kyle and odi's blog

winter update 2012

2012-01-09T22:38:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year! it's hard to believe that 2011 has come and gone! It was a year (like any other) with it's up and downs but as we reflect back on this past year we are thankful that in every point of the year, the Lord has been gracious to us and has been with us every step of the way!

family

the last 5 months have been an adventure, to say the least. no matter how tired we get, and how many hours of sleep we don't get, we continue to be blessed to be the parents of the two most beautiful girls in the world! it's such a joy for us to see how much Zara loves her little sister. there are no signs of jealousy, which we're thankful for.
zara has been going to nursery for a while now and loves it! she's there every morning till noon. we love it cause it opens so many doors for us to meet people and get involved in their lives for the glory of God.
we're so blessed to see how Zara is now able to communicate very well in both English & Hungarian. It's amazing to see how God has formed young lives to be so open to learn so much.
Odi continues to enjoy being able to be home with the kids, knowing that these early years are so vitally important to their development. I'm also blessed to be able to be around a lot. Our deepest desire is that our kids would love, honor, and serve Jesus.
now that kiera is a bit "older" we're able to have odi's mom come watch the kids while we get a chance to go out and "connect". these are times we love & cherish.
we're also blessed to report that God is continually giving us opportunities through our friendships & relationships to share Jesus with others.

ministry

november saw me reach an important "milestone" in the life of Golgota Szeged. After 10 years, by the grace of God, completed teaching through the Old Testament. because I've taught many of the New Testament books over the years (including the 4 Gospels and Acts) we jumped into the New Testament at the book of Romans. I'm hoping to make it through the New Testament in the next couple of years so has to have a complete through the Bible teaching available on our church website for Hungarian Christians.
as is our tradition we had a Christmas Eve service. It's usually at midnight but because Christmas was on a weekend this year we had our service at 10pm. We had 70+ people join with us to worship Jesus on Christmas Eve.
to kick off our new year, the Lord has lead me to teach a series on Sunday mornings, which I'm calling "foundations of our faith". This is important as many of our members are young and grew up in churches but haven't made the important doctrines of the faith their own or they don't understand them. so we're going to take some time talking through these as we have this wonderful opportunity to train believers who will one day go all over the world (we've got people from many nations in our church - Nigera, India, South Korea, Romania, etc.) and it's our hope that people would leave Szeged with a profession & a solid Biblical foundation for life.
more than just training up our international students we want to see many in Szeged and our region come to know Jesus. here is where God is leading us in this. first in Szeged, the Lord has graciously used me to get the pastors & leaders of the churches of Szeged together for monthly prayer breakfasts. we all have the desire to see people know Jesus and to plant churches. we're praying and asking God for His vision on how we're to reach Szeged. We've been doing this for a few months know & I know it's a process, but I'm very excited already about how the Lord is bringing the pastors together.
one of the "strengths" of our church is that we're a bi-lingual (hungarian/english) church. and because so many people here in Hungary want to learn English, it's our desire to use English as a tool to reach out to the youth especially. we'd love to do an English camp this summer. if anyone is interested in coming to help, please let us know!
over the years we've always had people attend our church from Hódmezővásárhely, it's a city 25km from us. it's been on my heart & the hearts of the leadership to venture out that way. We've talked with a few people we know there and in the next month or so will be going our there for prayer & meeting of a possible core group to launch a new Bible study there.

a while back I wrote about the legal status of Calvary Chapel Hungary. The Hungarian Parliament is supposed to vote by February 29th if we're to remain a recognized church or if we have to become a "religious foundation". I'm at the point where it doesn't matter what politicians say, we're going to keep loving Jesus, teaching His Word & sharing His love with people & they can classify us however they want. We want to win the hearts of the "man on the street" for Jesus.

so there is a lot going on, a lot of possibilites & a lot that the Lord is doing, so we need a lot of prayer!

prayer requests

- that we'd fall more in love with Jesus this year.

- for wisdom to raise our daughters to love Jesus.

- that God would continue to use golgota szeged to reach szeged and our surrounding area.

- for strength in this busy season of life.

