WEEKLY UPDATE
June 17, 2012
School is out and summer is officially here as temperatures reach the upper 90s this week in Hungary. Over the past few weeks God has opened doors for great ministry opportunities and I’d like to share some highlights with you.
First take a look at this final highlight film I put together of the Hope Festival in Budapest that ended on a Sunday a few weeks ago. There were over 36,000 who attended over the course of three days and 2,727 prayed with counselors to put their faith in Jesus. I have hope that these men and women who made decisions will bring about the growth of Christ’s church throughout Hungary as they in turn share the good news with family, friends and coworkers.
Making this highlight film was still moving to me, especially toward the end watching the deaf praise God with sign. It is a moving experience to see so many joined together giving our Lord the worship that only He deserves.
Above: Fanni. As I mentioned in my last post, three woman from Petofibanya (Reni, Anna Maria, and Fanni) put their faith in Jesus at the Hope Festival. Fanni has written me with great questions over the past few weeks like: Should a person feel something when they put their faith in Jesus? What should I do to grow in my faith? How do I know for sure that I am saved? What is a baptist and what is a Christian? Fanni’s questions have given me the joy of sharing Biblical truth with her and it is a joy to see her grow in her new found faith in Jesus Christ.
The principal of Petofibanya’s middle school invited us to come to their end of the year camp and share whatever we wanted with the kids for 2 hours! We had the kids play a treasure hunting game that tied into our small group discussion about seeking joy in life.
In my small group, I believe the point was made that no amount of money, fame or worldly success can give us the joy we are seeking. I was able to share my life story and how I had reached the top only to find a deep emptiness. It was then Christ found me!
After our small group discussions, church member Tomi gave his testimony. Tomi also experienced a time of great worldly success, then got into drinking and gambling. At a time when he reached the bottom and his marriage and family was about to fall apart, Jesus saved him. What a door that God opened this night, to give these kids a taste of truth that surely they have not seen on TV nor heard at home or school.
As I mentioned previously, the Baptist church in Hungary has taken on the finical burden of Petofibanya’s public school. We don’t know all the details about what this means, but surely it will lead to new open doors to minister to these teens who in a prison of hopeless and sin. Praise God for this night and the seeds planted that we hope will grow over the years we have with these teens.
Above: Some of the guys I’m able to play soccer with off and on in the town of Jászfényszaru. János (third from the right) has been meeting with Miki and being mentored in church planting. It is our hope that one day a church will be planted in Jászfényszaru as well. Some of these guys in the photo above work in the factory in that town and we’re thankful for the relationship we can develop with them through soccer.
Above: Teammates Miki and Erika have begun inviting people to volleyball in Rozsaszentmarton where we are currently planting a church. The word is spreading and more and more are attending, some just coming to talk on park benches.
Above: Church member Naomi’s husband joins us to play for the first time. In the past we have tried to reach out to Naomi’s husband, but he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the ‘type of people’ we were… in other words ‘religious’ people. Obviously he has lots of misconceptions and most likely has never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He came out to volleyball and some walls were broken down. Afterwards Miki shared that he had a good conversation with him. May God draw this young man to Himself!
Above: Tom passing our “IKEA aptitude test” as he puts together recently purchased chairs for our church. Last week, Tom was visiting our team from Kansas having been called by God into missions. Tom will be spending some time after his trip to Hungary in prayer and seeking God’s will as to which team he will be joining for long term ministry. Please pray for Tom.
Above: Time to pull out the face-paint and balloons as we were invited to take part in our town’s Village Day Celebration. This gave us a great opportunity to publicize our upcoming VBS and pass out invites.
Above: Our church was invited to come out to Miskolc (2 hour drive) to lead a worship service and share about what God has been doing in our area. Dezso preached about the power of unity in Christ and Miki challenged the church to look for ways they could reach out to their community instead of turning inward as a body. In God’s sovereignty, there happened to be a missionary in the church who required translation in the back during service. Since Tom was with us on his survey trip, he got to hear everything translated instead of suffering through hours of Hungarian. I had a great conversation with this missionary who is focused on reaching the unreached Gypsie population in Miskolc. Maybe God will use our church to send teams in the future to partner in such outreaches?
The cherry trees are ready for pickn’. Our neighbors were kind enough to invite our family into their backyard and fill a few bags full of fresh cherries (one of the perks of living in Hungary).
Above: Ziva’s first tooth noticeably coming in.
Above: Miki and Erika invited us on a hike through our towns beautiful fields to local stream.
Above: Kids getting lost in the sunflower fields.
Above: Local kids use the stream to take a dip.
Above: Our monthly kids outreach in Rozsaszentmarton. We were thankful to see some new families attend!
Above: Aniko attending (right) was recently saved and continues to grow in her faith.
Above: An unexpected visitor! This is Marian who is one of our teen church member’s older sister. Her sister has talked a lot about us and our church to Marian but up until now she has kept her distance. Marian lives in Rozsaszentmarton and we hope this first interaction with her will lead to many more and coming to understand the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
Above: Christian artist Elizabeth Hunnicutt (http://www.elizabethhunnicutt.com/) was kind enough to visit Rozsaszentmarton and hold a free concert full of great testimony. Church members Erika and Dezso shared their story in between songs and lifted up the name of Jesus Christ as the Way the Truth and the Life.
Above: Dezso with his daughter Betti.
Yes, summer is here and with summer comes a bit more intense time of ministry. We would appreciate your prayers as we begin meeting this week for VBS planning. Thank you all for your support!
