Hungary
Go into all the world and preach to all creation
Why Hungary?
The last century has brought tremendous change to Europe. Devastated twice by world wars, it has also suffered an enormous spiritual war that has left the continent a virtual spiritual wasteland. Once a beacon of Christianity in the world (and the source of Christianity in the U.S.), Europe’s
beautiful churches are now empty. But this century is different, and God is doing some powerful things here. So though it is going to be a challenging battle, it is also an incredibly exciting time to be serving God in this rapidly changing region. And our passion is to one day see communities of committed Christians living out the gospel and transforming the lives of people around them.
What does our missionary work consist of?
Since we believe that the local church is the primary instrument God uses in transforming people’s lives, almost everything we do is connected with serving the local church. We strive to both help local churches become more effective in ministering to and reaching their own communities, as well as helping churches plant other churches.
John, Zsofi, Eszter, Elizabeth, Jonatan Wilson
Missionaries to Hungary
Budapest, Hungary Short Term Mission Trip
Summer & Thanksgiving 2009
A short term missions team was sent out to Budapest, Hungary this summer. A great work was begun there, and the team felt compelled to go back over Thanksgiving Break. Here are some of the pictures from their first trip and a letter from John & Zsofi Wilson.
Dear Friends,
We would like to thank you for enabling this awesome team to come to Hungary. Through your support, the team made a significant contribution in two churches we have been involved with the past 2 years. They ministered, brought healing, and gave encouragment and hope to the leadership team of both churches, as well as many others in the church. Thank you for your prayers and for contributing financially to their ministry over here.
During our time together, God did many remarkable things and here are some of the testimonies we heard from the Hungarians they ministered to:
A youth pastor (whom many on the team met this summer on the previous trip) said: "Thank you so much! You accomplished things in this short time that would have taken us years to do."
A senior pastor of a church said: "The time with this team was simply amazing!"
A church planter they prophetically ministered to shared with me: "Everything this team told us during ministry time was right. This is no small thing, this is a miracle!"
Another church planter we work with said: "When they prayed for me and gave encouraging words, I was so touched; I felt known by God."
One guest from our Alpha course, who is not a believer yet, was moved to tears and said that this team's insight about him and prayers touched him deeply.
Additionally, virtually everyone the team spent time with commented that they would love the team to come back again.
This group was a joy to work with. We are blessed to have them partner with us to enlarge God´s Kingdom here in Hungary. Please continue to pray for those who were touched and ministered to during the team’s time here, that God would continue to bring to fruition the many wonderful things he has begun in so many lives.
Thank you and may the Father's blessings be upon you for sending this team to us.
With love,
John & Zsofi Wilson
Dear Vineyard Church Family:
Sometimes life can be disconcerting - like coming home yesterday and finding Zsofi in the kitchen ironing my shirts. Or accidentally shaving my head instead of just giving myself a haircut (long story).
Even ministry can be disconcerting, when things go a different direction than we plan/intend. But one thing is certain, it is an exciting journey to continually attempt to discern what God is calling us to invest our time and talents in, and then do our best to serve with all we have! Here are a few recent tidbits:
Highlights & Milestones!
John had a amazing trip to Israel, made possible by a scholarship and major cuts to the "luxury coffee shop" budget (i.e. Starbucks). In brief, like new TVs, the Bible went from being 2D to 3D!
Zsofi's involvement at a retreat for missionary women, helping them grow deeper in their relationship with God and providing additional tools to nurture that relationship while on the field.
We launched another Alpha Course, and despite being so small, one person has already decided to follow Jesus!!
Zsofi is holding a much anticipated workshop on Forgiveness (Pt. 2) at church next week.
Eszti turned 5, Eliza turned 3, and Jonatan started
walking!!
John has (finally!) begun teaching in Hungarian!
The delay is believed to be due to Global Warming,
old age, or simply the difficulty of Hungarian!
John, next to a 2000-yr-old olive tree
Thanks for joining us on this marathon of laboring
to see more of God's Kingdom here in Hungary!
With our love,
Zsófi & John
Prayer Corner:
Prayer: For our family, which has been struggling with sickness (not to mention Zsofi's crazy home remedy concoctions) for the last 5 weeks. Ugh...!
