special way and has given us such joy, of which, our family has not seen for awhile because of the difficult life challenges our family has been going through in the past year.
The Lord has answered our prayers to open these kids hearts and allow us to travel across the world to love on them, show them how special they are, and how much the Lord loves them. I have met so many wonderful kids that have openly shared with me and included me in their fun. They are truly grateful for us spending this time with them, sharing with them, and giving our time to them.
We are looking forward to what the Lord will do next in their lives for the remainder of our time at this camp and afterwards. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and love for all of us!
-Pat
Day 9 July 11th
Todays Prayer Focus:
Pray for a hedge of protection around the team, the students and their families. Pray against attacks of fear and anxiety. Bind any distractions that would keep the team from realizing it's goal!
Today’s Update:
“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Like 15:32 NIV
Can’t believe that it is already Wednesday and camp is half way over. Getting the chance to connect with all the students has been amazing. Not only are the students learning English but I am also learning Hungarian. By the end of camp the students will be fluent in English and I will (fingers crossed) be fluent in Hungarian.
Today we started our day off at 6 am for survival day! The students had a lovely wake up call of loud music and the sound of banging pots and pans. It was the only logical way to wake them up for an exciting day. There were about 10 stations with different challenges spread out around the camp and in the village. The farthest station was about a mile/a mile & a half away. So it was a nice work out for the students. Survival day lasted about 4 hours. There were many stations the groups had to go to. Some were easy and some were a bit more challenging.
There were many stations but I’ll only list a few. A slingshot station led by the one and only Marky Mark. A station where you had to build a house that fit one person inside but plot twist...........everyone in the group was blinded folded but one. I had the honor of being at the most “challenging” station (says the students). There was a folded blanket on the ground and the group had to have their feet on the blanket and flip it over to the other side. Their feet were not allowed to touch the ground. 4 out of 6 groups completed this station. Let’s just say the groups got very creative and it was great entertainment to watch.
Survival day ended and lunch began. As we all gathered to find our seats. I received a bit of a concerning text. It was from Pastor Mark....he was lost. Kecia (leader of the camp) and I went on a rescue mission. Since our cell service is a tad spotty it took some time to pin point Pastor Mark’s exact location. We did find him....on the completely opposite side of where his station was. Pastor Mark got his daily work out in and I got to find our lost sheep.
Lunch was delicious, we started off with fruit soup (extra blended smoothie in a bowl) then the main course was potatoes, spicy sausage, thinly cut pork and fermented cabbage (reminded me of what you put on top of pupusa). For dinner we had freshly made pizza baked in a stone oven. Over all the meals on survival day were my favorite thus far.
For the evening program Pastor Mark brought 29:11 to Hungary. He talked about the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15: 11-32 NIV). The lost son was the youngest of 2 boys. The younger son went to his father and asked for his share of the inheritance and left. After the younger son blew all his money, he began to work with pigs and was starving. The younger son came to his senses and went back to his father. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” Luke 15:21 NIV. The father was so happy to have his son back he threw a party to rejoice the return of his lost son. Just how Pastor Mark was lost and the whole camp was cheering when we got back.
This is exactly how God feels when we surrender all we are and come home. God isn’t angry and doesn’t make us earn our way back to Him. God celebrates when we come to Him. God keeps us safe and sound, through the highs and lows. When you are with God you feel His presence. That’s how I know we were with God during the message. His presence was so strong, not only did I feel it but the students did as well. God’s words and love just fell out of Pastor Mark and into our hearts. Many girls around me felt the love of God, tears of hope and salvation came pouring out of them.
During the small group discussion time, many more students opened up. Even the ones who are on the edge are wanting to accept Christ. You could feel the Holy Spirit in the air. Jesus was with us and always will be.
-Alexandra
Day 8 July 10th
Todays Prayer Focus:
Pray for new and unexpected ways for the team to share Jesus with the local community.
Today’s Update:
Today was the 2nd Day of Camp and we used 16 hours of it to grow together!
We started by waking up at 7am and having a quick meeting before breakfast. Breakfast consisted of a light sandwhich, some fruit tea, and conversations itching to start our first full day of camp!
The camp day started with English classes from 9am-12pm. I had the privledge to lead the Advanced English students. First, we got to know eachother; then we started discussing topics of Health and Physical Fitness. We expanded our vocabulary by defining some new words, using them in sentences, and applying simple actions to represent them for memorization. Later in the lesson, we looked at the fitness routines of a few celebrities and athletes, and used what we learned to design our own workout program. We had a ton of fun developing relationships with one another, practicing new words together (laughing at how we pronounced them) , and eating a lot of candy! I found out that these Hungarian students are very intelligent, and they love talking in English!
