Poland, Czech and Auschwitz

“In four years the subsidy we receive from Campus Crusade will have been phased out and we will be responsible for 100% of our own funding. This is putting much fear into us; we must act now so we don’t lose our staff.”



Here I am with our ministry's Polish director Mariusz who oversees 100 Polish staff sharing Christ in a country about the size of Texas. Those are 3 of Mariusz's kids, all of whom are growing up speaking both English and Polish.

Above the photo are the words said to me by Mariusz Kwapisz, the new country director of Poland. Unfortunately it is a scenario repeated many times in our ministries throughout Eastern Europe. EB and I spent a week with our Polish staff at their annual conference and I met with Mariusz and other Polish leadership to put together a plan to help our staff there. It was good to be with our Polish staff and get to know them and worship together.

Auschwitz: EB and I spent a day at this tragic place, not far from the location of the Campus Crusade Polish staff conference. To see one location where over a million were murdered was overwhelming. Emotionally I was doing okay until I saw the displays with the personal items of those murdered. Seeing the actual clothing taken from children before they were executed made me both curse the Nazis and cry.

I was also particularly moved when I visited the cell where Father Maximilian Kolbe died. Another prisoner received the sentence of death by starvation and Kolbe, himself already a prisoner at Auschwitz, volunteered to take his place in the starvation cell. The Nazis allowed this substitutionary death as a fulfillment of their law while obviously missing (and rejecting) the Truth to which Kolbe’s sacrifice pointed. No man would have done what Father Kolbe did unless they not only understood but greatly treasured what Christ did for us on the cross. May Father Kolbe’s faith and pain be a witness to us all!



At first, Auschwitz was used by the Nazis to murder Polish and Soviet prisoners of war as well as those of other nationalities and Gypsys. Yet when the Nazi plan was put into effect to exterminate all European Jews, Auschwitz became the setting for the most massive murder campaign in history. No one knows with certainty how many died at Auschwitz; the best guesses range from 1.1 million to 1.4 million.



A display of many of the shoes taken from prisoners at Auschwitz.



The entrance to the gas chambers and ovens.

Czech: We dropped our kids off at a camp for missionary kids in the Czech Republic on our way to Poland. While traveling between the two locations, EB and I visited the small Czech village of Olomouc. Today it has cobble stone streets, a village square, churches centuries old and a rich history. We discovered that Olomouc has a dark side as well.

Jon Hus was a Czech Christian who in the days before Luther and the Reformation, called attention to the abuses of the Catholic church. Hus was eventually burned at the stake in Prague. Two of Hus’s followers were burned at the stake in Olomouc in 1415. The city then rebelled against the Czech king (who was pro-Hus) and gave its allegiance to the Catholic king of the then Hungarian empire, Matthias Corvinus. Ironically, today in Budapest the evangelical church we attend meets in a building name after King Corvinus.

EB and I are learning how much suffering this part of the world has had. Both the Polish people and the Hungarian people (and other peoples of Europe as well) have long, tragic histories of oppression and war. Christians likewise have suffered greatly in Central Europe. Yet today the enemy both within and without for Christians is not persecution but indifference.

Elizabeth's life changing summer in Uganda

My eyes get big as we step off the bus into the Ugandan slums, the community where the poorest people live. I look around me and feel like I am in a dump.

Essentially, I was in a dump. There is garbage and human waste everywhere. The smell is almost unbearable. Rags cover the tiny, skinny black bodies of the little children. They are running and playing around the shacks they live in, pieced together with cardboard, cloth, and anything else they could find. Tears come to my eyes as I try to take it all in and ask myself, “How could anyone live like this? Why, God, do they have to suffer like this?” I have never seen a place so poor in my life. We play with the kids, and feed them their one meal of the day: beans and mush.

The kids smile and laugh as we lead them in duck duck goose and red light green light. We sing songs and their little hands clap along. They grab our hands and the little ones all want to be held. As the boys start a game of soccer, we girls go talk to the other teenage girls living there. They are very eager to talk to us, and we get to share the gospel with them, and many of them come to Christ. As the bus comes back to pick us up, they cling to us, and beg for us to return soon. I hug them and tell them I will pray for them. As we drive away, I watch all the kids running after us, and my heart breaks for them. I know that my life will never be the same again.

The slum outreach was part of the work our team of 90 did in Uganda. We also worked in high schools and in orphanages. I got to work in hospitals and with AIDS patients.

