Balázs and Leah Stanzel

Our Family
Ellie continues to be a great source of joy for us as we watch her grow more and more beautiful each day. She is a big girl for sure! She weighs over 14 pounds already. Smiling and laughing take up most of her time and she loves to chew on her hands (she tries to get the whole thing in there). Please pray for us to have wisdom with balancing our marriage and family and for guidance as parents.

Our trip to Budapest was very fun as we shared Ellie with Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles who had never seen her. We also spent time with friends and took care of business. Ellie was not granted American citizenship as we could not prove the time Leah spent in America but are waiting for some documents and will submit those. Please pray for the paperwork to come and for the embassy to accept the documents and provide her citizenship. We were also able to share Ellie with some of the doctors and nurses who told Balázs he would not be able to have children. They rejoiced in what a miracle God has performed. It was a great encouragement to these people who see death daily that God is so good and loving towards His children. We are still awaiting the blood and CT results from Balázs cancer check but the doctor feels everything continues to be completely healthy after 3 years…Praise the Lord!


Ministry
The Lord certainly does work in mysterious ways! A little over 9 months ago we finished bible college, moved to Pécs, and began to minister alongside the pastor and his wife. This past month, the Lord has called them on to pastor at the bible college and from there their hearts are to begin a work in Bosnia. The pastor asked Balázs to accept the pastorate of the church beginning in May. We sought the Lord and felt that this was His hand moving us to accept and our decision was confirmed by the church elders who agreed this was the Lord moving. The pastor informed the church and everyone was very supportive of us. Please pray for us as we embark on this new road, for the church as we transition, and for the pastor and his wife as they close doors here and move on.

We held the evangelism concert at the coffee shop and were amazed once again at the Lord’s faithfulness. The song writing and rehearsals went well for the band but the day of the concert two of the guys were sick and yet the Lord gave them strength to play and the concert was great. Leah shared the gospel and her testimony and the coffee shop was filled twice surprising even the owner. The church body invited people they would not normally invite to church and we were blessed to see them step in faith. We would like to continue these events in the coming months. Please pray for the church body to lead these events in the future and for continued evangelism opportunities within the city.

Balázs began to minister at the prison this month and was very blessed to find out that the prison will allow him to be both an individual and a group counselor. His first sessions went well as he began to form relationships with the inmates and staff. Please pray for wisdom and Spirit-filled teaching, for the salvation of the adults and kids he comes in contact with, and for relationships to grow.

Prayer has been on our hearts a lot this month and the Lord is moving in this area also. Balázs was able to attend a prayer meeting at the University campus to pray for the unsaved students in the city. These prayer meetings will continue weekly. On March 14th there will be a city wide prayer meeting with all of the Christian churches in the city to unite and pray for the lost and hurting in this city. Please pray for unity among the leaders, for one heart and for love to transcend at these meetings.

We continue to see the college students growing as we study 1 Samuel and are weekly challenged to spur the students to follow Christ with complete abandon. During the prayer times and individual discipleship, we are encountering more and more difficult concerns from the students. Please pray that we would have wisdom as we meet with these students, and for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we counsel them and for Balázs as he teaches.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the need for the church to have a permanent facility for church services and mid-week activities. Please pray for the Lord to lead us to the right place and for financial provision.

Also, as the Lord is directing us to be foster parents, we need to purchase a home in order to have foster kids. Through some crazy circumstances and relationships, the Lord lead us to a village outside of Pécs where housing is quite cheap and the mayor is very supportive and helpful. Please pray for guidance, timing, and provision from the Lord and help as we seek housing loans and government resources. This next month, we will be hosting an outreach team from the Bible college for the weekend. We are thinking of having some nights with just the guys and girls for fellowship and encouragement but we are unsure at this point. Please pray for wisdom with how to best utilize this team as well as for the practical details like housing, etc. Also next month there is an evangelism conference hosted by the Baptist church that we will be a part of. Please pray for our relationships with this church.

Please keep our other ongoing ministries in prayer:
-Monthly church fellowship potluck
-Balázs as he leads the worship twice a week and his teaching at the Catholic school and teaching guitar lessons.
-For Leah as she studies the language (we are praying for a teacher or course for her).