CEE Story From The Mission Field
Volunteering in Style
June 27, 2003
Gone are the days when “volunteering” with the mission board meant doing phone surveys and door-to-door evangelism. With the doors of Eastern Europe open, but the hearts of Eastern Europeans still wary of strange religions, some creative methods of sharing the Gospel have been the most effective. So now volunteer teams are used in effectual witness by missionaries who have coordinated the strategy for their people group.In the Western Hungarian city of Gyor, a university town with over 8,000 students, this strategy includes softball games, ESL classes and coffee houses.
The volunteer team from Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Littleton, Colorado was up to the challenge. The results were fantastic! Not only did one young lady, Esther, pray to receive Christ, but ten to twelve people came to the coffee house every night and heard the gospel presented. One new Bible study has begun with Esther and six unbelievers, and the local youth group was so excited about the ministry that they want to continue the coffee house on their own! Here’s what the team did.
In the mornings, the team prayer walked through the city, especially around the schools, dormitories and favorite hangout spots of the students. In the afternoons the team went to a local park by the river and played volleyball, frisbee golf and softball with young people. While this was taking place, some Hungarian Baptist church members and volunteer team members would walk around the park handing out invitations to ESL courses or to evening coffee houses at the Baptist church. Later in the afternoon, the church was opened for the ESL classes and for the evening coffee house. The nightly coffee house became the main event of the week as young people came to drink lemonade, tea or coffee and sample some American snacks while Journeyman Cindy Gavin sang songs in Hungarian and English while playing her guitar. The students who came had an opportunity to meet and talk with the Colorado team, meet the youth group and some members of the church and hear testimonies of how Jesus Christ can change the heart and life of any person. Many of the students came night after night even though they said that they weren’t interested at all in Christ!
The volunteer team came from the home church of Ron Brown, Strategy Coordinator for Western Hungary. They worked directly with Larry and Melinda Ewing, missionaries in Gyor, as well the local Hungarian Baptist Church and youth group. The team was fantastic and really demonstrated great servanthood and a passion for the lost and a willingness and flexibility to do whatever needed to be done! And they were blessed for coming as well. As one volunteer, Will, said, “I have been changed forever!”
Esther was also changed forever. She told Melinda Ewing that she had heard enough of the Bible when she was 12 to really want to be a Christian but she could never find anyone to help her! Her dad would ask her, “Why do you want to be a Christian?”
"When she met us that day at Golden Beach playing softball she was so excited to play softball, but just couldn’t believe her ears when she realized that we also had God’s truth! And then Tuesday night she came to our Bible study,” said Melinda. Then her life, too, was changed forever.
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