In the high schools, we did assemblies, and also interacted with the students through sports and sharing our faith personally. As I interacted with these students, they would often share their questions and struggles with me. They were dealing with a lot of tough issues, and so I could really feel the Holy Spirit speaking through me and giving me words to say. One girl came to me, and told me about how she was orphaned at a young age, and now she and her siblings lived with her grandma, and they had no money for school, food, or anything. As she shared this with me, she burst out into tears, and my heart ached as I listened to her story of great suffering and pain. I was able to give her a small comfort by telling her how Jesus is the father to the fatherless, and also showing her the verses in Matthew 6 that talk about how not to worry, Jesus will provide for our needs. She thanked me and hugged me, and it felt good to have been able to give her some comfort.

Another amazing experience I had in Uganda was doing a clinic for children with HIV/AIDS. A group of us went to the hospital, and sang songs and played games with these children. They seemed like completely normal children, but their lives had been affected drastically by this horrible disease. Many of them were very young, and my heart ached knowing that they will die much too early. We shared testimonies with them, and then did a gospel presentation, and the majority of them received Christ. I took comfort in the fact that God had saved the souls of these children, because there is not much other hope we can give them.

One day, we got to shadow a doctor going though his rounds in the maternity ward. Unfortunately, I was repeatedly mistaken for a medical student, and was asked to perform medical procedures such as removing catheters, removing cesarean wrappings, and sterilizing medical equipment. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who gave toward my summer in Uganda and prayed for me and my team. I had an amazing time there, and God taught me wonderful things. He is awesome!

Decisions to receive Christ at a church in the slums

Face painting at a school

My ministry team

"Come over to Macedonia and help us!" Acts 16:9

Macedonia (flag pictured above) is a tiny country, about the size of Maryland, that was carved out of the former Yugoslavia after Communism fell. Macedonia was not recognized as a sovereign country by the USA until the opening days of George Bush's second term.

“This is why I am a missionary,” I remember thinking.

I was sitting with my 14 year old son Ben, on a beach on Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, witnessing to two Macedonian guys not a whole lot older than Ben, named Ottas and Vladimir. Even though they did not receive Christ with us, they were able to clearly articulate back to us the message of the gospel and why Christ had to die. They communicated in good English even with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths while they were wearing Speedos and drinking beer.

For the last two weeks of July we were at the “Lake Tahoe of the Balkans” for a classic Campus Crusade for Christ summer missions project. There were 80 American Campus Crusade staff and students along with 40 Macedonian Campus Crusade staff and students. The project had been going on for all of July but we received an invitation from the project directors, Don and Kathryn Mansfield, to jump in for the last half. For me it was refreshing to be in a similar environment that knitted my heart to missions when I was a college student. These are the reasons why our July in Macedonia was such a great missionary experience:

*faith filled environment
*international missions experience
*emphasis on initiative evangelism
*exhortation to take the gospel to the entire world
*training up of college students
*developing national (Macedonian) leadership
*(relatively speaking) family-friendly environment of Lake Ohrid
*exposing our children to all of the above!

If I had more time I would gladly tell you the story of the water pump going out in our van in the middle of nowhere where we already did not speak the language! And how we had to talk our way through 6 international border crossings (it worked 5 of the 6 times) without the correct car papers, even though we were 100% legal.

Thank you for enabling us to live and serve in Eastern Europe in doing what the Lord has called us to do! We cannot do it without your partnership in our lives!

Pictures say much more than words (and are more fun!) so here are some pictures of our time in Macedonia.



Beaches like this one along Lake Ohrid were perfect places to meet students and share our faith.



Lake Ohrid was a surprisingly clean little village with cobble-stone streets, water front coffee houses and cafes along with beauty and history.



This windswept lakeside point on Lake Ohrid with an old Christian Orthodox church was a picturesque and made a great place for a quiet time.



During one sunrise devotional time three young believers (one from Moldovia, another from Bulgaria and the third from Macedonia) came forward for baptism.



Here is EB sharing Christ with Natasha who described herself as an athiest yet attentively listened as EB explained about Jesus who is real, alive and gave Himself up for mankind. Our Lord says that His Word does not go out without accomplishing His purposes (Isaiah 55:11).



The capitol city of Macedonia is called Skopje. We drove through Skopje twice. At one stoplight our van was mobbed by begging gypsy children. Even though the city is dirty and poor, there are some faithful missionaries with Campus Crusade (and other missions agencies) in Skopje. It is also a place where Muslim and Christians live side-by-side in peace. Many mosques, like the one above that we photoed from our car, are located throughout Skopje.



And I had to end with this one. Our 14 year old son Ben has this desire to hurl his body through the air. Here he is jumping off cliffs along Lake Ohrid.

Tragedy and Chaos in the Midst of Vacation

Our family at the Grand Canyon on our way out to a family reunion in the Southern California desert.

Tragedy: As many of you know, we had plans to be in Northern California on vacation in late June. We had plans to see dear, valued friends in San Francisco and even take a behind the scenes tour of Pixar studios. But as we were packing at EB’s mom’s house on the central Kansas prairie, we received a phone call that changed everything.

