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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!

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Today we went to the orphanage to hold a Christmas service for the kids. What an honour to present the Gospel to these kids! Nine of the twelve kids were present and we enjoyed singing worship songs, a drama presentation, prayer and the giving of gifts.

Afterwards we had some really meaningful chats with the kids. One of the older boys (L – 17 years old) and Gerry talked for a good twenty minutes. Please pray that this will open the door for further conversation in the future.

We are grateful to so many people. Financial support from a kids group in New York, local fellowship folks who made beautiful cards with Bible verses and donated soft toys, and you all for praying for these kids!

One of the older boys got the following verse: Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32

Our prayer is that all these kids will know the truth and be set free!!!

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Today we had the pleasure of bringing six of the kids from the orphanage to the cinema. For Mark it was only his second time at the cinema and he had a blast! All the kids enjoyed a 3D movie with plenty of soft drinks and sweets!

This Sunday we will go to the orphanage to hold a Christmas service and give gifts to the kids. Please be in prayer that the Gospel message would touch them and the carers who are present.

Many thanks to a great group of kids in New York State in the USA for raising support for this work!

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‘When the game stands tall’ is a movie based on a true story about a high school American football team being led by a man of faith. Tonight the young people at the Friday night club are watching it. Led by Kathy this evening, a group of 15 came together to worship God, fellowship and enjoy the movie.

It was great to meet Marci this evening. This young man with special needs recently came to the Lord (at the end of August) and he finds this group a place of acceptance and love. We are honoured and blessed to know these young leaders that God is raising up!

Please continue to pray for these young men and women! Please pray in particular for Aisling and Reni the main leaders of the group.

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Occasionally we have requests for information from people in America wondering how they can financially support us. Well there are two ways to do so now. Firstly you can pay via PayPal using the ‘Donate’ button located on this page. Secondly you can also now donate (either as a one time gift or as a recurring payment) via the following page:

https://give.fmcusa.org/donation/csa-hungary—mcnamara-imsa     (you need to look at the left hand side of the pages, click on countries and then click on ‘Hungary – McNamara IMSA’).

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Donations are how we live. It is not fun to ask but without asking you may not know of the need. All the work we do needs financing. Whether it is taking orphans to the zoo, bringing food and clothes to the needy, traveling to a church to preach or providing a hot meal to the homeless we need support. We cannot do this work alone. We want you to be our partner. We understand that many people are requesting support, charities are in constant need. Prayer is the greatest support you can give us. After that we are grateful for your kind words of encouragement via snail mail or e-mail. if you feel led then we are grateful for your financial support.

Soon I (Gerry) will be taking a trip to America. I will be in Florida, Ohio, New York State and Pennsylvania. In an upcoming post I will gives dates, times and places of where I will be presenting about both the work in Hungary and in the Middle-East. Send me an e-mail or leave a comment here if you would like more information.

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This Sunday we had a wonderful time of Bible study, prayer, worship and fellowship as we celebrated the risen Lord! We were blessed by Yoli and Zsolti leading us in worship, Katica and Kathy taught the children and Gerry lead the teaching time. We remembered the sacrifice of Christ as we partook in communion together. Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful meal and then had a serious discussion on the direction of our group and how we can reach more people for Christ. I am so blessed by all these great men and women of Christ and I’m very impressed at how the young people are growing in their faith.

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The underground church in the Middle East met on Friday. Last year I was blessed to celebrate Easter with them. Please continue to pray for believers who are not free to worship Christ without fear of persecution.

Today then we had the Hungarian tradition of ‘locsolás’. On Easter Monday, males sprinkle their female relatives and close friends with water. It is one of the oldest traditions and it symbolizes rebirth, purity and fertility. The picture below is from last year and is of Zsuzsi being doused with water by Zsolti.

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Part of ministering in a country where being a practicing Christian is illegal means being part of the underground church. What is the underground church? What does it mean? Where do they meet? Who goes there and when? Again I can’t go into very specific details as I need to protect those still there and on the off chance that my post is read by an enemy of the church, I don’t want them to gain any information they could use against believers.

