WEEKLY UPDATE
March 27, 2011
HERÉD
Above: A view from the front of the community center in Heréd.
On Saturday night, 10 members from our church journeyed once again to the town of Heréd where we were invited to teach on the topic of "Family and faith". I was encouraged to see more church members taking on more responsibility in what we hope is the very beginning stages of a church plant in Heréd.
Above: Teens Niki, Roland and Győző came out to serve with us.
Part of our group split off to care for the children while another group lead by Dezső presented teaching for parents. Marcsi (Mar-chee), who initiated contact with us and does all the work in organizing these events was disappointed with the turn out. We encouraged her, saying that we believed that those who needed to be there this night showed up. In the end, there were three parents (including Marcsi) and a lot more kids.
Dezső did an excellent job helping the group to see the root cause of the failures in family. We praise God for the open and honest discussion and for Dezső's clear communication of the Gospel towards the end of our discussion time. Dezső brought their attention to Romans 5:8: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Dezső said, "God doesn't say, first clean up your act and once you are righteous then you can come back to me. He instead says, all of your unfaithfulness and sin have fallen on my Son, and He has died to pay for them all. Therefore, come to me."
After hearing this Marcsi (above center) said, "I have never heard this from anyone. Instead, we hear all the time, 'Change your life and then you can approach God.'"
Another mother who attended shared that she is an atheist. She shared some horrible stories of her encounters with religion. I challenged her to not reject Jesus so quickly based on her experiences with false teachers but to go directly to the source and examine Jesus' life.
Above: Part of Dezső’s teaching included John 3:16.
Before we traveled to Heréd, everyone met at our house for prayer. I read from 1 Cor 2:4-5: "My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." I encouraged our team to pray for a demonstration of the Spirit and not to rely on worldly arguments, but to simply present the Gospel of Jesus Christ with dependence on God.
On Sunday, we received an email from Marcsi: "Last night touched me deeply in my spirit. My thoughts and feelings are being stirred within me through everything that you share and it isn't as if you are using big words, or some kind of new language, or saying new things…Thank you for the light you bring, the brighter it shines, the warmer my spirit."
Praise God for the demonstration of the Spirit working in Marcsi's life. We pray that the faith that is growing in her would not rest on us, but in the power of God. Thank you all for praying for this outreach in Heréd.
THURSDAY NIGHT TEEN MENTORING
Above: A blast from the past. Gabi (above center) who moved out of Petőfibánya years ago stopped in to visit our mentoring meeting on Thursday night. We were thankful that he could also hear the teaching on treasuring Jesus Christ above all else in our lives and examining where our passions are directing us.
Above: Niki usually drops by weekly to talk about life and pray with Sharon.
FRIDAY VOLLEYBALL
Above: Dia five years ago (at a children’s outreach) and Dia (directly above now a teen) coming to volleyball on Friday nights. Dia has drifted away from having fellowship with us over the past few years, but has returned just a few weeks ago attending our Friday night volleyball. Praise God for bringing her back and allowing us to have an influence on her at such an important stage of life.
FAMILY SHOTS
Above: Ellie peering through Sharon’s tulips.
Above: Open house at Ben’s school.
Above: Kira sharing her beautiful smile.
Above: Required family checkup last week in preparation for our upcoming furlough.
PRAISES
• God continues to do a mighty work in the heart of Marcsi in Heréd. Praise Him for continuing to present opportunities for us to share the gospel in that town to parents and children!
• Through generous supporters, God provided the money we needed for 1,800 evangelistic packets for this years Easter Puppet Outreach!
• The dreaded dark of winter here is being replaced by the light of spring!
PRAYER REQUESTS
• Please pray for teenager Gyula who is attending our foundations of faith/baptism class. He is being tested in his faith and needs prayer.
• Please pray for Marcsi in Heréd. God is obviously doing something in her life. Pray also for the atheist woman who attended to not reject God because of a distorted and inaccurate picture of who He is. Pray that God in His love and mercy would draw them to Himself.
• Throughout this week we will begin our puppet practice for this year’s Easter outreach. Please pray for our team as we prepare.
• Ben came down with a fever on Sunday, please pray for healing.