The son of EB’s cousin, who just finished his freshman year at the University of Kansas, had hours before taken his own life in Topeka. Within minutes of learning the news, EB and her mom were in the car heading to Topeka.

EB and her mom’s love for this family, along with their faith and cool way of thinking, providing an invaluable service to the shocked, grieving family. EB and her mom received visitors on behalf of the family, prepared meals and made many of the decisions regarding the funeral that are just too difficult to make for a shocked family. God chose to use EB and her mom to provide faith and comfort in the midst of a tragedy.

On another note: You may have heard of this “pastor” Phelps of a cult-like church in Topeka who has his parishioners picketing funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. Phelps had his cronies picket the funeral of EB’s cousin’s son. The father is a prominent judge in Topeka who had executed some search warrants on the Phelps family and sure enough, when the Phelps found out about the death, they picketed the funeral.

Chaos: Even though we nixed the Northern California part of our journey, we made it out to a week-long reunion for EB’s immediate family in the desert of Southern California, where on the coolest day the high was 108. EB’s sister and her husband (Lewis and Barbara Winkler) are moving next month to Singapore. Lewis has just finished his theological doctorate and will be teaching at a Campus Crusade for Christ seminary in Singapore.

In the midst of our Southern California week our Elizabeth was scheduled to go to Uganda for July on a missions project. She was to leave from LA and meet her team in Washington DC. The day before her flight she asks, “Where is my passport?” Less than 2 hours later she was on a flight back from Palm Springs to Wichita where someone was to meet her after ferrying her passport from EB’s mom’s house.

Elizabeth made it out of the Palm Springs airport fine but her connecting flight to Wichita from Phoenix was cancelled. My 15 year old daughter had to spend the night alone in the Phoenix airport. I almost made the 4 hour drive to Phoenix at 9pm that night but the airline assured me she was under their safe protection.

The next day I had to press hard to make sure she was on the first flight to Wichita even though American West at first said there was no room. Elizabeth did get to Wichita, secured her passport, flew to Chicago and then to London, all unescorted, and in London she met her team. She then flew with them to Uganda. We have heard briefly from Elizabeth that she and her team are all safe and sound and where they should be in Uganda. For three straight nights Elizabeth slept either at an airport or on an airplane.

The day we realized Elizabeth’s passport was in Kansas, I was on the phone for 6 hours and for another 3 hours the second day, trying to find a solution to Elizabeth’s dilemma. For Elizabeth, it was a baptism by fire into missions and a guarantee she will never forget her passport again!

In the midst of vacation: It was good to be with EB’s family in Southern California for a week in spite of the difficulties. Now I am back in Denver with two of our Polish staff. We are beginning an arduous and faith-filled process of setting up networks between Denver and Kansas City for our Polish staff. We really need the Lord to act in a way that is now unseen. On July 13th our family is on a plane back to Budapest. We will spend a long weekend at home in Budapest and then go to a 2 week Campus Crusade evangelistic outreach in Macedonia, just north of the country of Greece. We see Elizabeth again after we return to Budapest from Macedonia.

Please pray for the grieving family who suffered such loss in Topeka, for Lewis and Barbara Winkler moving to Singapore, our Elizabeth in Uganda and for my time developing support networks with our Polish staff.

EB sends her love; thank you for standing with us in ministry. The Lord is good to us!

Hungarian Fund Raiser Fills Room!

While at the Hungarian Celebration dinner, we left the kids back in Budapest well taken care of by two of the teachers (middle back) from the International Christian school close to where we live (Savannah is not pictured).




I had to post this picture. This is of Andras (Andrew) and Mara, two of our Hungarian staff, while in a boat over the Memorial Day weekend. It looks like something from a GAP commercial!




A good crowd shot from our Hungarian celebration dinner.



Here our 4 Hungarian staff are with a close group of committed friends of the ministry in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I wanted to give you a brief report of our Hungarian celebration and fund raising dinner back on May 22nd. EB and I, along with our 4 Hungarian staff, had a lot of fun being in a room with over 200 people, all of whom could have been somewhere else that night yet chose to be with us.

The feedback we received was that the evening was professional and visionary but personable and fun. The Hungarian staff did a great job sharing passionately what the Lord is doing in their country. And they did it as they spoke in their second language!

We owe so much to the small army of volunteers and table hosts who really made the evening happen. Much prayer and much effort went into the dinner.

Due to the generosity of a matching fund, we received nearly $80,000 in cash gifts and pledges that night. Whereas we still have a ways to go to meet Hungary’s operating budget through 2007, we are grateful for how people opened up their hearts and their giving to the work of the gospel in Hungary.

