Spring 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you all very much for your continued prayers and support of the ministry here in Eastern Hungary. With Spring comes signs of new life everywhere. Flowers are in the parks, fruit trees are starting to bloom, and the walking streets are full of people getting out to enjoy the sunshine. In this season of new starts we pray that many will come to know the new life that is in Jesus Christ.
Even though we are still in full time language school, we are beginning to see some amazing things start to happen. They may be small in the light of the overall task, but we see them as large steps toward what we believe God is going to accomplish here.
To start with, we attended the Strategy Coordinator training in Prague during February. This helped us get more focused on what our part of God's plan is. In the course of the school we had to look at the current reality, then clearly define goals and objectives for how we intend to get to where we want to go. Again we were confronted with the enormity of the task ahead, but calmly rest in the knowledge of God's providence.
Currently "The Passion of the Christ" is showing in theaters here. The Evangelical Alliance organized a panel discussion in the main shopping mall here in Debrecen three nights in a row. Each night was a different panel. They opened with a music group from one of the churches singing, and then the panel--consisting of pastors from various churches, a medical doctor, plus other professional people--would address the most common questions and criticisms of the film. The discussion was presented on an intellectual and rational basis. The best part was watching believers actively work the crowd to start conversations and build bridges.
On Good Friday several churches went together to rent two of the theaters for the showing of the film, and our language teacher went with us to see it. The next time we met was the Wednesday after Easter. She came with many questions, because after the film she went home to check exactly what the Bible actually said. She wanted to know about parts of the film that were not from the Gospels. We were able to share about things from Old Testament prophecy, what was simply symbolic, and some scenes which came from Catholic tradition. We have seen first-hand how the film has created discussion and opened up opportunities.
Carolyn did get the Hope for Eastern Hungary website up and going. She has done a couple of updates since the original launch, and has more in the works, so keep checking back to see what is new. The URL is http://www.hope4ehu.com.
In May we will once again hold 31 Days of Prayer for Hungary. Each day an email prayer request will be sent to our email prayer partners. The prayer guide is in booklet form for those who prefer it or don't have email access. It will also be available on the website by the first of May.
We believe the signs of revival we are seeing now are the result of years of prayer by local believers, other missionaries, and believers around the world asking God to redeem this people group to Himself. It is through prayer that we are endowed with strength and ability to accomplish His goals. There is no doubt that if we do not go in the power of the Holy Spirit there is no sense in going. We are asking God to double the size of our prayer network to 500 people who have committed to pray for the work here. If you know someone who might be willing to support us in prayer, please have them contact us at prayer@hope4ehu.com.
Specific prayer requests we have now are:
1. The Month of Prayer for Hungary -- May 1-31.
2. Priority projects for 2005 must be in the office by May 2 - Pray God will give us wisdom and guidance as we decide on projects for next year and rank them by importance.
3. Our next language test will be May 31 in Budapest-please pray for encouragement and endurance for us in our studies, and that our language skills will be strengthened.
4. Mission meeting will be June 25-July 3 in Eretria, Greece
5. We are teaching an English course for our church on July 5-16 - the purpose of the course is to make contact with people in the surrounding community and be able to continue building relationships.
6. Possible church plant in the town of Puspokladany, a city of 17,000 with no evangelical church. Our pastor had hoped for a church plant this summer, but now does not feel we will be able to. Carolyn and I have started prayer walking this town and feel that our work there will not be in vain. Pray that God will raise up a national church planter for this city, especially since we do not have the language skills yet to do it ourselves.
Thank you all again for your prayer support and your encouragement.
Love,
Gary for the Millers
