Missionary Work

Working as missionaries is a lot like other kinds of work.  You have the main work you do, then you have paperwork, reports, meetings, and other obligations that often don't seem to help you accomplish what you were hired to do.  Actually, all those things are necessary, but some days it seems the "extras" are all you accomplish.

We did some "extra" work today, fine-tuning a video presentation.  It is vitally important to inform those back home what were are doing here and how God is working through us, and a video presentation is a good way to do that.  So, if you see a short video about is in the near future, please let us know.  Oh, and if your profession involves making videos, we'd love to have you come visit and help us make the next one!

Tomor Baptism

 What joy we experienced on Saturday in Tomor as we watched eight people be baptised and almost 40 make decisions to follow Christ!

Zoli Ács, an INSTE graduate preached a salvation message

Zoli Acs, one of our INSTE graduates, has been going frequently to the village of Tomor and surrounding villages speaking to people about Jesus.  Many have made commitments to follow Christ.  Of those, nine make up the INSTE group we are leading in Tomor.  Seeing the results of Zoli's evangelism in this region, Michael Gulyas and the Open Bible leaders decided to conduct a baptismal service in Tomor.  They bought a portable baptismal unit and planned to take it to Tomor and three other Hungarian towns where Open Bible is working, but where there is no convenient place for baptisms.  For Tomor, plans included not only a morning baptismal service, but also a noon meal to be provided and an afternoon evangelistic meeting. 

The plans to go to Tomor met with a lot of resistance the week of the services. Permission to use the community building and grounds was obtained from the police, but the mayor refused to give permission.  Further requests in person, by letter and email were also refused.  Even the advice from a lawyer didn't work.  Of course, many were praying, and Friday noon, permission was finally received.  But on Friday, the weather was very windy, too windy for outside activities and there was no place indoors for the baptism.  Still many were praying and Saturday's weather was perfect.  A youth service was planned for Friday afternoon with about 18 to 20 expected--no one, not a single teenager, came!  But nothing can stop what God wants to do!

About 250 from Tomor and surrounding villages attended

Saturday people arrived from Tomor and the surrounding villages by bus and van and on foot until about 250 were present for the service on the community center lawn.  One teenager and the seven INSTE students who had not been previously baptised, were baptised in front of the crowd.  It took a lot of courage for these eight, since the audience consisted of their friends, neighbors and relatives, only a few of whom were believers.

The 8 candidates for baptism

A lunch of paprika potato soup and bread was served to everyone present.  Then in the afternoon, Zoli Acs preached a simple, yet powerful message from John 3:16.  About 40 people came to the front to pray for salvation!  Included were relatives of those baptised earlier.  Praise God!

About 40 responded to the invitation for salvation

 

Two of our INSTE students, Dezső and Annamaria Budai (on the right), praying for family members who just gave their hearts to the Lord.

Please pray for the people in Tomor and the surrounding villages, that the new believers will grow in Christ and that a new church or churches will be established soon.

Ibrány Baptism

Sometimes we wish we could be in two places at once.  Last weekend was one of those times.  We traveled to Gherla, Romania and enjoyed wonderful ministry and fellowship there, but to do so we had to miss the baptism service in Ibrány.  Ibrány is a church started and led by INSTE graduates that is seeing phenomenal growth and blessing from God. Their biggest problem is they don't have room for all the people who come! Last night we heard that on Sunday, 22 people were baptised.  Praise the Lord!  The oldest baptismal candidate was 85 years old and the youngest was 12.  The oldest was the great-grandfather of the youngest!  How we thank God for what He is doing in Ibrány!

Cute Kids

I couldn't resist putting up a picture of the Mother's Day presentation from the Debrecen Open Bible Church.  Little Veronika is the same age as our oldest grandson, so we have a special connection with her.  Here she is reciting a poem about mothers while her big sister looks on.  Kids everywhere are so cute!

Baptism in Nyiregyháza

 

This picture tells a story about the baptismal service we attended in Nyiregyháza Saturday.  Four young people from the Open Bible Church there were baptised in a small portable tank set up in the courtyard of the church.  Even though rain had been predicted, many people prayed and it was a beautiful, warm summer-like day.  

The service began with Livia (in the background in the picture in the animal print shirt) and the worship team leading in worship.  There were testimonies and a sermon by Pastor Gulyás.  Then Pastors Róbert and Berci conducted the baptisms.  Each candidate gave a short testimony and then a scripture for each of them was read aloud (that is what Berci is doing in the picture).  The candidates were prayed for and then baptized.  

Everyone had a wonderful time rejoicing with these teenagers.  It was especially exciting for Livia.  She is not only the worship leader, but is also the youth leader and had a significant role in the salvation of each of the kids.  We were happy along with Livia since she is one of our INSTE graduates.  It is always thrilling to see our INSTE students and graduates fulfilling God's call on their lives!

Joys of Translating

We are so excited about the progress of the translation of the Level Two INSTE books.  Two books have been finished and four are in process. Our translation team is doing a wonderful job! We thank the Lord for our them.  What a gift to the body of Christ!

There are always questions as we work through the process.  Even though we are not capable of doing the translation ourselves, the translators, editor and proofreader need to ask our opinion from time to time.  Some of the questions are difficult to resolve, like which Bible translation to use.  Do we use an easier-to-understand, more modern translation, or do we use an older translation that uses separate words for "soul" and "spirit"?  Or, which word for "Christian" do we use, the Catholic or the Protestant word which are close, but not the same.  Do we use the Catholic word in historical references and the Protestant word for modern references?  Hmmm.  And there are the technical questions such as, "Can you send that book to me in another format?  My computer won't open the one you already sent."

The costs for the translation have been pretty much what was estimated so far.  We are very thankful for all of you who have donated toward the translation work.  Thank you!  Just a shameless plug here--if you are at all able and are interested in training pastors and leaders in Hungarian churches, please send your donations to Open Bible International Ministries, marked "Hungarian INSTE translation." (The link is on the right of this page.) We have enough funds to translate about half of the Second Level books, and are trusting God to use people like you to provide the rest.

The need is urgent for INSTE in Hungary.  Many people are being saved and are in need of discipleship, and many new and existing churches need Bible-trained leaders.  It is truly an exciting time!

Cuckoo and Mother's Day

Cuckoo (picture from Wikipedia)

Yesterday, since the weather was so nice, our INSTE group met outside.  While the class was taking the test, we noticed what sounded like a cuckoo clock.  It wasn't a clock, though, it was a real cuckoo bird!  And it kept singing during most of the class time!

And yesterday was a special day in Hungary not only because Mike preached at The House church in Debrecen, but also because it was Mother's Day.  All the mothers at church, including Nancy, received a rose like this one.  Nancy is looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day again this coming Sunday--the American Mother's Day!

Mother's Day rose from The House church.

Radish!

The last week in March we planted a small garden.  Just a few carrots, radishes and lettuce.  And look!  Here is the first radish from our garden! 

I must confess that I (Nancy) am not a gardener.  Even house plants die in my care, but here is a vegetable that grew from a seed I planted!  I'm so excited!  And the soil in our little garden plot is very sandy, too! 

There could be a lot of spiritual lessons learned from this.  I can't resist saying that when we plant the seeds God gives us (speak and do what he tells us) and water them faithfully (pray), God does the rest of the work.