EB has since returned to Budapest and is helping our kids finish their school year. I miss them greatly; I am not complete without my family by my side. I will meet EB and the kids in Kansas City this upcoming Wednesday. We will then divide the next 5 weeks in the States between vacation, visiting supporting churches and setting up personal support networks for our Polish staff in Denver and Kansas City.

I have a variety of emotions and thoughts as I turn my attention toward our Polish staff. I am somewhat fearful because we are just not as well connected in other cities as we are in Atlanta. And our Polish staff outnumber our Hungarian staff 3 to 1. Yet we must try something. If we do nothing, then we will in all likelihood loose many of our Polish staff. The cause of Christ cannot afford to loose laborers, particularly those working on the foreign mission field. And particularly those missionaries working in parts of Europe where there is openness to the gospel. Sometimes I am saddened that it seems to be the burden not of the church as a whole but of the individual missionary to ensure his/her support is raised.

Please pray for me and our family as well as the financial needs for our Hungarian and Polish staff. We need the Lord’s grace, strength and intervention in all areas of our lives, from personal to ministry. Thank you for walking with us in our ministry and in our lives.

Mother's Day for EB and my mom!

On USA Mother's Day yesterday (May 14; Hungarians celebrate Mother's Day on a different day) we spent the afternoon horseback riding in a small village near the Slovakian border. The weather was perfect and our kids (and EB and me!) loved the chance to be out in the country. Here are a couple of photos:



In the above photo the younger kids and EB enjoy a ride in a wagon. I don't think I ever recall grass so green and lush!



Savannah was a natural on the horse!



Oh, and I have to add this last photo. This is perhaps my favorite all-time photo I have taken in Hungary. This is from last Saturday night about 9pm in downtown Budapest. There was still enough light left so the sky had some color to it but dark enough that the buildings and bridge were lit. Leaving my shudder open for a second added a neat affect to the boat on the river and the headlights of cars along the far shore.

Mom, happy Mother's Day! I am sorry we are so far away! We look forward to seeing you next month. I love you!

Matt

The Da Vinci Code and the Divinity of "Love Your Enemies"

For years the biggest cornerstone for my faith in Jesus was the evidence for His resurrection and the historicity of the New Testament documents. And these classic apologetic arguments are rock solid and a fantastic place to start when discussing the claims of The Da Vinci Code. However, in recent years my faith in Christianity has been even more strengthened by a mere 3 words that Jesus taught: love your enemies. This is why...

God, whoever He is, will possess the highest expression of all moral qualities. This is called "The Greatest Conceivable Being" argument. J.P. Moreland, one of my favorite theologians, expressed this concept excellently in his book, Love Your God With All Your Mind.

Dr. Moreland says on pages 158-159, "Theologians describe God as a maximally perfect being. This means that God is not merely the greatest, most perfect being who happens to exist. He is the greatest being that could possibly exist. If God were merely the greatest being who happens to exist, it would be possible to conceive of a case where a god could come along [who was greater] or where the real God grew in His excellence...Fortunately, the God of the Bible is maximally perfect being; that is, He is the greatest being that could possibly exist." (emphasis added)

In other words, the true God will be more just than any other god; the true God will be more loving than any other God; the true God will be more powerful than any other god. There can be no way to improve the virtues and morals of the true God!

It is this idea that makes my faith strong and gives me an additional weapon in defending my faith when "ancient documents" suddenly arise that communicate a different gospel or a different Jesus than the one of the New Testament. (I say "additional weapon" because the New Testament can stand on its own when compared to these "other gospels" of Jesus)

Make sense? Then consider the radicalness of the teaching of Jesus.

"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you... If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies..." (Luke 6:27-28, 32-35)

Other religions, Islam being foremost, teach just the opposite of love your enemies. And Mohammad's teaching is morally inferior to Jesus' teaching. Mohammad taught, claiming it was from God, that we should kill our enemies. In the Koran it says, "Then fight and slay the pagans {unbelievers} wherever you find them. And seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them, in every stratagem {of war}." Surah 9:5. Teaching and actions of influential Muslims today do not rebuff that Koranic verse.

I had coffee once with a man who fled the Islamic revolution of Iran during the late 1970s. He fled to the West and there converted to Christianity. He has since written several books against Islam and must use a pseudo name so that other Muslims, who are living according to the teaching of the Koran, will not kill him. I asked him, "What convinced you to convert from Islam to Christianity?" He said very succinctly that it was this teaching of Jesus and how it contrasted to the teachings of Islam and other religions.

