Operation

This one is just a quick note and a prayer request: my mom (Norbi's mom Maria that is) is getting her operation done on Monday. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about 8 months ago so she went through the chemotherapy phase - and she was perfectly well throughout the whole thing, and now they are preparing to remove whatever is still left in her. Every prayer you lift up would be greatly appreciated! She is coming to Budapest on Sunday and her operation is on Monday in the morning. Unfortunately we can’t even meet her before the operation because she really has to be careful not to get sick or catch a cold and our family is down with a pretty bad case of flu. I will let you know how the operation went as soon as we find out.

Work, Work and Bible studies

Budapest Police HQ main building

Just recently two of my bosses were fired out of the three - the head of the department and his deputy. They briefed us in the morning and gave out jobs for us to be done by the time they were back from the HQ. When they came back they called the whole staff together and announced that the supreme court found one of their actions during the Budapest riots unconstitutional so they were immediately relieved from their duties and we should be expecting the new leadership to arrive momentarily. This was very uncomfortable situation for them and for the staff as well because in most cases a new boss would bring their own trusted staff with him. As the new boss didn't arrive for 3 more days, tension and rumours grew among us... the uncertainty was unbearable.
This hard time really made me think about a lot of things. How things we take for granted can disappear in virtually minutes, and when they do we find out how much we actually relied on them. A company can go bankrupt in an hour due to an accident, a leader can be fired in a minute, one can lose their life in a second. What is out there that is certain, that will not change, that I can hold onto? I was on my bike on the way home going through the park when I was thinking about this, and all of a sudden I just had to smile, stop and get off. Of course. It's God. He will never change. He won't be fired. He won't have and accident. Him I can hold on to, an anchor for my soul. In the following days I had more than a few people asking me how I can be so calm when everyone is distressed. This is how, by holding onto the 'Right Stuff'.

The first 5 of the batch. 14 more to go!

Another work-story to share - skipping ahead 1 month in time to... this week. I got a huge job from the new boss. Had to fix 5 mini computers in a day that never worked and it was extremely important the they were done in time. Riding to work - on the bike again - I remember asking God: 'I know it's a bit specific but you think you could help me configure the APN and program the Active Directory for remote authentication?' I had to smile at my own request but guess what. He did help. I was able to fix the 5 that day and by Wednesday our team - God and I that is - fixed a total of 19 computers, and a bunch of those were brought here from other police units because no one else knew how to get them to work. So yeah God knows about computers alright.

Now for a praise and a prayer request: at church we started a Bible study about a month ago - and it's been fantastic! It's a small group of 5 people, but the conversations are exponentially deep, and several of them have said at the end of some studies that 'This was the best Bible study I've ever been to' - Praise God for that! We are just done with Galatians and getting into Ephesians and looking forward to another great study. And this is the request part: I have talked to several other people at church and some that used to come to church but they don't any more, and they all said that having heard about it would like to join us. I talked to Sanyi (the pastor) and we decided to start up new groups instead of expanding the existing one. Right now the current study is at church before the service, and we're planning on starting one at our house for college guys on Friday before the Long's Youth Group, and another one on Wednesday for adults and possibly a third one for younger people if there is interest for that. So far we have some 'Yes' and a few 'Maybe' people and we would like to ask you to pray for us as we are starting these groups that people would have a hunger for God's word, that we would have wisdom leading / facilitating the studies and that everyone would be faithful in coming and we would grow in depth knowing God and His will for us. This is a big project we are getting into but we are confident in God's leading but also a little unsure about some details. According to our plans I will be leading Sunday's and Friday's studies, and Sanyi will be leading Wednesday's and the young guys' group.

Who will stand in the gap?

The village of Kolontár flooded with toxic waste

You may have heard about the dam that cracked, releasing tons of toxic red mud into Hungarian villages and waterways recently. The mud is a bi-product of aluminum production and has been building up in a reservoir for some time now.  When the dam broke, it flooded the homes, fields and rivers in the area with its toxins, killing nine people, all of the fish and other life in the nearby rivers, and polluting the land for many years to come. 

Man dumping the mud from his house

People were evacuated from their homes. Workers started immediately building a newer and stronger dam to hold back the remaining mud before it too is released. Police and military were mobilized to begin efforts to clean up the enormous mess.The aluminum plant at fault was seized by the Hungarian government. Help is pouring in. People are standing in the gap to help those who have lost so much.

Yet many Hungarians are perishing still. Their spirits have been polluted, and they are living just downstream from a broken dam that is continually leaking toxins into their hearts. They have been displaced from their spiritual homes, and may never be able to see the heavenly dwellings that they were created for. Won’t you stand in the gap with us for these people and for this land. We believe that it is only through the humble prayers of God’s people that the land will be healed. We are praying for God to raise up an army of prayer warriors who would be willing to do battle for God’s work in Hungary on a daily basis. If you feel God sharing His burden for Hungary with you, please let us know. If you are willing to saturate this country in prayer, please let us know. God is putting together His army. Is He calling you into battle?

'And (if) My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ 2 Chron 7:14

You thought the World Cup was a big thing? Check this out!

As we are getting closer to the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the tension is increasing, there is something even more grand coming along the way: it's the 2010 Summer English Camps!


Although our motto says: 'Do you have a SEC? Because we do!' english camps take more than a second to plan, organize, and hold. It's roughly 6 months of intense work: finding a place, writing contracts, assembling the curriculum, advertising, recruiting staff, training at the orientation, and leading the camp. The staff is made up of the OMS Hungary team, missionaries and ECC workers, and also members of the church plant, friends and former students. Now the prep work is mostly done, and everyone is getting ready for Orientation on July 8th, and for Camp to start July 11th and 12th.

Please pray that in this intense - and tense - time would bring our team even closer and not pull it apart; that God would provide divine wisdom for the leaders and make their leading gentle and firm, and that God would bring all the students that need to hear about Him and about how much He loves them!

We will keep you updated as Camp goes along! In the meantime check out the galleries of former camps on the new SEC - Summer English Camp site!

Elections and Church Building

Hungary held elections in April, and the conservative party won 68% percent of the seats. It is about to pass sweeping reforms, like a 16% flat tax and a 15% cut in all government employees’ wages.
In a speech to the Hungarian Parliament last week, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave his reasons for a flat tax:

In eight years, the Hungarian national debt went up from 53 percent to nearly 80 percent [of GDP]. This is an assault not only against contemporary Hungarians, but against future generations too...we need a ... work friendly tax system… so simple that a person with only eight grades of primary education could understand the rules.

The Hungarian PM called for a temporary “full stop on telephone, furniture and vehicle purchase and replacement in the public sector.”
And he spoke against stifling bureaucracy:

It is not only tax cuts we need, but we must also start to cut red tape that is paralysing the economy in Hungary… the authorities should not rule, but should serve people -- should not set up barriers, but demolish them…

link

Also what I know from work is that ever since FIDESZ (the name of the conservative party) is in power the nationalist that have been demonstrating on the streets got absolutely no publicity in any media. This is rapidly draining their popularity and thus their activity as well.

Please keep praying that this country would be free, and that the leaders would obey God’s law of love.

Also we have been looking at new facilities for our church, since the office-apartment where we have been having our services will not be available as of October, and hopefully with God’s leading we may have found a building that would be perfect for us! Location is great, it’s cheap (relatively) aaaand it needs a lot of work. Our regional field leader is here at the moment and they are going to look at it to see if it’s something worth investing into.

Please pray that we would be able to make the right decision on this!