- for God to lead us in our desire for an English camp & bible study in Hódmezővásárhely.

- that god would raise up people to help in the church in the areas of administration and other practical areas.

ways to help

- pray!!!

- give. if you'd like to help support our ministry you can send your (tax-deductible) offerings through calvary chapel costa mesa (https://www.easytithe.com/f/?k=6SSHN0DEHB4KG6DH) or calvary chapel vista (hhttps://webview.shelbyinc.com/app/04423/Default.aspx tabindex=1&tabid=17). please be sure to indicate that your tithe/offering for us.

thanks again for your time and your prayers for us. please consider supporting us financially that the kingdom of god might expand in this part of the world.

may the Lord bless you richly!

kyle, odi, zara, kiera

the legal state of the church in Hungary

2011-12-16T22:43:00.000+01:00

tonight Christians here in Hungary began flooding the internet (mainly Facebook) with the news that the government here in Hungary has repealed it's "religious freedom" law from this summer. The reason being is that they knew the constitutional court would strike down the law.

According the the original law this summer there were some 30+ churches (including Calvary Chapel's here in Hungary - known here as Golgota) that the Hungarian government was going to recognize but after a late night meeting of the committee which oversaw this law that number was slashed to 14. We, Golgota Hungary, were cut from the list along with other, good Jesus loving, Bible believing churches.

we were under the impression that we could request official recognition to remain an official church here in Hungary. The leadership of Golgota Hungary put together a team who did great work in getting everything we needed together and they submitted it to the Parliament. Right now the ruling party in Hungary (Fidesz) has a 2/3 majority and it would take a 2/3 majority to remain an official church.

we've been waiting and waiting and then the news broke today. The majority leader of the Fidesz party has said that the government wants to pass the law but with no real structural changes. meaning they will include the 14 churches that they approve but since the original law has been repealed all the work that was done by the leadership of Golgota Hungary & of many other churches will be thrown out the window because our "appeal" was on the basis of the original law of June and not this new "last minute" law that they have said they will ram through the Parliament between Christmas and New Year's.

where does that leave Golgota here in Hungary? or any other good Jesus loving churches for that matter? I have no idea!! I do know that regardless of what this (in my opinion, incompetent) government decides we'll continue to meet to worship Jesus & study His Word, as I believe it's God who defines what a church is, not a bunch of politicians.

this situation shows me two things. first, that too much power is NEVER a good thing. as the old saying goes, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". but more importantly, I see the spiritual side to this. God IS working in the lives of people here in Hungary and Jesus is changing people and we have to realize that Satan hates this and is doing everything he can to stop what is being accomplished for the Kingdom of God.

whatever happens, I know it will be for the furtherance of the Gospel.

please join with me in prayer for the work of God here in Hungary.

please join with me in praying for the people of Hungary. many people see what's going on and have completely lost hope in life. we want to bring Jesus to them as He gives real hope.

thanks for your time.

kyle

united for Szeged

2011-10-11T19:49:00.001+02:00

many years ago the previous Baptist pastor organized monthly prayer meetings for the pastors of the churches in Szeged but since he was "promoted" to a new position about 2 1/2 years ago these meetings stopped. something I've desired for a while was to "restart" these meetings. this summer I was encouraged by a good friend to not wait for anyone else to start them but for me to start them because all of the pastors know my cause I've been in Szeged for a long time now.

about a month ago I e-mailed everyone and got a great response. This morning was our first pastor's prayer breakfast at our church. 6 churches were represented (which is about all of the evangelical Christian churches) and turns out everyone has sensed the need to work together for the Kingdom of God and everyone expressed their thanks that I took the initiative and got us all together.

we're going to spend some time praying together and building inter-personal relationships and see how God might have us work together for His Kingdom in Szeged.

I thankful to God that I was able to play a part in getting everyone together and look forward to what God is going to do through these times.

please join with us in praying for Szeged!

Szeged Baptist Chutch

2011-09-27T23:35:00.001+02:00

Tonight I had the honor of preaching to about 80 high school & college age students at the Szeged Baptist. I talked to them about reaching their generation for Jesus. The response was great. Praise God!

