English Club in Rozsaszentmarton

We continue to meet every friday in Rozsaszentmarton’s community center for English club. A few weeks ago, God ordained that Mercedez (pictured above center) would be the only advanced student to attend with all other advanced students in our class being church members. In a small circle, as usual, we began our first hour of conversation in English. It was clear that Mercedez was sick. I asked her if I could pray for healing. She said yes, which gave opportunity to explain that I would be talking to Jesus in my prayer. I also talked briefly explained the Gospel and then prayed. Soon after Mercedez began opening up, and in tears shared some personal struggles she was going through in her life. God allowed us to encourage her and through this open a door to invite her to Dezső’s house group. Since that time she has begun attending!



Above L to R: Zsolt, Roger and Gyula. Zsolt’s daughter attends the same middle school as our daughters in Rozsaszentmarton. Most likely she’ll be attending our VBS this summer.

We have noticed that the number of students has been dwindling as the weeks go by, but already two students (Mercedez and Nori) have begun seeking God as a result of meeting here. We most likely will be stopping the English Club at the end of the month as it has served as a good spring board into the community to share the Gospel. Please pray for students Mercedez and Nori to come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Possible new meeting place for our church!

Last week, Miki and I met with Petofibanya’s mayor to discuss an opportunity for our growing church to move to a new facility. The town’s local government has been discussing how they can help us and have offered a building that couldn’t be in a better place… the town’s bus stop!


Above: Petofibanya’s central bus stop where hundreds of residents gather everyday! The building would have to have major renovation, but we would have freedom to extend the structure for our purposes. We have been praying for some time for God’s provision of a larger meeting place and this looks like His answer.

Above: The mayor giving us a tour of the inside. The structure is definitely larger than our current meeting place and we would have access to it full time as opposed to our current situation. If we agree to take it, we would pay rent, but any money invested in renovation would go toward this cost. We’re excited about this new prospect and ask for prayer as we make final decisions.

News from Bogács

This week, the least amount of people came to our study, but it was a joy to meet. From what I can discern, the three men who attended are the three who seem most interested, most consistent and most active. Our study was on Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. Ödön said with surprise, "So Satan IS real?" The men were able to see how the enemy works to deceive and turn us away from trusting in God. They discovered how Jesus, the new Adam, overcame Satan and how Jesus put His full trust in the Father.

Gyüszi continues to be discouraged in the circumstances that threaten to tear apart his family. I encouraged Him with the Bible story we had just studied. The last verse reveals that after Jesus stood firm in resisting doing life Satan's way, God was faithful to provide for His Son. Gyüszi has been brought up in a culture where turning to illegal options to survive seem to be the only options. It is my prayer that Gyüszi's heart is transformed by the Gospel of Christ and that he personally experience God's deliverance and provision. Please pray for this young man's situation that is truly hopeless unless God intervenes. Pray for these three key men, Gyüszi, Józsi and Ödön to come to understand the majesty of Jesus and the free offer of salvation available to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Pray for their households as well to come to know the Savior!



Above: Józsi, the man that God healed a few weeks ago from what I believe to be a hernia (pain in side when bending and moving), has begun to open up to me more and even asked if we could have the Bible study at his house next week. Please pray that wherever the study is held, that God's word would be central to the discussion and that by grace, the Father would continue to reveal Himself and His Son to these households!

New birth in Apc

Thursday night's Bible study in Apc was encouraging. Just a few weeks ago I had prayed for a young woman's pregnancy and the baby God was forming within her. The following week, the child was born and the couple gave praise to God for His provision of a healthy premature baby. Her name is Lilli and she is just a bit larger than the baby dolls our smallest child carries around the house. The father asked if we could dedicate the child to the Lord and I gladly rested my hands on the baby's full head of hair and prayed. Would you also pray for God's blessing on Lilli?


Above: Vincse with her son and Ibolya. This was not the only new birth we celebrated in this small group in Apc. Ibolya (EE-BOY-YAH) who has been attending and often meets with Vincse to talk about spiritual things asked the question tonight, "How can I be saved?" We talked for some time about what it means to repent and what Jesus Christ the Son of God has accomplished in His death and resurrection. We then read Acts 2 together coming to the point where the same question was being asked of Peter after He proclaimed the Gospel: "What shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38) I then spent some more time with Ibolya explaining key words in this Scripture regarding repentance, baptism, Jesus Christ, forgiveness, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. After reading John 3:16 and talking about the necessity of faith in Jesus, Ibolya was ready to pray to confess her faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Praise God for Vincse spending so much time cultivating this relationship and sharing the good news with Ibolya for months. Praise Him for turning Ibolya's wounded heart from once saying, "I will never believe" to saying, "I will put my trust in the LORD."

Sunday

Above: Gyozo (red shirt) has continued to grow in his faith. He is now taking on more responsibility in leading various aspects of our teen ministry on Fridays. He also joins Miki and Dezso traveling to the town of Jászfényszaru once a week in church planting work.



Above: Erika talking with Anna Maria after service on Sunday. Anna Maria just became a Christian this past week and is the sister of church member Fanni who was just saved last year. Please pray for Fanni and her sister Anna Maria that their faith would grow abundantly and that their entire household may be saved! Now that Anna Maria has chosen to follow Jesus, she has tough decisions to make and needs God’s wisdom and strength. Please pray for her!

This Sunday we will be having a special baptismal service. Please pray especially for guests who don’t yet know Jesus to hear the gospel and be drawn to Jesus through this celebration. Pray for those being baptized to be blessed and encouraged through their baptism.

Family

Above: Family at AquaWorld in Budapest celebrating Kira’s birthday last week.



Above: Kira waiting for cake after a long day of swimming.



Above: Ben has been playing soccer this year and I was able to attend his tournament on Friday. They’ve got a pretty good team, and like father like son, Ben plays defense.

Conference in Malta

Our family had a great time in Malta with many other friends who are serving all over Europe.