Mary Kate... in Texas

As of last Tuesday night, I am back in Texas!

I feel so blessed to have lived in Hungary for six weeks and get a feel for the ministry that the Ridgeways have there. I have learned so much about God, Hungary, missions, and myself through this trip. I will forever be thankful for this experience.

As you may have guessed, missionaries have an extremely difficult job. After living with a missionary family for six weeks I was able to see this firsthand. I think that a lot of Christian homes and churches support overseas missionaries (which is great!). But when times get tough for a family, sometimes "extra expenses" are cut. Unfortunately, supporting missionaries can quite often be thrown in with the same list containing eating out and going to the movies and are therefore cut from a families list of expenses. I would encourage you to follow through on your commitment(s) to missionaries and support them for as long as they need the support. Missionaries make sacrifices all the time. As fellow brothers and sisters, we should help them out as much as we can. Missionary work has many other challenges as well: a different culture, sometimes a different language, different worldviews, different politics, different childhoods and life experiences, etc. Trying to connect with someone and sharing your faith with them is never easy but having grown up with such different backgrounds makes it all the more difficult. However, missionaries probably have the most rewarding job in the world. This is not an exaggeration. Through all of the hard times that the Ridgeway family has had these past two years, their faith has been stretched and strengthened in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. On one hand, I am happy that I have not undergone some of the stress that they have. On the other hand, I yearn for the depth of faith that they have and will have for the rest of their lives because of their work in Hungary. Thank you for praying for the Ridgeway family and the Budapest Christian Library and me! Please continue to support us in that way.

Now for the big question: am I going back to Budapest in the fall? Well, the Ridgeways said that they would welcome a second trip. Of course I want to go back (and probably will); but, this is all in God's hands. I will make preparations this summer to go back to Budapest in the fall but ultimately God is in charge of the outcome. If God does not want me to go back, I have no doubt in my mind that He will stop me.

Thank you, everyone, for the encouragement and prayers. Whether I return to Hungary or not, I feel blessed to have gone for six weeks to learn all that I have and grow closer to God in the process.

Mary Kate

PS: To keep up with what God has planned for me this year, subscribe to my blog on the left-side panel (under "Follow by Email"). Thanks!