Benjamin

Benjamin

Most of you already know who “Ben” is, but I haven't actually told you much about him, or how we became a couple. So, for those of you who have no idea, here ya go! For those of you who are hopeless romantics and just enjoy reading romantic stories... Enjoy... :-)







Our story:

As I was preparing to come over to Hungary, I wanted to get in contact with some people that were there. I added Ben as a friend and we emailed back and fourth about 10 times from March to July. He was an intern at WoL during this time and told me that he would return as a student. I wasn't really interested in him, nor he in me at that time.
So, I flew into Hungary on September 11th. Ben also flew in at the same time as well as our other friend Jason from Maine. I must admit that I had already found him interesting once we met at the airport. He was much different than what I had expected! Once we got to school everyone just got to know each other and usually we played Volleyball. Ben and I both liked to play, so this was an opportunity for us to spend time together and to get to know each other. I started forming a “crush” on him almost right away. His unique personality and sense of humor really caught my attention... Not to mention he is quite handsome... :) After eleven days of being in Hungary, Ben pulled me aside after a conference and asked if he could talk to me. (*Note: During the whole conference Ben could NOT sit still! One of the Dean's wife also noticed this and later we found out that she had told her husband that she thought “this boy had ADD or something!”) So, Ben with faint legs, told me that he was interested in me and would like to get to know me better. I told him that I also was interested in him and would like to get to know him more as well. After that we would go on walks whenever we could find the opportunity and just talk and pray together as far as what the future holds for us. We were able to talk about anything. From the beginning we wanted to have an open relationship and talk about any issues right away before we would get serious. So we talked about the role of a woman in the church to how many children we would like to have. In October you probably remember that a group of us from school went to Vienna for our fall break. This really gave Ben and I an opportunity to get to know each other. About a week after we got back we went to this little bakery in the village and we talked about starting a relationship. We had been praying for almost 2 months about it and we felt that God was leading us in the same direction and we decided to make it official. Something that I really appreciated a lot was the support of the other students and their prayers for us. Before we would tell anybody we wanted to call and tell our parents first. After we informed them and got their blessing, we let everyone else know that we were officially a couple! :) Both he and I agreed that it would be good for our relationship if we got mentored by a couple. We both agreed on the same couple that we wanted to do it. Their names are Dan and Natalie and they have two children, Hannah and Daniel. They are from the NE 
of the States. From there they moved down to Florida to help their friend with church planting and from there they were called to the Bahamahs for four years. They are both students this year and Dan is also a Dean. We started to meet with them every other week as a couple and we also meet separately to go through a marriage book.
Ben and I were hoping to get engaged in the spring, but because of circumstances we have to wait until the summer.
Ben is such a gentleman. He opens my doors, helps me with my coat...etc. He is always looking for different ways that he can serve me. He is very humble and patient. I am challenged so much by him. Ben sets a great example of humbleness and selflessness and really takes the role of being the leader serious. He encourages me very much. One of the sweetest things I can remember him doing was back in November when I was sick. I had to stay in a room in the castle for a week. I was pretty lonely because I wasn't allowed to leave the room. One evening I was sleeping (note, it was probably around 6:30 pm) and my Hungarian teacher woke me up. When she opened the door I could hear Ben playing his guitar and singing a song. He at first tried to just wake me up by playing really loud, but it didn't work. So I walk into the hallway and he sang me a nice song in German. I thought that was SO sweet of him!
So, here is a little bit about Ben. He was born October 20th, 1986 in Nuremberg. His parents names are Roland and Brigitte. He has a little brother, Michael, who is 11. I got to spend five days with him and his family over Christmas and then a little over two weeks for spring break. Over Christmas I got to meet his family from his Mom's side. They really reminded me a lot of my family, so it was really nice to be with them! In particular I have gotten to know his aunt Meggi. Over Christmas she took us on a tour around Nuremberg and after Easter she took us around to look at Easter wells. (A German tradition) Over spring break Ben's mom taught me how to make some of Ben's favorite dishes. I really enjoyed it and also enjoyed her teaching me German. ( I learned some pretty funny things from her... ;-) ) She is a housewife and is keeping pretty busy now taking care of a little foster child. Since February they have had a little girl Kiara living with them. She just turned one a couple of weeks ago. She was SUCH a sweet baby! Ben's dad has been to America once back in 2000 and really enjoyed it a lot. I got to look at his pictures while he was there. He has some pretty good stories about America! Ben's dad works as a social worker. He works with homeless people to help get them back into the working society. Ben's brother Michael is in 5th grade and majoring in Music. He plays two instruments as of right now; the piano and the trumpet. He loves to read and is a really sweet kid. A couple of times he tried to play a few pranks on me with these fake bugs! We have a lot of fun.
I am really looking forward to Ben possibly coming home with me during the summer. That is the plan as of now. Thank you for all of your prayers for us!

