Ippistle 12

Ippistle 12
May 17, 2009


Dear Friends and Family,

The numbering system for our Ippistles indicates that we have come to the twelfth month of this adventure. This past year seems to have flown by rather quickly; but we have learned so much, met so many wonderful people, and still believe that we are making a difference in the lives of those around us. Our colleagues at work are happy to know that we are returning for another year, and now the words “next year” creep into many of our conversations.

Thank you for continuing to partner with us here in Budapest. We appreciate the emails that many of you have sent, encouraging us and keeping us connected with your lives.

Students and teachers at Trefort Ágoston are beginning to see the end of the year. Four groups of 12th and 13th graders had their graduation two weeks ago, and now are studying for additional tests that they must take in the next month. The rest of the student body now anticipates written and oral tests, to be completed before the last day of school, June 11. Unfortunately, students are losing steam and are having difficulty focusing. By noon they are ready to be outdoors and away from school. The teachers are very likely feeling the same way.

Evergreen Ministries, our home church, is using its "corners offerings" for May for us to use for special projects. We have decided that one way to use this money is towards gift Bibles for Jack’s graduating students. We were able to order the "Good News" English/Hungarian Bible through the Mission Institute library. Nine of the graduating boys were in Jack’s 12th grade conversation class and one was the 13th grader that he tutored this year, Jozsef (Coci). Please pray that the students will value this gift enough to read it, if not now, sometime in their future. We have the promise that God’s word will not return void.

The church that we have been attending here in Budapest has plans to begin a new church here in Kispest, the area of the city that we live in. We are excited about Calvary Chapel’s church-plant plans. There are many activities being planned as outreach tools during the first week of August, such as sports camps, concerts, English camp, and children’s games. Pray that God’s Spirit will open doors so that Calvary can find a place to hold these events, and pray for open hearts to the message that they bring to Kispest. You can see an introductory video produced for this occasion at http://www.labnyom.com/labnyom_wsubtitle.mp4
It will give you an idea of the plans as well as show you the area where we live. It’s in Hungarian with English subtitles, so you can get a feel for how life sounds here as well. The Hungarian word “labnyom” means footprint. We’re praying that these outreach events and future church plant will truly leave an imprint on the lives of many in Kispest.

Cindy has just been attending a seminar on Gypsy Ministry/Prayer/and Church Growth. (She also acted as videographer for this conference—bet you didn’t know she was so gifted in this area; she didn’t either!) It was sponsored by the Mission Institute and featured a ministry leader from Mumbai, India, Arthur Thamgiah. He had much to teach and many came from around Hungary and Ukraine to learn. His insights on breaking “strongholds” were straightforward, and he gave powerful insights into how Satan controls people and cities and how to effectively break those strongholds. We are so often blinded as to how we are blocking God in working effectively through us. You have heard us often refer to the hopelessness that we see here in Hungary. Arthur taught that one effective way to break a stronghold is to do the opposite. As an example: if one acknowledges that greed is a stronghold in his life, the best way to break it is to be generous and begin giving generously. So we know that our calling here in Hungary is to break the stronghold of hopelessness by bringing hope. Whenever we can, we are to be encouragers. Whenever we see hopeful things happening, we need to notice them, give God the credit and point them out to others. We know that this is how God is using us here. Please pray that we will continue to bring encouragement to others and that God will begin transforming their lives through the hope He brings.

If you haven’t visited www.hopeinhungary.blogspot.com in a while, please check out some of the recent posts and pictures. We want you to stay informed as you partner with us.

Áldás és békesség! Blessing and peace!

Jack and Cindy