Magyar / English - Skóciai utazás - Scotland Mission

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„Féljétek az Istent és Néki adjatok dicsőséget!”

Február 28-án útnak indult kis csapatunk izgatottan, ugyanakkor kicsit félve. Sokunk akkor repült először életében, de ez csak még érdekesebbé tette a kirándulást. A legfőbb célunk az volt, hogy új kapcsolatokat alakítsunk ki, szolgáljunk, valamint az ott élők támogatását kérjünk, azonban sokkal többet kaptunk utunk során, mint ahogy azt gondoltuk volna.

Londonba érkezésünk napján, mikor lepakoltunk a szálláson és belekóstoltunk az első „fish’n’chips”-be, tudatosult bennünk, hogy már nem Magyarországon vagyunk. 

Egy napot városnézéssel töltöttünk, majd szombaton inkább a csapatépítésre fordítottuk az időnket, illetve a prezentációnk tökéletesítésére. Vasárnap reggel egy francia istentiszteletre indultunk, de mikor odaértünk, kiderült, hogy egy másik gyülekezet alkalmára érkeztünk. Számomra ott vált nyilvánvalóvá, hogy mennyire áldottak vagyunk és hogy Isten velünk van. Aznap este repültünk tovább Skóciába, Aberdeenbe. 


A befogadóink már vártak ránk, mikor megérkeztünk. Mindenkit örömmel fogadtak és hazavittek meleg otthonaikba. Hétfő reggel találkoztunk a csapattal, majd szétváltunk, mivel hárman a csapatunkból hangfelvételeken dolgoztak, míg mi várost néztünk egy kicsit. 

Este egy Biblia órán vettünk részt, melynek keretében úgynevezett imasétára mentünk. A város főutcáján sétálva imádkoztunk az ott lakó emberekért, a városért, Skóciáért, Magyarországért, Sárospatakért, a Refiért és a keresztényekért világszerte.

A hét hátralévő részében eljutottunk a tengerpartra, az egyetemvárosba, és megnézhettük az „igazi Skóciát” a zöld dombokon egy várat a tengerparton: a fel- felcsapó hullámok zajában és a sirályok társaságában úgy éreztük magunkat, mintha egy filmben szerepeltünk volna.

Szerdán megtartottuk az előadásunkat, amit az emberek érdeklődéssel hallgattak. Utána ismerkedtünk, beszélgettünk: leírhatatlan sok támogatásról biztosítottak minket és valóban éreztük a törődésüket.

Pénteken, a hazaindulásunk napján, tudtuk, hogy sikeres volt az utunk. A felvételek hihetetlenül jól mentek, és éreztük, hogy valamit elindítottunk. Megalapoztunk számos kapcsolatot, melyeket ápolni kell, de gyümölcsözőnek ígérkeznek.

Miután hazatértünk, rájöttünk, mennyi mindennel gazdagodtunk kint, mindössze röpke 10 nap alatt. Nem csak gyönyörű tájakat csodálhattunk meg, de annyi szeretet, kedvességet és törődést kaptunk emberektől, akikkel azelőtt soha nem találkoztunk. Egy életre szóló élménnyel lettünk gazdagabbak, mely sokunk életébe hozott változást. 

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Mission to the United Kingdom

As the plane took off; we were all in a euphoric state of excitement and anticipation, for our journey. It was on a sunny Thursday afternoon, a beautiful day for flying, when we started our trip. For some, it was their first flight but for others, they could barely count how many times they had flown. 

The Sun set long before we managed to arrive at our hostel, we were exhausted! However, it was there that we had our first fish’n’chips meal which made us realize that we were truly in London. 

We went sightseeing on Friday and then worked on our presentation. Saturday came and was filled with team building and our time in the capital was almost finished. On Sunday we had time to go to Newcourt Elim Pentecostal Church service before taking off to Scotland and personally, that was the time when I felt how blessed we were and how blessed our trip would be. God settled all our fears during that fellowship.

On our way to Scotland we were filled with excitement and as we arrived at Gilcomston Church, our amazing host families were waiting to take us home. 

