Jesus is Risen

On the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Even on the cross, He was calling our attention to Scripture and meditation on Psalm 22 in which we read that same cry in the first verse. But Jesus wanted us to consider all of Psalm 22, such as verse 6: "I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people." Did you know that the word 'worm' in this text refers to a specific worm that was also known as the 'scarlet-worm'. This type of worm was crushed and used to die fabric scarlet red. We know that Isaiah 1:18 says that our sins were like scarlet since all of us are deeply stained and without the means to be clean from guilt. And Jesus, becoming sin on that cross "was crushed [as the scarlet-worm] for our iniquities". (Isa 53:5, 2 Cor 5:21) Jesus became like a crushed worm on that cross that we might have the gift of HIs scarlet blood to be restored to the Father in a relationship where we would never be forsaken! "Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!" (MSG Eph 1:7) Praise our Risen Savior who has provided abundant freedom to those who have put their faith in Him.

Easter Puppet Report

Thank you all for your prayers for us as we've visited 26 schools over the past few weeks sharing the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ through puppet ministry.






Above: Showing three fingers as kids sing along "On the third day He was risen!"

Puppet Ministry over the past few weeks was not just about the children and teachers we came to serve, but was also special for a few volunteers that were part of the puppet team. Norbi, who has known us since childhood, came to faith years ago and was baptized in 2014 (see pic below). Since that time, he has been in and out of fellowship and seemed to be drifting away. Earlier this year he showed up to worship service and began attending on a regular basis.





In our time serving together over the past two weeks, Norbi shared about how terrible his time away from the Lord was and how God called him back. He recognizes his inconsistent walk and is praying for help to become the man God has called him to become. One way that Norbi feels called to serve is in the context of his unsaved friends that have drug addiction or drinking problems. He shared that God is putting on his heart to pray specifically for these friends. There is also a woman who was like a second mother to Norbi who is bedridden in the hospital that he has been visiting and ministering to with prayer. We are encouraged to see Norbi returning to Jesus and finding joy in serving Him.



Above: On our visit to Petofibanya's preschool, we got a picture of Norbi with his preschool teacher 'Aunt' Marika who is still teaching at the same location. He's grown a bit since then.







Above: Zita was another volunteer that was greatly encouraged to serve for the first time on our church's puppet team. Because of a failure that had happened a few years ago in Zita's life she was hesitant to be part of the team because of a sense of unworthiness. Since her repentance and returning, God has been in the process of completely restoring her and we are thankful that this opportunity was another part of God's plan for Zita to experience His grace. The women on the puppet team had much more time to connect and encourage one another and relationships were deepened that will help with ongoing fellowship in the future.





Above: After each show, Hungarian church planting partner in ministry Erika, shared a short Gospel presentation with the kids. She shared how we are all imprisoned because of sin and separated from God, but God sent His Son to pay the debt we couldn't pay to be forgiven and restored to a relationship we did not deserve.





Above: We also were able to distribute 1,900 evangelistic mini-magazines to children and teachers which includes a QR code that takes them to a website with even more helpful media and articles about Jesus.







As I mentioned in my initial prayer request before we began this outreach, there were many sicknesses going around. A few days before we began, our daughter Ziva had a high fever and recovered, then on our first day of puppet ministry, Miki's daughter came down with a high fever. Miki and Norbi had sore throats the first week, and others had headaches and sinus issues. God was gracious to bring healing and to provide all of us with the strength we needed to successfully carry out the ministry without having to cancel any shows. The team was unified and carried the peace and joy of Christ. All of our equipment worked well in each show and God protected us throughout all our traveling on back roads in various weather conditions with a car full of seven and a trailer attached. Thank you for your prayer and support that enabled us to do this ministry! The following film will give you a quick overview of our experience.

