Our booth Friday (July 18) at the Püspökladány open market was a busy place. We gave away Bibles at the long table, and there were free blood pressure checks at the small table. Things started off a little slowly to begin with, but pretty soon we had plenty of people stopping by, talking, accepting a Bible or New Testament, and getting their blood pressure checked. Each person signed a statement promising to try to read the Bible through; this was printed onto a book mark for their Bible, which we hope will serve as a good reminder to them. It was great to get to continue some relationships that we had made in previous projects in the town, as well as making new friends. And what a blessing it was to work alongside the local Baptist church folks, from Kaba and Hajdúszoboszló as well as Püspökladány.
On Saturday we had our Bible booth at a park in Püspökladány next to the big tent the church had set up for their family fun outreach days. Once word got out that people could get a free Bible, we kept very busy! Over the course of the weekend we gave away 312 Bibles/New Testaments! We're so excited to have such a great response! In this same town in a previous year, over the course of a December project where we spent 6 days in the market doing a Bible distribution project, we gave away only 32 -- we believe this is one more sign that the Lord is really working here.
In the picture below you can see Levi and Gary with one of our new friends. This gentleman came by and talked to us quite a bit, and gave us his address so we can get together again in the future. Please pray that the Lord will continue to work in his life, as well as in the lives of the many other people we came into
contact with during this project.
The church also had children's programs, with music, Bible stories, and games. You can see some of the kids here having a great time
tossing water balloons from sheet to sheet. It was a beautiful day to be outside!
The youth from the area Baptist churches provided music for the evangelistic services held in the big tent, and they did a great job.
On Sunday afternoon a psychologist who works at the drug treatment center in Debrecen--and who is a believer--came out to the park and gave a talk about drug dependency, alcohol, smoking, and other addictions. He was a great speaker and really drew his audience in, getting people to interact with him. He talked a lot about the reasons people turn to drugs of all kinds, and brought in the spiritual aspects. Afterward he spent a lot of time answering questions and talking to people both in the group and one-on-one.
Both on Saturday and Sunday there was a 6 PM evangelistic service. On Saturday Gary spoke, using stories from his experiences as a flight instructor back in the States to illustrate spiritual principles. He really got the people's attention when he talked about a dangerous situation when a student's error sent the plane hurtling straight down toward the earth; in that moment it was imperative for the student to immediately give total control over to Gary as the flight instructor, who could correct the situation. I believe the listeners got the point he made...that in our out-of-control lives we must yield ourselves to God, who is able save us.
Pastor Tibor preached on Sunday evening, and it was great--he really told it to them straight, and the people sat extremely still, just listening. At the end when he asked for a response, two people said that they had accepted Christ! I believe that many more folks there were deeply affected, though, so please pray that the Lord will continue His work in them.
The church in Püspökladány is about to begin their outreach sports camp, which will be going on from Wednesday through Sunday, so please keep praying for this little town and the people here. Thanks!
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