Well, we had an interesting morning in Raleigh today, to say the least. You may have heard about the young man who police in Raleigh are presently searching for after he shot 3 people earlier this morning. Well, that guy's car is where we intersect with that story...see, his car was found parked just in front of the community center where we were to have Kids Club this afternoon at Raleigh North. Needless to say, Kids Club was cancelled. The police who were there informed us of the situation and we quickly returned to the church.

Please join us in praying for that entire situation as the day comes to an end. Please pray that the guy would be caught so that we can return to Raleigh North tomorrow and have one more opportunity to share the Gospel with the children there.

Cedar Point Kids Club tonight is uneffected, and we will have club as planned. There will probably not be another update until tomorrow night's final update from Raleigh. Thanks for the prayers!

We had a great day today here in Raleigh! But, it started off with some sad news. Scott informed us that some kids had broken into the community center at Raleigh North (which is where we have our afternoon kids club) and had messed up the area. Some trash had been strewn around and the sidewalk chalk had been stolen and used to write some obscene messages on walls / doors / sidewalks. So, we started our time there helping the crew clean up the mess. It was a great opportunity to show the community our love as we cleaned up the mess. Then, it was finally time for Kids Club!

We had about the same number today, which was good, but the kids were a little more rowdy, which made it more of a challenge. Our students really showed off their creativity today, which was a great thing to see! Ben led the kids in learning hand motions that helped them learn 1 Peter 5:7..."Cast your burdens onto Jesus; He cares for you." Kimmi and Annie then led the students in presenting a skit illustrating the story of Jesus calming the storm. Our central truth was that Jesus is in control of all things and we can trust Him with everything.

Tonight, instead of a Kids Club at Cedar Point, we had a community-wide block party. We really had a blast!! The turn out was pretty good, and a lot of people heard the message of the Gospel. Again, our students responded well and really did a good job interacting with all of the people there.

Tomorrow we have our two kids clubs again, and the schedule will return to normal. Thanks for the prayers, and you can see our pictures from today here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28007240@N08/?saved=1.

Well, today was a great first day here in Raleigh. The students did such an incredible job today, especially for the first day! Working to confirm the key term of flexibility that is a mission trip to Raleigh, our plans changed for the week slightly in the way of the sites that we will be serving while here. As planned, we will continue to have a Kids Club in the community of Raleigh North from 12:30 to 2:30 each afternoon. However, instead of having a club in Walnut Terrace from 6:30 to 8:30 each evening, we will be serving in Cedar Pointe, instead.

Ben and Caleb did an exceptional job leading songs by playing guitar today. Scott told me that it had been some time since the children experienced instrument-led songs, so they really seemed to enjoy it. Jackie and Maggie helped out on the vocals, and did a great job as well. Jeremy led the Bible verse, and did a really good job of explaining what it means to love others as we would want to be loved. Sarah-Marie then taught the kids the story of the Good Samaritan, which helped them to understand that Jesus has commanded us to love everyone, even our enemies.

Everyone else helped out with games and sitting / participating with the kids during the club. All-in-all a great first day of club! We had around 35 kids at Raleigh North, with 45 showing up for the Cedar Pointe club.

Tomorrow we will have a slight change of plans, too, as we will have a block party at Cedar Pointe, instead of Kids Club. Please be in prayer for that, as we will have the opportunity to meet and talk to parents and other adults who show up for food at the party. Thanks for the prayers, and I will continue to try to add updates each night at about this time.

Pictures from the day can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28007240@N08/?saved=1.

Well, we are off again!! We have already made stops in our Judea and to the ends of the earth this summer; now it's time for a return to Judea...our state, and more specifically, Raleigh. This time the high schoolers will be going with an agenda that includes running 2 Kids Clubs each day, and a block party on Thursday night. During the week, our students will have the opportunity to share Jesus with over 100 children. So, please pray for us as we head out this morning. The names of those who will be going are:

Just a very quick note about the day and then a link to new pictures, as it is just past midnight here in Budapest!

After an afternoon at the market, our team had the opportunity to go to one of my favorite places

on earth tonight...the Citadella. The Citadella is located at the top of Gellert Hill, but if you have ever climbed it, you would swear that it should be called Gellert Mountain! At least Mount Gellert...oh well. The view of all of Budapest from atop the hill is one that literally takes your breath away. Once again, pictures can simply not do it any justice, although I have added some for you to see.

Tomorrow is an early day...as well as a long day. One of Jerry's friends has set up a private tour of the Parliament here in Budapest, which has us all quite excited! So, hopefully I will have another update tomorrow with more pictures.

New pictures can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/lzs2kt.

It's late and I have to get in the bed...big day tomorrow as we travel to Budapest and begin to explore the city! We have officially spent our last day in Szarvas. We have had a wonderful time getting to know the students and hate to have to say goodbye. Please continue to pray that the Gospel message that they have heard will take root and hearts will be changed. Pray that the students, as well as the parents, will be drawn to the Szarvas church where they can continue to hear the Scriptures revealed and taught.

After English class and lunch today, we all went to the riverside for the entire afternoon. While there, the local TV network showed up and interviewed some of the kids, Zsolti and me. Pray that many would watch that, as well as our church service from Sunday as they will all be aired in the coming days.

We did have a great last day here. The time at the river was a lot of fun. We had a traditional Hungarian stew for supper, which was delicious. The students had worked on a small production of David and Goliath, which they performed for us and the parents. They did a great job!! I took a video of it and plan on posting it in the near future.

After all that excitement, it was off for one last visit to our beloved ice cream shop. Catherine had 5 scoops of her favorite rasberry, which she declares "has her taken!" Charity cracked us all up as she asked the woman for a scoop of all 12 flavors!! Not sure how a bowl with flavors such as banana, peach, rasberry, chocolate, lemon, etc...could taste very good, but she seemed to enjoy it till the very end! Actually, her bowl is the picture at the top of this post, along with a picture of the ice cream shop. For those of you who have visited Szarvas on previous visits, you will understand!

Anyway, our time here in Szarvas is done. We meet Zsolti at 8am in the morning to head to Budapest. Thank you for your prayers as we ministered to the students over the past days. We appreciate your continued prayers as we head home on Thursday!

New pictures are posted here: http://tinyurl.com/lzs2kt.