WEEKLY UPDATE

MONDAY MISSION TRAINING

For the past two years, our teammate Miki has lead a house group on Wednesday nights that sought to build up new believers while also providing a place for those who are seeking to learn more about Jesus. This house group has grown over time and after prayer and planning we decided to split the one group into three groups. Two groups will remain in our town of Petőfibánya and the third group (church plant) will be in the neighboring town of Selyp. Each group has 1 elder leader, co-leaders and helpers that we seek to mentor to be future leaders as they serve with us. Before launching these three groups out of the one, the three leadership/launch teams are meeting each Monday for prayer and study of God’s word specifically related to our calling and mission. This is truly a dream come true for me, a marker in my life of God’s grace and how far He has taken me in HIs strength. I enjoy being in an equipping/teaching role in these meetings, seeking to encourage others to respond to God’s calling by faith and to move forward in His ongoing mission in the world. Outside of the leadership team that attended, there are six up and coming believers who are learning about their calling and their role in mission for the first time. One of them told me afterwards how for so long they thought being a Christian was just about growing in their personal life and going to church, but God is opening up their understanding to see God’s kingdom work and how they can be a part of it. May the Lord take these six and bless them with the giftings and callings that will bring glory to His name as they join Him in HIs mission.

WEDNESDAY ENGLISH BIBLE STUDY


I praise God for giving me (Allen) strength to re-launch our Wednesday English Bible Study. Thank you all who prayed for me and for those of you who prayed for last Wednesday night’s study. Long time attender Klári attended and also brought her teenage daughter (also named Klári). Klári’s daughter also has celiac disease (just like Ben and Ellie) and Sharon is able to offer her freshly baked gluten free goodies when she attends. Tünde, who because of various challenges had not been able to attend for months returned and was very active in our study in the book of John. It is clear that she continues to read God’s word at home and is seeking. Teenager Gyula also attended and is also a regular attender to our Friday night teen outreach. Gyula told me tonight before our study that although he wouldn’t consider himself a believer, he feels as if something is changing in his heart and attitude toward God. The more he hears in our Bible studies and at our Friday night outreach, the more interested he becomes. Please pray that God would continue to draw Gyula to Himself through His truth and through His love.

FARSANG

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Above: Our Kira, who attends the local Hungarian preschool celebrated ‘Farsang’ with the rest of her class last week. At Farsang, the kids perform a show for parents, then get to dress up in different costumes. Kira was the cutest (and only) ladybug in the room.

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Above: Dancing with daddy. Edina (pictured center) has known us since we moved to Petőfibánya (over 6 years ago). She is now Kira’s teacher in preschool and just came to our English Bible study tonight with her husband Feri. We were very thankful to see her again and hope that they both will continue to encounter Jesus in our studies each Wednesday. Our teammate Miki who teaches a Bible class in this preschool once a week also came to Farsang to pass out balloons to the kids. Miki was thankful to connect with one of the parents who he has been reaching out to for some time and finally was able to schedule a dinner date with them. Praise God for opening up opportunities in our every day interactions in the community!

FRIDAY NIGHT TEEN OUTREACH

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Above: Ricsi (far right) who attends our teen outreach regularly responded to our invite to also come to church on Sunday. It is always a blessing to see one of these teens step foot in the church for the first time! The teen outreach is a great place to meet teens in the community and introduce them to Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

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Above: Hugi left talking with new attender Jozsi. Jozsi was invited by church member Peti and has commented since then how much he enjoys the small group conversations we have. He also commented on how he feels so welcomed (by people like Hugi) and loved when with us.

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Above: Teenager Dávid (center) giving me a funny face while working through a test we used for discussion on Friday night. Dávid is a regular attender of church and is also currently attending our Baptism/Foundations of our Faith class.

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Above: Teenager Eszti with church member Eszti. Eszti (far right) serves with us every Friday night. It is hard to believe that Eszti is the mother of four children. She does a great job blending in with the teens and is someone they can turn to with questions and for conversation. Teenager Eszti came to know us through our VBS a few years back and has stayed connected with us ever since. We pray that these long term relationships will reveal to all of our teen friends the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He offers to all those who would turn to Him in faith.

SATURDAY PUPPET CONFERENCE

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Above: On Saturday, we filled two cars and headed to Budapest for an encouraging puppet conference. We received encouraging news of how God is using puppet teams throughout Hungary to continue to spread the Gospel (every Christmas and Easter) in public schools. We purchased the materials for our Easter show and we were also able to watch a demonstration of the show at the conference. Praise God for keeping this door open in Hungary that is planting seeds in thousands of children’s and parent’s lives. Our first puppet team practice for this Easter’s show will be on Monday. Please pray for us as this show is a bit more complicated than past productions. We will need wisdom and strength as we prepare.

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

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Above: Elianna, Adrien, Betti and Kira. What a blessing to see smiling children in church!

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Above: Pastor Steve was kind enough to make the trek from the town of Gyöngyös where he is serving to preach in our church. Steve and his wife are Canadians that have been helping out with a church plant in Gyöngyös for many years.

FAMILY

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Above: Elianna went ice skating with her pre-school class over the course of four days last week. I joined her one of the days (in fear and trembling). She did a great job and after returning home had a better appreciation for the Olympian skaters competing that we are able to watch over the internet. I was happy to return home without breaking any bones.

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Above: Smiley faces. Sharon will be taking the kids to an education conference that begins Sunday. We are thankful for this opportunity for the kids to interact with other missionary kids, and for the useful educational resources that Sharon is able to acquire while attending. The kids will be attending special classes for their age groups over the course of six days learning about the universe from a Christian perspective. Please pray for their time there!
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