This same contrast in moral aptitude can be found in today's headlines. When cartoons appeared in a Danish newspaper depicting Mohammad in a less than superlative light, there were riots, burnings, killings and demands. Yet when The Da Vinci Code hits the theaters, Christians, who will have their God lied about and belittled, will not be calling for the death of Tom Hanks and Ron Howard (I still have got to ask, "What got into those guys anyway?"). Rather Christians are using peaceful boycotts, discussions and debate to shed light on the truth. Imagine the Islamic response to a movie where Mohammad is discredited in a similar way!

Unfortunately church history is filled with examples of Christians who killed their enemies. Yet here is the difference between Christians killing in the name of God and Muslims killing in the name of Allah. Christians who kill are acting contrary to the teachings of Jesus while Muslims who kill are acting consistent with the teachings of their religion.

Jim Elliot and his missionary friends had access to guns when they willingly gave their lives as martyrs for the Auca Indians 50 years ago. Yet they chose not to use those guns. They reasoned that if they kill the Auca Indians, then those unbelieving Aucans would go straight to hell. If the Aucas kill them, then the missionaries go to heaven and their deaths would be a witness to their unsaved murderers. No other religion, not even Darwin, can account for that kind of reasoning!

I am hopeful that the Christian community's response to The Da Vinci Code will illustrate the moral superiority of Christ's teaching. And I believe that Christians can use this opportunity not to curse the darkness but to light a candle.

Here in Budapest we are handing out thousands of magazines that tell the truth behind the deceiving claims of Dan Brown's novel. It is material that is written by Josh McDowell. Last week we had a lecture/discussion in a coffee house in downtown Budapest about The Da Vinci Code. The coffee house was packed; there was not an empty seat, as seekers came to hear the truth about the claims of The Da Vinci Code. They also heard a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One young man rode 3 hours by train from another part of the country in order to be hear the discussion! More magazines will be passed out in other cities across Hungary.

{ Seekers in a Budapest coffee house seeking answers about The Da Vinci Code and its claims.}

Just the other day I passed a bookstore along the streets of downtown Budapest when out walked a woman with the hardback Hungarian translation of The Da Vinci Code in her hand. I asked her if she speaks English. Heavily accented, she said that she does. I then told her that the book in her hand was full of lies and offered her the Josh McDowell magazine in Hungarian. She took it, smiled, said "thank you"and disappeared into the crowded street.

I believe The Da Vinci Code is a gift from God. While Satan means it for evil, God means it for good. While remaining officially neutral on recommending either the movie or the book, I do believe that The Da Vinci Code is an opportunity for us as Christians to show the world the contrast between how Muslims handle adversity and how Christians handle it. I also believe it forces Bible-believing Christians to not only know what we believe but why we believe it.

Additionally, The Da Vinci Code will force us to engage our neighbors, co-workers and friends over the truth of the God who not only created them but loved them and laid down His life to pay the death penalty for their sins. Sin was not merely brushed aside or covered up with good deeds. The full brunt of the wrath of God because of sin was poured out on Jesus on the cross. And three days later, He proved His divinity by rising from the dead! No other god comes even close to that kind of love, justice and power! One cannot even conceive of a morally greater, more powerful God than our Lord Jesus Christ!

What Path is Europe On?

Where is Europe going spiritually? What path is she choosing?

After a fast-paced March, I just spent several days meeting with the top Campus Crusade leadership across Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia. I was the new kid on the block and had a glimpse into the hearts and passions of these leaders who serve across Europe and Russia.

We looked at the “current reality” across Europe and Russia and identified factors that are shaping this super continent.

Fall of the Communism
Expansion of EU (European Union)
Uncertainties of Russia
Blurring of political borders
Intentional state-sponsored secularization
Migration to cities
Rise of Islam
Increased hopelessness
Wide economic diversit from the Siberian yak farmer to the London investment banker.

Europe is the most secular society ever in the history of the world, so says a recent edition of the International Tribune, an English language newspaper widely read across the continent. Europe is the only society in history that is purposely depopulating itself through negative birthrates. And it is the only continent on earth where the Christian church is not growing. Just 100 years ago, Europe was the cradle and protector of the world’s Christian missionary effort that spawned such missionaries as Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael and David Livingstone.

One factor worth mentioning is the growing trend to restrict religious freedom. Countries like Belarus, Serbia and even Russia have either passed or contemplating anti-evangelism laws. Leaders in Western Europe say that anti-evangelism laws are blowing in the wind as there is more and more suspicion directed toward Christianity and Christian missionaries. We acknowledge that our movement (Campus Crusade for Christ) in this part of the world does not know how to operate underground. Yet we also acknowledge that just that kind of hardship could very well be a gift from God that gets the body of Christ in Europe and Russia growing again.

