Above: Just in case no one shows, Elianna creates an audience as we set up the puppet stage. Our first stop was Petőfibánya’s pre-school where our son Benjamin attends. We are thankful to already have good friendships with some of the teachers who attend our ESL classes. Janka (below leading singing) also teaches a Bible class in this pre-school.





Below: Our next stop was the neighboring town of Selyp (pronounced 'shape'). Two members of our church plant attend this public school, and one of them actually was able to see the puppet show. After the show, Janka was excited to see new students interested in attending her Bible class that begins in January in Selyp’s public school.





Below: Stop 'goofin-off' and get back to work :)




After our time in Selyp we back-tracked to Petőfibánya where we had two shows scheduled in the public school. As I mentioned previously, Petőfibánya was the only public school out of 18 that would not allow us to perform during school hours. As the events unfolded upon our return today, we were reminded of the saying: "The only place a prophet isn't honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house." (Mark 6:4).

As we entered to set-up for the show, the door was locked to the gym. As Janka sought to find out why, she was told that the students had all gone to a practice session in another building in town. It was if our audience had been evacuated. Janka graciously told the teacher, “But, we spoke with you earlier and agreed to schedule this event for today at 12:30.” Their only response was, “oh...they’ll be back around 12:45.” This is very similar to what had happened last year in Petőfibánya. It was clear that the majority of teachers withheld (in various creative ways) the students from attending the show. This gave us some time to pray for the students and the teachers. Because of these circumstances, we were reminded once again why God has lead us to plant a church in Petőfibánya.

After all these circumstances, we were thankful that we were able to hold one of the two shows in Petőfibánya’s public school. Below: Children who attend our local children’s weekly Bible club and a handful of other students were excited to attend. We hope that some of these children will be used by God in the future to break through the barriers of unbelief in this town by living out a life of faith in Christ.



Tomorrow we travel to Egyházasdengeleg (I’ll give you a dollar if you can pronounce it). This is our last day of puppet and drama ministry in December. Through the contacts we have made, and follow through, we hope to go out again to bring the true story of Easter to these students in 2006.