Covid Update:
The past two months have been pretty crazy due to the Covid situation. Charin and I both came down with Covid at the end of January. We were both very sick for about two weeks and are still regaining our strength 5 weeks later. We also had a breakout at our church in Esztergom. At one point in February, we had 17 church members down with Covid. Two of them were elderly members who passed away. So, it was a challenging time of trying to minister to hurting families, while we were still recovering ourselves. Thankfully, Focus Church was not affected so severely, so we were able to stay open through the month of February. The Covid situation in Hungary continues to deteriorate and on March 8th the government introduced even more severe restrictions, so we had to move both churches back to online only ministry. Please pray for the situation to improve in Hungary. We would love to reopen our churches on Easter Sunday!
Focus Church:
Focus Church was open for in-person services for 6 weeks from mid-January through the end of February. We missed three of these Sundays when we were down with Covid, but it was a blessing when we were able to get back into church for the last two Sundays in February. How we had missed the fellowship of being together with other believers and also the joy of corporate worship! We were also able to have two special events during this time. On February 21st we had a baby dedication for one of our young couples. On February 28th we were able to welcome four new members into the church family. Despite all the challenges that Covid has created, it is amazing to watch God working as the church continues to grow and move forward.
Esztergom Baptist Church
We were open for in-person services the last two weeks of January before our outbreak moved us back to online only ministry. This has continued through all of February and now into March. Despite being closed, the virus continues to spread among our members. We currently have six members down with Covid right now. Please pray for health for our people. We hope to be able to reopen in April. On a positive note, we have made good progress in our search for a new pastor. Our leadership team had a second meeting with a prospective pastor that went very well. We hope to have this couple return in April on a Sunday, when they can meet with the entire church family. Of course, Covid complicates this, but we are hoping the situation by then will allow us to hold services in person. We are praying that if this is the Lord’s will, that we will be able to have the church vote by the end of April. Please pray for the Lord’s leadership and direction.
Move to Budapest:
We are moving forward on preparations for our move to Budapest. We have a verbal agreement on the sale of our house and hope to sign the contract next week. The contract will be set up with a moving date sometime in June, so we will have a few months to prepare. We have looked at several apartments in Budapest and are hoping to come to a decision soon. Please pray for us to make a wise decision. We want the apartment to be a good investment and also a place where we can minister to our people effectively.
Thank you for your prayers and faithful support of our ministry!
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| Baby dedication |
