This year’s mission to Hungary was a follow-up on the foundation that Linda Easton and I had laid when we ministered there last year. When we taught on the topic of women in the Bible during our previous visit, everyone was amazed to learn that it was a woman – Lydia – who, working along with the Apostle Paul, opened Europe to the gospel. As a result of that message and the impact of our ministry, several pastors caught the vision that their women needed to be encouraged to work in the church, trained to take their rightful roles in the congregation, and be launched into the service of the Lord. In fact, it was the women themselves who seemed reluctant to be used of the Lord. But this trip proved to us that the seeds we had sown last year were beginning to germinate and bear fruit.
Our first meeting was with a group of pastors’ wives and church leaders. I encouraged the wives of the pastors that they are more than just wives to the pastors; I emphasized that they are really co-pastors whose ministries are just as vital and necessary as that of their husbands. For the other ladies, I shared on the “do”s and “don’t”s of ministry – a topic that they found very enlightening and motivational. When we invited the women to come up for prayer, several stepped forward and expressed that the message had really touched their lives because they had been through many of the same experiences that I had testified of in the lesson. Some were “wounded warriors” who needed healing so that they could get back into the battle! One pastor’s wife confessed that she was just at the point of “throwing in the towel,” but that the message helped her to understand that her discouragement was simply an attack of the devil and that she didn’t need to give up.
When the women arrived at the Budapest Women’s Aglow meeting, they found the auditorium decorated with gift boxes of all shapes and sizes – an illustration for my message entitled, “You are a Gift” in which I emphasized that although each individual looks different and has different attributes, we each are valuable and should be seen as a treasure. Linda followed up with a lesson on the biblical promise that signs and wonders would follow those who took the courage to step out and be bold enough to pray for people with needs. We knew that the ladies had received the messages when essentially the entire group of women came up after the meeting to receive prayer for anointing, boldness, and the ability to recognize the open doors for their ministry.
In the church services, men as well as the women responded to the call for prayer to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit and boldness to serve the Lord. One particular woman asked for prayer so that she could go home and minister to her husband who was too sick to come to the service that day. By the time we were on the plane back to the US the following day, I had received an email from the pastor of the church saying that the woman had called to tell him that her husband had been healed after she laid hands on him!
Truly the people of Hungry are hungry for the Spirit of God to move in their lives!
Another highlight for me personally was to see one of my former Bible college students who is now living in Romania come to the meeting in Budapest. She brought a group of fourteen ladies with her. These ladies all told me that they were so encouraged and excited to go back and do the work of the Lord.