Wednesday: Friends and Tiream Gypsy Church

Jozsef, Agnes, and Tamas Kovacs invited over for lunch and to visit.   Jozsef  when he was dean of the Hungarian Baptist Seminary of Romania invited me to teach at the seminary twice a year beginning in 2000.   That is how so many of the Romanian partnerships that we are involved in now came about.  We have spent a lot of time together.   Not as much in the past few years, but early on, Bonnie and I spent many nights with them.   Tamas gave Bonnie her first Hungarian language lesson.   He must have done a great job because Bonnie can still speak the Hungarian Tamas taught her.   Jozsef is a true educator with a passionate love for Christ and desire for others to grow in Jesus Christ.   Some of you know that Jozsef and Agnes have had a challenging past two years.   Jozsef developed a “vertigo” type of illness that forced him out of the pastorate in a sabbatical for a year as he recovered.   He and Agnes have had a challenging time since then.   True to their faith, they have come through it stronger.   Bonnie and I believe that God was preparing them for special service.  Join us in prayer as Jozsef and Agnes prayerfully explore the opportunities that God is opening up for them.     

We discovered something that we did not know about Jozsef.  As Bonnie says, “he prepared a cream of celery soup to die for.”   He also prepared fresh homemade bread.   Agnes not to be out done had the main course with pork snitzel, mashed potatoes, purple cabbage, and seasoned rice. 

In the evening, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Bonnie and I went to Tiream for mid-week service.   Two Satu Mare elders have primary responsibility for the work in Tiream, Zoltan and David.   They are doing a great work there.   As with most of the churches this time of year, many of the people are involved in migrant work in other countries.  

Two years ago, most of them could not read.   They had a hunger to read the Bible.   A retired school teacher from the Satu Mare church came during the winter time and taught them to read.   What a blessing to hear the Word of God read.    Each week they take a chapter in the New Testament and discuss it.   During the week they read the passage and on Wednesday nights they discuss its meaning and application to their lives.  

Tiream is special to me because when my mother and father died in the summer of 2006.  The memorials given were used to provide funds for the purchase and development of the Tiream mission.   One of the ladies said, “every time I come to this building, I thank God for you (Bonnie, me, and you) making it possible to have a place of worship.”  

They shared a greeting—a blessing with us: 1 Thessalonians 5:23ff.