Forgiveness for the Sinner

I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.

2 Corinthians 2:5-8


This passage really jumped out to me as I read it one day in class. All of us have been hurt. All of us have had things done to us that doesn't seem fair. People mistreat us and we may not deserve it. How can God expect me to forgive that person? How am I supposed to forgive her for purposely hurting me?

I had this situation here at school. It felt like a girl here (I'll leave most details out) was purposely trying to hurt me. She would do some things behind my back that she wouldn't dare do in front of me. So, I became jealous, angry, bitter. I COULD not be nice to this girl. I knew in my heart that it was a sin. I knew that it was wrong. But, my pride kept me from praying for her. Instead of loving her, I would be rude to her when she would try to confront me. I would think, "She is fake. She is trying to play this game with me by acting one way in front of me, then going behind my back and doing something that would hurt me." So, while we were studying 1 Peter, I read verse 22: "You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply will all of your heart."
Let's just say I felt very convicted. Who was I to sit there and judge her and not love this daughter of God? How was I any better? Who was I to sit there and point my finger at her when Christ sees us exactly the same. Am I not supposed to look at people like how Christ looks at people? What sin had she committed that God hadn't already forgiven her for? I needed to forgive her even if she wasn't sorry. The only thing that was keeping me from it was my pride. My pride was allowing these feelings of jealousy and bitterness to build up. I needed the joy of Christ that Paul says to have in Philippians. I NEED to have joy. Always! (You should read the book of Philippians. It's awesome!) So, just a couple of days ago, after a few weeks of praying, this girl walked by me. So, I touched her arm and told her that her hair looked nice. (she had just gotten her hair cut) I meant what I said and you know what? I felt this burden lifted off of my heart! After that, after I died to my stupid pride, I could love my sister in Christ. We are commanded to love each other. To forgive each other. 1 Corinthians 13:13 Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.

This past weekend was also the missions conference. I felt such a burden for the lost. I also felt a burden for those who have wandered from the faith.

James 5:19-20
My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of sins.

So, it made me think. Does God ever leave us? No! He is always there to take us back. His grace is sufficient and his love is unfathomable. God gave us his son. He loved him so much. Maybe if this is more personable, people can comprehend it better.
Imagine that your child had to die for world. That the whole world would be destroyed if your child didn't die to save it. Imagine that dear child of yours. Remember when you first saw him on the computer screen? How he would stick his finger in his mouth and kick his feet against your side. Remember the first time that you held him in your arms? Remember the first time that he opened his eyes? Remember the first steps that he took? Remember his first day of school? Remember the time he scored his first goal and he was so excited? Remember that feeling in your heart the time you saw those kids picking on him? How you wanted to fight for him? Imagine now, that he's dead. He died to save the world. Imagine now that people forgot him. That they don't even remember your son! That you let him die so that everyone else could live. He is just that boy years ago. Talked about, but no glory to him. Sometimes he is even mocked. Imagine now Jesus Christ on that cross. Imagine how it felt. Can you feel the nails in his hands and his feet? Can you feel the sting from the whips? Can you feel the blood flowing down from his head from the crown of thorns they put on his head? Can you feel how thirsty he must have been? ...Can you? No. You don't have to imagine giving your son up to save the world. You don't have to imagine what it must have felt like to hang from that cross and have all of the sins of the world laid on you. The price has been paid. You are set free, your chains are gone. Jesus Christ saw your face when he was on that cross. He loves you so much.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through FAITH-and this is not from YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God-not by WORKS, so that no one can boast."
Having faith is believing without seeing. It is believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. It is believing that only THROUGH him, we can have eternal life. This life is so short. There is a decision that we must all make. To live eternally in hell, or in heaven. Jesus is the only way, he is the truth and he is the life. In order to get to heaven, you must believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins. It is never too late. It's just a simple prayer
"Heavenly father, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I am not good enough to make it into heaven. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead. Please come into my heart."