We then had lunch which consisted of soup as the first course, and soup as the second course (Yes, Hungarians LOVE their soup!!!). This lunch filled us with some much needed energy for the afternoon to come.
In the afternoon we divided the camp into two groups based on gender. The Men went off to have a "Manly Men" Day, and the women went off to do...whatever women do together...
At around 2pm Our Men's Day started off with, of course, SOME WRESTLING!!! The twist was that we would start the match by having each wrestler take off their shoes and then one of their socks. The first wrestler to have their sock taken off by the other wrestler would be the loser, while making the "sock-theif" the winner. The wrestling got so heated at some points that the two compeitors would even forget to take off their opponents sock when they had them pinned!
Next, we organized a men's ultimate frisbee game which got all of our hearts pumping as we spent the next 2 hours running after a flying disk, chasing eachother on the field, and occasionally jumping into the neighbor's yard to retrieve an errantly thrown frisbee! The final score of the game was 5-7. I was on the winning team, of course! The conclusion of the match ended our "Manly Men" Day and sent us to the camp shelter to rehydrate, shower, and examine our trophies! (AKA: pay medical attention to our scrapes and bruises.)
Afterwards, we were all given a little freetime before dinner where we regathered as men and women to play volleyball, swim, playing soccer, or just chat.
At 6pm we met under the dining shelter in order to break bread and re-tell the stories from our day so far.
After dinner, we transformed the dining shelter into a chapel. The evening program would begin by recieving a Word from one of the staff leaders who serves as the Youth and Worship Leader of Vekker Church in Veszprém. He spoke in reference to "The Parable of the Lost Coin" (Luke 15:8-10). He shared His testimony about how God sought after him when he was the "lost coin". He expressed how the Father's Love is so strong that it never stops searching for us, and how He Loves us regardless of our value.
This lead us into small group discussions where we were able to openly talk about our current lives. Sharing about our families and relationships, our feelings about camp so far, and our how we connected to the bible passage and sermon that was shared with us.
The final activity of the night was advertised as "popcorn and a movie" night on Broadway. Although, the audience wasn't there to RECIEVE the entertainment, but instead to GIVE the entertainment!
Each small group was given a scenario and time to prepare a skit for the rest of the campers. We enjoyed watching the hot and saucy romances between survivors of a plane crash, the horror of a good Samaritan turned murderer (toothbrushes as the weapon of choice), and the comedy of King Arthur searching for a "most noble/feeble knight". The laughter and applauses used to react to these skits were the final bits of energy left in all of us and when they were finished, so were we.
Finally at 11pm, we poured ourselves into bed.
I think we will need some rest (and ibuprofen) if we are going to make it through tomorrow...
- Aaron Fischer
Day 7 July 9th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Pray for students, team members and translators to bond and form trusting relationships. Pray the students have clear minds and willing hearts to receive the message of God’s Plan, Hope, and Future for their lives.
Today’s Update:
Today was officially Day 1 of camp. We started the morning by getting on a bus to meet the students at the train station. It was a time of introductions and breaking the ice. It's amazing to look back even at this point and see God's hand interweaving us all together, creating unity within great diversity.
We then embarked on the journey to camp. Train and bus rides in the company of our new friends. Once arrived, we jumped into a time of laughter and games. The ice continued to break between us all as we started to create a community of love and safety. Conversation began and comfortability increased. Not to mention loads of FUN! From volleyball to soccer, football and frisbee, and of course meal time.
We ended the day with a time of singing camp songs, listening to Christian, one of our Hungarian leaders, teach on the parable of the lost sheep, and then discussing in small groups.
Even though the students were relatively shy and slow to open up for the most part, our team experienced many special moments throughout the day. For me personally, I found great joy in connecting with a select few young ladies, taking an interest in their lives, and spending time caring about them in conversation and in company.
Onward to tomorrow, our first day of English classes and our first full day together. Thank you all for your prayers! May God continue to stir in all of our hearts this week and speak to us about His love.
-Bekah Fischer
Day 6 July 8th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to come over the team. Pray each team member, translator and student has a powerful encounter with Jesus, with eternal consequences.
Today’s Update:
With camp starting today, we are posting just a few pictures from the day.
Day 5 July 7th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Pray for wisdom for teaching and that God's unconditional love would flow through each team member.
Today’s Update:
Today we went to the Vekker church here in Veszprèm, Hungary. The camp we will serve in is led by key people from this church. Our AirBnB is about a mile from the church, which makes for a nice time of fellowship with the other members of the team as we walk to the church. On the way to the church, I found a beautiful flower garden. Many homeowners are very proud of their flower gardens in this area and take great care to make sure they look nice.
We found the people at church to be very friendly and hospitable. They also have a very sincere faith and love for Jesus. We couldn't understand all of the song lyrics, but the joy of the Lord and His Spirit is clear in any language. Fortunately, my friend Adam translated the message for us. Here's a picture of him from our camp last year. His wife is expecting baby # 2 soon, so he's not able to join us this year.
After church, we had a day off. After lunch in the center of town, many of us returned to the AirBnB to catch up on jet lag. I found a gym to get some much-needed exercise. Tonight, we'll go to the restaurant next to our AirBnB. We hear they have the best Hungarian goulash in town. The staff there is also very nice & have translated Hungarian for me a couple of times even though I wasn't eating there.
That’s it for today's events. But for your viewing pleasure, here's a photo of Mark from yesterday. He had taken great care to make a nice sandwich at lunch & before he could eat it, the plate collapsed. Though we felt bad for him, it was also a good laugh. (He ate the potato chips anyway. Of course.)
Also here's Dion at sunset. The location is just below the castle here in Veszprèm where there's a beautiful overlook of the town.
So tomorrow we take a bus and train to the campsite near the Slovakian border and will have more updates!
-James Conrad
Day 4 July 6th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Pray for organization and Holy Spirit guidance for team and host team. Let’s also pray for encouragement for those team members who may be doubting their abilities. Invite God to show them how important their gifts are and the roles they play.
Today’s Update:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)
Today you could tell our team felt a little more awake and alive as the jet leg is finally starting wear off and we were ready. It was our last day of orientation and as we went over last minute details, what camp day to day will look like, and the excitement is at its peak point. We really focused on what it means to create a movement and revival in a nation that doesn’t know the Gospel. We also discussed true discipleship and what that will look like when we get to camp on Monday!
You could tell our entire team was leaning in with their ears and their hearts, including myself, completely engaged in what Rob (the missionary training us) had to say. One thing that stood out amongst the incredible knowledge and teaching he brought to the table was what really creates a movement among people. He said that, “Our ability to sing in suffering” can play an immense role in revival. He used examples from the book of Acts (Acts 5:40-41, Acts 16:22-25, Acts 9:15-16) and through these Bible verses it shows us how Jesus’s apostles through beatings, accusations, and imprisonment they all had one common expression: rejoicing where they were and worshiping the Lord through singing and prayer.
Wow... As we all pondered over this I think the team and I came to understand that through times of exhaustion, discouragement, and being in a place of hopelessness we can still rejoice and sing and dance because our Heavenly Father has already gone before us and paved our way through the bitterness and darkness that lies ahead. And through our “singing in suffering” the children around us or the people in general around us can see our response to situations and see the hope in our eyes which can bring light to their lives. Our greatest witness might be our ability to sing in suffering.
This was a great learning point of today and on top of that, the amount of knowledge we were blessed with to prepare our hearts for the coming week was incredible. The excitement is bubbling over as we get ready for Camp to begin!
Tomorrow we get to be apart of a Hungarian Church service at the local church we are teaming up with and it’s going to be amazing to see how this community gets together and praises the Lord. I’m so excited what’s in store for us and we are so thankful for all for the constant prayers that are coming our ways. Thank you to our community back home for believing in us and keeping us in your hearts and minds. The darkness might be here, but we are here to stand in the darkness and I know God’s light can outshine anything!
-Dion
Day 3 July 5th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Pray for a quick adjustment to the time change and surroundings. Pray for rest in the Lord both physically and spiritually. Pray that the Holy Spirit prepares the soil (students) and makes them ready for the gospel. Let’s continue to pray for the favor of God too!
Today’s Update:
Today we started our orientation for youth camp that’s starting next week. Excitement is filling the air as we prep and prepare, but with the excitement comes fatigue. I think I can speak for our whole team when I say that we are feeling the jet lag!
Even through the fatigue (thank goodness for coffee) we feel like God is breaking through the darkness. Being in an ex-communist country really allows you to see how much that influence affected the people of this country. While darkness is trying to keep its grasp on Hungary, we stand united against it as we pray that it would stop.
Today we had the task of going out into the community to talk to the Hungarian people and learn about them and their culture. It was just our team that embarked on this grand adventure. We stopped for more coffee first to refuel our weary bodies. As we went out and walked through the shopping plaza it proved to be a bit awkward, so much so that it almost made you not want to say anything at all and turn the other way and run!
That’s a perfect opportunity for Satan to come in and plant thoughts in our heads. With just one thought he could discourage us so much so that we no longer want to talk to anyone. He does this because he knows that as relationships are built, seeds get planted, and Jesus thrives! We had to practice this because at camp we are expected to get to know these kids and build relationship with them.
