We always rejoice when the long dark winter months are behind us, and we see the fields blossoming in Hungary. We thank all of you for partnering with us and allowing us to continue serving in Hungary these many years!

Before we share some of the highlights of the past few months, we need to ask for prayer and for help from those of you who are able. Because of the aftermath of Covid and the ongoing war in Ukraine, inflation has risen in Hungary (as you have also experienced in the U.S.). With that inflation, the value of the dollar has also dropped which directly affects how much Hungarian Forint we have to spend each month. As we enter into these Summer months with costs for travel, for camps and for Kira's tuition for Black Forest Christian Academy, we find ourselves in need of financial help. So we ask for you to pray for provision and we also ask for those who are able to consider donating financially. For ways you can give, just click HERE or on the 'Support' link in the right column of this page. (Our account number is 110490)

Return of the daughters

Both Elianna and Kira are officially back in Hungary with us for the Summer. Here are a few updates from our daughters, starting with Ellie who is back from Moody Bible Institute:

"I have learned so much in my first year at Moody! While classes have been great, God has been using my every day experiences and ministry opportunities to teach me even more! God has also given me some amazing friends, with whom I can be vulnerable and honest with. We’ve been able to push each other more toward Christ, which has been an incredible blessing!”



Above: Emese and Ellie in 2014 and now in 2023.

“When I came back to Hungary over Christmas break, I was able to reconnect with Emese. Over our few brief encounters I saw that she had so many good questions about her new faith. I saw that she had a need to be discipled, and God put it on my heart to reach out to her. I was a bit nervous to ask, but when I did, she seemed thrilled! We decided to meet weekly over Zoom once I went back to Chicago.” — Ellie

What a joy to see Ellie helping a new generation of Hungarians even while oversees! We praise God for His help with her transition from village life to the big city when she attended her first year of Moody in Chicago.



And our daughter Kira, who is back from Black Forest Christian Academy shared the following: “Lately God has been showing me how to let go and trust. A lot of things have been changing and through it all I get to see that I’m never alone. So many people have reached out and been such voices of God to me, in the ways they encourage and love. Next year, I’ll go back 4 days early for a worship team retreat, to start a new chapter of getting to lead worship at school chapel.” — Kira

God has answered our prayers for Kira, that she be put in an environment to blossom. We praise God for seeing Kira's joy return and for the ways she is using her voice to praise Him.

Special time with fellow
missionaries in May

Missionaries from our organization gathered together for a great time of reconnecting and edification after such opportunities were shut down due to Covid over the past few years. Sharon and I realized that we were now part of the ‘older’ crowd at this conference and we were thankful to see an influx of young missionaries entering the harvest field in response to Jesus’ calling on their lives.



Above: Of course, there was also free time built into the schedule to grab some ice cream. BFA allowed Kira to be excused from school to be with us at this conference. Being a school founded by missionaries, they understand the importance of relationships that are developed over the years in the mission’s community. Missionary kids from various families get to reconnect at these conferences every couple of years and often remain connected throughout life.



Above: Ziva (far left) was also able to make some new friends at the conference.




Above: We were also able to catch up with some of the families I was able to visit in Europe last year before coming home on furlough to the U.S.. As we are the 'older' ones on the field, we also have had more opportunity to share our experiences and come along side others to encourage them as they begin their life as missionaries overseas.




Above: Youth group meeting on the last night of the conference, worshiping the Lord under a beautiful sunset.





Praise God as he continues to send out and sustain workers in the harvest field. We would ask you to pray for our team and that God would send workers to our area as well. As we mentioned in our last update, Adilene is currently raising support to join our team this Summer. Please continue to pray for her to be able to find faithful partners in ministry to send her out. We are praying that she would be able to get to Hungary by mid-July.

Last “Children's Playhouse” before
Summer Camps

We recently held our last Chrildren's Playhouse Ministry that has helped us reconnect with children and parents that have attended our Summer Bible Camps. At our last gathering, we also distributed evangelistic books and extended a personal invitation to our upcoming Bible Camps to which the parents ecstatically responded, "We'll be there!" We continue to pray for breakthroughs with these families, hoping that they will come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.





Above: In the two pictures above, you'll see kids from foster care that attended. Erika, pictured above with Noel, works at the foster care center and has been able to help many of these kids get connected with our youth group and other outreaches. You would never know from this picture above of Noel that just one week previous, he was found dead in one of our local streams due to an accident. By God's AMAZING grace, the kids who were with him ran to get help, and the first person that 'happened' to be driving by was able to pull his lifeless body from the water and perform CPR to bring him back. Even after being dead for more than a few minutes, there were no signs of any brain or lung damage. The following week, he was able to come to be with us and once again hear about the Giver of all life. Please pray for Noel and for others in foster care, that they may be saved and experience the love of our Father in heaven.







Above: Who is that guy? Our oldest son Ben visiting and helping set up. Kira was also able to help with our Children's Playhouse Ministry when she was on school break.







