Vizum Application

As of yesterday I have only four weeks left in Bozeman. On July 20 I will fly to LA for my TESOL training.

Last weekend I filled out the application for my Hungarian Visa (Vizum.) Thankfully there was nothing too difficult about it. Then I had to send that in to TeachOverseas. As far as I know that was the last thing I still needed to send in other than my posted degree which I still do not have.

The lack of a posted degree is actually kind of a big deal. Pepperdine only posts degrees three times a year: Once at the end of each semester (Fall, Spring, Summer.) This means that they will not post my degree until July 31st when the third summer session ends. There are two difficulties with this. The first being that I need to prove that I have graduated to the Hungarian government by either showing them my actual degree on that pretty piece of paper or by having a copy of my transcript that says "Posted Degree" on it. The second reason I need the posted degree is for the Azusa Pacific University Field Based Masters in TESOL program. For some absurd reason this specific program does not even look at applications until EVERY item has been sent in, including the Posted Degree. In general all of my friends who applied to grad school were admitted "pending graduation." That means their application was processed and they were admitted to the program, but in the Fall they have to show their diploma or posted degree transcript to their new school. This makes sense. That was how it worked when we were all graduating from High School. I wrote and email to the admissions counselor at APU so hopefully he will provide me with more information (although when I called on Friday he was on Jury Duty, so maybe he will not give me any more information.) I think the biggest problem may actually be that the program may begin before July 31st, so I may miss the program completely and have to defer this whole thing until next year. Please keep this situation in your prayers. Maybe this is so difficult because it is not what God wants me to be doing.

As far as fund raising goes. . . I still need some funds. In order to pay for the TeachOverseas training etc. I still need to raise $1276. (Although I think that the Bozeman church is giving me $600 toward that. . .they just have not yet.) Beyond that I still need about $1500 to pay for insurance, getting settled in Budapest, and teaching supplies. If I get accepted to the APU program then I will need about another $2000-3000 to pay for tuition. Basically, if you feel called to give, please do so!

For the summer please continue to pray for Hungary. Also pray for me to be ready, well rested, and spiritually in tune when it is time to go.

I appreciate your support greatly!

Grace and peace-
Emeshea

Montana

The past week I have been at home in Montana. I started my job at Rockhaven Camp and tomorrow the first Bible Day Camp begins. I am excited about this. This morning I went to church at First Presbyterian in Bozeman because they were commissioning the camp workers for the summer. It was very interesting to see a little bit more of how the Presbyterian Church functions. The churches of Christ function so differently than churches with a denominational affiliation, it is somewhat strange to me. In the end I am just excited to be working at a camp this summer instead of as a cashier at Target.

Since I have been up at camp I have not had much time to think about Hungary. It has been nice to live in the here and now, instead of always thinking about what happens on July 21st. (A lot of things happen that day actually: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released, my friend Daniel turns 21, and I start training with TeachOverseas.) Despite me being at camp God has provided some more financial support for Teach Overseas purposes. I received the "Final Packet" from them in the mail, which means the time is drawing near. The only paperwork I am still missing in order for everything to be official is my Posted Degree, which should be available in the next week or two. The other item I am waiting to find out about is a graduate program through Azusa Pacific University. I completed their application in January, except for the Posted Degree. I am slightly annoyed that they do not admit people "pending graduation." Instead they wait until you have everything in to them, which means that I will have to decide if I want to participate in their program about a month before the first course would start! That is not very much time to make such a big decision.

Please continue to pray for me to have adequate funding, for spiritual renewal, and for the right decision regarding APU.

If you want to send me mail at camp that would be very much appreciated:
Emeshea Petty c/o Rockhaven Camp
66850 Gallatin Rd.
Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730

Slowly but Surely

Last Sunday I sold even more pies and raised some more funds. I also found out how much the Bozeman church of Christ was planning on contributing. This was very good news, and now I am feeling very confident that God will provide all that I need for next year. God is good.

Since I found out that my assignment within Hungary would be in Budapest I have been researching things to do there. I stumbled across some previous Teach Overseas blogs and read through some of them to get a feel for what it will be like. This was very encouraging and informative, so I feel much better prepared now. Some things that I discovered while looking into Budapest online were the Budapest Symphony/Philharmonic. Concerts at the opera house can be extremely cheap: 300Ft for the cheapest seats! That is under $2! They also have some great deals on concert series where they have weeks of concerts for a discounted rate.
My other major discovery was the Debreceni Nyari Egyetem: the Debrecen Summer School. Not only do they have a branch in Budapest... but not all their classes are in the summer! I took a placement test just to find out what level of Hungarian I would be placed at. It would be wonderful to take Hungarian lessons next year, as my language skills are a little rusty. These classes are rather intensive, but they are also very affordable. (Especially in comparison to the Goethe Institutes German classes that I had considered last summer!)
You will see one of my discoveries to the right in a link: the Budapest Sun. This is an English language weekly newspaper. I have been reading the newest articles every day to keep up on Budapest and Hungary.