First of all the church is the body of Christ. That means that each individual Christian is a member of the body. When the church is underground it is not immediately visible as it is hidden from the eyes of the agents of the government and the Enemy. It has no billboard outside with a name and service times. There is no church website with a photo of a smiling pastor. The underground church may meet in a home, in the basement of a building, out in the dessert or anywhere that believers can come together in safety. Meetings can be held at any time of the day or night and on any day of the week. However the weekend in the Middle East is Friday and Saturday and therefore the main worship meeting will often (but not always) happen sometime over the weekend. Meetings are often not open to everyone. Sadly ex-patriots and locals often do not worship together. A ‘bounty’ of about $1300 is offered by the government for information leading to the arrest of Christians who practice their faith and the government particularly targets those Christians who openly speak of their faith. Due to this, many ex-patriots have a deep distrust of allowing locals into their worship services, prayer meetings and Bible studies. Spies will infiltrate the church to then give in names of key leaders and times and places of meeting. Security is a key word for all concerned.

Why be so concerned you might ask? Sadly the punishment for meeting to worship the living and almighty God is possible imprisonment, lashes and deportation. The punishment for smuggling in Arabic language Bibles may even be as severe as beheading.

Yet the church is exploding! I know of one street alone where three (3) churches meet! I have preached in front of 150 people! I have even heard of a meeting of thousands of believers together at one time! We celebrated the Lord’s supper together every month! Worship is so Holy Spirit filled! God has raised up men and women who are gifted preachers and prayer warriors! God honours His people by blessing his Kingdom work. IMG_20150206_094529

Please join with me in prayer for couples like I and S and D and A who love Christ, who love His people and want to see the Kingdom of God built up in the Middle East. Please pray for brother J who has been arrested and released and still continues the work of the Lord.

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Twice a month, Kathy, together with the other women from the Church,organises a ladies coffee morning on the first and third Fridays of the month. The first Friday is a time of outreach where ladies get together to drink coffee, do handcrafts, discuss family and relationship matters etc. The ladies are intentional about inviting women who are either on the fringes of the church group or women who are just interested in a more active social life.  They have been blessed to see a neighbour to one of the fellowship member’s come along. Please pray for the other ladies they invite (friends, neighbours, colleagues).

The second coffee morning is a time of prayer. This is for the ladies in the fellowship who know Christ as their Saviour.The ladies use this as an opportunity to worship Christ and to support one another. They pray for the local church group, the individuals and families involved and for the mission work we are all involved in. Though this fellowship is small it is truly blessed to have so many women who love God, His church and their families!

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It was lovely to have Katie from Budapest and Lynette from Bratislava join us this Friday.

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Hi this is Zsuzsi, I am writting the blog today. It was my second time going to a home for children with learning disabilites. I had a chance to read the Bible to them. I read the story of Noah’s ark to them and they enjoyed it very much 🙂 We brought them some snacks and we also played with them a lot. Please pray for them and that we can go again.Image

I also do service in a children’s home in Győr. The home is for kids who don’t have parents or they committed some kind of crime. We talk to them about God, sing worship songs or just play. I was there before Christmas and both Katica and Zsolt were there also. We were able to bring them gifts (clothes, chocolate, games, soft toys). Please pray for the teenagers there because they have gone through a lot and they don’t believe that God loves them,

In March, both Katica and I are hoping to attend a CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) training course to teach children about God’s love. Please pray that we would both learn a lot so as to serve God faithfully!

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In the photo with us are two young people who are both friends of our girls and both have given their lives to Christ in the recent past.

Zsolt is in his first year of studying engineering (Zsuzsi led him to the Lord in October) in University and Petra is a student in High School. Both spent  New Years Eve with us and we rang
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in the New Year with prayer, games and lots of food!

Please pray for Petra and Zsolt as they continue in their lives with Christ.

We wish you a blessed New Year! Boldog Új Évet! Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit!