When we arrived in Hungary in the summer of 2014, we knew we would be hosting missions teams and working with the Roma in Slovakia. We also knew that we would be helping some missionary colleagues to plant an international church in Budapest. We didn't really have any plans or thoughts of other ministry. As the months passed, we began to feel God drawing us to youth ministry. First, through baseball, and then through starting our a youth group. H2O youth Budapest was born in Dec. 2014. We had 17 students at our first meeting. Our target group is junior high and high school students and we meet bi-weekly on Friday nights at our home. The group has had consistent growth throughout the year, with a high of 48. It has been a great journey so far. Our meetings generally consist of worship, some type of message, food, and fellowship. One of the most memorable times of the 2015 was taking 32 students to Sabinov, Slovakia for a short missions trip. We spent two days painting faces and fingernails, and playing with Roma children. We also played soccer, volleyball, and American football with Roma teenagers. A highlight of the trip was a joint service with the Roma youth from the Sabinov church.
In the fall of 2016, we moved our youth meetings from our house to the newly renovated facilities of Riverside Church. You see our meeting room in the photo above. Also, we have a ping pong table, a foosball table, and we serve pizza and nachos in our cafe. The move into Budapest has been a good one and we have the potential of reaching more kids in our new location. We continue to have visitors, even a few more Hungarians. The Holy Spirit has really been drawing kids into worship and prayer, with many kids coming to the altar and spending time alone with God during the services.
At our last H2O service before we returned to the US for itineration, we had 57 kids in attendance! Many students filled the altars and spent time alone with God and in prayer for each other. Praise God for all that He has done through H2O over the last 3 and a half years!
We continue to lead H2O at the present time. We are thankful that God has brought several people to help us. Our leadership team has people from the US, Bulgaria, Russia, and Egypt.