The 10 million people who live in Hungary are truly hungry.  Following a century of two devastating wars, the holocaust which annihilated 750,000 Hungarian Jews, and capped off by 40 years of oppressive Soviet Communist rule, Hungarians are hungry for peace and stability.  A highly literate culture with enormous respect for Art, Music, Drama, Literature and Philosophy, Hungarians are also hungry for truth and beauty.

          Unfortunately, almost half of all Hungarians describe themselves as being people who do not believe in the existence of God or a supernatural being, and only 15% of Hungarians identify themselves as ardent followers of any church or religion. [1]  However, like many other European countries, Christianity is not simply in decline.  Scholars are predicting that by the end of this century, Europe will have evolved from a Judeo-Christian civilization to a secular-Islamic society--where Islam will have a more significant cultural influence than Christianity.

          Because of this, we are committed to serving in Hungary so that Hungarians will have the opportunity to hear the gospel, and to see it truly lived out within a community of committed Christians -- a local church.   Some may choose to reject it, but for the millions of Hungarians who have only heard the gospel filtered through the mass media or the former Communist propaganda, how can they believe, unless someone tells them about who Jesus really is?  Our vision is that one day all 10 million Hungarians will have had the chance to hear the true gospel and that they will once again hunger for God!

How can we make a difference in the face of such great spiritual need?

          Before we got married, we asked ourselves a couple questions:

What should our goal in life be? 

And how should we invest the talents God gave us?

After spending some time thinking through these questions, we determined that instead of pursuing good-paying careers and the middle-class dream, we would invest our time and talents into caring for people who are wounded and broken—whether that be physically, emotionally or spiritually.

          Our lives alone are certainly not enough.  But we believe that God has chosen to use His body—the Church—to accomplish this very thing.  Therefore, we are committed to working with and within the local church, so that Hungarians who do not yet know God, can hear and experience His love, truth, and transforming power.

          John will be investing his time facilitating church planting - working with the existing Hungarian churches to help start churches in villages and communities where there currently are none. He will also assist the Hungarian pastors and church- planters mentor and train the next generation of Christian leaders.

          Zsófi will be serving alongside John, but is also excited to use the education and training in Christian Psychology she received in Germany to minister to those who are emotionally and spiritually broken.