Back to Hungary Soon

June 05, 2017

As we come come to the tail end of our furlough in the US we wanted to give you an update on how God has graciously been at work in our lives. Our past furloughs have often been short and mainly focused on sharing about ministry and reconnecting with family and friends. I feel as if this furlough was God inviting us into a safe place to work through issues that slowly yet powerfully began to affect our ministry, family and marriage in negative ways. God’s answer to these issues was to call us back to the US for six months into a community that has cared for us and ministered to us in ways that will impact the rest of our lives. I am thankful for the wisdom and discernment God provided to a counselor we were able to see weekly for the past three months. God has used him and others involved in our lives to bring clarity to areas that I needed to repent of and helped me to see the new foundations to build on in the future. Sharon and I have experienced so much healing in this safe place of relying on God’s help and we are seeking to apply what He is teaching both of us. As a church planter, my character and the inner working of my marriage and family life are key components to properly caring for the church of God. “For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?” (1 Tim 3:5) As I have had time to reflect on how I ‘managed’ my own household and how I have cared for the church, I now see areas where I have been deficient in expressing the compassion and love of Christ. As I move forward by God’s grace, my hope is to grow in these areas as I continue to reflect more and more of Jesus in my life. We wanted to thank all of you for allowing us this unique time of having the freedom to receive ministry and to rest. We value your commitment to us, in encouraging us, praying for us and consistently supporting us. We experience the love of God through all of you!

Above: Our team (missionaries from the US) including Hungarian partners in ministry Miki and Erika.

On Sunday we were able to reconnect with our team in Hungary via Skype. As I reported previously, the church and the team are experiencing grief, hurt, loss and many other challenges because of the church split that occurred in January. In the midst of these burdens we are all more than ever turning our trust and reliance to Jesus. Please continue to pray for continued healing, continued growth, the giving of comfort and help that we all need in this time. Although this is a season of struggle, there are awesome signs of growth and many things worthy of praise!

Above: Some of the younger adults in our church, Arnold (left and Peti (right), set out to initiate a teen conference. They did all of the planning and facilitating of this event that was held last Saturday. There were sixty kids that attended and good reports of how God used it in their lives. Since the split, there have been other church members that have stepped into roles that were previously filled and they are doing a wonderful job serving. God has also brought back some who had visited in the past, but now are regularly attending church and small groups.

Back to Hungary in July

We are scheduled to return to Hungary mid July. We’ll have a night to unpack and then we’re off to this year’s English Camp. For once, we’ll be recovering from jet lag like the rest of the team that travels from BVBC to serve with us in Hungary! Please pray for us as we work out many logistics preparing to return. Our remaining time in the US is just six weeks. We look forward to seeing how God will use all of the changes in us to be a blessing in Hungary.