Monday, March 2, 2015

Why have I returned 10 times to Hungary since 2002?

Tonight I, along with 5 students and one intern, had dinner at Monca Rakossy's apartment. Monca was a student that Sharon and I met back in 2002 when I first came to Hungary to teach at Word of Life Bible Institute. Since then she has become the Dean of Women and is a delightful Christian lady that I look forward to meeting each time I return. She loves the Lord and the women under her care (Monca is on the top right with the Word of Life hoodie).
As we ate dinner tonight I looked around the table and realized that there was a person there from Romania, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia, and a young married couple from Macedonia (the husband Tony had to leave before we took the picture above). Mark, an intern from Slovakia is taking the above picture – I just wanted my good friends to know that I wasn't left there as the lone male (see the pics to the right with Mark! 

Why do I return almost every year? To teach young people like this who will have an impact for Christ around the world in the next few years!
For the next week I will teach 62 young people the book of 2 Timothy. They are from 15 different countries and speak well over 15 different languages (they each have to speak either English or Hungarian to be admitted to this Bible Institute)! I'd appreciate prayer that I will be filled with the Spirit and used by the Lord in teaching His Word.
The street in Tóalmás leading up to the gate of the Word of Life property (through the gate seen at the end of the street).
The young lady from Kazakhstan mentioned that her country is 70% Muslim and that being a Christian in this former Communistic country that is close friends with Russia can be "hard" at times. And I remembered that sometimes I complain about some of my "difficulties." The young couple from Macedonia wants to go back and plant a church in a country with very few churches (mostly Charismatics) and only a few thousand registered evangelicals in the entire country – and only a small number of these are ready to share the gospel with others. And I think of when I complained at the difficulties of planting a church!

Why do I come back year after year? So that I can learn and be challenged by the lives of these young people who are prepared to sacrifice for the Lord in ways that I have never been challenged to do. 

If you'd like to be a student here, or be part of serving here in the the summer camp ministry, check out the opportunities at: http://www.eletszava.org/

1 comment:

  1. Praise the Lord for such opportunities to serve His Kingdom activity!

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