Growing and Nurturing a God-Given Dream
Building Opportunities in Hungary
At the young age of 22, my first real job was teaching preschool. I loved that job. God planted a seed in my heart there. He nurtured and grew that seed in his perfect timing to be used for his glory in a way this small town, West Virginian girl never imagined.
Nearly 10 years passed, and 3 children of my own came after my teaching debut. God orchestrated my family through an awesome series of events. I wish I had the space to share the entire story, but I will share that it resulted in us opening our own preschool.
People used to joke that our kids were the epitome of spoiled. After all, we opened an entire school for them. Looking back, maybe they were right.
But here is the thing: We had a deep desire to provide the best for our kids. (Doesn’t every parent?) We wanted them to be genuinely loved and cared for. I’m not just talking about hugs and snuggles. They needed developmental, spiritual, academic, and emotional growth. These babies were the most precious gift that God had ever given my husband and me. Would there ever be a better investment than them?
The truth is, I feel the same way about every child that comes across the threshold in our preschool. Every family is unique, but the opportunity to connect with them is the same. We have access to the most vulnerable and valuable parts of their lives.
The majority of these children’s waking hours are spent with us. We pour into them daily. The massive privilege of showing them the love of Christ in this deep relationship has stolen my heart.
Like building with blocks, God expanded our reach. We became involved in leadership of the school owned by our church. Our passion in caring for these families grew. Our experience managing the day-to-day business multiplied. Our commitment to Christian education blossomed.
We came to Hungary for the first time on a summer mission trip. That’s where we first heard of business as missions. The idea is to use business endeavors as a platform to build relationships and resources for ministry. We learned about a plan to open an English-speaking preschool in Hungary. Yes, this is the part where our heads turned.
The government had just made preschool mandatory in Hungary. The demand for quality early education programs became staggering. Just like us, parents in Hungary want the best for their children. A huge part of that is learning English from native speakers. All this was the perfect combination of factors. The problem: no one on the team had any experience opening a preschool.
We knew that God was building the next Gospel-spreading opportunity in Europe and was calling us to participate. We sold things, packed up, and moved to Hungary. The rest is history.
We have settled in to our new home, completed necessary research, and written the preschool’s formal business plan. We are now aligning partnerships and expectantly looking forward to building the American Preschool Academy.
To read more about the plans for the preschool and how you can be a part, click here.
By Shannon DePue, OMS Hungary Missionary