First take a look at this final highlight film I put together of the Hope Festival in Budapest that ended on a Sunday a few weeks ago. There were over 36,000 who attended over the course of three days and 2,727 prayed with counselors to put their faith in Jesus. I have hope that these men and women who made decisions will bring about the growth of Christ’s church throughout Hungary as they in turn share the good news with family, friends and coworkers.
Making this highlight film was still moving to me, especially toward the end watching the deaf praise God with sign. It is a moving experience to see so many joined together giving our Lord the worship that only He deserves.
Above: Fanni. As I mentioned in my last post, three woman from Petofibanya (Reni, Anna Maria, and Fanni) put their faith in Jesus at the Hope Festival. Fanni has written me with great questions over the past few weeks like: Should a person feel something when they put their faith in Jesus? What should I do to grow in my faith? How do I know for sure that I am saved? What is a baptist and what is a Christian? Fanni’s questions have given me the joy of sharing Biblical truth with her and it is a joy to see her grow in her new found faith in Jesus Christ.
PUBLIC SCHOOL TEEN OUTREACH
The principal of Petofibanya’s middle school invited us to come to their end of the year camp and share whatever we wanted with the kids for 2 hours! We had the kids play a treasure hunting game that tied into our small group discussion about seeking joy in life.
In my small group, I believe the point was made that no amount of money, fame or worldly success can give us the joy we are seeking. I was able to share my life story and how I had reached the top only to find a deep emptiness. It was then Christ found me!
After our small group discussions, church member Tomi gave his testimony. Tomi also experienced a time of great worldly success, then got into drinking and gambling. At a time when he reached the bottom and his marriage and family was about to fall apart, Jesus saved him. What a door that God opened this night, to give these kids a taste of truth that surely they have not seen on TV nor heard at home or school.
As I mentioned previously, the Baptist church in Hungary has taken on the finical burden of Petofibanya’s public school. We don’t know all the details about what this means, but surely it will lead to new open doors to minister to these teens who in a prison of hopeless and sin. Praise God for this night and the seeds planted that we hope will grow over the years we have with these teens.
LITTLE BIT OF SOCCER
Above: Some of the guys I’m able to play soccer with off and on in the town of Jászfényszaru. János (third from the right) has been meeting with Miki and being mentored in church planting. It is our hope that one day a church will be planted in Jászfényszaru as well. Some of these guys in the photo above work in the factory in that town and we’re thankful for the relationship we can develop with them through soccer.
LITTLE BIT OF VOLLEYBALL
Above: Teammates Miki and Erika have begun inviting people to volleyball in Rozsaszentmarton where we are currently planting a church. The word is spreading and more and more are attending, some just coming to talk on park benches.
Above: Church member Naomi’s husband joins us to play for the first time. In the past we have tried to reach out to Naomi’s husband, but he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the ‘type of people’ we were… in other words ‘religious’ people. Obviously he has lots of misconceptions and most likely has never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He came out to volleyball and some walls were broken down. Afterwards Miki shared that he had a good conversation with him. May God draw this young man to Himself!
TOM’S SURVEY TRIP
Above: Tom passing our “IKEA aptitude test” as he puts together recently purchased chairs for our church. Last week, Tom was visiting our team from Kansas having been called by God into missions. Tom will be spending some time after his trip to Hungary in prayer and seeking God’s will as to which team he will be joining for long term ministry. Please pray for Tom.
VILLAGE DAY
Above: Time to pull out the face-paint and balloons as we were invited to take part in our town’s Village Day Celebration. This gave us a great opportunity to publicize our upcoming VBS and pass out invites.
VISITING MISKOLC
Above: Our church was invited to come out to Miskolc (2 hour drive) to lead a worship service and share about what God has been doing in our area. Dezso preached about the power of unity in Christ and Miki challenged the church to look for ways they could reach out to their community instead of turning inward as a body. In God’s sovereignty, there happened to be a missionary in the church who required translation in the back during service. Since Tom was with us on his survey trip, he got to hear everything translated instead of suffering through hours of Hungarian. I had a great conversation with this missionary who is focused on reaching the unreached Gypsie population in Miskolc. Maybe God will use our church to send teams in the future to partner in such outreaches?
CHERRY PICKERS
The cherry trees are ready for pickn’. Our neighbors were kind enough to invite our family into their backyard and fill a few bags full of fresh cherries (one of the perks of living in Hungary).
Above: Ziva’s first tooth noticeably coming in.
TAKE A HIKE
Above: Miki and Erika invited us on a hike through our towns beautiful fields to local stream.
Above: Kids getting lost in the sunflower fields.
Above: Local kids use the stream to take a dip.
SATURDAY CHILDREN’S OUTREACH
Above: Our monthly kids outreach in Rozsaszentmarton. We were thankful to see some new families attend!
Above: Aniko attending (right) was recently saved and continues to grow in her faith.
Above: An unexpected visitor! This is Marian who is one of our teen church member’s older sister. Her sister has talked a lot about us and our church to Marian but up until now she has kept her distance. Marian lives in Rozsaszentmarton and we hope this first interaction with her will lead to many more and coming to understand the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
SATURDAY CONCERT
Above: Christian artist Elizabeth Hunnicutt (http://www.elizabethhunnicutt.com/) was kind enough to visit Rozsaszentmarton and hold a free concert full of great testimony. Church members Erika and Dezso shared their story in between songs and lifted up the name of Jesus Christ as the Way the Truth and the Life.
Above: Dezso with his daughter Betti.
Yes, summer is here and with summer comes a bit more intense time of ministry. We would appreciate your prayers as we begin meeting this week for VBS planning. Thank you all for your support!
blog comments powered by Disqus