Yet there are bright spots. For example, Romania and Albania are bright spots where the ministry is fully indigenized (led by nationals, not Westerners); Romanians and Albanians have evangelized the entire country and are sending out missionaries deep into the Middle East and as far away as China. Hungary leads Europe and Russia in evangelistic output per staff and is the birthplace of Youth at the Threshold of Life, a world-wide teacher’s training embraced by governments across the globe. Poland, the Ukraine, Britain, Spain and Switzerland are places where the Spirit of God is softening hearts.

Now is the time for the body of Christ to commit to pray for Europe and Russia, the new “dark continent” (a phrase used 150 years ago in the days of David Livingstone to describe Africa). Jesus Christ has not abandoned Europe and feels compassion for European multitude for they are distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Darker days may still lie ahead for Europe before things change spiritually. But now is the time to pray and fast, sow seeds, proclaim the gospel and strengthening the churches that are there. Jesus Christ deserves the adoration and worship of the peoples of Europe and Russia!

The Magnificent March Month of Ministry!

Dear Friends,

It was an incredible month of outreach with evangelism taking place in all segments of our Campus Crusade for Christ ministry within Hungary. There are many stories to tell but please allow me to mention a few of the highlights.

"Battle of the Bands" Based on the success of an outreach a year ago using a band from our home church in Atlanta, our high school ministry decided to take it one step further and have a contest inviting amatuer bands from across the city to sign up. Knowing music is a great bridge by which to reach out to youth, we prayed that 200 would show up. 600 came!

A testimony and the gospel were clearly proclaimed with even a "pray with me" (Hungary is one of the few places across Europe and North America where we could get away with doing this and not get sued or lose our audience). Over 500 comment cards were returned to us! Although I don't have exact numbers, there were plenty of high schoolers who are "unchurched and disinterested" who NOW express an interest in talking about Jesus! Our high school ministry has plenty of follow-up to do between now and the end of the school year. Praise God!

Below are a couple of pics of students from our Battle of the Bands outreach with whom we built a bridge via the medium of music.

Even those who don't appreciate rock music agreed the Lord chose to use the outreach for His glory!

Here is a picture of the winning band, "Golairds." I would have bought their CD if they had one!

Middle School Classroom Speaking. We had a handful of friends from America join us to do outreach for a week. One day Kirk and Charlene Zuhars of Wichita, Pat Lawless from Orange County, California and I spoke in classrooms at a local middle school here in Budapest. Pat is a life long friend and we went to school together from 5th grade through our Kansas State years. It was good to have him here to get to know my family and do ministry together. During our morning at the Hungarian middle school, where we spoke in English classrooms, we invited the kids to join us after school at a nearby McDonalds where we told them more about our faith in Christ. 15 kids came and several of them trusted Christ!

Here are two pictures of Pat sharing Christ to the middle schoolers, one is of those who joined us after school at McDonalds.

Youth at the Threshold of Life

YTL, as it is commonly called, is a world-wide ministry within Campus Crusade that got its start right here in Hungary ten years ago. Late March was our annual YTL Budapest teacher's training. Nearly 300 teachers attended. At the training they heard a clear presentation of the gospel. After one of the evening sessions, we held a coffee house where our staff and visiting American friends dispersed into the coffee house and continued the gospel conversation with the teachers.

BELOW: Even after the conference hall had cleared of all attendees, Calvin Cartwright of Atlanta (center) was still witnessing to two teachers from the Hungarian city of Sopron.

BELOW: Edina Gresz (left), wife of our country director, and Suzanne Blackstone (middle) from Dallas, share with a table of Hungarian educators at the conference coffee shop. Several of the teachers at their table trusted Christ through the witness of the evening.

Praise God for these outreaches! Please continue to pray as there is much follow up to do!

I thought I would leave you with some pictures of the family that I took today while we went downtown for lunch after church. We love you and we appreciate you! We are eternally grateful for God's undying mercy and grace to us!

Spring snow melt in the Alps is bringing higher water levels along the Danube as it flows through downtown Budapest.

Our teenagers...and we love them!

The whole family strolling near Batthyani Square in Budapest

EB and Savannah find a quiet spot on our terrace. Spring is almost here!

Atlanta, Vienna and Back to Budapest

Sunday was a blizzard here in Hungary and as we drove from Budapest to Vienna, there were plenty of reminders along the road as to how bad it was.




EB and Elizabeth outside the hospital in Vienna

Before the surgery Elizabeth could not straighten her finger

After surgery in the recovery room, Elizabeth was groggy but awake while Mom looks on.

The day after surgery Dr. Egkher inspects his work

A close up of the finger a day after surgery

Elizabeth, who has her learner's permit, drives us part of the way back to Budapest.

ATLANTA: "Dan, the man, the Romanian" (on the left) shares his testimony and ministry with John Kerns at a popular diner in "East Cobb."

