Connect 2008

In my trip to Hungary this year God really rocked my world! I learned so much, and I am still processing everything that God is teaching me!

I was blown away from our students that went. They really served these kids and families with all their heart. It was fun to see some old friends like Jordan! She has grown up some much this past year!

Isaiah was my buddy last year, his family lives in France. Isaiah would save a seat for me at almost every meal. We had a lot of fun together. I was with the 3 and 4 year olds this year, so I wasn't with his group. On the last night he ran up to me and asked if we could have his dad take a picture of us together! That made me really happy! :) He and Trevin had fun together this year!

Last year I met the Stephan and Laura, who live in Brussels. Laura is actually from the same home town, and we discovered that we know a ton of the same people! Its funny how it took us both traveling to Hungary to meet each other. I have kept in close touch with the them over the past year, and it was a lot of fun to see them again at Connect. I was able to spend a lot of time with them, talking about ministry and just life in general. Here is a picture of their son Andrew and I. I asked Stephan what I could bring their family from the states. Among other things I brought Andrew some Scooby Doo and John Deere Fruit Snacks. Everyday he would run up to me and tell me how I brought him his fruit snacks. He is so cute!

I worked with the 3 and 4 year olds this year, which was a lot of fun. Andrew is 3, so he was in the group and so was Malachi. Malachi was my little buddy this year. He really had a hard time being away from his parents. He also really desires one on one time. My job for the week became hanging out with Malachi. Towards the beginning of the week it was a lot of crying, but I finally learned that asking him "What do you want to do while we wait for Daddy?" worked like a charm. We read books together, played on the playground, blew bubbles...lots of fun!

During the day our students ran an Olympic Themed program for the kids that they wrote! It was complete with games, videos, bible lessons, and crafts. Each night had a different theme for the kids to dress up; Pirates and Princesses, PJ party Campfire; Wacky Tacky Superheroes. These nights were very special for the missionary kids because they don't really get to experience things like that while living overseas. Charles won for the best Pirate costume!
We all had some fun on Wacky Tacky night...gotta love Tricia's hair!!
Ethan and Caleb came dressed in their sister Jordan's clothes and diapers! Needless to say they won for the best dressed! haha!




Andrew decided that he wanted to be baptized while we were away, which was really special. We opened it up to the entire conference to come and watch. It was so great to see him declare his love for Christ. When one of the 10 year old boys heard that there was going to be a baptism he decided that he wanted to be baptized too, which was really encouraging. Later in the week we heard that at least 2 of the kids had accepted Christ that week. What an amazing experience we had! The families were very thankful...and so were we! God is so good!