Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Christmas Day in Újléta

We were very blessed to spend some time Christmas day with our brothers and sisters in Christ at the small Baptist church in Újléta, which is a little less than an hour's drive from Debrecen.  Our good friend and ministry partner Eduárd Nitkovszki leads the service there about once a month, and he invited Gary to bring the message on Christmas.  The Lord knew what was needed and exactly when--as it turned out, Eduárd was getting sick and could barely speak, let alone preach!

Gary spoke on "Who is Jesus," an in-depth look at who Christ is; he ended with the question, "Who is Jesus to you?"  It was an encouraging and yet challenging time of self-examination, as well as a wonderful celebration of God's great gift of His Son, our Savior.

We were missing our family in the U.S. on Christmas, so it was a special blessing to be among the precious people in Újléta in such a loving, family atmosphere.  We both left feeling that they had blessed us much more than we had them!

Pray for the church in  Újléta, that they would be strengthened and encouraged, and that they would continue sharing the love of Christ with those in their community.

Gary preaching in Újléta
Gary preaching Christmas Day at the Baptist church in Újléta

Monday, December 12, 2016

Ordination in Püspökladány

Praise the Lord for the opportunity we had Saturday, December 10, to attend the ordination service of our friend and national partner János Kiss into pastoral ministry. He and his wife Rozi have been faithfully serving in Püspökladány for many years now, and it was a joy and privilege to get to be there as he was officially ordained as pastor of the church.

Pray for János, Rozi, and the Püspökladány Baptist church as they continue to minister in their community.  

"Praying for Püspökladány" video on Vimeo.

 
János and Rozi (left) listen az Pastor Csaba of Hajdúszoboszló speaks


Reunion of old friends--Carolyn, Ani, Gary, and János

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Interest in gardening program encouraging

Praise the Lord for what He did through Dr. Curtis Smith this last week!  The concept of outreach using gardening is really catching on, and it looks like there are lots of open doors of opportunity. Thank you so much for your prayers for Curtis and those he spoke with while here in eastern Hungary.  Pray for the follow-up and implementation of new ministries.

Dr. Smith & translator Eduárd Nitkovszki at Monday evening presentation

Monday, December 5, 2016

Gardening for the Gospel


Please be in prayer for New Mexico volunteer Dr. Curtis Smith as he ministers here in Hungary this week, using his background as Agricultural Science professor, county extension  worker, gardening columnist and TV series host.  Tonight he will be  doing a presentation to area church leaders on how to use a Master Gardener program in outreach for Gospel connections.

While in the Debrecen area he will be doing several presentations to various groups, doing site visits in Roma villages, and spending time with interested individuals.

Pray that God will provide open doors for many spiritual conversations; also that believers will catch the vision of how to use agriculture and gardening not only for feeding the physically hungry, but also for providing spiritual food to those who need to know the Lord.

Curtis and Gary preparing for tonight's presentation

Friday, December 2, 2016

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer

Please join us in lifting up the nations during the 2016 Lottie Moon week of prayer, starting this Sunday, Dec 4.  Links to fascinating real-life missionary stories, photos, and videos can be found on the IMB website at https://www.imb.org/lottie-moon-christmas-offering-week-prayer/.

Thank you for praying with us!

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Light in the darkness

Photo of candle and Christmas Joy display
Last night there was an electrical problem on our block, and the power went out in half of our house...later it was out for quite a while in ALL the house...then back on in the other half.  This kind of thing went on for much of the evening, making a Skype meeting and VOIP phone calls quite a bit shorter than planned.

It's so easy to feel dependent on luxuries such as electricity, but darkness and lack of Internet can make us slow down a bit and look at things differently.  Candles and our mini oil lamp gave a pleasant glow and a feeling of fun and nostalgia to our home. It's amazing how even a little light can dispel the darkness!

And yes, the power company guys did come and get our power back on in time for us to turn out the lights and go to bed.  :-)

Pray that we will shine His light in dark places.