-Amen

That past two months and now my time in Germany

So, I guess I will start from the time after fall break! We came back and got back into the routine of school. We had Old Testament classes. Also, we studied the book of 1,2 Peter and Jude. We had Christian Ethics and Church History. Just so that you can get an idea of how my days are, here's a rough schedule of what the week is usually like.

(Germany with from Left: Reka (Hungarian teacher. Monca: Dean of Women. Me. Damaris. Monca and Reka traveled to Germany for a few days!)

Monday:

- No classes. Usually consist of studying,

or walking to the village. We have work assignments so I work for two hours after lunch.

Lunch: 1:00

Clean: 1:45- 3:45

Devos in our room at 9:45

In rooms is at 11:30 (also, in bed time!)

Tuesday:

6:30 wake up

6:45 Quiet time

7:00 Breakfast (Which I have never been to during the school days!)

8:00 Have a test (We have tests every Tuesday morning)

9:00 Classes start

1:00 Lunch

3:15-4:30 Hungarian

5:00-6:00- Chapel

6:15-Dinner

7:00-8:00 Required study

8:30- 9:30 Girls devos (With all the girls, not just our room)

11:30 In room and in bed

Wednesday:

6:30 Wake up

6:45 Quiet time

7:20 Breakfast

8:00 Classes begin

10:00-11:00 Chapel

11:00-1:00 Classes

1:00- Lunch

1:45-3:45 Work assignment (Guest rooms. My friend Damaris and I do this together.. I actually really like it!)

6:00-Dinner

6:45-7:45 Required study

9:45 Devos

11:30 Lights out and in bed

Thursday:

6:00 Wake up

6:45 Quiet time

7:20 Breakfast

8:00-10:00 Class

10:00-11:00 Chapel

11:00-1:00 Class

1:00 Lunch

3:15-4:30 Hungarian

6:00- Dinner

6:45-7:45 Required study

9:30 Devos

11:30 Lights out and in bed

Friday:

6:00 Wake up

6:45 Quiet time

7:20 Breakfast

8:00-10:00 Class

10:00-11:00 Chapel

11:00-1:00 Class

1:00 Lunch

1:34-3:45 Work assignment

Saturday:

No classes. Usually studying

Sunday:

6:00 Get up and do quiet time

7:20 Leave room and walk to bus stop

10:00 Arrive at church in Budapest for Sunday school ministry

So now you have a rough idea of what my days are like! They are usually very packed! I enjoy it a lot though! The food here is very different. Hungarian food is really greasy which, I don't like greasy foods! I have lost 15 pounds since I have been here. Due to the food and also I have been sick for about a month now. If you could please pray for my health, I would appreciate it so much! I have been to the doctors twice and gotten antibiotic, but nothing has worked. I am planning on going to the Doctors during my stay in Germany.

I am on Christmas break right now in Germany. I am staying with my friend Damaris. I have gotten to see a lot of the are that she lives in. Her parents are cofounders of her church. There are about 70 people. They have been so welcoming to me! The youthgroup (Which it is different than in the States where it's just High school students. Here, it's considered 'young people' who make up the youth group.) They are all very close and have made me feel like I have always been a part of the group! They really give a great example of how the body of Christ should be. I will be spending 4 days in Nuremberg visiting Ben and his family. Then on the third I am going to Switzerland with the youth group. We will be there for 3 days! We arrive back at school on the 13th. Then classes start again on the 15th.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Everday I wake up and I am amazed that I am living in Hungary and that I am able to study the Bible. It is only by the grace of God that I am here!

