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*Note that I am not using the city name to protect our partners.

It has been an excellent few days in Russia. I came to meet with new partners in ministry and to teach a course. We explored a number of areas including the early Methodist movement, women in ordination, church structures and social justice ministry. I was very excited to hear their hopes and dreams for their city and country!

I also got to visit a crisis centre for children who are taken from their families for various reasons. This particular centre holds up to 55 kids from all across the former USSR. I had a very productive meeting with the director and will be back soon to teach at the centre on mental health care.

It wasn’t all work and I got to enjoy some famous sights 🙂

Would you like to support this ministry? Do you desire to see God reach Russia? Write to me! Also to give online go here: https://give.fmcusa.org/donation/df-cpdrussia

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It is a joy this week to be involved in teaching three leaders who God is calling into deeper service. Philip, Sarah and Sylvia are all studying towards ordination. This week they are studying the history of Methodism and a number of the key figures such as John and Charles Wesley, B.T. Roberts and George Whitfield. They are also studying theology such as entire sanctification, Wesleyan quadrilateral and the order of salvation.

Next week I will travel to Russia (name of the city withheld to protect our leaders), to teach this course again to three leaders there who are also exploring how God may want them to serve. I appreciate your prayers as I prepare.

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This post is the text of our recent Christmas newsletter. It was sent out to by regular post to partners in America, Ireland and the UK.

Dear Friends,
Greetings from Győr, Hungary! I hope that this letter finds each of you very well and blessed. As supporters of our ministry, we send you a newsletter once a year by snail mail at Christmas. However, if you want regular updates, please see our website, http://www.hungaryforchrist.com  It contains a lot of stories, photos and videos and is a great way to see more of what we are doing. You can also feel free to call me or write an email (numbers and address above) if you would like more information.

2019 was a year that was filled with ministry opportunities. The church in Győr continues to grow and reach more and more people every week. Our various groups continue to grow and we see new faces on a weekly basis. In particular the work in the orphanage, MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) and development of new leaders has seen very encouraging growth! At the orphanage, Kathy now has two other ladies who regularly join her on Wednesdays to minister to the kids on both the temporary and the permanent floors of the orphanage. We also hope to have some of the kids join us at worship on Sundays in the near future. MOPS continues to bring in more and more young women and we are starting to see some of them join us for worship on Sundays. I will hand over the role of pastor of the Győr church in January to a friend and colleague, Wick Anderson (Wick and his family are missionaries from America) and we will also appoint an assistant pastor, a Hungarian lady named Sylvia. Sylvia has begun her studies in theology and is feeling called by God to serve His people. Please pray for these wonderful leaders!

As I step out of the role as Győr church pastor, I will continue to minister but more on a national and international level. I now have responsibility for leadership and development of ministry in Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and am looking at some potential partnership(s) in Moldova. These ministries include church-planting, a rehab center for alcohol and drug addictions, work with orphans, the homeless, Bible studies and education for people considering ordained ministry. I cannot explain well the excitment and honour I feel at being involved with so much wonderful ministry! Many of those involved in these ministries face significant challenges financially and some even face persecution from authorities. Please pray.

Of course, all of these ministry opportunites and responsibilities also include a tremendous amount of travel. I have become no stranger to airports and by the end of this year I will have totalled 36 flight segments for ministry travel and several international car and train journeys also. 2020 will also include significant travel with flights already booked to America, Bulgaria and Russia. I am currently booked through to November of 2020 and have little room for extra travel but am always happy to connect with you and your church through Skype or Zoom. If possible we would be delighted to join your worship service via video and spend a few minutes sharing about ministry in Hungary and across Europe. For those of you in the New York State area, I will be in America March 13th to 24th and will speak at five churches. Please contact me if you would like to know times, dates and places of my speaking arrangements.

On a more personal note, we celebrated the wedding of our daughter Zsuzsi in April which was a blessed occassion. Both Csilla and Zsuzsi will graduate from University in February with Zsuzsi then continuing her studies in theology. Csilla is considering both further education and work possibilities. Katica is doing very well as she contiues her studies in physiotherapy. She is nearing the end of her third semester and next semester in April she will begin the first of her practical placements and will be in Győr for that. We are thankful that she will have more time at home! Kathy and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary in May and enjoyed a wonderful holiday together in October to celebrate. It was only a week away but it did much to recharge us both physically and spiritually. We all continue to pursue a number of hobbies and interests that include weightlifting, walking with our dogs, reading and enjoying coffee.

I would like to particularly thank those of you who so kindly hosted me this year at various times in your homes, took me out for a meal or bought me a coffee. I really enjoyed wonderful time with people in Oregon, Louisiana, UK, Ukraine and numerous other places. Thank you all! Your conversation, prayers, friendship and willingness to listen to what God is doing here in Europe means very much to me indeed.

You are our partners in this ministry and without your prayer and financial support, none of this would be possible. Please feel free to write to us, ask us more questions and send us encouraging notes We enjoy hearing from you!

Blessings,
Gerry, Kathy, Csilla, Zsuzsi and Katica McNamara

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I had my final trip of 2019 when I visited our partner ministry of Vis de Copil in Arad, Hungary. It was a time of meeting friends new and old and an opportunity to connect with a lot of people.

This time I had the pleasure of meeting musicians Beki Hemingway and her husband Randy Kerkman. They live in Dundalk, Ireland and travel to various places to bring a mix of gospel/country/rock music to help people turn their attention to God through the medium of music. They were both in Romania serving at Vis de Copil for ten days or so which is something they do every year. We all had the pleasure of sharing peeling potatoes and stacking gift boxes for the needy! You can find more about them on bekihemingway.com Those of you in Ireland may be interested to note that they are willing to travel to your church or home group and serve through the ministry of music.

