While hardly anyone has ever heard of Janos Lajos (John Louis), he should be remembered as a Baptist hero.  A group of earnest Christians met for Bible study and prayer in Lajos’ home in Salonta, in what is now Bihoria, in the western region of Transylvania in Romania.  In the early 1870’s, they came to Baptist views through the influence of Antal Novak, who was an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The closest Baptist church that the group knew of was in Vienna, Austria.  So earnestly did Lajos desire to obey the Lord in believer’s baptism, that he was willing to make the long trip to Vienna in order to receive it.  To raise the money to pay for the trip, he was prepared to sell his house.  Instead, Novak informed him that the German Baptists were about to send a missionary to Hungary and persuaded him to wait.

Two years later, Hendrik Meyer had come to Budapest to establish a church there.  He heard about the group of believers in Salonta and agreed to meet them in Gyula, Hungary, the location of the nearest railway station.  After examining them for five days, he was satisfied with the genuineness of their testimonies.  These Hungarian believers became the first Baptists Romania.

How many of us would be willing to sell our homes in order to obey the Lord in baptism?  How much do we value the heritage passed on to us by our courageous Baptist forebears?

There are good problems and bad problems.  A bad problem would be if no one were attending our services.  A good problem is what are we going to do with all the people attending our services?  Lighthouse Baptist Church in Nagykanizsa needs a new place to meet because so many people are coming.  Please pray for God’s answer to this good problem.

Bible Bapist Church of Pecs had a good problem last Sunday morning which we hope that we will have to deal with for some time in the future: a number of first-time visitors who are studying medicine in the English language program at the University of Pecs.  Most of the visitors were Norweigans.  We already have a number of Nigerians who come regularly.  With so many guests, the interpeter needs to speak loudly so that all can hear.  Pray that God will help us find the right way to allow our guests to hear and not disturb the main Hungarian audience.  Here is a picture of the students taken last Sunday.  Click to enlarge.

Medical Students

Dear Praying Friends,

Priscilla, Abie and Ruth came to Hungary from their native Nigeria in order to study medicine.  Here in Pecs, a student can get a first-class medical education without the prohibitive cost of many other places.  Once you have a medical degree here, you can use it all over Europe, not to mention Africa and other places.  Students can study medicine here in English or in German while picking up enough Hungarian along the way to do clinical work.

We are happy to see these young women come on a regular basis.  Their backgrounds vary from Evangelical to Roman Catholic.  When the preaching is in Hungarian, one of our young men sits behind them and quietly interprets for them.  We trust that these girls come because they sense a spiritual need that God can meet through our church.  Pray for them.  They are three of about ten million reasons God sent us to Hungary.

Thank you for praying for Nikolett.  After a Wednesday evening service during February two of the church ladies led her to Christ.  They are now doing a follow-up Bible study with her.  Pray that she will begin to attend church regularly and that her husband would be willing to come.

Thank you for praying for our trip to Szolnok to speak for missionary Dan Peters who is planting a church there.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship while challenging the people in the area of outreach and giving.  You can find pictures of the conference on our web site: www.hungaryhearts.com.

Thank you for praying for our residence permits.  We received them on February 12.  They are good for five years and renewal is very simple.  Dealing with certain other matters involving day to day living will be easier now.

Andras (Andrew) Horvath, new son of Bela and Emilia Horvath, our national pastor and his wife, arrived this past Sunday.  Mother and baby are home now and both doing well.

Jim, Valerie and Mary Knies have returned from their furlough in the US.  They would appreciate your prayers for God’s guidance in regard to planting a new church in Budapest, a city of two million that has only one small independent Baptist church at present.

Please pray for safety and strength for me as I continue my itinerant ministry in Beius, Romania and Nagykanzsa in Hungary.  We are grateful to God for opening these opportunities to make and impact on Romanian preachers and on a new Hungarian church.

Please pray for Bori Horvath, our national pastor’s mother.  She was diagnosed with cancer in her lung.  Surgery is scheduled for the week of March 5th.  She had colon cancer a few years ago and the doctors are not sure if this is a recurrence of that cancer or a new cancer.   She seems to be in good spirits.  Please pray for the Horvath family during this difficult time.

Jean would like to thank you for praying for her health.  She will soon return to the doctor who operated on her just over a year ago, in order to check on how she is doing.  She has greater stamina now than she has had in several years, in answer to your prayers.

We are also excited to announce the engagement of our daughter Hannah to US Army Lieutenant Kenneth Earnshaw, Jr.  Look for details and a picture on our web site.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers.

Yours for Hungary hearts,

David Potter