A Brief History of Word of Life Hungary

Word of Life's involvement in Hungary goes back to the early eighties when evangelistic teams from Word of Life Germany began traveling to several Eastern Bloc countries. During their travels, special relationships were begun with a number of churches and individuals, which eventually opened the doors to further opportunity in Hungary.

In 1983, the Overseas Director of Word of Life, Paul Bubar, met a Hungarian businessman which led to contacts with high-level officials in the Hungarian government. Although we were able to have several weeks of youth camp in the summers of 1985 and 1986, the political climate seemed to indicate that we would not be able to begin a full-time ministry here. But in the spring of 1989 the Lord opened the doors to begin negotiations with the government, and in April, Word of Life Hungary (Élet Szava Alapítvány) was incorporated. During this same month, the Lord led Eric Murphy and his wife, Lynne, to become the director of the newly formed ministry..

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In June, 1989, an agreement was reached with the government allowing us to lease the 78 acre castle property in Tóalmás. When discussing the method of payment, we were asked to provide free weeks of camp for children of the members of the trade union which owned the property. We agreed to provide a week of camp for 430 youth each summer - which was actually in lieu of any type of lease payment. God not only provided the property, but the campers who needed to hear the gospel! The same facility that had once been used in the communist era to teach atheistic values would now be used to proclaim the Word of God.

The Murphys arrived in January 1990, with only 187 days to prepare for the opening of the first summer camp. Considerable renovation was done, including the installation of showers, bathroom facilities, a sewage treatment system, dredging of the lakes and re-organizing the dormitories into more efficient usage of space.

The Lord led a Hungarian lawyer, Ildikó Barbarics, to join the staff. Her help was invaluable since all the renovation and all seven weeks of camp that summer were done totally through her translation and legal work. We look back and see the hand of God as he met every need for such an undertaking to be successful.

In 2000, a friend of the ministry stepped forward and formed a Hungarian corporation that purchased the property from the Hungarian government. The property has since been donated to Word of Life Hungary.

In May, 2004, Alex Konya, was appointed as the new director of the Word of Life Hungary ministry. For 10 years, Alex had been the Academic Dean and a professor in the Bible School. At the same time, Dave James, who continues as the Director of the Bible School, was appointed as the Associate Director of the ministry.

The present staff consists of many Hungarians, as well as American and German missionaries who serve with us in ministry and support roles that include managerial, teaching, office, translation, housekeeping, cooking and maintenance responsibilities.