Summary:
1. This has been the most profitable trip to Hungary so far we feel.
2. We have had amazing doors opened up to us because of the fact that the planned European Conference did not take place for a number of regions. The result was that we were asked to go to train in outlying regions rather than having church planters come to Budapest as last year. This was hardest on us but gave us the greatest exposure to many church planters.
3. So after Budapest, we went to Debrecen which is the 2nd largest city in Hungary (pop. 211,000) with ministry with Sandor (Alexander) Toth’s church. This church has sent a team to Szeged to plant a church and wants to plant a church in France as you will remember from the e-mail I sent you. The result of decentralization was contact with all his leaders and then in the evening sessions with participation of leaders from 6 other Baptist Churches and the pastor of the Pentecostal Church).
Then we went to Szeged (3rd largest city in Hungary, population 156,000) from Debrecen and had evening services in the largest Baptist Church in the City (fairly traditional) with the participants from 7 churches in Szeged and suburbs. We visited a church in Kubekhaza planted by Gabor Szasz that meets in the social center and the mayor attends. This city is right on the border of Serbia and Romania and we saw those two countries from there. We were concerned about some of the teaching which did not fit the more traditional church but we got an e-mail from Mark Sipos who is church planting among students there stating: “Your ministry in Szeged was very powerful and activated the churches. Somebody from the 'first' Baptist Church said, "We need more meetings, like this."
4. Then we returned to the Budapest area and visited a very traditional country church in Feltsöpetény north of Budapest. This church wants to plant a church in a village but it is very difficult. We need someone who is more experienced with church planting in small villages to give them help.
5. On Saturday we had an amazing opportunity at the Logos Bible School in Miskolc (3rd largest city in Hungary – 184,000). There we had some 80 participants from a number of areas. This was, in our thinking, the most dynamic. They had translated our power points on church planting and multiplication (see above) into Hungarian. There was the best participation in this time for a number of reasons.
6. On Sunday, we were at the Rock Church pastured by Istvan Durko, the head of the church planting commission of the Baptist Union. Afterwards we met with his leaders and he shared their vision of a daughter church in another area.
7. Things to think through:
• They want us to return next year and Gabor Rabatin wants us to go to Romania where their church has envisaged the planting of new churches among the Hungarians in Romania.
• The Rákoskeresztúr Church has planted a church in London and we talked about helping with this church next year when we hope to attend the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meeting in London in July.
• There is a need to help these churches and pastors in their vision to reach out here in Hungary. There is a vision of a number of churches to plant a church in the center of Budapest.
• But they are reaching out to new areas such as the Ukraine, Romania, the UK, and now a possibility in France.
What is exciting about this is that all this is done by Hungarians. However, they need a want missionary input to help them in multiplication and missions vision.
Questions:
1. What should we do?
2. How can we get involved more and in what way?
3. How can we profit from their outreach to join them and reach new areas?
4. How can we introduce ourselves in this context so as to help them without hindering spontaneity?
5. How can missionaries do more of mobilizing nationals rather than doing the work?
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