Something sad that I learned about Hungary while reading an article in the Budapest Sun is that rape victims have a very hard time proving that they were raped in Hungary. Amnesty International has actually taken a stand on this! You can help out by sending a letter or email to the PM of Hungary from Amnesty's site.

Your continual support through prayer is much appreciated! Please pray specifically for rape victims in Hungary, and for this situation to improve!

Hungary? Buy a pie!

The peanut butter pie campaign was launched very successfully. Yesterday Josh Hollingsworth was very helpful to me and took me to buy ingredients to make at least 20 pies. When we got back from our shopping adventure my friends Paige Cargioli and Adrianne Thomas helped me make all of the pies and put them in our freezer. The University Church of Christ was very kind to put a note in the bulletin:
"Hungary? Order a pie!
Emeshea Petty will be taking orders for her 'famous' Peanut Butter Pie as a fund raiser. Next year, Emeshea will be teaching English and doing mission work in Budapest, Hungary. The cost is $10 per pie. You can order by talking with her after church today or by emailing her at emeshea@gmail.com."

After church I had quite a few people order pie. Fourteen of them are spoken for, as well as some people who RSVP-d to the Facebook invitation. Quite a few people were very generous and gave a little bit more than the $10 requested, and it looks like once everyone pays and gets their pie I will have made about $150 off of this venture. God is good!
Later today and next week after church I will try to deliver all of the pies. I am so excited that everyone has been so nice and supportive with this, and I look forward to everyone getting a chance to enjoy their Peanut Butter Pie!!!

Please continue to pray for Hungary and for me to be ready to serve God wholeheartedly when I arrive in Budapest. Thank you!

Hungary? Buy a pie!

This weekend I am going to launch a "Hungary? Buy a pie!" fund-raiser campaign. I am going to take orders for and then make my "famous" (not really) Peanut Butter Pie. Each pie will be $10 (although my friend John Grogg told me he would pay $20 for one because he loves PB Pie so much.) Hopefully I will be able to take orders on Sunday after church and then deliver them the next week.

If you live around Malibu and would like to purchase a pie feel free to email me and I will make you one! emeshea@gmail.com

Please pray for this to be a success and help me raise some funds for Hungary!

Teach Overseas

This new blog is going to be dedicated to telling you about my journey to Hungary to teach English. I am really excited for this adventure and I can't wait to see how God will work in Hungary this next year.

For any of you who have not heard yet what I will be doing I will explain now. I applied and was accepted with a program called Teach Overseas. Teach Overseas has been training and sending English teachers to Eastern Europe and Asia for about thirty years now. Once I arrive in Hungary I will be placed at a high school as an English teacher probably somewhere around Budapest. Teach Overseas will assign me a room mate who I will live with in an apartment that the school will provide. The school will also provide a stipend as compensation for teaching. In my spare time I will be working with a church and serving the community in any way that I can. (If you want more info on Teach Overseas, you can check them out at www.teachoverseas.org )

In order for me to embark on this grand adventure I do have to do some fund raising. Thankfully it has been going very well so far. The funds raised will cover my TESOL training that Teach Overseas will provide, international travel and visa fees, and field administration and support costs. At some point I will also probably need to purchase health insurance and have some savings for emergencies. All together I will need to raise around $10,000. So far I have raised a little over $6,000 thanks to my family, friends and the Pepperdine Lilly Grant. The next few months will be dedicated to working hard to earn money and to arranging fund raisers and sending out letters asking for help.

The other things that I have already done in preparation for this was making sure that I had enough empty pages in my passport (which I did not, so I had to have more sewn in), getting an excessive number of identification photos taken for visas, residency permits etc. and being poked and prodded by nurses and doctors for an entire day to ensure that I am indeed healthy. Everything seems to be in order for Hungary, I just need to finish up raising funds.

For the next month I will still be in Malibu, taking my last college class. In June I will head home for about a month and a half to work and raise funds there. July 21st is the first day of training for Teach Overseas. I will be in Pasadena, CA for about a month learning how to teach others English and getting my TESOL certification. I will be flying to Hungary sometime around the end of August.

If you are willing to help me out along the way I would really appreciate three things:

1. PRAYER- You can not do this too much! I need you to pray for my safety while traveling, for the hearts of the people that I will meet in Hungary, for me to be a light for Jesus, and for me to be able to raise enough support.

2. ENCOURAGE- Some days I need affirmation that I am doing what God wants me to do. An email, facebook message (there is a group on Facebook too called "Hungary 4 Jesus, please join it!), call or letter is always greatly appreciated.

3. MONETARY SUPPORT- As I mentioned above I have raised a significant amount of what I need already, but I still need some more. You can do this so easily online or by sending me a check. Online you can go to Teachoverseas.org then click on "Contribute." Be sure to put my name in the appropriate field so that I receive the funds and not just Teach Overseas in general (they are run almost entirely on support raising!) If you would like to send me a check you can send it to:
Emeshea M. Petty
72 Brandon Trail
Bozeman, MT 59715

Hopefully I will have a few updates this summer for you... but if not I will try to keep this blog updated next year while I am in Hungary.

Grace and peace-
Emeshea