I left excited that there are many young people who love Jesus and want to reach their generation (a lost generation) for Him.

I also left so encouraged that God has started a new work of unity among the local churches in Szeged. The Baptist pastor was there tonight and said he loved what I preached.

Because I've sensed a greater need for the local churches to be on the same page, I've invited the pastors & elders of local churches to a prayer breakfast that we'll hold at Golgota Szeged. So far response is good and I look forward to building stronger relationships with other pastors & churches so that the Kingdom of God might expand here in Szeged.

Please join with is for this city that we love so much!

mommy's little helper

2011-09-18T20:52:00.002+02:00

tonight Zara helped me make dinner for Daddy! I can't wait till she's older and I can teach her more and she can help more!!

late summer / early fall update 2011

2011-09-16T23:01:00.001+02:00

family

the biggest news in our lives is that our second daughter, kiera grace eckhart, was born on August 7th. we've been so blessed because she is such a good baby. we were curious to see how zara would react to and interact with her, well zara absolutely loves her baby sister!! she always wants to be around her and kiss her. she is so gentle with kiera.

(here is a picture of us going to church for the first time as a family. at this point kiera was only 5 weeks old.)

with our growing family our needs are growing. one of the biggest needs we have is for a larger car. some time next year we'd love to get a minivan, as we feel it would be perfect for us with our 2 kids and also with having my (kyle's) dad living here in szeged. we've learned that the bible is so true that the "borrower is slave to the lender" (proverbs 22:7) and we don't want to be enslaved to a bank over a car. please pray with us that God would provide for us and provide the right car for us next year.

we both agree that the "jump" from 1 kid to 2 kids is both easier and harder. easier cause we're more relaxed and more "experienced" but harder for obvious reasons. zara has a lot of energy and to help with that we've been taking her to nursery every day since july. she really loves being around other kids and we know that this is just another great opportunity for us to reach people for Jesus here in Szeged.

speaking of zara, we can't believe that she turned 2 on september 5th. we're so proud of our "big girl" and excited to be part of her life as God has entrusted her to us.

odi is doing a great job being a full time mom and God is giving me the strength to do all that I need to do (pastor the church, teach english, study for school).

on september 4th, calvary chapel hungary celebrated it's 20th anniversary here in hungary. about 20 people from calvary szeged went to budapest for a "nation-wide" celebration. what was a real blessing to me was to think that God has allowed me to be a small part of His work in hungary for 16 1/2 years. I'm looking forward to many more years of serving Him here in Hungary.

church/ministry

as i've written in the past, summer tends to be a "down time" for our church with many students going home for the summer and people going on holiday. this summer was different, in that we didn't see such a great drop off. as a matter of fact over the summer the church grew some.

one of the most amazing stories of this summer is a young man named ovidiu. the amazing thing about ovidiu is that he's from timisoara, romania. he got saved a couple of years ago by listening to bridge.fm (calvary chapel old bride - pastor lloyd pulley) and by watching hischannel.com. god moved on ovidiu's heart and showed him that he needs to be in fellowship with other believers and because there isn't a calvary chapel in timisoara (yet) he decided he'd drive the 120km (75miles) one way to come fellowship with us at golgota szeged because we are the closest calvary chapel to him. we are blessed (and so is he) that he comes when he can. we've prayed with him about starting a work in timisoara. I believe that God has brought him here for a reason and we continue to seek the Lord's will regarding this.

this summer i was blessed to preach at an outreach that the baptist church of szeged organized in hódmezővásárhely. not only did I preach but many of the members of calvary szeged took part in the week long event because we believe that Jesus loves our region and we're excited to be a part of whatever He is doing! i personally was blessed to spend time with the baptist pastor, barna balogh, who came from debrecen and was close to bodi (zsolt bodogán).

i'm looking forward to spending more time with him and some of the other pastors here in szeged. i know we all have god's heart for szeged and i hope we can all work together for his kingdom!

because of my growing relationship with the baptist, i've been invited to speak to about 40-50 of their youth this month. i'm excited to talk to them about loving and serving jesus here in szeged in their youth. the youth of this city are the hope of this city and the only way we're going to reach them is if we're in love with jesus and taking his message to them.