Above: Zsombor was also able to attend our last Children's Playhouse Ministry. Zsombor was saved and baptized in our church but has since moved to Budapest where he attends a Reformed school. He continues to grow in his faith and is taking a Scripture memorization class. Zsombor is also going to be one of our helpers this year at our Summer Bible Camps. This type of change and growth is what we want to see repeated again and again as we serve in Hungary. Children coming to know Jesus, growing in Jesus and also serving in the calling that Christ has given to them.

Below is a highlight film of our last Játszóház (Children's Playhouse)

House group with displaced
Romani from Ukraine

Last month, we held our last Bible study together with these men who are all from Ukraine except for Norbi (far right). We were able to work our way through the book of James and had wonderful times worshiping together and learning how to apply God's truth in our lives. Unfortunately, two of the three men (Józsi and Erno center) had to temporarily leave Hungary as they found work and better pay in Belgium. Their families have remained here in our hometown and continue to attend our local church. They find themselves in a difficult situation as the work they had in Hungary was just enough to get by, but was not enough to enable them to get back on their feet when they return to Ukraine when the war ends.

Helping in Community Events

Last month we were invited to help out with Children's Day in our hometown of Petofibanya and in the town of Jaszfenyszaru where we have had church planting work in the past. This is a great opportunity for our church to serve our community and reconnect with children and families that we have come to know over the years through camp.


Above: Church member Tibi bringing plenty of joy to the kids with his cotton candy machine.



Above: The woman with the blue shirt and sunglasses has attended various house group meetings at our ministry partner Miki's house. Miki and his wife Erika have developed a good relationship with their family who lives on the same street and who have sent their kids to our Bible Camps over the years.









In the above two pictures, Emi (our teammate's daughter) and our youngest daughter Ziva also got in on the face-painting action. It was great to see them using their God given gifts to serve others.





Above: We also set up our crate climbing contraption that many of the older kids found exciting to try out.

Youth ministry

Above: One way we stay connected with some of the youth in our town is through weekly volleyball. Sziszi about to pass the volleyball (above in blue shirt) has been attending and is also now planning on attending our English Camp in July. We have a good amount of kids signed-up from our area that will be first time attenders to English Camp that don't know the Lord. Pray for God to reach these youth with the Gospel through English Camp.



Above: We also hold a weekly youth group meeting that continues to have a good number of kids attending. Many of them have also volunteered to be helpers in our upcoming Bible Camp in August.

Pentecost Hike

Some advice for anyone visiting Hungary and who is invited to go on a 'short' hike. 'Short hike' or 'easy hike' mean something completely different to our Hungarian friends. They are never short and most likely you'll be very sore the next day :) God was gracious to give us beautiful sunshine the day we had planned for our church to hike up a small mountain not too far away from our village as we celebrated Pentecost together.











After making it to the top, we broke out blankets and food and had some time worshiping together. Afterward we broke into small groups to read and discuss the story of Pentecost and how it applies to our lives today.



Above: Janka (right), who served with our church planting team many years ago before moving to Budapest, is planning on moving back to our village to teach in the local middle school. This is a big change for Janka, but she shared that it feels like she is coming home. Please pray for God to give her wisdom and provision over the next few months of transition.


Above: Náo (Miki and Erika's daughter) and Rebus (Janka's daughter) becoming friends on the hike.


Above: After a half an hour of failure, Miki was finally able to get this kite up and soaring.

Marriage Classes

Above: Over the past three months, we've been holding a Marriage focused small group at our house to help and encourage one another to become the faithful husbands and wives God has called us to be in Christ. One beautiful story that has come out of this time is from Sanyi and Illi (pictured far right). Sanyi shared (nearly in tears) that before he began attending, he was in a hopeless place in his marriage and was considering divorce. By God's grace, as we got into His word and spent time seeking what God's will was for each of us in marriage, both he and his wife realized various ways they needed to repent. He said that after they began attending the small group, he realized that he was just blaming his wife and not taking any personal responsibility for ways that he could change. They both began investing more in their marriage and are on the path to healing and growth! Praise God for this dramatic change!


Above: Sanyi and Illi with their kids.

I wish I could say that over the months ALL of the marriages have come into a place of flourishing and clear growth, but instead the reality is that there is still much struggle, pain and need of healing for many married couples. We continue to be committed to help where we can, but we also ask you to pray for the married couples in our church to find healing and oneness in their marriages. We don't believe our church can be faithful ministers of the Gospel if the Gospel is not being faithfully lived out in our marriages. We continue to trust that God can bring about the needed healing and changes in situations that seem hopeless and impossible to change. Sanyi and Illi are living proof!

English camp for kids in Petofibanya starts next week

Above: Our teammate Roger, who has been teaching in Petofibanya's middle school this year, has organized a children's English Camp in our village that begins next week (not to be confused with our English Camp for teens and young adults that is in July). He has a team from his home church in the U.S. who have graciously planned and prepared for the week who will be arriving in Hungary on Friday. We ask that you pray for them and for all the kids who will be attending to experience the love and truth of Christ through this camp (and of course learn English along the way)!







Thanks for your investment in our lives that God has used to encourage us to press on in ministry through your partnership. We look forward to God doing great things this Summer through the various camps that are ahead. Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support.

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)