VBS begins on Monday

Over the past few weeks, our Wednesday night meeting usually just for leadership members in the church has turned into our VBS prayer and planning meeting. Picture those old challenges where people had to stuff themselves into a phone booth… that’s our living room on Wednesday night. It is such a joy to see so many volunteers from our church freely giving their time and talents to love these kids and share the Gospel with them through next week. Some are even taking vacation just to serve! When I survey the room, I often remember how this church plant started with just a handful of people squished in a two bedroom apartment. It is so amazing to see what God has done over the years and how he is using members to continue to spread His Good News.



Above: Ellie working on one of the decorative posters for this year’s VBS.

We’ll have nine groups from preschool age to young adults! The teen group will be the largest with 20 kids. Right now we have 131 kids registered and this will be the largest VBS we’ve held to date. We appreciate your prayers for the remaining planning and preparations.

• Please pray for success in teaching curriculum that proclaims Jesus and the Gospel effectively.

• Pray for a small group of volunteer teen workers that are NOT believers to hear and understand His message as they help throughout the week.

• Pray for the core group of over 30 Christian volunteers (health, unity, strength, wisdom). Pray for both children and parents to gain a clear understanding of God’s grace. Pray that a new generation would be drawn to God and put their faith in Jesus!

Bogács Update

A few weeks ago, I encouraged Erika to cry out to Jesus when she encountered attacks of anxiety, fear and confusion. Erika is in an abusive relationship and shared that she also is aggressive with her words and was often argumentative. This was surprising to us, because every time we meet, she seems like the most gentle person on the planet. It is clear that there is repentance in her heart. Each week she shares how she is beginning to see life differently. I asked if she was able to call out to Jesus this past week. She said, “Yes. It was as if I was told to just remain quiet. Not to fight back with words.” She said it was so different than her normal way of behaving that her husband began saying, “What is wrong with you!?” Erika said with a smile that it was as if she couldn’t even talk back and the arguments ceased. She also shared about another neighbor that she would often get into arguments with. She said she just remained quiet and had no desire to do it anymore. God is giving her wisdom as we study His word together and she is benefiting as she begins putting it into practice in her life.

On Tuesday, our study was on the meaning of repentance, belief in Jesus Christ and how Jesus turns His followers into fishers of men. As we went through these topics and studied the Scriptures other topics came up like the difference between the Old and New Covenant. It became clear to Edit that the sect that they were involved in over the past three years lived according to the Old Covenant, trying to earn God’s approval and trying to meet a standard that they clearly failed to meet. She shared that the teachings were based on making you respond out of fear. This gave us opportunity to explain the freedom we have in the New Covenant, the joy of being able to obtain God’s approval through faith in Jesus Christ who became the sacrifice for our sins and the provision of our righteousness. What a joy to bring this Good News to Erika and Edit and see their faces light up when God gives them understanding of spiritual truths.

Both Edit and Erika asked for prayer for deliverance from smoking a few weeks ago. I asked for an update once we met again and they shared that they both became nauseous and dizzy when they began smoking after we prayed. Edit has been smoking less and less. Towards the end of our Bible study, Edit said, “How long have we been meeting tonight?” I said, “Maybe two hours”. She looked at Erika and said, “See, we don’t need to smoke.” Erika began laughing, realizing how much time had passed with no need for a cigarette. I told them that there was something so much greater going into there souls as we studied God’s truth together over those two hours. That is really what their bodies need. It seems clear to us that Erika is very close to making a decision. She has been asking questions about baptism and also about the matter of having an unbelieving husband who may not support anything she believes. We ask you to continue to pray for Erika and Edit. Pray also for Puljka and his wife Katyus whom we meet with weekly. Also pray for Ilonka and her household. Our hope is that one day members from all of these households will begin meeting together and building each other up in their faith in Jesus Christ.