Update from Tom Stowe

New news from Tom Stowe:

http://stowe.wordpress.com/

Chris Zurbach's Novemer/December Update

Greetings from Chernihiv, Ukraine


Happy December!!! I am excited to write and let you know about some things that happened this past November and all that we are looking forward to this coming December. It is a busy time of year filled with New Years and Christmas programs. It seems that God is continuing to open doors for us to go into different areas of the city to share the love of God.

I think I shared with you before that I joined a fellow missionary here, Tracy, in going to one of the schools in the city to help out with their English class. We have a great relationship with the teacher and she is such an encouragement to see as she is very passionate about her students learning English. She has invited us to come and teach English through Bible stories or Christian ethics to her students. We go every week and are amazed to see God working in these children’s lives as they have so much fun learning English through hearing about God’s great love for them. Many of the children also come to our kids club, Krepost, that we are doing every other Saturday. God is blessing the club and we are seeing the kids grow in their knowledge of God as they come every time. Many of the kids are memorizing Bible verses that they recite at the the club. Our church is learning and growing too as they serve these kids and learn about ministering to children.

Another door that is opening is also in the same school that we are going to every week. The English teachers invited Tracy and I to come and meet with them every two weeks to get together and talk about women’s issues from a Christian point of view. To say the least we were fairly surprised by the invitation. The female teachers want it to be a sort of club or “sisterhood” as she described it. We don’t really know what to expect but are excited to get to know these women and share with them about the Bible.

Christmas Programs – We are pretty much doing Christmas parties and programs everywhere as there is quite the demand. We will be doing a Christmas party in the school sharing about Jesus’ birth and singing Christmas songs in English as requested by the teachers. We will also be doing a Christmas program for our kid's club. We are planning to invite all the kid’s parents to come and see the club. The children will be performing some Christmas songs and we will be performing a skit about Jesus’ birth with people from the church. We plan on sharing the skit with the children in the mental hospital and boarding schools/internaughts. We are also planning a Christmas day service as a church and want to rent a larger building to accommodate larger numbers as we are beginning to grow out of our little building. Christmas in Ukraine is on January 7th, which is a Sunday, so we are hoping many people will come.

Our church is doing really well and we continue to see God maturing the young believers here and challenge them to seek Him first in all things. We are meeting as a church this coming weekend to discuss all that has happened this past year and discuss our vision for this coming year. We are very excited for this coming year and expect God to do great things. Please pray for all these things mentioned above that God would pour our His Holy Spirit upon us and that many would come to know Him through all that we do. Merry Christmas to all of you – May the Lord bless you so much as you know Him. Thank you for your prayers and support - I am so thankful for you all.

Peace,
Chris

Please Pray for:
* Kids Club, Krepost, that many kids would come and learn to love Jesus
* God to bless our Christmas programs
* Wisdom and time for me to plan music and worship for all the Christmas celebrations
* Wisdom and provision in seeking to meet in a larger building

Pécs, Hungary Missions Update

Balázs & Leah & Joelle Stanzel November, 2006

Our Family
We went for our 37 week check-up for the baby, and the doctor said okay- everything is good- no baby for a while. We scheduled an ultra-sound and a non-stress test for the next week. The ultrasound showed our baby was still side-ways so we thought we had a while… On Friday the 24th at 9am we took our car in for repairs before our non-stress test. As we were leaving Leah felt something weird but wasn’t sure so just went on to the test. The test went fine and as we were about to leave we thought maybe we should ask about this. The doctor was called came and checked and sure enough Leah’s water had broken.

The night before at bible study Leah, thought she had turned and sure enough she had. The doctor induced labor because nothing had begun (an option we would not like to repeat). The Lord faithfully carried us through the intense 12 hours of labor before Leah progressed from 0 to 2. A good friend from the bible college came to help with the labor and was truly a huge blessing for us. At 2 centimeters the doctor gave an epidural which didn’t work but took the edge off, and 10 minutes later we were fully dilated and able to begin pushing.

Ten minutes later at just after midnight on her daddy’s birthday (the 25th) Joelle (Ellie) Stanzel was born. She was just under 6 pounds and 19 ½ inches. She had to be taken to the intensive care for 12 hours for observation because if being early and under weight. A couple of days later in the hospital, results showed she had intense jaundice and had to be taken to the incubator- this was very hard for Leah to hear her cry and see her but not be able to take care of her- God was faithful to encourage us about His love for us during this time. Another blood test on Wednesday showed Ellie had a bacterial infection (Leah had again been hospitalized a week before this for another food poising which passed to the baby). So after 5 more days of antibiotic treatment and 10 days total in the hospital, Ellie and Leah were able to go home! Ellie needs to return to the hospital on Tuesday for her jaundice levels- please pray God would rid her little body of this before the test. She is so amazing and truly a gift from God.

Ministry
The college group has been amazing as God continuously challenges us to stand up for Him and His Word despite objections and challenges from seemingly everywhere. We have had great times of teaching, fellowship and prayer. The Lord has encouraged us to separate the prayer meeting into guys and girls, which has proved to be excellent time of deepening friendships and being able to address issues that face the youth in this city. We are able to see God move in the hearts and characters of His children through these nights. At one of our church weekly prayer meetings, Balázs was able to lead the body in worship for the entire night. The church was built up in the time of praising and seeking the Lord. We will have this type of night every three weeks.

Leah was able to meet with several girls from the church and one who is struggling in making a decision to follow the Lord. The Lord richly blessed these times of discipleship in that He made them natural and relaxed but focused on Him.
Balázs continues to teach at the Catholic school and is constantly challenged to remain faithful in the small things as he weekly prepares to teach through the
Bible.

We are still pursuing the prison ministry paperwork and plan to meet again with the director in the coming weeks. We are also still pursuing foster care and are trusting the Lord in His perfect timing.

Prayer Requests

That we would follow Jesus and obey Him at all costs individually and as a couple.

Our marriage to contiue to grow in the Lord’s love. Balancing family, ministry, and working.

Wisdom with our little girl. Health for Ellie- God to heal her body from Jaundice. Healing for Leah’s cold and protection for Balázs and Ellie. The Lord’s provision for all we need. Guidance and provision for a home to raise foster children in.

The city of Pécs to become overwhelmed with the presence of God in the lives of beleivers here and for people to be hungry to know the Lord. The students we are sharing the gospel with at the universitites to believe in the truth and be freed from lies. For our neighbors, doctors, and others we have regular contact with to see Jesus in our lives and His love for them.

The church body to grow in their depth of love for the Lord. To love the new people that are coming. For the church to increase in their commitment to the Lord and His Word. For a new place to meet. Wisdom and protection for the pastor. For Zoli to accept Jesus. For Victoria to return to church. For a friend from the Bible college who left ministry and now has left the Lord.

For current ministries. Worship leading and teaching for Balázs both in the school and for the college group. Child care, discipling women and studying Hungarian for Leah.

For upcoming ministries. For the paper work to be processed quickly for the prison work.

From Tom Stowe: NEW BLOG!

Hey everyone, check out our new blog! I wanted to make things easier for everyone to read updates; so we will see if this works. I think it will.

http://stowe.wordpress.com/

In Christ,
Tom and Luciana