Today was the first day of the second week of camp, and although we all had a restful weekend, we all could probably say that we were still experiencing the exhaustion from the previous week. Nevertheless, even though our bodies were tired, our spirits were not. The excitement to begin another week filled with opportunities of sharing the Gospel was highly apparent in each of our team members this morning. Since we were beginning a new week, there were new campers and new experiences and conversations to be had. Brad preached from Acts chapter 16 on how God is able to open hearts. Even though we anticipated a day full of rain, God provided a beautiful, sunny afternoon for us to play dodgeball and capture the flag. To cool off, we played a game of freeze dance inside and eventually created a huge dance circle. Let’s just say that a lot of peoples’ dance moves made me feel better about my dance skills. After the kids headed home, our team debriefed, discussed how the day went, and prepared for the next day. We then scrambled to the bus stop through the pouring rain (thankfully the last of the rain we saw today!) and went back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. The place we went to dinner was probably my favorite so far. It was this precious Greek restaurant that made you question whether you were in Hungary or Greece. I enjoyed a Gyro, and we got complementary bread, watermelon, and the girls even received roses which we all squealed about and greatly appreciated. After feeling contently full, we went to the Parliament building. It was under construction last year when I went, and it is now absolutely gorgeous. We had the privilege of watching the sun set while walking along the Danube. No picture could ever capture the beauty of what we saw tonight. Brad educated us on a brief history of some of the sights we saw, one of them being a memorial built on the side of the river of shoes that represented Jews that were shot into the river during the Holocaust. Being aware of this tragic history reminded me of how our one hope is Christ and how He is the only hope for this beautiful city.

This past week, I was able to see one of the students in my class begin a personal relationship with Jesus. Even though I was not the one to pray with him, it has been such a blessing seeing how excited he is. His excitement and huge smiles have been an encouragement to me and remind me how joyful all Christians should be if we truly believe that Jesus has saved us. Praise God for this new brother in Christ and how he has been an encouragement to me already! This story relates to what God has been teaching me so far throughout this trip. I have been a little discouraged because I have not been with someone when they want to devote their lives to Christ, and it seems as though almost everyone on the team has been or has had a similar experience. Through my devotionals and through prayer, God has been reminding me to rejoice in every soul that is saved whether it is a result of my words or not. The Holy Spirit is moving here in Budapest, and I should be praising Jesus for every seed that is planted. Please continue praying for health and safety for our team, but most importantly, that the students will look at us and see Jesus.