Tonight at dinner was the first time our family sat around the dinner table together since February 15th and it will not happen again till after the upcoming weekend. Life is not usually this hectic but it is during this particular stretch.

EB and I attended our sending church's (Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia) missions conference. It was refreshing, encouraging and strengthening for EB and me to be there. In addition to being "ministered to" instead of doing the ministering, we had a chance to reconnect with dear friends and lay the foundation for some future trips.

After the conference EB returned to Budapest but I stayed an extra week. I was helping one of our Romanian staff get networked across Atlanta. Dan's last name means something like "Rabbit Hunter" in Moldovian (not even a Romanian last name) so I gave up on ever trying to pronounce it right. Instead, I just referred to him as "Dan, the man, the RomaniAN." Others knew quickly who I was talking about. Dan is moving from Bucharest to Hungary to become the CFO at Campus Crusade's headquarters for Eastern Europe and Russia here in Budapest.

I really do appreciate what Dan is trying to do. He is moving his family (wife and 2 kids) out of their home country and culture to a different country, a new language and a strange culture. All because of Jesus. (Not sure what is stranger, Hungarian culture or working out of an office where the majority are Americans!) Yet before he does that, he must go to ANOTHER foreign culture, country and language: America! Then, on top of all he must use his second language, navigate a strange city, operate inside a foreign culture. Then on top of that the PRESSURE of support raising BEGINS! Now THAT IS COMMITMENT!

Yet I am convinced that as our national staff tell their stories, tell how the Lord has changed them and how they desire to be used by Him in far away countries, that the American church opens their hearts. Then a God-glorifying partnership begins! America's wealth is invested in "heavenly treasure" (Matthew 6:20) when they invest in the foreign mission field! I LOVE MY JOB!

So...I get bumped from my flight on Friday night and then almost get shoved off the next one on Saturday as I lost my paper ticket. I found it literally buried in my suitcase at the last minute before they closed boarding. After no sleep Saturday night, I arrive back to Budapest on Sunday to the worst March blizzard in a generation here in Budapest. I stayed up late on Sunday to spend time with the family but had to get up before dawn to shovel our driveway so we can get the kids in school by 7:30am! Right after that we left for Vienna for Elizabeth's second finger surgery; a tendon failed to heal properly after the first surgery. All went well and we made it back home late yesterday. I guess sometimes life doesn't give you enough time for jet lag!

Thank you for making it possible for EB and I to raise our family out here and labor in the foreign mission field! March is a big month for our ministry here in Budapest. And they have begun without us! I heard of two outreaches that both attracted over 70 students to two different dorms here in Budapest! Pictures and stories will follow later in the month! Thank you and together lets thank our Lord who, in His great mercy, instead of condemning us, He chose to redeem us! Of all the gods that men chose to follow, none can compare to our God! Amen!

"Bringing in the Hungarian Harvest" Project Evangelism Blitz: Sept 23-Oct 1, 2006

(Above: photos from our last "Bringing in the Hungarian Harvest" Project)

When we do evangelism blitzes here in Budapest, we give thousands of students an opportunity to respond to Jesus Christ. The outreaches consistently generate around two thousand students who say, “Sure, I will sit down with you and talk about a personal relationship with Christ.” The harvest is plentiful yet it is the laborers who are few, so said Jesus in Matthew 9.

This is your chance to help out in the harvest field! Please come in September and help us pass out thousands of “Student Survival Kits” on college campuses throughout Budapest. You will also help us begin the follow-up process for those who want to talk more about Jesus. Additionally, you will get to know the Hungarian students and staff who are burden for their country for the sake of the gospel. As well as you will get to know one of the most beautiful cities in Europe! Make plans to come now! More information soon!

Other news: From mid-February through March, EB and I are either in the States or are hosting groups and friends here in Budapest. We will be at a missions conference at our sending church in Atlanta and then March are a series of evangelistic blitzes here in Budapest. Our ministry will be hosting groups from Michigan and Orlando, as well as several other friends and visitors, as we work together in bringing the gospel to thousands of Hungarian students.

Late March will be also be our Hungarian training for our "Youth at the Threshold of Life" teacher's symposium. This training is world-wide now in over 53 countries; it began 10 years ago right here in Hungary. This training has put the gospel in thousands of classrooms across Hungary and because it addresses the critical issues of youth in western society (abstinence, drug abuse, family breakdown, and positive self-image), it is fully credited and endorsed by the Hungarian government. During each training, hundreds of Hungarians teachers attend, are trained, hear the gospel and many respond by placing their faith in Christ! It is truly a God-blessed ministry!

