Ministry Update: June, 2008

Family News

Dave and Karen: One question we are often asked is “How is Dave’s health?” We are thankful to report that over the past 6 months or so, it has been discovered why he was continuing to experience unusual fatigue and some difficulty with just being a little slower than normal mentally. Now that he is receiving regular treatment, things have been going much better and we can say that he is back to at least 90% of of his pre-heart attack condition. We are also happy to report that extensive tests have revealed that his heart has apparently experienced very little permanent damage relative to the seriousness of the heart attack itself in August of 2006.

As far as ministry is concerned, the last several months have been very busy and tough in many ways, but they have also been filled with many ministry opportunities. Since January Dave taught several courses in our own Bible School as well as in Germany, Poland and Ukraine. In Hungary, Dave taught “The Wisdom Literature” (20 hours) in Bible Survey, “Understanding Roman Catholicism” (20 hours), “Conflict of the Ages” (20 hours) and four hours together with Karen in the “Christian Family” course.

In Germany, at the Word of Life Discipleship Training Center, Dave taught First Corinthians. He also taught several lessons from First Corinthians at a leadership training weekend In Poland, He also had the opportunity to teach once again at the Word of Life Bible Institute In Ukraine. The course he taught there was “Introduction to Apologetics.”

In addition to his teaching and administrative responsibilities in the Bible School, Dave has returned to being the primary teaching elder in our local church, preaching an average of about three Sundays per month. Also, in addition to this and his positions of WOL Hungary Associate Director and WOLH Bible School Director, he has stepped back into the position of Director of Technical Services, which includes the areas of both computers and networking, as well as all of the audio / visual equipment and needs of the ministry.

Karen has had a very busy and interesting year, as well. In the fall, she returned to overseeing a major part of the overall housekeeping responsibilities for all of the buildings on our property. Another new and important ministry presented itself this year that Karen has never had before. Among our record incoming class were two families from the United States - one with two teenage kids and the other with three teenagers. In both cases, the moms were also full-time students in the Bible School. So, to help them, Karen served as a staff advisor, mentor and just a very practical helper as she frequently took them to nearby towns to do shopping that they just couldn’t do in our little village of Tóalmás.

Another phase of Karen’s life and ministry began this year as for the first time our daughter, Becky, became a “home-schooler.” Although Becky was in the A Beka DVD class program, Karen still need to help Becky with her schedule, proctoring quizzes and tests, and reporting back to A Beka to keep all of Becky’s work qualified for accreditation.

The annual Ladies Conference is also a major part of the spring ministry for each of our staff ladies. Karen works with the other ladies in the planning and coordination of all aspects of this important conference (usually attended by 400-500 ladies.) This year was especially busy for Karen because of her oversight in the housekeeping department,.

Chris and Becky: Chris graduated from high school (Hungarian) on Saturday, May 5. It’s hard to believe that he was just four years old when we arrived in Hungary. The Lord has worked through the leadership of First Baptist Church Woodstock, specifically Ken Lassiter and Johnny Condrey to allow Chris to do an 8 week internship in that great church for 8 weeks this summer in a combination of the media and world missions departments. Then after returning in late summer he starts his two-years of study in the WOL Hungary Bible School, with a long-term goal of being a missionary with WOL Hungary.

Becky is finishing up her freshman year of high school and is also looking forward to a full summer of helping as a receptionist and a translator in our English camps. Although both kids have always been in the Hungarian education system since nursery school, for various reasons we believe it will probably be best for Becky to finish her high school education through home-schooling with Abeka materials.

Financial Needs: We have previously mentioned that we are facing a shortfall of approximately $1600 per month and in the last several months we have not seen that change significantly. On the other hand the dollar has weakened on the world currency market that has effectively cut our pay by approximately 20%,since September  while Hungary is going through a time of inflation that we haven’t experienced since the early 1990s. This is along with significant tax increases and additional taxes in many different areas.

We do need your help through these difficult times, both personally and as a ministry, so perhaps some of you would like to join us as ministry partners or could consider an increase in monthly support. Or maybe you know someone else who might be interested in becoming a part of our ministry support team.

We are so very thankful to all of our dear friends and partner churches who continue to make our ministry in Hungary possible.

Our students: The 2006-2007 Bible School year has been one of the most memorable and outstanding years that any of us have ever experienced. Although the Lord gave us fewer numbers of students this year, the way that he has brought us together as a family and used us is nothing short of amazing. In addition to Hungarians, we have students from Romania, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Poland, Germany, Canada, Israel and the United States. Including students that we anticipate having next year, we will have had students from around 30 different countries around the world.

Ministries: Our students are involved in a number of different ministries throughout the school year. Some serve in local churches, some in English language clubs, while others minister with our vocal ensemble or with sports ministries.

