Our second 90 day stay in Tapolca has ended and we have been delivered back to Chicago, not only safe and sound, but with hearts of gratitude for God’s goodness, faithfulness, kindness, and grace; and immense gratitude for the entire body of believers it took to accomplish several months of work to further the good news of Jesus Christ in that place.

As we were preparing to depart for Hungary at the end of February, our prayer, and the prayer we asked from many of you, was that we would be able to maintain and even grow the relationships that had begun in 2015 without losing sight of opportunities for new relationships that the Lord would bring to us. In His kindness the Lord allowed both of these things to happen.

Relationships from 2015 began to show signs that seeds had definitely been planted and words that had been spoken on behalf of Christ had not been spoken in vain. This was an encouragement to us. New relationships did not happen very fast and didn’t seem to go very far at first, but in our final week we used our “farewell” as a reason to either be explicit in sharing the gospel, or sometimes just solidifying a new connection through sharing contact information. We were pleasantly surprised at the warm response of each and every one we spoke to. It was evident to us that they were responding to the light of Christ within us. We also gave small gifts on behalf of The Orchard that were greatly needed. Those individuals were blessed to know that hundreds of Christians who didn’t know them personally, prayed for them and gave toward meeting their need.

So we arrive home reminded that it is not who Pete and Carla are that will make a difference in Hungary or anywhere else in the world, but who we are as His children. We carry His Spirit in us everywhere we go. “For in him we live and move and have our being…we are His offspring.” Acts 17:28

We now pray, and ask you to pray with us again, that because of His great love for those who are perishing without the Word, God would put it in the heart of one, or some of His children, whose privilege it would be to participate in the good works designed by His sovereign hand, to attend to the seeds that have been planted and continue bringing the Light of Life to the very kind, but very lost souls of Tapolca.

With much love,
Pete and Carla

Pictures:
#1: Pete and Karoly Wagner – received gift of a radio
#2: Pete and Andras – Hungarian believer – received gift of steel toed boots