MORROW, Ga. – This time of year it is a fairly regular occurrence for students of all ages to be asked how they spent their summer. Well, www.ClaytonStateSports.com asked sophomore Laker cross country and track & field student-athlete T.J. Witherspoon (Thomasville, Ga.) that question and check out the answer we got.
  For 10 days at the end of July and into August, Witherspoon was in Budapest as part of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Mission Trip. He has graciously agreed to share his experiences and thoughts from this exciting time in his life.
 
As we get ready to open the 2017-18 campaign, we'll detail Witherspoon's adventure in a four release series over the span of a week. The first three of those will include three posts each, one from each day, starting today and continuing on Thursday, August 24 and Saturday, August 26, respectively. Finally, we'll conclude the series with a look back on Tuesday, August 29.
 
Check out the first three days of his trip below.
 
Day 1 (July 27)
We flew out of Atlanta on Thursday, July 27^th at 3:30 p.m. This was my third time ever flying and my first time out of the country, so I was really excited as soon as stepped on the plane. The first flight was from Atlanta to Paris and it was eight hours. During the flight, I tried to sleep as much as I could because I knew we would land in Paris early in the morning.
 
When we landed it was a little before 6 a.m. and it took about 40 minutes to get through customs and security. But, it was worth the wait because I got my first passport stamp! Afterwards, I went with a few of my fellow summer FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) interns and we spent the entire layover together.
 
While in the airport, most of the people there spoke a little bit of English except when McLain, a fellow intern, asked for a cup of water and he got a coffee cup lid instead. During the layover, we ate a light breakfast, walked in a few gift shops and we took spontaneous naps. After about four hours, it was time for us to board our flight from Paris to Budapest which was a smooth two-hour flight. Once we got our bags, we waited outside for the vans to pick us up and the weather was wonderful.
 
The countryside was very similar to the U.S. and it was a nice scenic drive over to the hotel. Where we stayed at was a little Mom & Pop hotel in the city of Érd. McLain and I were roommates and our room had two twin beds, a small TV, a small bathroom and an air conditioner that you had to get a remote from the front desk just for it to work. The TV had only one channel in English – Boomerang - and it was showing Tom & Jerry and Scooby Doo.
 
For our first dinner in Hungary, we walked down the street to a traditional Hungarian restaurant. We all ate Goulash soup, a Hungarian staple dish that contains beefs tips, carrots, cauliflower, and potatoes – and it was delicious! Then, for desert, I had a Gundel pancake, which was named after a famous Hungarian chef. Once we got back to the hotel, it was around 9:30 p.m. and I fell asleep as soon as my head it the pillow. It was a long day of traveling, but I enjoyed every minute of it!
 
Day 2 (July 28)
I woke early this morning so I went downstairs to stretch my legs a bit and do some studying in my Bible. As I'm walking outside, the lady working at the front desk stops me and she gets someone to translate to me that I looked like Will Smith! What a way to start the day! Afterwards, I had a light breakfast before we left for the day.
 
When we left the hotel, we went to an old church building where we had our orientation for both camps, softball and soccer. The softball missionaries were Terry & Patrick and the soccer missionary was Endré, his wife Victoria and their two kids. Endré was born in Budapest and he later moved to the U.S. when he was 16 before eventually moving back. Terry and Patrick were both born in the US. The orientation went very well. I was going to be a leader for the older group of soccer kids and I was going to be able to learn a little bit about soccer while pouring into the kids.
 
Afterwards, we went to Tesla supermarket to exchange money. The supermarket did not look like an American supermarket, but rather a miniature mall with a few stores inside it. The exchange rate was roughly 250 Hungarian Forints to one U.S. dollar. Once we left, we went to the field where the softball crew would be working. It was originally a soccer field, but now, it has two small baseball fields and one softball field. There were also two sunflower fields surrounding the field, and the team mascot was the Wildcats.
 
Next, we went back to the church to load up the vans with equipment for the soccer camp before going to the site of the soccer camp. The field is owned by the soccer club "Nagytétényi Se" which was founded back in 1913. Endré and his church have a partnership with the club where the Paulus Sports Ministry runs the clubs youth development program based on Christian principals.
 
The field that we used for the camp was not the club's main field but a turf field adjacent to it. There was also a building in front of the entrance to the turf field and it turned out it was the kid's locker room. Behind the kid's locker room was a bigger building which had a few rooms, a bar, and an outdoor patio. Once we finished setting up for the camp we went back to the hotel for a quick stop before we went to the mall for dinner.
 
Once we left the mall, we followed Endré and his family to the Citadella in Budapest. The Citadella is a fortress that overlooks the city. The view from the Citadella was probably one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. You could see the entire city along with the Danube river running through it. There were also three statues at the top that could be seen from the entire city, including the Hungarian Statue of Liberty.
 

Day 3 (July 29)
We started off the day by attending church at the American Christian school in Érd. The service was entirely in Hungarian so it was hard to follow. The only part that was in English was when we sang the chorus of 10,000 reasons in English, but I was able to recognize the verse the pastor spoke from, Joshua 1:9 (FCA's camp verse from last year).
 
Following the service, we went to the hotel for a few minutes before we went to downtown Budapest. When we were downtown, we walked down a tourist street with various shops and restaurants. The shops ranged anywhere from a Forever 21 to a typical tourist shop, so it was nice seeing various people from around the world walking down the same street. Because the World Aquatic Championships were taking place in Budapest during that time, I could hear people speaking many different languages and it was my first time experiencing many different cultures all at once. It was breathe taking. Then, for lunch, I had paprika chicken (paprika is spice used in many Hungarian dishes) and it had a very flavorful and rich taste to it.
 
After we left from downtown, we went back to the hotel for about an hour before we left to go to Endré's house for dinner. Once we finished eating, we sat around and talked about what was going to happen in the days coming up at camp. Specifically, where we felt the enemy was going to challenge us and how we can prepare ourselves physically and spiritually for the kids.
 
Following Endré's house, we went back to downtown Budapest and we did a river cruise along the Danube River (the river that runs through Budapest). The views from the boat were stunning. Because the cruise was at night, all of the buildings were lit up and all you could see were the stars shining above and the gorgeous, historic buildings illuminating along the surface. During the cruise there was an audio recording with various historical facts about the buildings we were viewing. It was a lot to take in all at once, with the amount of beautiful sights, and it was mind-blowing to think how God could help man create such beautiful works.
 
Now the camp is starting tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to working with the kids, pouring my heart out and showing the love of Christ through me. It is going to be an amazing week!