Eastern European Celebration Dinner May 20th in Atlanta.

Sergey & Ellina Lesnik of our campus ministry in Kiev, Ukraine, tell a story of a life changed for Jesus Christ while Gabi and Madarasz of Hungary are seated next to them waiting for their turn.

Even though storms in the area kept some from making the event, the ballroom was thunderous and electric.

The ballroom at the downtown Atlanta church on May 20th was packed. Expectation was high and conversation hummed as a concert pianist filled the air with a backdrop of praise music. After a greasy dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and sweet tea, my co-emcee Brent Harrison proclaimed, “Welcome to the Eastern European Celebration Dinner! From the country of Albania, lets welcome…” Then the name of each Albanian staff present was announced (and probably butchered by the Southern USA accent) as the Albanians came striding into the ballroom and onto the stage, proudly waving their flag and waving to the audience as if they were athletes entering the Olympic stadium.

Then the Hungarians were announced and they paraded in with their flag. Then the Poles, Romanians, Ukrainians and Czechs until the stage was full with 35 national European missionaries and their flags. The audience was on its feet welcoming the Eastern Europeans to Atlanta! Thus the evening was launched for May 20^th’s Eastern European Celebration Dinner in Atlanta!

Severe storms and bad traffic in the area kept the attendance to around 370 even though RSVPs for the night approached 500. The “ask” that night generated $27,000 in gifts and pledges, designated mostly for the Eastern European staff attending the dinner.

But that was just the beginning. That number has since climbed to $72,000 as post-event responses come in. However, the PRIMARY PURPOSE of the Celebration Dinner is to serve as a CATALYST for our national staff in their support raising efforts. Our Eastern European missionaries are fanning out across Atlanta into Sunday schools, Bible studies and other small groups. These next several weeks as our beloved national staff walk through those open doors will really determine the success of the evening. Please be in prayer for their support efforts.

EB’s warm smile greeted many that evening.

Also, the evening proved to be a great “commercial” for our ministry’s work across Eastern Europe. It was a call to Christians to become more involved in the work of the gospel through their praying, giving and even going. A wonderful group of volunteers, from Moscow, Budapest, Atlanta and even Kansas City, both Campus Crusade staff and non-Campus Crusade staff, caught the vision, embraced the need and invested a lot of effort and prayer on behalf of our national staff. Those volunteers are the real heroes of this effort.

Martin (left) and “Magic” (Maciek) of Poland enjoy the Braves game the evening after the Celebration Dinner. Many of our Eastern Europeans joined us at Turner Field and for most of them it was their first exposure to the game of baseball. They were more entertained by the between inning activities than by the game itself!

The church of Europe was once the cradle for our faith. Now she is somewhere between very sick and dying. Yet in spite of the low value of the US dollar and the American recession, the resources and tools exist within the American church to make a profound difference in Europe, as well as in other parts of the world. Likewise, we cannot reach Eastern Europe alone; we need the help of Christians everywhere. Our Celebration Dinner on May 20^th was such a call for help. Many in Atlanta responded to that call. Praise God!

Exalting in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2),

Matt

I should have just sat down…

There is plenty of religious imagery in Europe even though it is the only continent where the Christian church is not growing.

I should have just sat down and let EB give the rest of the message. After speaking for nearly an hour through a translator to college students in Brno, Czech Republic, I asked EB to come forward and share her story. EB did a fantastic job with the Czech students. My seminar was about the reliability of the Bible and I presented a lot of facts. In a country where the Bible is considered outdated and irrelevant, the facts are important. And I may have presented lots of head knowledge but what really made an impression with the students was when EB spoke of her heart knowledge.

EB instantly connected with the Czech students by speaking of her Czech roots. She spoke of her great-grandfather and his wife, Frank and Katrina Bizek, and how they homesteaded on the Kansas prairie after immigrating from Czech. Yet she also told how her father Paul Biays, who taught college literature, logic and philosophy, was also a pastor who taught his family, his church and even his college students about the trust-worthiness of Scripture.

EB also mentioned how since she was a young girl the Bible has guided her in her major life decisions and even today how we are raising our children to treasure and learn from the Bible. Maybe this doesn’t seem like much to an American Christian ear but to our post-Communist Czech audience, where today’s greatest religious influence is secularism, EB’s testimony had a profound impact.

After the lecture many great gospel conversations took place. I am continuing several of these conversations by email. The evangelical ministry that invited us to speak (http://www.kvz.cz/english/), received contact info from the students who attended and are following up those who expressed more interest in knowing Christ personally.