This fall we added a new ministry outreach, a musical evangelistic drama called “Born Again to a Living Hope” - which portrays the true-life story of a young Argentinian couple who were caught up in the drug and sex sub-culture of Buenos Ares before trusting in Christ through the ministry of WOL Argentina. Tragically, within a couple of years they found that both were HIV positive and had AIDS. Pablo died in 1992 and Adriana 1993. One of the most exciting aspects of this ministry is that after almost 10 years, we are finally able to use this drama to take the Gospel back into public schools, universities, community centers and prisons. There are many students, staff and interns involved with the production and many personal presentations of the Gospel have been possible, with a significant number of personal decisions to trust in Christ for salvation.

Pray that the Lord will continue to work in the hearts of those who trusted in Christ, as well as all those who heard a clear gospel presentation - many for the first time.

Missions conference: In January we held our annual missions conference and focused on the ministry of Word of Life Nigeria. By the end of the conference, a good number had dedicated their lives to full-time Christian service as the Lord allows and we reached a new record goal for a faith promise offering of around $17,000 to help that ministry to get their own production of “Born Again . . .” on the road.

2007-2008: As I mentioned earlier our total enrollment has been down some in the last couple of years, but we are witnessing the Lord doing something amazing for the next school year. We are presently on-track to potentially set a new record for an incoming class and possibly to such an extent that we might actually set a record for our total enrollment. The Lord has allowed me to already schedule all but one of the guest teachers for the entire year, and it looks like it will possibly be the best year that we have ever had from that perspective as well.

One year or two? This is the first year that we have introduced the possibility for students to receive a diploma after just one year of study, even though we still emphasize and encourage students to attend for two years. Recently, we became aware that many misunderstood that because we are a bilingual school that the actual training, even after two years is only equivalent to one year of study. This is not the case and we actually have had students transfer into some Christian colleges in the United State as first semester juniors - so even with airfare, our Bible School is a very attractive option financially - and especially for those who plan to continue their education.

Ladies conference - May 12: We expect to have up as many as 300 or more ladies this weekend for our annual ladies conference. Fay Phillips will be our keynote speaker. Mrs. Phillips is the wife of Tom Phillips, Vice President and Director of the Word of Life Florida ministries. This is a great opportunity to encourage believers and share the Gospel with the unbelievers who will be in attendance.

Family Day - May 28: Family Day is a sort of open-house for anyone to come to our castle property in Tóálmás. Each year we see 500-600 people come from all over the country over the course of the day (which is Pentecost Monday.) There will be activities for all ages, a concert and evangelism. Please pray with us that the weather will be nice, that many will come, and that many will trust Christ for salvation.

18th Summer Camp - June 17: Please join with us as we pray for over 1000 campers to come to camp this summer and that many will be saved. Each year the percentage of unbelieving kids and teenagers seems to increase. We still need additional counselors, helpers and could also use additional help with English and Spanish camps. (If you or your church would like to know more about family camps, you may contact me and I will forward your inquiry to the director of the language camps.)

We are clearly in a time of spiritual battle of an intensity none of us have ever seen in ministry before. Every incredible spiritual victory or advancement is being met with fierce opposition in many forms. The two main things we have experienced are in the areas of physical health and finances.

In November, while preparing for “Born Again”, we had to cancel classes for the first time in 13 years due to a nasty flu virus that hit about half of the staff and students. Then during one of those two weeks, Pastor Larry DeBruyn from a supporting church in Indianapolis also became so sick that it apparently triggered a heart attack. On the way to the hospital his heart actually stopped SEVEN TIMES. Praise the Lord after a week in the hospital he was able to return home and after many subsequent physical problems, he is finally back in his pulpit preaching once again. There have been many other sicknesses, diseases and injuries that have plagued our staff and students from the beginning of the year It certainly appears that someone is seriously trying to hinder or even bring the ministry to a halt.

In addition to the physical problems, WOL Hungary is facing some of the most significant financial challenges that we have ever seen. A combination of increasing inflation, higher taxes and a weakened dollar have come together to form the “perfect storm.” More than ever we need people to pray for us and partner with us as we face these problems that are running into the tens of thousands of dollars. If you are interested in helping you can contribute to Word of Life and designate your gift to the WOL Hungary GAP Fund.

A third area that really has us concerned are the ever-changing immigration requirements that are also sometimes enforced in a rather arbitrary manner. This is making it more difficult, much more time consuming and much more costly to try to bring non-Hungarian students into the country to study in our Bible School.

In March, Al Konya the country director for WOL Hungary was also appointed as the Regional Director for Word of Life in Central Europe. Now, more than ever, WOL Hungary has a pivotal role as a ministry center in the region. Our responsibilities have now been expanded to include Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia. This represents an increase from the 10 million people in Hungary to approximately 82 million people represented by these additional countries.

Please continue to regularly pray for our ministry as we seek to effectively help others reach these countries with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.