september always sees an influx of new people into our church. this year we're blessed that many students who are returning have a few more years left in their studies and we have more time to help train them to be missionaries for Jesus wherever they might end up after college.

to help "ring in" the new school year, this sunday (september 18th) we're hosting a "welcome (back) to szeged" bbq after church. there is already a lot of interest in this and we're looking forward to building relationships with many of our new members.

on wednesday nights i've been teaching through the old testament and in the next 6-8 weeks i'll be finishing it, after which we'll jump right into the new testament. i hope to complete teaching through the bible in the next 3 years. to the best of my knowledge this will be the first complete "through the bible" in hungarian/english by a calvary pastor here in hungary. i'm continually amazed that god is using our church website to get his word out to hungarians (and others) all over the world.

prayer requests

- for wisdom to raise our daughters to love Jesus.

- that God would continue to use golgota szeged to reach szeged and our surrounding area.

- for strength in this busy season of life.

- that the hungarian government would approve golgota for official church status. (a blog about this coming soon)

- that we as a family would love jesus more!

- that god would raise up people to help in the church in the areas of administration and other practical areas.

ways to help

- we really need help in some practical things. we're looking to redesign the logo and "artwork" of our church. if you can help, please let me know. we've got some genearl ideas but would need someone who knows what they're doing.

- as many of you know i've been teaching english to supplement our income. i've been blessed to do this but sometimes i feel as if i need to put too much time into this. having a family with 2 kids, i need to make sure that our needs our met. if i wouldn't have to teach so much i believe i could invest more time into the church and the work of God. if you'd like to help support our ministry you can send your (tax-deductible) offerings through calvary chapel costa mesa (https://www.easytithe.com/f/?k=6SSHN0DEHB4KG6DH) or calvary chapel vista (hhttps://webview.shelbyinc.com/app/04423/Default.aspx tabindex=1&tabid=17). please be sure to indicate that your tithe/offering for us. what you give helps us not only meet our monthly needs but we will be putting part of it aside for a bigger vehicle next year.

thanks again for your time (that you read this) and your prayers for us. please consider supporting us financially that the kingdom of god might expand in this part of the world.

may the Lord bless you richly!

kyle, odi, zara, kiera

finally

2011-09-09T12:25:00.001+02:00

I'm happy to say that Google just released a Blogger app for iOS. Hopefully this will inspire me more to blog about the goings on in our lives & ministry.

Here's to hope! :-)

2011 spring update

2011-05-31T09:27:00.000+02:00

just a quick update about all the happenings in our lives and the ministry here in Szeged

Family

well, as you probably know that our family will be growing as we're expecting the birth of our second daughter in August. Once again, life is going to change. We know with 2 little ones at home things are going to be interesting (and maybe a little crazy) but we're looking forward to this 2nd little blessing!!

As with Zara, Odi needs to rest as much as possible but because Zara is a bundle of energy it's not so easy, but we're managing.
I've finished my 1st year of college and hope to be able to continue to work hard to get a degree in 2013. with 2 little ones studying is going to be interesting so it'll be a lot of night work with the help of coffee!
This summer (end of June) we'll be attending the Foundations Conference in Vajta & look forward to a week of encouragement and reconnecting with friends from all over Europe.

Church

by the grace of God the church is doing well and growing. not only in spiritual depth (which has really been helped by our small groups) but we're seeing more and more people come to church both Hungarians and international students.

this last weekend we had "church by the river" and baptized 8 people. it was an amazing event for all who came to celebrate the public declaration of faith of those who were baptized. Afterwards we had a "love feast" cause everyone just brought SO much food! One of the great things about this day was that people invited & brought guests who normally wouldn't come to church. We hope to have more times like this where non-believers would come to do life with us & hear the Word of God.

I believe that this was a very important set for us as a church not only being out publicly as a church but also for people to catch the vision of doing life together. These pictures don't really communicate fully the blessing that day was but I hope they do somewhat.

as summer is a little bit of a "down time" for our church (many students are gone and others are on vacation) the elders and I will be praying & talking through a lot of things for the coming school year. We want to continue to invest time & energy in small groups but we also want to plan larger events, including possibly another Golgota Gospel Choir concert in December. We are also praying for open doors to start a Bible study in a city about 25km from Szeged.