The next morning I shared from the Bible what the Lord had been teaching me lately with the staff of KVZ, the Czech evangelical ministry that hosted EB and me. Our hosts were wonderful and so appreciative. EB and I have bonded with the Czech Christians in that ministry!

Much of missions work is tedious, difficult and unexciting. Every once in a while though you break through the clouds and the warmth of the glory of God shines in your face. EB and I found our time in Brno, Czech Republic to be such a moment. On the train ride back to Budapest EB and I together thanked God for great opportunities like this one that He has given us during our years here in Eastern Europe!

You know you are a long way from home when the signs are in three languages, none of which are English!

The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul rises majestically above the other buildings of Brno. Unfortunately, less than ½ of 1 percent of the Czech population is evangelical with atheism being the dominant worldview in this country.

Two more pictures from Brno that are quintessentially European…

"The Cabbage Market," an open air market in the center of Brno.

This is the cleaning lady's contribution to a photo I really like.

Eastern European Celebration Dinner: May 20th in Atlanta

Gabi and Mara working the phones inviting Atlantans to our Celebration Dinner



Savannah and Rebekah before their big debut in the play, "Cheaper by the Dozen."

On May 20th in Atlanta there will be a Celebration Dinner to benefit some of Campus Crusade's national (non-American) missionaries from Eastern Europe. This dinner will be a support raising catalyst for those missionaries who already have a support base in Georgia. 28 missionaries from 7 countries will be in attendance. The evening will feature "changed lives" testimonials and videos as well as stories of what the Lord is doing across the former Soviet Bloc countries. We hope it will be a God-glorifying event that encourages and gives vision to those who attend.

Not only is Europe today the most secular society in history (according to The International Herald Tribune), Europe is also the only continent in the world where the Christian church is not growing. The church in Eastern Europe is young; this being the first generation of believers after Communism killed or silenced most Christians. The Lord has raised up a generation of young Eastern Europeans who have a heart for their God and for their homeland. For now, they are dependent on the resources of the American church to help them re-evangelize Eastern European universities and communities where, as Jesus said, "the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few," (Matthew 9:37).

Our Lord has said that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) and He teaches us to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20). As the American church partners with Christians in Eastern Europe, everyone wins. American Christians are blessed, Eastern European churches are empowered, the gospel is proclaimed and our Lord receives the glory He so richly deserves.

If you would like to attend the dinner or sign up for a day on our 40 day prayer chain for Eastern Europe, please contact me and I can direct you further. Thank you for being a blessing to our family and the work of the gospel in far away places!

Some of our national staff who will be attending the Atlanta Celebration Dinner will be posting by the end of April promotional videos introducing themselves, their ministries and their country. The first one is already completed and posted. Here it is…

5 Photos and a Video

The Lord chose to reveal His hand to us during my time in Kansas City in February with 4 Polish missionaries. I was nervous going into this trip because my efforts before hand did not generate the opportunities I had hoped. But the Lord took our 5 loaves and 2 fish and turned it into an abundance! Some real heroes stepped forward and made sure these Polish believers had plenty of opportunities to tell their stories and present their needs. And Christians joined up with these Polish missionaries so they could return to their assignments and families in Poland and share the gospel without the pressures of inadequate finances. We thank God for how He blessed their support trip to the States and how Christians in Kansas City rallied behind these Polish Christians.

Here they are at KU basketball game with enthusiastic KU alumnus David Wurth (left). From left next to David is Natalie Balcer, campus staff in Gdansk, Then next to Natalie is Robert Kowalski, Polish Director of Development, Maciek (Mike) Derezinski, Polish National Campus Director, and Wojtek (Wayne) Tubek, CFO for Campus Crusade for Christ in Poland.

Late February, EB joined me, along with Quentin and Rebekah, in the Czech Republic and spoke with me at a retreat for Christian young people. Czech is statistically the most atheistic country in Europe, which is the most atheistic continent in the world. Therefore this was a unique opportunity. If the Church of Jesus Christ is to be healthy again in Europe, then she will need, among other things, to be financially responsible for her pastors and missionaries. One of my messages was about good financial stewardship. I was able to give each attendee a copy of the book, “Your Money Counts,” a gift from Crown Ministries in Kansas City.

We got a dog! For the first time in nearly 20 years of marriage, we have a pet! She is a Havanese, was born in December and we named her Reagan. Rebekah is her primary care-giver and is learning the joys of house-training!

