Planting Seeds in Hungary
By Maddie Nakhla, Calvary OPC, Glenside, PA
I had the wonderful privilege of being a part of the OPC’s 2024 Team Hungary missions trip this summer. Our team was a group of ten members from all over the U.S., most never having met before. As we embarked on our trip, I felt the strong bonds of Christian fellowship weave our group together. One of the first days of the trip before the English Camp, the Pastor had taken us to a cave pool in the heart of Miskolc— the same city in which the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central and Eastern Europe (RPCCEE), our host church, resides. While in the cave, a few of us decided to start singing hymns as the acoustics in there were very good. What a joy it was to proclaim the Gospel through music to the local Hungarians inside the cave. Many onlookers watched, smiled, and some even filmed us!
I truly felt the impact of the global church during my time in Hungary. On the Sunday before English Camp, we worshiped with other believers in Miskolc, singing hymns and hearing a sermon from Pastor Imre in Hungarian. Despite the language barriers, we were all worshiping the same Savior and Lord. The saints there in Miskolc were so hospitable to us, providing us with housing, delicious food, shuttling us to and from places, and taking us around their cities–and every one of them had a smile on their face while doing it.
The English Camp took place from Monday to Friday at the Miskolc church. There were about 30 participants, ranging in age from 7 to 60! About two thirds of the participants were active church members, the rest came from outside of the church. Through our ministry, we taught them the story of Joseph in the Bible while also helping them practice their English. The youngest and oldest groups at the camp had the least familiarity with English while the teenagers and young adults were proficient in English but needed practice learning bigger words, like “predestination” and “partiality.” They were eager to learn and practice, and we were eager to aid them. I also felt the mutual encouragement that took place through our interactions. Just as we were interested in getting to know them and their culture, they seemed just as excited to learn about us.
Each morning, two team members presented their testimony to the whole camp. In my testimony, I shared about the importance in my life of “casting all my anxieties on Him because He cares for me.” (1 Peter 5:7). One of the participants at the camp, who is not a church member, pulled me aside later and expressed how grateful she was that I had opened up about that in my testimony because she too struggles with anxiety. I then shared with her the Gospel, and how Jesus truly cares for us and that we can fully rely on Him in all things. I pray that she was encouraged by this, and that the Lord works in her heart after this interaction.
We wrapped up our trip by traveling back to Budapest with Pastor Imre and some of his family, and on Sunday, we worshiped at the RPCCEE church there. One of the church members translated the sermon in real time to us through headphones.
It truly was such a refreshing, encouraging, and fruitful trip, through worshiping and interacting with other believers across the world from us, sharing the Gospel in English to Hungarians, fellowshipping together as a team, and getting to see God’s creation on the other side of the globe. Please pray for the girl I interacted with; that the seed that was planted would be watered and grow fruit, that she will get plugged into the church there and feel the Lord’s presence in a saving way. Please also pray for Pastor Imre and the church in Miskolc that God would grow it and bring more people to the wonderful work that is happening there.