I continue to be amazed at how God is using our church website to get the Gospel out to Hungarians all over the world. I would like to redesign our website but I don't have that "talent" and it doesn't seem like anyone else in the church does either, so if anyone reading this can help, please let me know!

we've decided on a one year extension of our rental agreement because our landlord won't be raising the rent because the economy is still so bad over here. this is an answered prayer & we're excited to stay here for another year!

prayer requests

please pray

- that God would continue to use Golgota Szeged to get His Word out
to many people here in Szeged and the surrounding region.
- that the church would continue to grow in number and in spiritual
depth.
- that God would speak to myself and the elders about His vision for the church for the next school year.
- that God would bless Odi with strength and that the baby would go to full term
- that God would give Odi & I the grace and strength to adjust to being parents of 2 little ones.
- for God's provision for both us and the church.

thanks for your time that you read this update & we'd like to ask that you'd join with us in prayer for the work of God here in Szeged! We know that a background of prayer is vital to what God wants to do here.
we'd also like to ask you to consider joining with us financially so that we can continue to focus on the work of the Lord and not so much on having to teach. Teaching is a blessing (in that I'm able to meet a lot of people) but I'd rather spend more time doing what God has called me to do. So please consider partnering with us financially (even the smallest amount every month helps).

we pray for you that the Lord would bless you & cause His face to shine upon you!

In His service,

Kyle & Odi

pray without ceasing

2011-05-23T07:02:00.000+02:00

well it's been way too long since I've blogged so here goes.

this weekend was the culmination of the 10 day "Szeged days" festival and as we were out walking around on Saturday morning we saw a large crowd of people in front of city hall for a big event with traditional music, dance and a speech from the mayor. As I was listening to it all, God just moved on my heart that I need to be praying more for Szeged. I've been reminded of the power of prayer in two books I've read in the past 8 months, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret & Charles H. Suprgeon, a Biography. It was through much prayer that God used both of these men mightily to touch the world for Jesus. So I began praying. On Saturday as I was walking, I just prayed for people, for the city, the mayor, that God would move upon their hearts & that they would come to know Him.

well an interesting thing happened. Saturday evening I got an e-mail from a friend who is pastoring a church in London & he told me that he just got done sharing the gospel with a guy from Szeged! Since they guy's English wasn't so good, my friend asked if I could help with some translation if necessary. Of course I would!

this was an amazing encouragement for me that God does want to work in Szeged and bring people to salvation.

so I'd like to ask if you'd just join with me in prayer for the wonderful city of Szeged??

pray for....

. many to come to know Jesus
. wisdom for our city officials & that they would come to know Jesus
. that Jesus would be glorified in all the churches in Szeged

thank you!

praying for you as you read this!

kyle

I boast

2011-01-27T23:06:00.001+01:00

boasting isn't always a good thing because it puts the spotlight on us & removes it from God. but as Paul did boast in God's people (2 Corinthians 1:14, 9:2 & 2 Thessalonians 1:4), I would like to boast about those who call Golgota Szeged "home".

Golgota Szeged is an international church as we have, not only Hungarians but many people who attend from all corners of the earth (India, Nigeria, Cameroon, Romania, Serbia, etc.) I was informed 2 weeks ago about how the father of a girl from our church, who is form Cameroon, passed away suddenly. Carine is here in Szeged studying medicine & will finish university this year with a degree in pharmaceutical medicine. She is here with here sister who is also studying at the medical university. when I heard that their father died (he was a believer in Jesus) my heart broke for them because they haven't been home for 5 years because their family didn't have the money to get them home.

I was told about this the saturday before I was to talk about the vision for the church for 2011. the vision God gave me is, "Christ, care, community". Those 3 words have been bouncing around my head for some time now.