Here our kids are with their dates to the Valentines’ banquet at their school. Liz is pictured with Peter Mullett, whose parents work in Budapest with the Evangelical Free Church. Ben took Michelle Martin, whose parents work with American Baptists for World Evangelization (ABWE) here in Budapest. The four of them are each good basketball players and can be seen in the highlights video I linked to below.

Thanks for loving us and walking this journey of faith with us. There is nothing more glorious, more assuring that knowing we are no longer slaves but adopted sons and heirs of our Father God! He invites us to call Him, “Papa!” Galatians 4:4-7

Below is a link to a 6 minute highlights video from last weekend's basketball tournament. The video features both the girls and boys teams from our school, Intl Christian School of Budapest. There were lots of cheers and some tears as both our girls and boys teams played in but lost the championship game. It was particularly hard this year for Liz has she had to watch the entire tournament from the bench because of her recent knee surgery.

Teams came from here in Budapest as well as Kiev, Vienna and Salzburg to play in our tournament. This tournament is one of the highlights of the school year! (Ben is wearing the green jersey, #21 and can be seen in slow motion defensively batting the ball into the stands. Michelle, Ben's date to the Valentine's banquet, is the one also shown in slow motion sinking the 3 pt jumper.)

“I am Legend,” Atheism, and the Theology of Zombies

This past weekend I took my teenage son Ben to see the movie “I am Legend.” Will Smith movies involving humanoids are always a little tongue in cheek - movies like “Men In Black,” and “Independence Day.” But I found “I am Legend,” disturbing, even downright scary. Not suspenseful like “Signs” but just plain ole scary.

I think it was the zombies that made it so disturbing. I confess I kept my eyes closed during most of the warehouse scene. I did see the part however when the zombies were all clustered together in the corner with their backs to the camera jostling for just the right spot away from the light like bats in a cave or bees in a hive. For reasons I don’t understand, that just creeped me out.

The zombies were creepy because it was as if the Divine Spark (I mean this in the “image of God” sense) that occupies humanity had been lifted from these “night seekers.” The zombies were human without the human element. Even though outside of Hollywood zombies don’t exist, yet in a Darwinian world, zombies would be quite plausible. If humans are only flesh and blood, mere products of biochemical reaction and mutations, spiritually dead and perhaps even soulless, then zombies would no longer be a genre of fiction but part of the evolutionary line. After all, it was the zombies that thrived and nearly killed off the weaker race in the world portrayed by "I am Legend."

Fortunately, I am not exposed to a lot of zombie movies and I don’t know how the zombies of “I am Legend,” compare to other zombies, or Rob Zombie for that matter. As a teenager I saw both “Dawn of the Dead” and the “Omega Man” at a drive-in on the same night. By the way, the “Omega Man” and “I am Legend” are both adaptations of the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson, a guy I never heard of until I began reading up on “I am Legend.” (Right now “in my head” I can hear Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries belting out the chorus from their hit song, “Zombie.”) Sorry for this side track. Back to the train of thought.

"Omega Man" movie poster, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries and Rob

There were also some strong positive spiritual elements in “I am Legend,” specifically the ending. (Warning: Plot Spoiler). When Will Smith’s character Robert Neville discovers the cure that would make the zombies human again, the zombies continue their assault on his Plexiglas-encased basement laboratory. Robert Neville kept screaming, “I can cure you! I can save you!” But the zombies didn’t even know they were sick and were intent on killing the only one who could make them whole again. Perhaps this is a stretch, and I am certainly not equating Will Smith to Jesus. But for me it was reminiscent of Jesus when He says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you were unwilling,” Matthew 23:37.

Moments later Robert Neville does give his life so that the human race can be preserved. And the cure was in the blood! Again, you can accuse me of reaching. But Caiaphas’ words of substitutionary atonement rang in my ear, better “that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish,” John 11:50.

Surely an atheist may say, “But wait! Will Smith’s character said he didn’t believe in God. This movie illustrates that it does not take a belief in God to do great moral acts.” Perhaps so. But the fruit of atheism, particularly in the last century, was responsible for more deaths than any other world view and the body count greatly exceeded the Crusades and Inquisitions, both of which will always be perennial black eyes on the Christian church. But, and this is important when we dialogue with the critics of Christianity, the Crusades and Inquisitions went against the teachings of Jesus Christ of the New Testament while Nazism and Communism were the results of natural selection of the atheistic worldview. Selfless acts of self-sacrifice are few and far between in a “survival of the fittest” world.

