Greetings to you from Hungary! I have now been living in Hungary for three months as a volunteer with Young Adults in Global Mission! When I arrived in August, I spent the first two weeks with six other YAGMs and our new country coordinator at a Lutheran Retreat Center in Révfülöp, a small town on the beautiful Lake Balaton. We spent these weeks learning Hungarian, studying the Bible, bonding and exploring the area. After our time in small town Hungary, we traveled to Budapest for one last week together before going to our individual sites. We attended a workshop with Phiren Amenca (a network of Roma and non-Roma volunteers and voluntary service organizations creating opportunities for non-formal education, dialogue and engagement, in order to challenge stereotypes and racism), explored the city and even went to see a performance of the Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen. On our last day in Budapest, we were met by our site mentors and after a sending worship, we said goodbye and traveled to our individual sites.

First Teen Clothes Closet is a busy place. While most members may not notice it, the upper level of “the house” next door has been visited on at least a weekly basis over the last four months by young people in need of simple clothes to get them through. More than 60 individuals have been able to find the things they need — a total of nearly 600 clothing and footwear items, plus toiletries, feminine products and items such as belts, purses and accessories. Through your donations, both of gently used age-appropriate clothing and funds to be used to purchase toiletries and undergarments, we have provided 165 shirts, more than 70 pairs of jeans and pants, 83 pairs of shorts, 55 pairs of shoes, 23 dresses and much more.

Many people may think of the clothes closet as blessing its clients simply through giving them needed clothing. But our hosts have also seen clients blessed by being able to give back. One such client, a 20-year-old woman, visited the closet in search of black pants and a black shirt. Caught in a catch-22, she was starting a new job in which that wardrobe was required, but until she had worked and gotten a paycheck, she couldn’t afford the new clothes. While we were able to bless her with the simple things she needed to start her new job, she in turn blessed the clothes closet by donating other items of clothing from her wardrobe and offering to use some of her new income to purchase undergarments for the closet.

First Clothes Closet has had another productive month of providing needed clothing and toiletries for our teenage guests. Volunteers at the closet have begun to bring our guest’s prayer requests to our pastors so the whole church can pray for their needs together. Volunteers are also inviting our guests to participate in First Lutheran teen activities and will provide information about our upcoming events....