Overflowing the Carry-On
Lessons from my summer in Hungary
It is difficult to contain the lessons I have learned during my time in Hungary in just a few paragraphs. It has been an unforgettable experience filled with joys and trials I could never have anticipated. More likely than not, I will return home and speak of my time here to anyone who will listen, for as long as they can stand to listen, and then probably a little past that. I have compiled some of my greatest takeaways here for the benefit of anyone considering missions or living out missions in their everyday lives.
1. The European style.
It has become somewhat of a game of mine to try and encompass how a European looks and acts. I haven’t mastered this quite yet, but I’d like to think I’ve learned to blend in at least to the point where I do not blatantly stand out as an American. That is, until I open my mouth and can say only about two words in Hungarian.
2. Being a single young woman in missions is a real option.
I never would have thought I held onto the traditional idea of needing to be married before beginning a career in ministry—or any career for that matter. Still, it took meeting the single women on the team and seeing them thriving in ministry for me to abolish this belief. If God has called me to missions, then I should follow that call, regardless of my marital status. I know, it seems pretty straightforward. This does not mean I have to give up on ever getting married, but I can let go of putting that desire —and my own plan for how I pictured my life to be—above God’s plan for my life.
3. Ministry, especially cross-cultural ministry, can bring out the worst.
This is not to say that I became the worst version of myself in my time here. In many ways I thrived and grew through strengths I did not know I possessed. However, when doing my best work for God, the enemy is also doing his best work. It is when you are tired, frustrated, and worn down that these doubts and temptations creep in, revealing parts of yourself that may not have otherwise surfaced. There is a certain vulnerability that comes with completely uprooting your life and transplanting it into a different cultural context, if even for a short time.
I imagine what it will be like when I return to university in a few weeks and catch up with my peers. Some of them have spent their summer interning for corporations, working at summer camp, or venturing abroad themselves. I am not sure how I can relate to them the lasting impact my time with OMS has had upon me. It is nothing you can read about in a textbook or hear from a lecture. My biggest takeaway, more than cultural nuances or a newfound fashion sense, is that God is at work in Hungary.