God Bless!

Whitney

Fall Break in Vienna

(It was actually pretty cold, but we thought it was funny they had palm trees!.. I had to take a picture by them for all of you back at home!) :-)





From Friday to Tuesday we had our Fall Break. There were mainly two main groups of students that were going to the same place. One group was going to Slovakia and the other to Vienna. I was part of the group going to Vienna.




We weren't sure where we were going to stay. One of the other students Benjamin is from Germany so he was the one left in charge of trying to find somewhere for us to stay.(Just in case you didn't know, they speak German in Austria) Twice we thought that we had a church to stay at but then it ended up falling through. We were going to sleep at the train station if we couldn't find anywhere else to stay. ( I was really excited about that! haha.. right :-) )The night before we left Benjamin got an e-mail from a Pastor saying that we could stay at the church. This made me verrry happy! :-) So Sunday night we made it to Vienna! We got off at the bus stop and had pretty much no idea where we were supposed to go...But with some help from a young man we were able to find our way.




We got to the church and we were blessed so much more than what we would have ever imagined! The girls were sleeping down in the basement in this really cool "teen" lounge...Then the boys where upstairs in the nursery... :-) We were surprised at how nice it was, then we were asked if we would like some food. So they gave us a lot of left over food that we also ate for breakfast in the morning. Another pastor of a different church knew someone from the church we were staying in and offered to take us around on Monday and show us Vienna. Then he offered all 12 of us to go to his home and enjoy a home cooked meal that his wife prepared and to also take a warm shower. Let's just say I was very over joyed about being able to take a shower!




Tuesday we found a Starbucks and studied there for about 5 hours and then came home.




Everyday God just kept blessing us with different things! "Ask and you shall receive" God took care of us. :-) Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Whitney

A few pictures!

In the streets of Budapest

Hello! Well I have been here for a little over a week now and it doesn't really feel like it! To me it feels like the days go so fast! We are constantly doing things...Feels like we never slow down!
All week our class has been personal evangelism. We are not on a normal schedule yet..Not until next week. Anyways, today we went out into Budapest to do street evangelism. The people here have very cold hearts. Most of them really didn't want anything to do with God. They would open up the track then either 1.) Laugh. 2.) Rip it up. 3.) Give it back. (We did have some people who we were able to talk to about it, and one young Hungarian girl who was a christian and she was so excited she met some other young Christians!) It was a challenge and I was nervous because Christians aren't liked very much here. It was so easy for me to see that they need the love of Christ. It's amazing how when someone is a christian you can see it in their faces, their eyes..Their actions! It was a realization that if they were to die, they would be going to hell. The verse in Revelation chapter 20 says:
"And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Something in me was stirred today. A sense that I was too content and comfortable with my relationship with God, and that there is a great need for the good news of Jesus Christ to be shared. It's urgent that as Believers we take this seriously. One of the first things that Jesus told his new disciples in Luke chapter 5 was to be "fishers of men". Satan is at work to destroy everything that God has created, but God is also at work! I believe that God can change the hearts of these people. That Christians can regain their reputation here and a great change can occur!
We will be going out again tomorrow to Budapest and please keep us in your prayers. Please pray that they will have open hearts and that the right words will come out of our mouths! Please also pray that we will not be nervous and to keep the enemy away.


Love you guys!


In Christ,


Whitney

A month to go!

Hey everyone! I am finally almost ready to leave. Praise God my passport came today, so now we will just have to get my visa and I am set to go! I fly out of Chicago around 4 in the afternoon and then fly into Ireland for about a 7 hour lay over! Which is a blessing really because I won't have to worry about not being enough time between flights. Then I arrive in Hungary on the 11th around 6 p.m. I can't believe that time is getting so close!
Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. I will keep you posted on everything as it is getting closer!


Love,

Whitney