Today was the first day of our second week at camp. We began with a breakfast at the hotel and met at english camp at 8 a.m. Our meeting consisted of Marie leading a devotional on 2 Timothy 3:14 for our team. After this, the Hungarian students began to pour in and we played a mix of Cotton Eye Joe, Cupid Shuffle, and Cha Cha Slide. We welcomed twenty new students into our camp and the English sessions began. Ippei had the opportunity to share his testimony, and our translators, Noemi and Laura, led the song we had all been looking forward to: Nem Felek. Brad provided an encouraging message from 1 Peter 3: 14 and 18 that centered on the idea of the “New Confidence” that we have after putting our faith in Jesus. After small groups, we ate a nice pizza lunch that led into outside games. Today, Sharon and our other afternoon game leaders put together several relay races that our five teams competed in. After this, ultimate frisbee and ninja took over, and students had the opportunity to go to the 10 Keys Bible Study which 27 people attended.

After returning to the hotel, we went to Hero’s Square and ate dinner at a very nice restaurant on a river. Many of us were able to try a delicious goulash soup for the very first time! After this lovely dinner, we walked past the Art Museum as we were going to the train station. Musicians were performing on the Museum’s steps and several members of our team stopped to swing dance and enjoy the music. In addition, we made our way to the gelato shop near our hotel and the owner was so gracious as to give us an entire tub of strawberry and banana gelato after we each had already had two scoops of our choice.

During my small group, our Hungarian leader, Adam, shared a video with our class called the “good-o-meter.” He had asked each of our students, “If you die today, where do you think you would go?” Many of them had responded that they felt that they had lived a good enough life to go to heaven. This video highlighted the reality that heaven can only be attained through the grace of Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with our good works alone. God has reminded me that these students are all very precious to Him. He has been teaching me that these students don’t have the support of the Christian homes that many of us have. It has been extremely encouraging to see several teachers proclaim the truth of the gospel so clearly instead of figuring that the students already know the truths of the Bible. This information that we have heard so many times is so fresh for them, and shows us that God really is using us for more than just teaching English at this camp.