The Esztergom Baptist Church was planted in 1995. God used two BIMI missionaries, Don Rice and Marc Patton, to establish this church. Although Esztergom is not a large city (population is about 30,000), it is a strategic city for two reasons. First, it was the original capitol of Hungary. King Stephen, Hungary’s first king, was crowned in Esztergom over 1,000 years ago. Although the capitol was moved to Budapest hundreds of years ago, the castle of Esztergom draws thousands of tourists each year. Secondly, Esztergom is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church for all of Hungary. Hungary’s largest cathedral is found in Esztergom and its 300-foot dome dominates the landscape. Esztergom is the residence of the Cardinal of Hungary and also boasts a Catholic seminary and college, as well as several Catholic high schools and elementary schools. Thus a strong Baptist church planted in this “strong-hold” of Catholicism can be an example to Gospel preaching churches across Hungary of what can be done in their cities and villages.

God has blessed this ministry tremendously over the past years. The church has grown from nothing to an average attendance approaching 100. After spending several years in rented facilities, the church purchased its own property in 1998. A 180-year-old stone and mud-brick building was renovated to house the young church. Walls have been removed two times to increase the capacity of the original auditorium, but it is still filled to overflowing week in and week out. In the spring of 2003 construction was begun on a new 200-seat auditorium. This work is still in progress and is proceeding as funds are available. The goal is to see the new auditorium completed by September 2004.

The Past Year in Review

As I look back at the past year, I stand amazed at what the Lord accomplished. In many ways it was our most demanding year as the building project placed huge demands on my schedule. Nevertheless, it was a year of blessings and miracles and in many ways our best year ever.

The blessings were perhaps most evident on Sundays. Week in and week out our church auditorium was filled almost to overflowing. Our average attendance over the past couple of months has been 90-95, and a number of new people have begun attending. Interestingly, much of our growth over the past year has come from the towns in the surrounding area. We now have people attending regularly, not only from Esztergom but also from Dorog, Tat, Tokod, Tokodaltaro, Nyergesujfalu, Uny, Domos, Pilismarot, Sarisap and Sturovo, the town across the river in Slovakia. There is a spirit of expectation and excitement in each service that makes it a joy to be together. I have also been pleased to see our Thursday evening attendance grow to about 40-45. I would like to see it closer to 60-70% of our Sunday attendance, but we are making progress.

God has also blessed tremendously in the area of giving. Total giving for the year was almost $12,000, which was about a 50% increase over last year. The strong giving allowed the church to contribute heavily to the building project. Thus far the church has put more than $10,000 of its own money into the construction expenses. Our Missions Conference held on November 15 and 16 was one of the highlights of the year. It was a great blessing to have Pastor Bob Wall from Fostoria, Michigan, as our special speaker. We also had four Hungarian church planters present. I had set a goal to see our Faith Promise commitment reach $2,200 for the next year. Boy, was I shocked when we collected the cards and saw that our people had committed well over $3,000! Our people have given sacrificially to the Lord’s work and now it’s exciting to see them involved in Faith Promise giving. God is teaching them the biblical principle of Grace Giving.

We also saw the Lord’s blessing in the building project. We were able to complete the new support wing over the past couple of months. On November 2 the children were able to use their new Sunday school room for the first time. What a blessing it is to have them back on our own church property for Sunday school! It was a major push, but we managed to get new restroom facilities finished just in time for the Missions Conference. It took until December 10 to get our new central heating system up and running, but what a blessing it has been. This allowed us to remove the last two wood burning stoves from our current auditorium and remove the last portion of wall dividing the foyer and our current auditorium. With the wall and woodstoves out we increased our seating from 75 to 90, which gives us a little more breathing room. The new kitchen was last in line, but our people finished it just in time for the New Year’s Eve celebration! Much work remains in the new auditorium, but in the past month we have seen the platform take shape and the walls of the baptistery dressing rooms going up. It has been exciting to see progress made week by week throughout the entire year. We thank all of you who have had a part through your prayers and your special gifts toward our building project.

A Look Ahead

Janos and his family began attending our church in March of this past year. Janos is a man in his 40s who had completed a three year Bible institute and felt called to preach. He was working a secular job but had a desire to start a church in the town of Domos where they live, which is about ten miles from Esztergom. They felt the need for a church family and the Lord led them to our church. Over the next eight months the entire family (Janos, his wife and six children) threw themselves into the ministry of our church. What a blessing and an example they were to everyone. By the end of the year it became obvious that Janos would be an excellent assistant pastor and a tremendous help in the ministry. On December 7, the church voted unanimously to hire Janos as my assistant. I am excited to see our church take this important step, and I am looking forward to our doing even more in the New Year with Janos’s help. One of his major responsibilities will be planning and organizing special evangelistic services including the outreach programs in Esztergom and the surrounding area. We would also like to help him see his dream of a church in Domos become a reality.

One of our main priorities of the New Year will be to complete the construction of our new auditorium. If all the funds were available, it could probably be finished within three or four months. Unfortunately, we are now completely out of money. In fact, we closed out 2003 about $7,000 behind in our payments to various contractors. It’s possible that we may have to shut down the work completely until we get caught up on these payments. Please make this a matter of earnest prayer. If the Lord would lead you or your church to contribute to this project, please send all checks to BIMI and designate them to our new auditorium. We appreciate your help and faithful prayers for this great need.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Jonathon & Mandy Crews -  BRAZIL
Joel C & Brooke Daku -  KIRIBATI
Paul W & Martha Daku -  FIJI ISLANDS