These relationships are what’s going to set Hungary and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe on fire for GOD! I’m believing that these kids are truly going to see Jesus and crave to know Him more.
Day 2 July 4th
Today’s Prayer Focus: Boldness, Peace, Calm- Pray for Boldness! Pray that all team members and translators would have boldness and creativity in sharing Jesus. Pray for continued peace and unity.
Todays Update:
“For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 8:35 NLT
The Favor of God! Or, as I like to call it - The FOG. You know, those moments in your relationship with God that amount to actions and answers in life that can only be described as “orchestrated by God.” It’s all in his hands. Sometimes you can see it tangibly and sometimes you just have to trust it is there.
After months and months of preparing, hardcore raising support and meeting together many Sunday afternoons - ten individuals from our 29:11 community are finally taking the faith filled steps to step out and try something unique that is drenched in sharing the message of Jesus halfway across the world from where they normally already do so.
Hungary is a nation that needs pioneers that will trench the gospel for Jesus. After years of communism and breaking the chains of it, rebuilding, restructuring and renewing itself, this nation is at the precipice for a spiritual revival. Over the last twenty years, atheism and other non-committal forms of faith have drifted into the hearts of it’s people. Most people do not know Jesus. In some parts of Hungary, there are less followers of Jesus than in some middle eastern countries. As we get into these camps in the next two weeks, we are praying for the salvation of just a handful of young souls who could literally light a revival fire to re-ignite a nation. That is why we are here. Working with JosiahVenture, we will be conducting English camps during the weekdays so junior and high school age students can start to learn the language and then in the evening keep the connection going by sharing the love of Jesus. So, we will need the FOG to reach hearts!
Speaking of FOG, while boarding our flight yesterday from Toronto to Budapest, I knew the incredible hearts of our team were hungry to help and do something to bring the light of Jesus into this dark part of central/eastern Europe.
As we entered the plane I silently wondered why we were boarding in Zone 1 when most of our ministry trips were usually somewhere around Zone 10 (that meaning we were just scraping enough to get us there and back in economy/coach class). When our seat numbers reflected First Class seats, I questioned the flight attendant thinking there was some mistake. Nope…somewhere we found the FOG amidst us and we were sitting in First Class on our way to Budapest. How? What? Something that had never happened before. The team, diverse in all ages, giggled and laughed like little kids the entire way. Somehow we had been given an extravagant gift and we were grateful for the awesome ride.
Midflight, I couldn’t help but reflect on a thought that I couldn’t let go of. Our heavenly Father wants to share His favor and love with each one of his kids. He has a first class seat waiting for all of us, full of destiny and purpose that is far greater than sipping on free beverages, eating off china plates and watching movies in Lazy Boy like seats.
He wants every human to experience the extravagant love and grace of God that comes as an unexpected gift. This is the gift he wants to share with the students we will meet in Hungary next week. So I am praying we can give to them what God has so freely given to us…. authentic kindness, mind blowing mercy and true God driven love that is more inclusive than exclusive. This love is FOR EVERYONE.
Tomorrow we start our training on how we can prepare to give the love that every human seeks that only eternity can fulfill. Training to speak the language. Training to share through teaching something like English. Training for a week of summer camp fun. All of it is for the opportunity to allow a chance for someone to say, “Hey, I want to follow Jesus.”
We need the FOG! Do we ever need the “Favor of God.”
⁃Pastor Mark
Day 1 - Travel to Hungary
Day 2 - Training for JosiahVenture camps with the leadership team. We are the small village of Vezprem about an hour outside of Budapest. Current temps are about 75 degrees with humidity.
Day 1 July 3rd
The Hunger: Hungary 2019
We are off! Ten amazing humans who have prayed and worked hard to be a part of bringing the light of Christ into the dark world of central Europe. Join us daily as we post and share what God is doing in the country of Hungary. Be a part of traveling with the group from 29:11 Church as they pour out their lives to see the impact of God’s love in the lives of the thirty-five students they will be ministering to over the next 14 days. One of the greatest ways you can help is to pray. Each day join hundreds of others as they intercede for the team. You can also read daily posts from each of the team members sharing their perspective on what God is doing day to day.
As we head out of Phoenix to Budapest on Wednesday, July 3rd - pray over us and know your intersession will make all the difference. Here is a way you can intercede for us to day (each day we will post another way to pray)….
Day 1 Prayer Focus: Pray that God is glorified in every aspect of the trip. Pray for peace and clarity for the team. The enemy will try to use this time to discourage and bring doubt in the team members and their family members. Leaving family is never easy and for some this will be a new experience, exciting but also could be overwhelming. Pray for peace from the Prince of Peace!
Look for a post on what unfolded on Day 1 coming soon!