Sunday morning I shared this vision. that my desire is that we'd fall more in love with Jesus this year, that we'd live as the community God desires and that we'd show care for our members as it seems things won't get easier in 2011. when I talked about care I brought up Carine & her sister Louise. I let the church know what happened & to prayerfully consider a generous gift to help get them home to Cameroon for the funeral (which will be around the middle of February). I told the church that this is the perfect time for us to show our love & care for our own. 2 tickets from Budapest to Cameroon cost $3150 (630.000Ft). That might not be a lot for some people but for them & for our church that is a lot of money.

I was hoping we'd be able to put together $1000 (200.000Ft.) to help them get home. well I must say I was put to shame. God moved on people's hearts & His people gave enough money to get them both home for the funeral!!

I bought their tickets today & when I gave them to Carine she was simply overwhelmed at the goodness of God through Golgota Szeged. I told her that "we're family & this is what family does".

After all of this, I am, once again, humbled & honored to serve a great group of people who understand what it means to "love one another".

so, I boast in God because He is great & I boast in His people!

winter update 2011

2011-01-05T12:18:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and that Jesus was glorified in your celebrations! As we moving into 2011 (which we’re excited about) let us share with you what happened in the last few months of 2010. But before we do that, we want to thank you all for the prayer & support shown to us this past year. We know that the work we’re doing here in Hungary for the Lord is made possible in large part by the sacrifices you make for us & we pray for God’s abundant blessings upon you in the coming year!

Family

  As some of you might know, my Dad is retired and has COPD, because of this he decided that he wants to move over here to Szeged to be close to us. So in October I went to CA to help him get things organized and packed & got things going on the sale of his house and we came back to Hungary on October 23rd. My Dad is adjusting well & is enjoying being close to us & especially enjoying being a part of the church here as he is coming to church every week and says that he’s actually being to understand the Bible as I preach it! It has been more responsibility for us to take care of him but we know that this is the Biblical way to “honor your father & mother”, so we’re blessed to have him here, close to us.
  I’ve finished my first semester of college through Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe (working on my B.A. in Theology) and am waiting to hear about my grades. I hope to continue this semester towards the goal of getting a degree in 2013.
  Odi & I continue to be blessed to be Zara’s Mommy & Daddy. She truly is a gift of God to us & now that she’s walking she’s all over the place!!

Ministry

  As I’ve written before we have been wanting to get the Golgota Gospel Choir (from CC Budapest) down to Szeged to do a concert. Mark Zeeman, the choir director, called me in the beginning of October saying that they were going to be in our region on December 11th & asked if we’d like them to come do a concert in Szeged. I jumped at the opportunity and the elders & I began planning. We looked into a couple of places to hold the concert & the Lord opened up the door for us to hold the concert at the Szeged Youth/Conference Center, which is a beautiful facility & they gave us their large hall (seats 600) for ½ of what the other places offered to us. So we began looking into advertising. A girl from our church writes for a local online paper & did an article about the concert, the newspaper also gave us a free banner on their homepage. A friend of mine knows someone who works at Szeged’s largest & most popular radio station and set up a meeting for me. They offered to promote the concert for free! Every Sunday night they have a program in which they talk about the cultural events (concerts, exhibits, etc.) in the coming week, so they recorded a short interview with me for the show which would air the Sunday before the concert. Then they asked me to come into their morning show to talk about it. So the Friday before the concert I was driving to the radio station & heard the host say “this hour Kyle Eckhart will be joining us to talk about the Golgota Gospel Concert this Sunday”. That was weird to hear but very cool. When I got there the Lord gave me great grace with the hosts. I thought I would only be there for a short 10-15 block but they wanted me to stay for an hour and a half till the show was over. I jumped at the chance because this morning show is listened to by 10’s of thousands of people in and around Szeged. They asked about the concert, the church & how a guy from California ended up in Szeged. It was a great opportunity to talk about Jesus & they were amazed that you can love Jesus & not be a cold religious person like they are used to here in churches. So if nothing else came out of the concert, this was a great thing. But the concert was successful far beyond what I could have hoped for. About 500 people came to the concert & the Gospel was clearly communicated. The responses I’ve heard from people was that the message really caused them to think about the Lord. Other people can’t wait till the choir comes back again!! So we praise God that the message of the Gospel went for both at the concert & over the radio. And I also praise God that we “broke even” on the concert!

