Visit to Békási Golgota church

On January 29th I had the joy of visiting a small, family-style church in Békásmegyer.  This area of Budapest was actually an independent village until 1950, when it became a part of the capital city.  Here's how my visit came about....

Gary and I had spent Friday and Saturday taking part in the Grain Game Hungary conference in Érd, after which Gary left with our friend Chip Riley (Grain Game founder) for a trip into Serbia for some meetings.  I didn't want to go back home to Debrecen on the late train, preferring to make the trip during daylight hours on Sunday (train stations are not always a good place to be at night for a woman alone.)  Our wonderful co-workers, the Baker family, graciously let me stay in their home that night.  The next morning they took me along to the church they have been attending, the Békási Golgota church. They were having a special service which included a lot of time for prayer and quiet contemplation, worship, and the observance of the Lord's Supper.

I returned home on the train that afternoon filled with the joy of His presence and the blessing of time spent with brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise the Lord for times of refreshment and fellowship!

Márkus Szilárd, pastor of the church

The praise team

• Please pray for this church as they worship and grow; ask that the Lord will guide them in reaching out to the many, many lost people in their community.  
• Pray for our co-workers, the Bakers, that God will give them wisdom in how to best partner with national believers in the awesome task of making Him known among the nations.
• Continue to pray for the ministry of The Grain Game. They are currently beginning a new emphasis on starting new ongoing groups of young people - particularly those who are unchurched but spiritually open.  We pray that these groups will grow into church plants.

Grain Game Hungary Conference

Praise the Lord for how He is working!  Thank you so much for your prayers for the Grain Game and for their work in reaching young people for Christ.

The conference that took place in Érd on January 27 and 28 had about 150 in attendance, and it was encouraging to see so many people interested in learning more about how to reach kids in the often-neglected age group of 10-15.

Pray for us and others who will be doing follow-up training with workers for future Bible camps and ongoing small groups.

 

One of the demonstrations of creative Bible teaching by Chip

See more conference photos in our Google album.

A morning in Balmazújváros

On the road from Debrecen to Balmazújváros

This morning we headed to Balmazújváros, where we attended a weekly gathering led by Pastor Csaba Karancsi.  There was Scripture reading, discussion, and several testimonies of changed lives.  The atmosphere was of love and caring, no matter the place in life. Pray for those at the gathering who are seekers, that they will continue to learn more and will soon give their hearts totally to Christ.

When we told the group that people around the world are praying for them and Balmazújváros, they said "thank you" on behalf of their city.

After the gathering we stayed for a meeting with the pastor and other leaders. We discussed working together in an outreach planned for March. 

Praise the Lord that things are moving forward!  Pray that God will guide and be glorified as plans come together for further ministry.
 

Answered prayer in Balmazújváros

Sunday morning we had the great joy of visiting a church plant in the town of Balmazújváros.  This is a town that we have had on our hearts for many years; we have done projects there, had concerts, spent time prayerwalking and talking with the people.  At one point we thought we were about to see a church plant begin, but then a key family that we were working with in the town moved out of the country. 

So praise the Lord, it was awesome to see that God is working in new ways there, and a small group is regularly meeting.   Pastor Csaba Karancsi of the Újfehértó Baptist church is the supervising pastor, and a national believer is leading the Bible study each week. As we saw Sunday, the group is quite serious about studying the Word and in desiring to reach out to their community.

Pray for this group, that they will continue to grow and give God glory as they live as salt and light in their town.  Also pray for us and Pastor Csaba as we meet this week to discuss how we may partner together for further outreach in this town.


Join us in praying, using the Balmazújváros virtual prayerwalk that we made several years ago.  Now I want to make a revised version showing what God has been doing since that time!

National believer taking new steps

Pray with us for Sam*, a national believer we have been training and mentoring, as he is taking concrete steps toward starting a new outreach ministry in Debrecen.  He has a real passion for reaching the lost, and will be meeting today with someone regarding a possible ministry location.  Ask the Lord to lead him and get glory from all that is done, and also that He would give us wisdom in knowing what our part should be in this.  Thank you!


*Not his real name

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 Christmas Day at the Baptist church in Újléta

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