Spreading the Love!

Most people I know don't know what it is like to be homeless. I can honestly say that I do. More than once in my life, I have either had to live on people's couches or sleep at the office or hide out in my car. So when I walked onto the former Russian Army base that is the living area for several Hungarian families, I was taken back to those periods in my life. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words - and the one above I feel is worth a million. This mom and daughter were blissed out because we took their picture and gave them a picture frame to hang it up in their small apartment. How simple is it to spread the love?

Last weekend, the Middle School here at ICSB did service projects. The 6th graders walked around Diosd, our city, picking up trash. The 7th graders went to visit a mental health facility to throw a Harvest Festival. I was with the 8th graders at this homeless ministry out in the middle of the Hungarian Countryside.

We arrived on Friday to do some much needed yard work. There were tons of thorn bushes and trees that needed to be taken out of the back yard so that these adorable children could have a place to play that was safe. So we took on some war wounds and rounded up the trees and yard waste and made them home more ascetically pleasing! Then, we had a good ole fashioned bonfire complete with sausages on sticks to roast! We had a round of worship with guitar around the fire and then followed it up with a movie night of Ratatouille in Hungarian with English Subtitles. We traveled to a hostel for the night's devotions and rest.

Saturday morning we got up nice and early to return for breakfast with the residents. They proceeded to give the students a tour of the facilities, while us chaperons set up the craft time. We had brought picture frames for the kids to decorate with paint, feathers, stickers, glitter, etc. They had a blast making them beautiful and we had fun communicating cross-culturally! The families got all dressed up and we took and printed up their pictures so that they would have something to keep! We had a communal dinner where they expressed their gratitude and then we headed out to catch the train ride back to Budapest. The students were excited because we got to ride on a "Harry Potter" Train - it had compartments instead of rows of seats!

All in all, we were supposed to make a difference in those families lives. However, I know that it made a difference in mine. Once again I am reminded of the many things God has carried me through in my life and how grateful I am to be blessed even with something most people take for granted - a place to live!