Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Thank you for your prayers!

Praise the Lord, Pastor Zoltan in Serbia has been released from the hospital and the family's immediate needs after the devastating house fire have been met.  Please pray for continued healing and provision, and for wisdom as they evaluate whether to clear the rubble and rebuild on that site, or whether they should find and remodel a different house--a home for 9 people is not the norm and renovations would be necessary.
Another snow storm has made the final days of moving things out of our old home/E Hungary team office quite difficult, and the garage and storage building still need to be finished.  Pray that we can finish in time to turn the keys in before the end of March, and that Gary's back and neck will not suffer more damage in the process.  PTL for those who are helping! 
The photo to the left was taken recently in Tiszafüred...the little snowman on the car made us laugh as we appreciated the Hungarians' sense of humor. 
Pray that this week's Easter celebration at the Thursday coffeehouse in Debrecen will open up opportunities to share the Gospel, and that lost friends will be drawn to the Saviour. 
Pray for the Tiszafüred church plant to stand strong and continue to grow during the time that we'll be gone for Gary's surgery and recovery.  Pray that the Lord will provide the leadership needed in our absence, as the strong believer from a nearby church who we all thought might take over has decided to go to Germany to work.  Also pray that this Christian brother and his family will stay strong and follow the Lord's guidance for their family during this difficult time of stress on the family. 
A lost friend is about to leave for work in a nearby country.  Pray for another opportunity for team members to share with him, and that the Lord will open his heart to the Truth.
Pray for the students at Debrecen University, that God's Spirit would convict them and that their eyes would be open to the truth. Specifically lift up the many students from other major world religions and for opportunities for the Hathcocks and other believers to connect with them.
Thank you again for your prayers and support!
P.S.  Good news in the media is pretty rare, so I leave you with this day-brightening article from the Arlington Star-Telegram: Hungary comes to the rescue of DFW students stuck in the snow

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Urgent prayer needed for national pastor and family

Please pray urgently for Pastor Zoltan Nyul, his wife Viki and 7 kids, who are ethnic Hungarian friends of ours in Serbia that we have partnered with in the work.  Their house has burned to the ground, their belongings are a total loss, and Zoli was taken by ambulance to the hospital with burns to the head and arms.  Our hearts are broken for our friends.  These are wonderful, faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who have been doing excellent work, ministering to the needy and the handicapped; even though their church doesn't have much materially they are preparing to send out a short term volunteer mission team this summer.

Pray for healing for Pastor Zoli, for help and comfort for all the family, and that God will take what Satan intended for evil and turn it to good as only He can.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Medical stuff and a big move

We ask that you pray for us even more urgently this week, as it's a pretty tough one for us.  We have met with several doctors now, one from the spine center in Budapest last week, and the news is that Gary will need to have surgery in the very near future. Please pray for healing for him, for relief from pain, for wisdom and skill for the doctors, and that this will not hinder the work any more than necessary.  PTL for our wonderful co-workers the Hathcocks, and for our other friends and partners who are being such a blessing and encouragement.

This week we are also moving to a different house in Debrecen, so pray that it will go as smoothly as possible, will not cause more injury to Gary's back, and that even with the medical issues going on we can soon make it feel like home.  The move became necessary because of several problems at our current home that have made it very difficult for us to live and work here.

Thanks for your prayers!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Prayer requests for Tiszafüred friends

A serious new issue has come to light at the church plant in Tiszafüred, and we ask for your prayers that the truth will come to light, that we and the group will have wisdom and unity in dealing with it, and that Satan will not be able to use it to hurt the group or anyone in it.  Pray that God will get the glory in the situation and that His redemptive hand will be seen.

Also continue to pray that the one who has been spreading false teaching will come to repentence, and that seekers and new believers will not be drawn away from the truth of Scripture.

Several of the members of the group--some new believers, some seekers--have been going through tremendously difficult times in their lives.   Pray that the Lord will use these times of testing to bring our friends to a strong faith in Christ, and that He will bring them safely through the trials.  Some issues that they are facing that need your prayers: grief over the death of a mother and deaths of friends, a sense of spiritual oppression and darkness that has stolen a new believer's peace and rest, broken family relationships, desparate need of a job to provide for the person and their handicapped daughter, and fear for a grown child's future (they have taken a step of faith and burned some bridges).  Praise the Lord for the spirit of openness and transparency that has allowed the group members to share from their hearts, to weep together, and to lift each other up in prayer. 

Even though it has been very painful, it has also been a joy to see our group trust one another enough to drop the polite masks that so many of us wear.  Praise the Lord for how He is working!