As you pray for these outreaches, please pray for our family that we stay connected and not neglected. We have said NO to some good ministry opportunities lately because we knew it would bite into our already whittled-down family time. Yes, our kids give us great joy and they are growing quickly; yet not always with the gentleness and ease that we had hoped.

Thanks for loving us and for making it possible for us to be in the mission field over here in Hungary. We need and love our Savior; we need you also!

Matt

A Seminar, Extortion and Surgery

Above: Elizabeth (left) helping sister Savannah with her math homework.

Hello! We are in the very pit of winter here in Budapest! Temperatures are about 10 degrees when I take the kids to school in the morning and usually don't warm up above 20 degrees come midday! No one said European winters are easy! There is much to tell you about but here are just some of the highlights:

Seminar: There was a conference here recently in Budapest for all the Campus Crusade wives who serve cross-culturally (in a different country from their home country) from Vienna to Siberia; about 75 women attended. EB was asked to give her home organization and budgeting presentation as one of the optional seminars. After living in a foreign country for 3 1/2 years, EB feels like she can help and relate to what many of these missionary wives must endure in their attempts to run and manage a household outside of their own countries. EB said she enjoyed doing the seminar and I must admit that EB is gaining quite a reputation on this continent as well!

Extortion: Our dear Savannah was riding a public bus to and from the mall with several of her friends, along with the 17 year old big sister of one of her friends (who was acting as a chaparone). While on the bus they were approached by "the bus police," who flashed badges and demanded to see their tickets. Savannah and her friends produced the tickets and they had done everything just as they should to validate the tickets. But the machine on the bus that validates the tickets was not working properly. Still the "bus police" fined these girls the equivilancy of $50 for "not having a ticket to ride the bus." All the girls could come up with was the equivilancy of $10. The "police" took it and jumped off at the next stop.

We don't know if these ticket checkers were legit or some sort of scam looking for easy targets. We have heard young kids being targets of the bus police before. I know that I have never had someone on public transportation ask me for my ticket. This makes me think that Savannah and her friends were targeted by a bunch of bullies. All this happened after they missed the movie (Narnia) that they wanted to see because the theater's website posted the wrong start times.

Savannah was sad but I took her out for breakfast at McDonalds the next morning. I told her it was a hard lesson to learn but she has tasted first hand that life isn't fair and that, sad to say, strangers cannot be trusted.

Surgery: I took our Elizabeth back to her doctor in Vienna to get clearance to play basketball. He gave the clearance but also said she needs another surgery after the season is over. One of the tendons in her finger calcified onto the bone and therefore, even with therapy, Elizabeth is unable to fully extend her finger. Monday March 6th is the surgery day. I was hoping it would be outpatient surgery but they will want to keep her overnight.

We are getting ready for a very busy spring right now. From mid-February to early April, EB and I will either be in the States or hosting ministry teams here in Budapest who are coming from the States. Among other opportinities, doors are opening for me to share the "Why Wait?" message I prepared for Romania in some nearby high schools here in Budapest.

I wanted to check in and let you know we appreciate you and we need you to partner with us in our ministry out here in Eastern Europe. Our Lord is good, but never safe (I love that line from C.S. Lewis!).

Prayer Night: "Now I Know Why I am Here."

In World War II when Major Richard Winters helped liberate a concentration camp at Dachau, he said, "Now I know why I am here." Explaining, he could have said, "Now I know why I am in a far away country, far from home and family, fighting a war."

Last night on January 4th our ministry had an evening of prayer to begin another new calendar year. Some of our staff gave a presentation of the typical student of Budapest. Drug use is up, alcohol use is up (one popular drink is 45% alcohol!) and sex is common and casual. Even parents want to create a safe environment at home so their kids can experiment sexually. My heart sank and I remember thinking, "Now I know why I am here."

This is why I am not at home with my kids and why I am praying late into the night. Even in a deeper way, it is why we do not live in our home country or culture. It is to intercede and to cry out to God on behalf of those who do know not Him. It is to beg those who do not know God to be reconciled with Him (2 Corinthians 5:20) There is a soullessness not only in Hungary, but all across Europe. I believe that darkness is profoundly deeper here in Europe than in America.

Ultimately, evangelism is about spreading the glory of God to all people everywhere, regardless of how people behave or appear. Yet to see the symptoms when people reject Christ is both painful and motivating.

Yet we also prayed through lists of students who fall into several different categories: 1) actively investigating the gospel, 2) have received Christ, 3) actively sharing their faith or 4) even applying to join our staff. My spirit was lifted and the Holy Spirit reminded me of an Old Testament passage Paul quoted in Romans 11: God says, "I have kept for Myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." God is sovereign in calling and keeping men to Himself!

The world is full of great pursuits. Yet thank you for enabling us to participate in what we believe is the greatest pursuit!