Erno's journey home

Above: Erno, one of the men that have relocated to our village from Ukraine, shared the following testimony in a recent worship service in Petofibanya:

"I have a seven year old named Johanna and my wife and I wanted another child. God blessed us and my wife became pregnant with a boy. This is exactly what I had asked God for in prayer and I was so excited and thankful for this gift. I had prayed before we went to our ultrasound examination that God would bless everything. At that time in Ukraine, I was a worship leader, I served as a youth pastor and was immersed in doing God's work. And I just felt great that I had everything that I had asked for. I had a child, my family was well, I had a home, money and a good job. I had a ministry in church that I loved doing. Everything was great. And one day it all fell apart.

At that ultrasound examination, the doctor said, "Your child is dead." When I heard those words, there was so much pain in my heart that I just couldn't comprehend what had happened. Why? I've done everything that is pleasing to God and this happens? My wife also wept. That experience was as if I got a knock out punch in a boxing match. And I drifted far away from God. I was angry with Him. I didn't serve any longer with good motives, but now just with pain. I began to focus more on work and moved farther away from God. I started to hang out with friends that smoked and drank and then I began smoking. I stopped worshipping God and instead I just gave up. I gave up the things that I actually loved. And I did the things I actually didn't like but I did them because of the anger in my heart. And then the war broke out and we had to escape from Ukraine. The loss of my child was a terrible experience that led me away from God, and ironically a terrible war would be used to bring me back to God.

Once leaving Ukraine, I began praying again and God provided work. He provided this church and I made a decision that I wanted to return to God and wanted to serve Him again. But I had become addicted to smoking and that was a barrier. I was so addicted that I failed to get free even though I wanted to stop. This brought a lot of shame in my life. It was disgusting to me, but still I smoked. And I knew I just had to make a decision. I couldn't serve two masters. I couldn't serve God and at the same time do what Satan told me to do. I prayed that God give me strength that I would truly make a decision. He gave me that strength. And when I made it, my friends didn't believe me and said I would just start smoking again. Now it has been a month that I have not smoked. God gave me freedom and I want to do God's will. I want to devote my life to God the way a husband and wife devote their lives to each other. They don't want to hurt one another, they don't want to damage the relationship, they don't want to cheat. This is what I want in my relationship with God. God is like a husband and we are like a wife and we are called to utter devotion and not half hearted interest. We will be called to make decisions that give us opportunity to express our devotion. I encourage you to choose God." — Erno

Adilene Joining our team

Over the past few months we've been in contact with Adilene who will be joining our team as a 'Venture' missionary. This is an opportunity for those who are not sure if they are ready for long term missions work and are looking to spend up to twelve months serving and being mentored by long-term missionaries. Adilene hopes to be in Hungary by August, but we would like to ask you to pray that she can raise her support and get here in time to be able to participate in our English Camp in mid July. We are very thankful for God answering prayer to send workers to the harvest field. Would you pray for Adilene and for even more workers to be sent.

English camp volunteers

Brandywine Valley Baptist church is seeking to send volunteers to serve in our English Camp in Hungary in mid July. Time is running out, but it is not too late if you would be interested in joining us in this evangelistic outreach to Hungarian teens and young adults. We would love to see some new BVBC members join us this Summer!

Játszóház (Children's Playhouse)

As we quickly approach summer, we held our second 'Játszóház' event at the local community center to stay connected with children who have attended our Summer Bible Camps in the past. Bence (below) as well as Emmie from youth group were a few that helped by presenting a special puppet show which not only helped kids to understand the love of God but also parents.







We continue to have a great turn out and already have over 100 kids signed up for our Summer Bible Camps. These types of ministries are not only great to reach out to the community, but they are the means we use to mentor and help church members grow as they learn to use their gifitngs to serve others.





Here's a video with highlights from our last Játszóhaz.

Kira back from Africa

Kira is safely back from a short term missions trip to Africa with a team from her school. The team helped with VBS, various youth programs and even helped plant some trees. Praise God for giving them unity, opportunities to share the love of Christ and more experience on mission in other cultures. After spending her spring break with us in Hungary, Kira will return to BFA in Germany. Thank you for your continued prayers for Kira!







We hope you have a peaceful and joyous Easter celebration. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." — 1 Peter 1:3