Words can’t express, and pictures can’t capture the beauty of Tapolca. If I could bring each and every one of you here to Tapolca to see what it’s really like, I would. It’s crazy to think that one week ago today we arrived in Hungary and have spent a full week with these amazing kids! We have played a ton of great games (like steal the bacon, blob tag, line soccer, and human Foosball, had some great messages from Jared and Josh, and had some cool adventures (like hiking up an old volcano and going in to downtown Tapolca for a scavenger hunt)! It’s a whole different experience in Tapolca then in Budapest, from what I hear at least.

It’s cool how quickly I have made connections with these kids and how much they’ve opened up since the first day of camp. Everyday I join the advanced group of kids in an english discussion after the message and I can see a progression with them each day. On Friday, in our discussion, one of the boys told us about how he struggles with forgiving his father for what he has done to him and his mother. You could tell that it was hard for him to be more vulnerable, but he continued on to tell us that his father had left his mother and it was really hard for him, but in that time he prayed every once in a while. The hardest part for him was that his father’s parents often suggested that he leave his life behind and create new memories with his fathers family. It was hard not to become emotional as you could see the hurt in his eyes, and hear it in his voice. It’s unreal to think how we struggle to forgive even the slightest of wrongs that occur every day. I think of how I have to think twice or even contemplate whether or not to forgive people for those things. And most of the time, whatever it is doesn’t even compare to the hurt that he felt because of his father’s betrayal. We are forgiven for our sins every day, and God doesn’t even have think about it. Personally, forgiveness and biting my tongue are things that God has been helping me with lately, and this story really reminds me of the completely undeserved grace of Jesus Christ in our lives, which we find so hard to apply to our own situations. I’m excited to get to continue talking with him and really explain forgiveness and how it’s definitely not always easy, but it’s one of the ways that we can show others the love of Christ!

We really appreciate all you love, support, and prayers! God is definitely working in these children and hopefully will continue to do so through this next week of camp, and after we leave!