• Please pray for us as we prepare for furlough.
Above: A view from the front of the community center in Heréd.
On Saturday night, 10 members from our church journeyed once again to the town of Heréd where we were invited to teach on the topic of "Family and faith". I was encouraged to see more church members taking on more responsibility in what we hope is the very beginning stages of a church plant in Heréd.
Above: Teens Niki, Roland and Győző came out to serve with us.
Part of our group split off to care for the children while another group lead by Dezső presented teaching for parents. Marcsi (Mar-chee), who initiated contact with us and does all the work in organizing these events was disappointed with the turn out. We encouraged her, saying that we believed that those who needed to be there this night showed up. In the end, there were three parents (including Marcsi) and a lot more kids.
Dezső did an excellent job helping the group to see the root cause of the failures in family. We praise God for the open and honest discussion and for Dezső's clear communication of the Gospel towards the end of our discussion time. Dezső brought their attention to Romans 5:8: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Dezső said, "God doesn't say, first clean up your act and once you are righteous then you can come back to me. He instead says, all of your unfaithfulness and sin have fallen on my Son, and He has died to pay for them all. Therefore, come to me."
After hearing this Marcsi (above center) said, "I have never heard this from anyone. Instead, we hear all the time, 'Change your life and then you can approach God.'"
Another mother who attended shared that she is an atheist. She shared some horrible stories of her encounters with religion. I challenged her to not reject Jesus so quickly based on her experiences with false teachers but to go directly to the source and examine Jesus' life.
Above: Part of Dezső’s teaching included John 3:16.
Before we traveled to Heréd, everyone met at our house for prayer. I read from 1 Cor 2:4-5: "My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." I encouraged our team to pray for a demonstration of the Spirit and not to rely on worldly arguments, but to simply present the Gospel of Jesus Christ with dependence on God.
On Sunday, we received an email from Marcsi: "Last night touched me deeply in my spirit. My thoughts and feelings are being stirred within me through everything that you share and it isn't as if you are using big words, or some kind of new language, or saying new things…Thank you for the light you bring, the brighter it shines, the warmer my spirit."
Praise God for the demonstration of the Spirit working in Marcsi's life. We pray that the faith that is growing in her would not rest on us, but in the power of God. Thank you all for praying for this outreach in Heréd.
THURSDAY NIGHT TEEN MENTORING
Above: A blast from the past. Gabi (above center) who moved out of Petőfibánya years ago stopped in to visit our mentoring meeting on Thursday night. We were thankful that he could also hear the teaching on treasuring Jesus Christ above all else in our lives and examining where our passions are directing us.
Above: Niki usually drops by weekly to talk about life and pray with Sharon.
FRIDAY VOLLEYBALL
Above: Dia five years ago (at a children’s outreach) and Dia (directly above now a teen) coming to volleyball on Friday nights. Dia has drifted away from having fellowship with us over the past few years, but has returned just a few weeks ago attending our Friday night volleyball. Praise God for bringing her back and allowing us to have an influence on her at such an important stage of life.
FAMILY SHOTS
Above: Ellie peering through Sharon’s tulips.
Above: Open house at Ben’s school.
Above: Kira sharing her beautiful smile.
Above: Required family checkup last week in preparation for our upcoming furlough.
PRAISES
• God continues to do a mighty work in the heart of Marcsi in Heréd. Praise Him for continuing to present opportunities for us to share the gospel in that town to parents and children!
• Through generous supporters, God provided the money we needed for 1,800 evangelistic packets for this years Easter Puppet Outreach!
• The dreaded dark of winter here is being replaced by the light of spring!
PRAYER REQUESTS
• Please pray for teenager Gyula who is attending our foundations of faith/baptism class. He is being tested in his faith and needs prayer.
• Please pray for Marcsi in Heréd. God is obviously doing something in her life. Pray also for the atheist woman who attended to not reject God because of a distorted and inaccurate picture of who He is. Pray that God in His love and mercy would draw them to Himself.
• Throughout this week we will begin our puppet practice for this year’s Easter outreach. Please pray for our team as we prepare.
• Ben came down with a fever on Sunday, please pray for healing.
• Please pray for us as we prepare for furlough.
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