Pete was invited by Tibor Miklos to speak at the Sunday, April 24 church meeting of the Kegy church in Budapest. This involved doing several things that stretched us, but of course, the main concern was to speak encouragement on behalf of the Lord, and in this we feel the Lord successfully used Pete. (Photo is of Pete and Zsolt his translator.) We were very encouraged as well by Tibor and his family during our visit with them before the worship service and were so blessed for the opportunity to know them better and to enjoy Marta’s delicious cooking. We thank the Lord for protecting us as we drove another Tapolca rental car (aka: jalopy) to and from Budapest. In case anyone needs reminding, our last experience with this left us stranded! 

In Tapolca, we are staying very busy as would be expected. Our prayer before we left the U.S. was that in addition to deepening the friendships we made last year, new friendships would be developed. We have found it difficult to cultivate friendships outside of the English Club mostly due to the language barrier but are still working on it.

I continue to meet with Ramona weekly. Last time we listened to Pastor Colin’s first sermon of the “Meet Jesus” series called “Knowing Who God Is”. We paused a couple of times for questions as she listened intently. Although I didn’t remember all the content exactly, so much of what was taught directly addressed some issues that she needed to process. I explained to her that he is the pastor of the church that I used to work for. As soon as the sermon ended she said, “You have a great boss!” I was so glad she received the message positively. We are now praying together at the end of each meeting, asking the Lord to reveal more and more of Himself to each of us.

Our friendship with Erika and Szilveszter is deepening too, as we enjoy more time with them. After a weekend together in Budapest, Pete invited them to attend the Sunday fellowship with us where he would be giving a message. They initially said no but called Sunday morning to say they had changed their mind and would see us there. Although Erika has attended English Club since the beginning, this was the first time she or her husband came to Sunday morning church. We were so happy to have them there. She told me during our weekly hike a few days later that they discussed the sermon after they got home and only had one question. The Lord opened the door for us to have a brief conversation about Scripture.

Another gentleman that Pete has been meeting with, Karoly Wagner, said he would try to attend church with us. He arrived on that same Sunday that Pete was speaking and stayed for some very interactive conversation. 

As much as we are enjoying these friendships, we would ask our team to pray that the relationships we’ve established would have an impact for Christ and that those we’ve come to know would know Jesus as Savior!

Thank you for your prayers!

Carla and Pete