November 2013

WEEKLY UPDATE

We could use your help


Friends, we are always thankful when we consider how long God has sustained our ministry in Hungary with the gracious and faithful help of many of you who are supporting us through prayer and financial gifts.
I would like to ask any of you that have the means to help us financially to consider giving in this time as we find ourselves in financial need. There have been a serious of extra financial expenses that have come up over the past few months that have led to us being ‘in the red’ financially. We appreciate any ways that you may be able to help. For those who are unable to help with a financial gift, please pray that God would provide and bring us back to a place of abundance so that we would have enough for family and ministry to others. Follow this link for various ways to give.

Three things worthy of praise


“If there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil 4:8) This week, God has brought before me three significant events that lead my heart to rejoice in Christ and the gospel. The first is the passing of our friend Kriszti into the presence of Christ. Kriszti has been fighting cancer for some time and we were able to personally visit her over the past two weeks and pray for her healing. It was difficult to witness the process of cancer causing so much pain, weakness and suffering. Kriszti went to be with Jesus this past Saturday. In our last visit with Kriszti, being very weak, she could only say one or two words or gently nod her head while we conversed with her. I can remember that she perked up when I began sharing with her some of the new works God was doing in the town of Bogács. She began speaking in full sentences about how she was trying to reach out to her brother’s girlfriend with the gospel. This would be our last meaningful conversation and it was about her passion for Jesus to be known. Now Kriszti is with our Savior who has said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) I would ask you all to please pray for Kriszti’s mother, father and brother who need salvation in Him. They are completely heartbroken and in great distress.

The second significant event this week was the salvation of Katyus in Bogács two weeks ago. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Katyus was very close to a decision and was struggling with the idea of truly turning away from sins which she has depended on so long to provide for her family. This past week, she decided in her heart to repent and put her faith in Jesus Christ. Her husband who is the original person who invited me to bring God’s word to his household rejoiced in his wife’s salvation.

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Above: Katyus and Pujka


Since they have been learning more about Jesus and His word they have been freed from constant fighting, and grown in His grace to live according to His ways and not their own. Katyus and others in the group shared how they often struggled with nightmares and have seen unexplainable things that bring about a paralyzing fear in their lives. I believe this oppression could be due to their cultural background which is very sensitive to the spiritual realm and seeking to interact with the dead which has opened doors to the enemy. Katyus also shared how she connected some of the events to the fact that someone had unexpectedly died in their house before they had moved there. After studying an encouraging passage together and also talking about the power and authority of Jesus Christ in our lives, Katyus asked for prayer for deliverance from this fear. Katyus also agreed to dedicate her house to Jesus Christ and we prayed that He would take ownership of it and be Lord and King in her home.

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Above: Eniko helping with the kids in Bogacs on Tuesday nights.


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Above: Discussing tonight’s passage in God’s word.


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Above: Izabella with one of her sons Dávid, Maci and Katyus.



I continue to be encouraged in seeing evidences of her daughter Izabella’s growth. She brought up two teachings of Christ in the midst of our conversation that we weren’t studying this night but that she had read over the past week. One about not judging when you yourself have blaring sin as a log in your own eye and the other about Jesus being present where two or three are gathered in His name. I rejoiced in hearing her quote these Scriptures and encouraged her that a large part of our life of following Jesus is planting His word in our hearts in such a way that we can recall it, proclaim it and live by it by faith in it.

The third significant event this past week was meeting with a young woman from the US who was seeking advice as she senses God calling her to ministry in Hungary. This twenty year old woman had a maturity that I see as a gift of God’s grace as she is coming to terms with laying down her life plans and comfortable career course that seemed to suite her best for something much more glorious… God’s new plan that He was revealing to her. When we pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Luke 10:2), we don’t often personally see the results of those prayers. I was encouraged to see this young woman from a new generation as an answer to that prayer and encouraged seeing her commitment to listen and obey with trust in Him.

Jesus continuing to seek and save the lost


In church last week, I noticed a man standing by the door that I had not seen before in our fellowship. Gábor ended up entering for our worship service and afterwards I found out that he lived just a few houses down from us. When I asked him what had led him to visit, he said that he just had this feeling that he was supposed to go and couldn’t explain it. I encouraged him that God was graciously drawing him to Himself. Although Gábor knows us from the community (his children attended the same preschool) his attending on Sunday was not in response to one of us personally inviting him but the Spirit drawing him. Praise God that Gábor also responded to an invite to our small group on Tuesday and seemed very involved in the study and teachable. Please pray for Gábor that as God reveals the good news to him, he may repent and respond in faith to gain the joys of a reconciled life with God through Jesus Christ.

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Above: Dinner, conversation and games at Miki and Erika’s house. Vera in grey shirt with Istvan her husband to the left.


God has also opened up opportunity to share His love and His gospel through simply inviting new acquaintances, neighbors and unsaved friends for dinner and games. A new couple that attended one of these nights was Vera and her husband Istvan. Teammates Roger and Heidi had been reaching out to this couple for months and just recently, Vera began attending one of our house groups with Heidi. Her husband was without work at the time and after prayer, God provided Istvan a new job! In talking with him this night, it was clear that he connected his getting a job directly with prayer. Although Istvan has not yet begun attending small groups or worship service, Vera has on a consistent basis. Please pray for this new couple!

Christmas puppet outreach


Celebrating Christ’s birth is right around the corner and we continue to have opportunity to share the true story of Christmas in public schools throughout our county. For the first time, instead of just one puppet team we have enough volunteers from our church for two teams to handle the growing number of public schools we minister to!

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Above: One of the teams practicing this year’s show in our basement.


The teams have been practicing in our basement and we ask for prayer for healing for those on the team who are sick (Eniko and Jennifer) and for protection that we might successfully serve Jesus in the strength He provides by grace.

Happy birthday Ziva!


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Our youngest spunky monkey turned two years old on Wednesday. She enjoyed singing the happy birthday song along with us and disassembling the Elmo decoration on her cake. Ziva’s favorite color these days is yellow. If you ask her what two plus two is, she might say, “Yellow!” She enjoys having pretend tea and coffee with her sisters and riding her motorcycle to pretend school in our hallway. We’re very thankful to God for Ziva’s life and the joy she brings to our family.

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