After a busy year of travel, I am excited to be at home now until February 1st when I travel to visit ministry in Russia. Prayers for a blessed Christmas season and time to rest and enjoy family is appreciated!

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I am currently in Florida, USA attending meetings for the the Impact Europe Board. Impact Europe is about empowering national leaders across Europe to engage others in their communities with the Gospel message. Community church planting is a key area of reaching the lost. This means small groups meeting with the goal of training new leaders to multiply these groups all across their local area.

Whilst in Florida, I was blessed to speak at the Cornerstone Community Church in St. Petersburg on Sunday morning and also to present to one of their Sunday school classes. Thanks so much to Pastors Jason and Genniser for having me visit!

I also was able to do some fun activities including going to a Gold’s gym and taking a 30 minute batting lesson with a former professional baseball player. With warm weather it was great to have a few days away from the cold of Hungary! I arrive home Thursday morning and on Saturday I preach at a prison and the following day I travel to Romania for ministry related reasons. Your prayers for strenght, good health and wisdom are much appreciated!

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I am currently in Madrid, Spain, attending a conference on transformation and revival. Much of it focuses on the need for personal transformation and prayer to bring about revival and transformation of our communities.

Whilst walking with friends in Madrid yesterday, I took this photo of the ‘Homeless Jesus’ sleeping on a bench outside a cathedral. I touched the hole in the foot of the statue, a reminder of the nail that he endured for me. Unfortunately, Madrid, like so many cities worldwide has a significant issue with homelessness.

How do we as Christian men and women respond to those in need? If we are honest with ourselves, do we walk past and ignore the homeless, do we engage by offering food or clothing, do we speak about Christ?

As the winter months are upon us, let us make sure to offer love in a practical way to all who need it. The practical demonstration of our love and the love of Christ to those in need is often more powerful than words ever could be.

If Christ was present in human form with us today, I don’t think we would let him sleep on a park bench. So why do we let our fellow man do so? Reach out and show a little love today.

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One of our ministries in Győr continues to grow very well. MOPS (Mothers of pre-schoolers) which is run by Kathy and our Győr church Director of family ministries Sarah Berta-Somogyi, is a wonderful ministry to young mothers and their children. Today a total of eleven mothers came and brought their kids. Some of these mums are now beginning to come along to worship also and bring their kids with them!

MOPS is a twice monthly program where these woman come together to hear quality Christian teaching, have fellowship and allow their kids to play together in a safe and loving environment. Many young mothers are lonely and this is a wonderful way for them to connect with others.

Sarah has been an incredible driving force in getting his group started and Kathy has been so faithful in always translating (when needed), sharing her experiences as a mother of older children and leading as needed. The two of them make an awesome team and both of these mighty women of God are showing the love of Christ to many young women in the city.

Please pray that more and more of these women would come to Christ, that their families would call Him Lord and that our church and other churches in the city would grow through this ministry.

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I had an excellent visit to Ireland this past weekend. Sunday morning I spoke at Mallow Street Gospel Hall in Limerick. As always I received a very warm welcome and it was good to catch up with old friends.

On Monday morning I drove about 3 hours to visit Drewstown (Drewstown being two of my photos on his post) Christian retreat center (in Co. Meath) and met with the leader of the Dublin Family Outreach, Billy Swann. It was exciting see what God is doing in that part of Ireland and I look forward to possible future partnership with these ministries.

Later on Monday I drove to Co. Monaghan where I spoke at the 66th annual Missionary conference in the Presbyterian church in Ballyalbany. About 80 people were present (great for a Monday evening). These people represented many denominations, including Elim, Baptist, Methodist and of course Presbyterians. Wonderful to see people coming together across denominational lines for the spreading of the Gospel.

My hosts for the evening, the Condells, have a mushroom farm. This is something our team in Ukraine is beginning to work on at the rehab centre and I was excited to see a real mushroom farm in operation!

Today I fly home. I am excited to see my family and rest a little. Later this week I have meetings organised, a sermon to prepare for Sunday and Bible study for tomorrow. I am blessed to serve and blessed to have you partner with us!

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I had the pleasure of a quick visit to Arad this weekend. Along with my missionary colleague and friend, Josh Fajardo, we visited our friends in missions at Vis de Copil. As regular readers of my site will know, Vis de Copil serve the poorest in Arad (many who are among the very poorest of people in all of Europe).

Currently Vis de Copil are serving up to 50 or 60 people a day hot meals Monday to Friday, offering them a place to shower, wash clothes and get clothing and hygiene products. Today they began serving on Saturdays with a program for kids.

Please pray for Ken, Katherine, Philip, Irina and the volunteers who serve so faithfully day after day in what can be a very challenging and exhausting ministry.

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Today at church we launched our latest project of ‘Welcome packages’ for children going into the temporary floor at the care home we serve in.

Many of these children have been taken from their families and placed in state care. This can be for a large number of reasons, for example parents may be sentenced to time in prison, addicted to alcohol or drugs etc. and the kids need a safe place. When they arrive, these kids often have nothing of their own. As a church, lead by Kathy, Sarah Anderson and Sylvia we will be providing a welcome package to each child as they enter the care system in our city.

From the photo below you can see what each package will contain. We want to invite you to also partner with us in this project. You may either send a financial contribution or stop by our church on a Sunday afternoon (if you live close by) and bring some of the listed items. We also want to encourage you to pray with us for these children. We so desire that they cme to know Christ as their Saviour!!! Through His love and sacrifice we believe that these boys and girls can be saved from those who would prey upon them and force them into prostitution (as is so often the case). In Christ, they also can have life eternal and Victory!