Hayley Lugg

I grew up in Beacon and was an active member of the Youth Group throughout all of high school, until I graduated in 2015. I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience with our partner church in Barót, Transylvania. I first went to Transylvania in 2012, the summer after my Freshman year, and it was life-changing. I remember when we first got there, we were treated with so much hospitality and kindness, it was something that I had never experienced before in my life. And we ate so much good soup, it’s ridiculous. But even greater than the soup was the music. We didn’t all speak the same language. And somehow, we were able to come together and play music together. I will never forget sitting around a campfire with people I had only met a week before, making music, and thinking: “Oh! I love these people. I feel at home with these people. I can’t say this in Hungarian, but I know that they know, and that I know, and we’re communicating with something bigger than language.” This is one of the most profound lessons that I take with me, to this day: the different ways that we can create community.The people I met on these exchanges-both American and Transylvanian-remain some of my closest friends to this day. I am forever grateful for having this opportunity.