TWO WEEK UPDATE

Summer is a full time here, and the blog has dropped down on the priority list. However, it is still my goal to update weekly to keep you all informed with the latest ministry and family news and prayer requests.


TUESDAY EVANGELISTIC BIBLE STUDY

For the past few months, Miki has been holding an evangelistic study at his house. Over a year ago, he held a similar study which lead to a few people making a decision to trust in Jesus. However, these found it hard to transition from attending the study to having fellowship with us on Sundays at church. They soon drifted from fellowship. After Miki restarted the study, they began attending again, and we praise God that a few of them are showing signs of healthy growth. One woman who found it hard to read the Bible is now reading it every day. Teenager Zoli’s mother Ildikó and grandmother Magdi have now begun attending church as a result of this study.


WEDNESDAY ENGLISH BIBLE STUDY

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Two weeks ago, we talked about how Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the passover Lamb. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14) Since we have been going through the entire Bible highlighting major themes, the concept of sacrifice for sins in the Old Testament is understandable to them.

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Above: Student Timi holding Roger and Heidi’s new child, Emily.

Last week I forgot to send an email to Klári indicating that we would have English Bible study. We ran into Klári while we were serving in a neighboring town for Children's Day (see below). Klári was upset that she missed the study and shared how terribly sad she became when she considered the thought that we might not have any more class for the summer. I reassured her we intended to keep meeting throughout the summer which lifted her spirits. It is clear that Edina, Timi, Tünde and Klári see this fellowship as a highlight in their week.



Above: Please pray for Tünde, Klári, Edina and Timi who continue to attend English Bible study and are very open to the Gospel.

In this week’s study, we read about Jesus on trial before religious leaders and also before Pilate. I highlighted the utter irony that Jesus, the judge of heaven and earth willingly entered the world's courtroom and willingly allowed sinful man to judge Him. Was He the Son of God? Although this judgment was made thousands of years ago to put Jesus to death, to reject His claims, we are responsible to make a personal decision. Do we agree with the sentence given at that time and also reject Jesus, or do we say, "Jesus, I deserve to be judged, You are truly the Son of God. Have mercy on me and save me!" Following the theme of the courtroom, I explained the three possibilities regarding the claims of Jesus Christ. He was either a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. We also discussed how indifference was a decision in itself, putting Jesus in the category of liar or lunatic. I challenged each of them to consider what they would do with Jesus.

FRIDAY CHILDREN’S DAY (2 weeks ago)

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Above: Kira (above right) showing off her daddy’s butterfly handywork. Our first stop in the day was our daughter Elianna’s preschool. Miki and Erika have been holding a weekly Bible class in this preschool and we have good relationships with the teachers.

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Above: Elianna and Kira.

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Above: Erika (yellow shirt) leading game time with the kids. We were thankful that English Bible Students Timi and Edina responded to an invite to come out and help in this Children’s Day Community Event.

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Above: Church member Hugi readying herself to distribute VBS invites to familes who gather around our face painting and craft table a neighboring village’s Children’s Day that we attended later in the day.

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Above: We ran into a lot of kids who came to our VBS last year and will be attending again.

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Above: Ildikó, who attends our church also came out to help with children’s crafts.

FRIDAY NIGHT TEEN HIKE

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Last year, we found that night hikes helped us pull lots of teens off the streets and gave us quality time with them. It is clear that most of these teens lack male role models in their lives. Most of them have distorted pictures of what a father is because of many past hurts, and the teen boys have no idea what God's idea of a man is. God brought around 25 people together including a few parents and a grandparent! We were also very happy to see Timi (from our English Bible Study) come out.

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Above: Teenager Norbi, who hasn’t attended recent outreaches, came out to help tonight. After collecting fire wood, we split up into teams for games. These games are designed so that the young and old work together, and they seemed to have a great time.

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Above: After game time, we settle around the camp fire and I introduced the American custom of Smores. This is very different from roasting fat and dripping it on bread, which is the custom of Hungarians around camp fires. The marshmallows were a hit.

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Our last plan for the evening was a time of discussion. We brought two questions that we hoped would draw them out and lead to an opportunity to talk about Jesus. God blessed the discussion time as each responded to the second question: Have you had a personal experience where you recognized God was at work in your life? Practically each person (except the little kids) gave a unique answer which recognized that He was at work in a specific way in their lives. This question also gave Hugi, Miki, Dezső and myself opportunity to briefly share our testimony of how Jesus saved us.

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I ended the night asking them not to ignore God's reaching out to them, and to respond by seeking after Jesus. After closing in prayer, we also invited them to our worship service on Sunday which will be at Miki's house. It is our hope that some of them will be moved to attend to find out more.

FAMILY DAY/SUNDAY CHURCH

Last Sunday, we had a combined family day and worship service at Miki’s house. We praise God that all four English Bible Students attended! This was the first time Klári, Timi and Edina attended worship service. Timi and Edina stayed well into the evening playing games and participating in more serious discussions. Some questions that arose regarded life decisions, how to determine God’s will and questions about church member’s testimonies.

MONDAY VBS PREPARATION

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Above: Dezső, Ildikó, Julika and MIki coming together to record the dialogue for an upcoming puppet show we will present in our VBS. Much of this month will be focused on making final preparations for our VBS which will be held June 22-27. Please pray that we could finish all preparations and that this VBS would be used to draw many to put their faith in Jesus.

FUN FAMILY SHOTS

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