Relaunch of in-person ministry:
On May 31st we were able to reopen both of our churches for worship services. It has been great to have the churches up and running again. We started out with about 50% of our regular attendance, but by now most of our people have returned.
Focus Church Budapest
It has been exciting to see first-time visitors every Sunday since we reopened the church. Several said that they began watching the livestream during the lockdown. A number of these visitors have returned for a second or third visit. Several are unsaved, so we are praying for their salvation. It is great to see how the Lord used the lockdown to get us to livestream, and then used the livestream to increase our outreach.
On June 21st we had a special service to welcome 10 new members into the church. Two are young couples. The rest are single young adults. We now have 40 members. It is exciting to see how the Lord is building His church.
Transition in Esztergom:
On July 5th I announced to our church in Esztergom that I would be stepping down as pastor sometime in the next year. This came as a shock to many, and many tears were shed. As we helped found the church in 1995, and I have been the lead pastor since 1998, for many of our people, I am the only pastor they have ever had. I will help lead the church through this transition period, as we seek a new pastor to take over the church. The goal would be to turn the church over by June 2021 at the latest. At that point we will be able to turn our attention fully to our new church in Budapest. We will also be planning to move to Budapest at that time, so we will need to sell our house and look for an apartment in Budapest. Please pray for the church and for us during this transition time!
Summer furlough:
Lord willing, we will be in the US from July 14-August 26th. One purpose will be to get Hannah settled at Cedarville University in Ohio. Another purpose will be to raise some much-needed additional support, so we are already working on setting up meetings with both churches and individuals. Of course, we will be getting around to visit our family as well. Obviously, there is still a lot of uncertainty in regard to international travel, but God is good, and He knows when and where we need to be!
We are currently finalizing the design for our new prayer card and also preparing a new ministry video. We will pass these along to you as soon as they are ready. Hopefully we will see some of you in the next few weeks. If we can’t meet with you in person, we would be happy to set up a time to talk over Skype, Messenger or Zoom. Thank you for your prayers!