Even Fredrick Nietzsche, who 100 years ago, gave us the phrase, “God is dead,” also predicted that because God is dead, because man no longer has a use for God, that the 20^th century would be the bloodiest in history. He was right. Atheism can only bring us death.

Nietzsche: "God is dead"

“I am Legend” ends with one man giving his life so others could live. In light of this another point needs to be made: Have you ever noticed that the themes of redemption and atonement are so prevalent in our movies? These themes resonant with the human psyche as if we were pre-programmed with a leaning toward these ideas. This is the point John Eldridge makes in his book, “A Sacred Romance.”

And Jesus Christ’s laying down his life for sinners and His enemies is the epitome, the highest expression, the ultimate example, of the ideas of redemption and atonement which seemed to be scripted onto our souls. Why do we today in our modern age simultaneously express redemption and atonement in our art yet ignore it in the Incarnation? Reimbrandt, Michaelangelo and others did not struggle with this contradiction; however we seem to embrace this contradiction. It is as if this story of Jesus is written on our hearts yet in our modern society we cannot face it or acknowledge it -- as if we are like Will Smith wandering in the dark warehouse; we know what’s there but we really hope we don’t find it.

If we take the Christ out of Christianity then we merely get another man-centered, works oriented religion; a Savior-less religion is zombie-like spirituality. Something is there, certainly, but we know it is not spiritually living. Perhaps this is why Jesus, facing the physical death of one of His good friends, says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,” John 11:25.

"...One from every tribe, tongue and nation..." Rev. 7:9

Campus Crusade for Christ's Eastern European and Russian staff conference.

Flags from the countries represented at our conference.

We just returned from an incredible week! It was Campus Crusade's staff conference for Eastern Europe and Russia. This conference happens only once every three years and was held just a couple hours’ drive from Budapest. It was a week of great Bible teaching, worship, celebration, fellowship and rejoicing over what God is doing in our part of the world. 1200 laborers from 13 time zones representing many languages and many cultures. I wish you could have been there!

The most valuable resource we have is our staff. I would like to introduce you to some of the loved, valued, national missionaries that I get to work with. Perhaps you will meet them directly someday.

This is the team of Romanians serving in the city of Timisoara, Romania. I am in the yellow sweater in the middle.

Toshe, who is a Hugh Grant look alike and an accomplished concert pianist, is from Macedonia and this is his teammate Tomo.

On the right is my boss and his wife, Larry and Debbie Thompson, the director of Eastern Europe and Russia. Next to them is Larry’s boss, Steve and Judy Douglas, Campus Crusade president.

Eugene from Moldova (on the left) talks with Ionel, one of our Romanian staff who is serving in Serbia.

Robert Kowalski (on the right) with whom I work closely, is the Polish director of development, and his wife Beata, talking with a friend.

This is Erol Ilijazović, country director of Serbia, and his wife Tanja.

This is Sandu Onu and his wife Tanya, from Moldova.

Here I am with Dima and Svetlana Brovko from the Ukraine

Three very eligible bachlorettes: (on the left) Vesna from Serbia, Amalia from Romania, and Svetlana from Bosnia.

Quentin, hamming it up for the camera, right before a song during the children’s program.

For the teenagers, there was a special week just for them about a 20 minute drive away. It was put on by Campus Crusade’s MK2MK (MK = missionary kid) ministry, which is, in my opinion, one of the best things Campus Crusade does. In this photo our Savannah (far right) waits with her friends to board the bus to take them to their MK2MK week.

Thank you for standing with us in our ministry! Thank you for the love, prayers, encouragement and support you not only give our family but many of our laborers from this part of the world. May we all rest and rejoice in our AWESOME SAVIOR!

Savannah playing basketball on her 13 birthday

Great Form!

Coach: “Savannah! What are you doing?”

The starters

Defense

Fast break

The boys were watching

After nearly 20 years of marriage, EB hasn't aged at all. I have aged enough for the 2 of us! I look just like how I remember my Grandpa Schleiger

Roland (one of our Hungarian staff), Bill Blackwood (visiting from Michigan) and me

Sarajevo: a city without Christmas

“Always winter, never Christmas.” I downloaded this picture of Sarajevo from the internet.

This could be any place in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The streets and buildings are brown and dirty. The surrounding mountains are topped in snow yet they trap in all the pollution from the city. These are the same mountains from where in the 1990s Serb guns lobbed shells down into the city, killing innocent civilians. Even though it is December now, there are no holiday lights, no piped in Bing Crosby, no Santa or manger displays, no glow on children’s faces. I am in Muslim Sarajevo, a city without Christmas.

