Expansion and year of loss

The year of loss and expansion. -

Last January God had told me that it would be a year of loss, little did I know how much loss…

Shortly after this word He spoke again, and this simple word would be life changing.

EXPAND!! I had no idea what that meant at the time either.

By the end of February the Russian/Ukrainian war had started and immediately we had pulled the team together to help with the crisis at the border. By May the influx in refugees had nearly stopped and the war had quieted down and was focused on the east side of Ukraine.

As a family we had not been back in the US now for 5 years. We had planned on going the previous summer but because of Norb’s back surgery we had to delay it. So off to the US we went. We had a wonderful time with friends and family. We celebrated my brother’s marriage, parents 50th and dropped off our oldest to college.

Dropping off Izrael at Bethany Global University in Bloomington, MN

We visited several churches while in the US and shared out story.

We left feeling it was so wonderful to be with people we have known for years but it was not enough. We didn’t get to see some people and it was never enough time with the people we saw.

I realized it would be hard to return, I knew what was in store for us. Loss. We lost a dear family that we had worked with here for five years as they moved back to the US this summer. We dropped off our second oldest 3 hours away to finish his schooling and now last week we said goodbye to the four interns we had.

4 missionary interns that had spent 13 months with us

Now to the word expand.

After the war had started, we were thinking about how the physical needs of the refugees were being met and how we had to focus on the spiritual needs. We ended up meeting with a Jesus Film Project representee. We have been in talks with them throughout the summer about getting projector backpacks. It is a backpack that has everything in it (projector, speakers, screen) to show the Jesus Film along with other Christian materials and it comes with a Bible study that is based on the Jesus Film. In September, we met with the leaders of 11 bases for refugees and they are excited to partner with us. They have translators working on the project and the paperwork is being done to get the equipment to us. We will be able to go share the gospel and start small groups and churches. This is very exciting.

We are still helping the local church with preaching and being part of the worship, planning to continue English Bible study in our city and focusing more on the House of Prayer ministry in Sopron. We are excited to be part of an international conference in Sopron this coming weekend, organized by the local House of Prayer.

A little about what is going on in Hungary now. As you know, Hungary is a neighboring country to Ukraine and the war has affected us in different ways. Here are some changes that we are experiencing. We have seen food prices drastically increase; the Hungarian money is worth almost half of what it was 5 years ago. It is very sad to watch a lot of restaurants and hotels closing due to such high prices of natural gas and electricity. Electricity price went up 5 times and natural gas 7 times. Many jobs have been lost in all of this. We know that it will be a cold, hard winter for many.

Please be in prayer for us. This time of loss, transition and expansion.

I will leave you with this quote from Nate Johnston, “Pick up your tools and your mantle and step back into hope, for the days ahead are your best days!”