On our first day - we split up; three of the team went to a recording studio while the rest of us had a little exploration around town. We were amazed by the beautiful buildings, old churches and Marshall College, which is the 2nd largest granite building in Europe. 

In the evening, we went to a prayer group at Aberdeen Elim Church, where we were able to go on a prayer walk up and down the main street. We prayed for people in Scotland, in Hungary, for Aberdeen, for Sárospatak, for our school and for Christianity in general – it was such an eye-opening and uplifting experience. 

Although, we were deeply shocked by the fact in the town there are churches which are now used as casinos, bars and restaurants. To see this with our own eyes was probably the creepiest thing we’ve ever experienced. 

On Tuesday morning, we had some time to bond as a team as we wandered down to the beach and just played, took photos, enjoyed the sunshine and laughed until our stomachs hurt. 

Then we took to the streets to invite people to the lunch time service at Gilcomston and later, we served a little by helping with cleaning up the church. 

During our time in Aberdeen we made countless new friends and connections. This continued on Wednesday when we were shown around Old Aberdeen and the University of Aberdeen, while part of our group was, again, in the recording studio. 

Some of the team assisted with Café Plus, for the elderly and enjoyed fellowship with them. Our entire group was reunited and attended a Bible study in the evening, at Gilcomston. Afterwards, we gave a presentation about our school which went very well and we all felt we were understood and genuinely cared for. 

On Thursday, in the morning, we were invited to one of the Y.M.C.A.’s sessions with elderly and while we could relaxed, we enjoyed the company of a different generation for a little while. 

Later on, we were shown the ‘real Scotland.’ The beautiful landscape, the ocean, and the castle on the coast just amazed us. It is safe to say that time we were absolutely overwhelmed with all the love and everything that we’d been given from practical strangers - we were just overjoyed!

As I fondly recall the events of this trip, I realize how blessed we were during it from start to finish. So many people helped us, prayed for us and took care of us. We thank you all for the support that you gave us. This trip was a real life changing event for many of us. Praise God.

English Feature Article - Recording studio in Scotland

"I'll bring you more than a song"

Meanwhile at the studio...

As I stepped out of the car in Tillydrone, on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Scotland and took one long look around us - I wasn't quite sure we had come to the right place.

A shattered white building stood in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. I certainly wouldn't have thought that that building would hold a fully equipped recording studio, nor that it was where one of the most exciting experiences of my 18 years would take place.

While on our first school relations team mission to the UK, Aiysha Jebali (our school's native speaking teacher), Gábor Tirpák (Refi student) and myself got the amazing opportunity to work in a recording studio for three days, rehearsing and finally recording two of our own songs, praising God.

The songs were written by Aiysha, with the piano accompaniment created by Gábor, our wonderfully talented musician, and I leant the vocals, after making the melody of the songs. 

In the first two days, we had four and a half hours at the studio which were just about rehearsing and fine- tuning the songs. They wanted us to "get comfortable" with the feel of the beautifully equipped and professional-looking studio.

Of course, we couldn't have done this alone; we had endless help from Tilly Youth Project’s vocal coach, Simon; their sound engineer, Ian; and a youth worker named Sean.

They took us through the whole rehearsing and recording process, step by step. They were kind, always enthusiastic and ready with some advice to help make the songs the best that they could be. Needless to say that we are very grateful for that! And, also for the occasional tea that they made for us, when our throats were getting sore!

The third day was recording day; although I can safely say that we were all a bit nervous, we had from 10am until half past 6 in the evening to calm our nerves and get both songs successfully recorded.

The piano was recorded first, then the vocals (which included singing and spoken word). We did about 3-4 takes of each, choosing the best ones at the end.

We were exhausted by the time we finished, but as we walked out of that shattered white building, there was a feeling of inexplicable joy in each of us.

It was a Joy that comes from experiencing the power and love of Christ through simple but beautiful things - such as, two songs that came from the inspiration of three very different, but divinely similar people.

This is the slideshow of our whole mission trip, with one of our songs as the backing track.

Us relaxing at Dunnotter, after a Blessed time at Tilly Youth Project

Written by Sandy Magyar
Edited by Aiysha Jebali