Ippistle 41

Ippistle 41

June 16, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Our fourth year of being in Hungary is coming to a close. In just a couple of days we will be returning to the United States for the summer. We are very eager to see our family and friends again!

When we began this adventure four years ago, we hoped and prayed that God would bless our work and that we would even be able to see some of the fruit from the seeds that were planted. We knew that this might not happen and we were content to watch, knowing that even if we didn't see the fruit, that God was still working and our labor would not be in vain.

In our April, 2010 Ippistle we wrote: “Jack recently had an opportunity to talk with a student at Trefort about his faith. After substituting in a class that Jack does not normally teach, this student asked Jack if he was religious. After Jack’s affirmative answer that he was a Christian, Chris commented that he has felt something stirring inside him and that he knew that nothing happens by accident. Jack affirmed the stirrings as coming from God and agreed that even the fact that Jack taught in that class that day was no accident. Jack gave him a Hungarian/English Bible the next day and agreed to meet with Chris regularly to talk more. Please pray for Chris to continue to be responsive to the Holy Spirit. Pray also for Jack’s future meetings with Chris. He has many questions, but seems to be eager to keep moving toward God!”

Over the past two years, Jack and Chris have met off and on. There were many times that it seemed like there was really no interest on Chris's part. Then a month ago, Chris started attending The Bridge, the Tuesday night Bible study that we are a part of. It was obvious that there had been a change in Chris, and that he was enthusiastic about what he was hearing and learning at The Bridge. Last week David, the pastor who leads The Bridge, offered a class for anyone that was interested in being baptized. Chris attended and was baptized this past weekend in Lake Balaton surrounded by the rest of the group. It was a real time of celebration! Please continue to pray for Chris as he matures in his faith walk.

We are realizing more and more that the relationships that began months and even years ago are now bearing fruit. At this time last year, our friend Szilvi became the first Trefort student to attend The Bridge, after participating in a trash pick-up event with us. Then Szilvi invited Ákos to a cookout at our last Bridge meeting of the year last June. Since then Ákos, who a year ago said he was an agnostic, has been attending The Bridge every Tuesday. It is obvious to us, from his comments at The Bridge and his participation each week, that the Holy Spirit is working in his heart and life. Earlier this spring, Ákos invited Anett to The Bridge, and Chris invited his best friend Tamás. So now a year later, we are seeing five Trefort students involved in varying degrees.

In our May Ippistle we asked you to be praying for the right candidates to come forward to fill the two TeachOverseas teaching positions in Hungary. God has answered our prayers in a way that surpasses all of our expectations. Our friends Paul and Erin have felt called to fill these positions. Erin is also a Calvin College alum and was part of our team a year ago, teaching in Sarospatak. Paul was a part of the TeachOverseas team in Kazakhstan. They met at training the summer prior to their teaching assignments and “dated” via skype, including a surprise proposal that we had a part in orchestrating that Christmas. They were married last October and have been living in Paul's hometown in Pennsylvania. This August they will move to Budapest and will be living in the flat next to us. They will fill the English teaching positions at Trefort with Jack. We know that they will be a wonderful addition to the Trefort staff as well as to other communities that God will place them in here in Budapest. We're excited to work alongside them in the coming year.

So you can see that we are eagerly anticipating year five, being encouraged in knowing that God is using us in people's lives here. We humbly ask again for your partnership for the coming year, praying for us and supporting us financially. Thank you for walking with us in this adventure. We hope to see many of you while we are in the States in the coming weeks.

Blessings!

Jack and Cindy Ippel
Serving in Hungary with TeachOverseas and Christian Reformed World Missions
Our blog is www.hopeinhungary.blogspot.com