Delvin and I entered one of the many coffee shops in town, each with its own décor and personality. This coffee shop was not well lit. In Bosnian, the name of the coffee shop meant “fire.” The air was blue from cigarette smoke. Music pulsated through the room. Delvin and I found the only available table. We sat down and I glanced to my left. There hidden behind a pillar was a table where a young couple was making out with such intensity as if they both were groping for a lost coin in each other’s throat. To my right flush on the wall was a big screen TV inside a plastic golden picture frame. I couldn’t decide if it looked cheap or if it was totally hip.

Delvin dispensed quickly with the small talk and our religious conversation began. Delvin is a tall lanky perpetual college student with a hearty laugh; he looks European and like an Alabama fraternity boy but is a devout Muslim. Delvin is easy to like. He has hung around the American guys in our mission to Sarajevo for about 5 years. We talked for over 2 hours about the differences between Christianity and Islam. Essentially, he believes that God can do anything He wants except take on a human body and die for our sins. He likes us as Americans but implies we are foolish for believing in Jesus Christ.

Delvin, on the left, with my good friend Scott Moffatt, from a picture this past summer.

“Do you believe,” Delvin asks me in great English, “that a man can live an evil life and then at age 80 ‘receive Christ’ and he will go to heaven? That isn’t fair!” “In some ways it may not be fair,” I countered and then I leaned forward and looked in Delvin’s eyes. “but its beautiful!” I let that hang in the air and said, “How can you have the audacity to think that you, rebellious, sinful man can stand alone before Almighty, Holy, Righteous God with only your good works and bribe Him to let you into heaven? Your god is too small and your idea of holiness is not nearly holy enough.”

Besides Delvin, there are some other great guys with whom I spent time during my recent visit to Sarajevo. Each of them I met previously (except Torkin) this past summer.

George: I feel a real connection with George. He is a new Christian with superb English. With George I love to laugh, tell stories and hang out. He is the sort of guy that would be a lot of fun on a road trip. George has a checkered past and we are trusting God to do a great work in his life. Yet between the need to work and school, it is a struggle for George to be consistent in a small group Bible study with our team in Sarajevo.

Achmed: He is also a new Christian and like George, struggles to find the time for Bible study between the demands of school and work. I met Achmed over lunch and he told me about how he grew up as an orphan. He said, “Hey this will be my first Christmas ever so please send me a Christmas card.” His perspective touched my heart. I told him, “Bro, if you ever want to visit America you know you’re gonna hafta change your name.”

George on the left, I am in the middle, Achmed on the right. He is holding the Bosnian translation of Josh McDowell’s “More Than a Carpentar.”

Booki (rhymes with “cookie”): Even though he is Bosnian by nationality, he grew up in Serbia, a common phenomenon that happens in this part of the world when country boundaries are drawn in a map room by politicians and military leaders. A gentle guy, yet with black hair parted in the middle and a mustache, he looked like someone who could have played bass in either Supertramp or Blue Oyster Cult. He learned English by watching movies and spoke with a slight Irish accent. He really wants to believe but has a hard time accepting the deity of Jesus Christ, as do most with Islamic backgrounds.

Booki, on the left, with his friend Silvio.

Torkin: On Wednesday night I spoke to a gathering of about 30 students and used movie clips to share and explain the gospel. Torkin began to heckle me from the audience. His beef was not with Christianity per se but with the idea of God in general. After sparing for about 10 minutes in front of the whole group, I said that he and I would talk afterward so I can continue my presentation. We did talk afterward and after 20 minutes he told me, “Oh, I believe there is a God; I just wanted to present the atheistic arguments.” Honestly, I didn’t know how to interpret those words. And I still don’t.

Torkin the Heckler

It was a privilege for me to have my daughter Liz with me. She missed several days of school and totally submerged herself into missionary life for a few days. She stayed with the college girls on the STINT team (STINT is a one year commitment), and accompanied them as they went grocery shopping at the outdoor market and met with Bosnian girls for evangelism and follow-up. Bosnia was a different environment for Liz as she experienced “rocky soil” where each conversion is hard-fought. She is used to the ripe harvest fields of Uganda, where she has spent her past 2 summers.

Liz (on the left) with the girls of this year’s STINT team in Sarajevo: Amy, Katie and Tiffany.

There is certainly part of my heart in Sarajevo. Like I reflected when I returned from there in June, there is a purity, a completeness, to entering these Balkan cities and sharing Christ. Often times these cities have fewer evangelicals than similarly-sized Middle Eastern cities.