Dearest Friends,
JESUS LOVES YOU
Jezus Szeret Teged (pronounced yeezeush seret teeged ) is how you write Jesus loves you in Hungarian. Some children heard and understood these words with their ears and their hearts as they attended a show in a near-by village. In the softest whispers, I heard a precious few children calling on Jesus. Praise God! Please pray for many more Hungarian children to hear and accept these three little words.
WHY DID WE COME TO HUNGARY?
First and always, we go anyplace because we know that God wanted us to be in this place, but I want to share with you more of this story. Two years ago while sharing in India, we met a guest teacher, Dave James, who was also working with our same friends in India. Dave serves with Word of Life Hungary and it was at his invitation that we made plans to come here. He was the one who God used to open this door!
Our time here has been amazing! We have had the great joy of telling Hungarian children about Jesus, trained a group of 50 students from 12 nations to share effectively with children , and this weekend, we are participating in their annual mission’s conference. The entire weekend focuses everyone’s attention on reaching children for Jesus Christ.
God has poured His Spirit on each of these plans and we are blessed beyond all measure. We have seen children trust Christ! The course that we have been teaching on children’s ministry is a new addition to their curriculum which they plan to make a permanent part of the student’s curriculum. I am very excited about that decision. They are seeking among the student body members for their new puppet ministry team. The enthusiasm for this kind of work is building in people’s hearts. We are talking with people about future trips to Romania, Czech, Serbia, and many other countries. Some of the young people here have already committed to travel with us to other countries!
More, Word of Life Hungary has chosen us to receive a large portion of their faith promise offering that they are gathering this weekend. I came to Eastern Europe to bless them and they have decided that they want to help us reach the children of the world with the hope of the Gospel. I am so humbled by their generosity! I am so challenged by their love for Jesus!
PEACE AND BLESSING
While in Hungary, we are working through all kinds of churches to schedule programs for the children. The other day, we went to a Reformed church who says hello and good bye to each other with these words, "Peace and blessing from above". Hungarian Reformed churches are marked by a rooster or a star of Bethlehem on the top of their steeple. I have heard a couple of reasons for the rooster, but one man told me that it is because the rooster will crow as the dead rise when Jesus returns. A beautiful star of Bethlehem filled a large circular window at the roofline of the church to remind them of God sending His Son to earth as a baby to save the world. I wondered if the people in the town know the reason for these beautiful symbols, but I doubt it as for most children and adults here, Christianity is only part of their history.
My heart is broken for the children of Hungary. In so many ways, life is so much better here than for people in other Eastern European countries, but it is such a hard place for the Gospel. This is a dark place spiritually! I look into the faces of the children and I see such hopelessness. There are 1.5 million children here who desperately need to hear about Jesus! Please pray for the new puppet team here who will make these dear children their priority.
THANKYOU
How can we begin to thank our friends here at Word of Life for all that they have done for us. I dreamed of Hungarian children hearing about Jesus through puppet ministry and they gave me my dream. I dreamed of young people enthusiastic to share Christ with kids and now, I have a campus full of incredible young people to talk to about future puppet ministry. God has abundantly answered your prayers!
Please continue to pray as we have more puppet shows at an orphanage and in villages, a seminar, and another class to teach. Also, we are participating in the conference this weekend. We want to finish well!
In Jesus,Linda for the team
Sam Shaw-Asst. Director
Silvana Shaw
Calah Sager
Billy Salinas