Prayer: For our larger UWM team as we develop our strategic plan for next year!
Prayer: (long term) For wisdom with housing. We really love our little flat, but are quickly outgrowing it. Should we do the unthinkable and move to a small house with a yard? And how to finance that?!
Dear Vineyard Church Family,
November 2011
Today as I was praying, I was reminded of you again and found myself writing an email to you in my mind so here it is.
I wanted to share with you that people keep talking about you here. Last week one of the missionaries, Martha Farina, who you prayed for when you were here, refered to an encouraging word she got from you. It was obvious that she has kept those words in her heart and has been pondering about them. As I was listening to her I was reminded of the story when Mary pondered the words she received as a message from God. Tucking away God’s messages into our hearts is, I believe what God wants us to do, remembering those words and being transformed into the people He wants us to be. This was my impression as I was listening to Martha, that the message you gave her, encouraged her, spoke to her heart and she has been pondering and treassuring those words ever since. I wanted to share this with you because maybe some of you who participated in a mission trip, might think: “What difference did we really make?” or “What can you really do in a week?”. Since I am on the field here, I can tell you that your service here has impacted many people and it is a joy for me to see these handprints again and again that you left here. Thank you for having a love for the world God created, for people in other countries. Even if sometimes your time is short in a place, your impact is deep, may it be in India, Mexico, Hungary or wherever the Lord leads you.
We love you and are blessed by your love, prayers and generous support. Thank you so much for all you do for His Kingdom!
The HungaryWilsons (John, Zsofi, Eszti, Eliza and Jonatan)
Dear Vineyard Church Family,
January 2012
We have been wanting to thank you for the gift you gave us for Christmas and share a little story along with it. This past year John and I decided to do Christmas a little different. We thought, why not putting the money we would spend on each other and give it away to a good cause.
My (Zsofi's) family liked the idea so much that they wanted to participate too. So we started doing research about possible ways to donate the money and were looking forward to celebrating Christmas a little different this year. In the process we got a notice from our mission organization, that Vineyard SA
deposited a huge gift into our account as a Christmas gift. I remember, we were in the kitchen when John read the email to me and we were both speechless. My heart was overflowing with thankfulness for several reasons.
One was because of your support and love for us, and also because God orchestrated your giving to happen the same year we decided not to give each other Christmas presents but to give it to those who are in need... Almost as if He would be telling us: You want to give to others... that is wonderful and see how much I want to give even more back to you.
Thank you for being in tune with His plan, His leading. You bless us.
We give thanks for you and send you our love,
The HungaryWilsons (John, Zsofi, Eszti, Eliza and Jonatan)
February 2012
Dear Vineyard Church Family,
In missions, like most other careers, there are exciting phases, routine phases, and at times even survival phases. Currently we are in an exciting phase, as God continues to open up new horizons for ministry as well as clarify how to best invest our time. Here are some of the things we are excited about:
Zsofi recently launched a series of Parenting Workshops! The first workshop dealt with: "Beyond Tips & Techniques: Who We Are as Parents." The session this Friday night (3/2) will be on "Training & Discipline," followed by future sessions on "How Can I Love My Child Well?" "Sibling Relationships," and "How Our View of Self and God Affects the Way We Parent."
One lady, after participating in the initial workshop, decided to buy a Bible and start reading it for the first time!
John began working more closely with the national Alpha Course office, and among other things, has been invited to help develop a strategic plan for Hungary.
John will be hosting a small delegation from The Trinity Forum, helping connect them with Christian business leaders and other potential ministry partners in order to accelerate the impact of TTF here in Hungary.
We will be back in the U.S. this summer for HMA (home ministry assignment)!! During June & July we are looking forward to reconnecting with family, friends, and supporters, and sharing about what God is doing over here in Hungary!
Thanks for being part of our missionary journey here in Hungary!
With our love,
Zsófi & John
Prayer Corner:
For our family's health! A series of lingering sicknesses has taken a toll, especially on John, and we are looking forward to finally being able to go full-speed.
For the logistics of traveling on HMA with 3 small kids (car, car-seats, etc), as well as scheduling -- a lot of people we want to see in a relatively short span of time.
For John's brother, Jeff, coming over for a 2-week visit! We are counting down the days until he arrives.
