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Many of you are aware of the wonderful ministry taking place in Hungary that we are involved in, With two church groups (one in Budapest and the other in Győr), I (Gerry) am honoured to lead this ministry. However, it all takes money and that means we need your support! We are not asking for you to support us but rather to support the church itself.

So what do our churches in Hungary do? Bible studies, counselling, ministry to children, high schoolers, University students and families, church services in prisons and work with the homeless are just some of the areas we serve in. We are seeing communities and lives transformed by the love of Christ. Although we currently have two churches in Hungary, we connect to a number of ministries across both Hungary and Romania. For a relatively small group, the Lord has given us a huge territory and blessed us with many connections into ministry. Actually, we struggle to meet the demand. We struggle to finance everything the Lord is calling us to be involved in.

Our vehicles are old, yet we need to drive a couple of hours each way to hold services at the largest prison for women in Hungary. What a blessing to be able to reach those who are currently imprisoned! We desire to offer good quality training for those in pastoral development but hosting teachers requires finances as does the paying of bills for the facilities we use. We reach women who have been abused and have left their homes, prevent children from being forced into prostitution and human trafficking, yet to do all this we need to ensure that staff are paid. We need you! The smallest of gifts will make a difference and enable us to reach more and more people with the Gospel. Perhaps consider skipping one meal this month and using the time of fasting

brown book page
Photo by Wendy van Zyl on Pexels.com

to pray for the church in Hungary and give the money you would have paid for the meal to support this minstry.

See the following video if you would like more information. The end of the video contains a link where you can give. I urge you to consider giving to the development of the church in Hungary.    https://vimeo.com/371887075

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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!

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These past days have been very busy but so much achieved!

In Győr, Hungary we organised an Introduction to Theology course for two ladies from our church, taught by our colleague and friend Rev. Dr. Marcie Potts. One of these ladies is considering ordination. What a privilege to see God raising leaders!

In Budapest, Hungary, our daughter Zsuzsi presented on preventative measures to combat human trafficking at a conference. Zsuzsi is the coordinator of Set Free Hungary, a Christian organization dedicated to fighting modern day slavery.

I spent this weekend in Ukraine. I met with our ministry partners here who serve men who struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. We are currently exploring having a construction team come to serve by working on the rehab centre. Are you interested? Contact me!

I also met with several ladies who are developing their own micro enterprise. I had seen the exquisite handicrafts that one lady makes a year or two ago and suggested she could make this a business. With God’s help, some good advice and elbow grease, this dream is becoming a reality! You can see some examples below in the photos. Please pray as the ladies and I work towards this becoming a Christian business that will bless them, their families, churches and community.

Want to know more? Want to help or support? Send me a message and we can talk!

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I had the honour of being invited to the dedication of a new home for the protection of at risk young girls this weekend in Bulgaria. Due to reasons of safety I will not give too many details.

The Set Free Movement has partnered with our friends and colleagues Chance and Dee Dee Galloway in opening a home for girls who are at risk of being trafficked. See the following site for more details: https://www.stjohnbg.com/ There us still a little work to be done in the house but soon it will be a home to as mmy as eight teenage girls!

Chance and Dee Dee along with a number of wonderful Bulgarian leaders have done an incredible job of making this dream to help and protect the most vulnerable become a reality.

I also got to visit a wonderful church group. This simple church is built right next to beautiful house which is owned by a pimp. This church is truly light in the darkness!

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We had a wonderful week at the children’s home in Gyor. A team of five people from Decatur, Illinois joined us as we ministered each day at the camp. We sang Christian songs, played games, did handicrafts, had a Bible message and taught simple English language lessons.

Many children from these institutions in Hungary (between 60%-70%) end up being trafficked and working in prostitution. Our goal is to teach them of the love of Christ, help with their education and model for them Christian living. The team from Decatur is a team dedicated to fighting human trafficking and our partnership was intentional and powerful.

Praise God that a number of children gave their life to the Lord today (our final day). We have been invited back to continue this ministry. Kathy has been going in weekly to one group of kids for several years but will hopefully begin going in to a second group on a weekly basis also. We also made very significant connections with staff and hope to see some come along to visit our Sunday worship.

We purchased pizza for everyone yesterday and the kids and team enjoyed a July 4th celebration together! Thank you to all those in our local church in Győr who contributed to buying the pizza. Please continue to pray for this ministry and do contact me if you would like to support in anyway this ongoing work.

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It was not the nails that held Christ to the cross, rather it was His love for us! As I looked out over the beautiful city of Győr this week, I was reminded how much God loves this city and all the people who live here.

Having served here for many years I can honestly say that although the city is magnificent, the need for Christ is beyond belief. Behind the amazing architecture we see the homeless, along with the Audi cars we see the children who are trafficked, drugs flood the streets and alcohol holds so many in its evil grasp. Sometimes I lose hope, I feel powerless against the flood of evil. Yet, I have a God who rose from the dead, gave sight to the blind and made the lame to walk! Won’t you join us in praying for this great city? For every single person, man, woman and child, to come to faith?

We too are held to Győr by love, not by nails. We love the children at the orphanage, the refugees at the detention centre, the Hungarians and foreigners who live here and worship with us. We love to preach, teach, counsel and help. We have rescued women who were trafficked, counseled men and women with PTSD, visited the ill in hospital and comforted those who mourn. Will you now consider supporting us both prayerfully and financially? We have only 46% of our support needs for 2019 raised and/or pledged. Unless significant support is raised, we will be struggling to make ends meet and will have to consider our future in ministry. We lost support from a couple of churches at the end of 2018. Perhaps your church, your home group or you yourself would like to partner in Kingdom work?

Please help us by sharing this post in your churches and amongst your Christian friends.

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UPDATE!!! January 20th

Thanks for your prayers over the past days. This evening at 7pm (after I got back from ministry in Budapest) we went to visit this family. We brought meat, vegetables and bread. Sadly we were greeted with tears as the father died yesterday. We spoke with his wife, she is heartbroken. Please pray for her. She, ‘L’, is raising three of her grandchildren without any help as the mother of those children (her daughter) works the streets as a prostitute and is very unwell physically. With little money, food and wood for heating their situation is desperate. ‘L’ has to go for an operation in March. Pray we can help find care for the children when she is in hospital. We are praying for a miracle.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

UPDATE finished.

The last couple of days have been tough. A family we have worked with and helped for a many years are going through some really difficult times. The father (who is diabetic and in a wheelchair) just had two strokes and is in a coma.

One of his daughters called me Sunday to tell me they had no food in the house, no firewood and a couple of the kids are unwell. This year alone 35 people have frozen to death in Hungary (many because they cannot afford to heat their homes). I knew I had to help as soon as possible.

When I got to the house I discovered a hole in the wall (covered in the pictures by black plastic and cardboard). Kids poorly dressed, unclean and ill. Sadly two of the adult daughters have been exploited and trafficked.

We (Kati and I), got them food, clothes and vitamins. A wonderful Christian man I asked to help provided a huge amount of firewood and we delivered it today. Please pray for the ‘H’ family.

I personally feel overwhelmed. I have prayed for them and spoke to them about Christ. I’m not asking for money!!! If it was given to them it would be spent on recreational drugs or something unnecessary. I am asking for prayer. I just don’t know what else we can do to help… Sadly this story is repeated in many homes throughout Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and other former communist countries in Europe. Those of us ministering in these situations need your prayer. Thank you!