   Once again we had a midnight Christmas Eve service & once again God drew out many people to hear the message of Christmas.

2011

  The elders & I believe that the Lord has great things in store for us in this New Year. With the success of the Christmas Choir concert, this year we’ll be praying / planning about doing another one towards the end of the year. But before that we have a lot on our hearts.
The major thing God has placed upon our hearts is the need for a greater sense of community in the church. We want to live as a community not just as a place for people to come once or twice a week. To help foster a community we’re going to be investing time in the men’s fellowship, women’s fellowship, and the Thursday night Bible Study group. More than just another gather, we want these to be opportunities for us to do life together & serve God together in our Jerusalem.
  There are two pretty large cities close to Szeged both about 25km away (Hódmezővásárhely and Makó) in which we’re praying about starting bible studies. These are our Judea & we want to be faithful in reaching out there as well.
  Our rental agreement for our facility ends June 30th. For us the most convenient thing would be to stay but in 2010 we saw a 25% decrease in tithes and offerings. If the landlord wants to raise the rent (& I think he will) then we’re going to be looking at new places to meet.
   Lord willing I’ll finish teaching through the Old Testament this year (hopefully by the end of October). We’ve had a lot of feedback from Hungarian Christians from all over the world that download our messages. There is such a lack of good Christian material in Hungarian & it’s my desire to provide as much as the Lord allows me.

   With our desire to invest more in the community life of the church & also to start new Bible Studies, it’s going to take time. For the past few years, I’ve been teaching English part time but to do all that God has put on my heart, I’ll have to cut back on teaching, which obviously will create a financial burden for us. That is why we’d like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining in the work we’re doing by financially supporting us. To do so you may click on the “support our ministry” link on our blog (www.kyleodi.blogspot.com - if you're here it's on the left side)

Prayer requests

- that we’d walked closer to Jesus this year.
- that God would use us to build a sense of community in the church. That we’d love others as God loves us.
- that we’d have wisdom to raise Zara in the ways of the Lord
- that God would lead us in regards to our church rental agreement.
- for open doors in Hódmezővásárhely and Makó to start Bible studies soon.
- for financial provision for us & for the church.

In His service,

Kyle & Odi

a big event

2010-11-15T20:39:00.000+01:00

for a while now I've been wanting to get the choir from Calvary Budapest to come to Szeged to preform a concert. this summer I talked with the choir director, Mark Zeeman, about the possibility of them coming down to preform in Szeged. He said they'd love to it really just depended on us. for one reason or another we weren't able to make any progress.

about a month ago Mark called to let me know they will be preforming in a city about 100km from us in December & if we'd still like them to come. I said yes & myself & the church elders began looking for venues in Szeged that would accommodate the performance of the 90 person "travel choir" (the actual size of the choir is 200+) after looking at a couple places the Lord set things up with a friend of mine who knows someone at the local community center. After talking with her they made us a great offer to rent a hall that can seat 600 people.

on December 12th, we'll be hosting the Golgota Gospel Choir (www.golgotagospelkorus.hu) for the first, of what I hope, to be an annual Christmas concert.

I, and the church elders, believe this will be a great way to get the message of the Gospel out during the Christmas season.

We're really pushing "word of mouth" advertising for this event as I believe it's the best advertising. God has given us free advertising in a large, local internet portal through a church member who writes for this internet paper.

So we're excited about lifting up the name of Jesus & seeing what He will do at this event.

Please join with us in prayer

- that the hall for 600 people would pack out.

- that those who come who don't know Jesus would come to know Him at this concert.

- that myself & the elders would have wisdom in all the stages of the planning.

For Jesus' fame,

Kyle

p.s. if you're in Szeged & need tickets (1500Ft. per person), just shoot me an e-mail!!

the church in Hungary

2010-10-05T08:50:00.001+02:00

last week I was informed of some very startling news about what the government here in Hungary wants to do about churches. In 1990 after communism fell, the government enacted "religious freedom" laws which allowed the establishment & legal registration of churches here in Hungary. In 1995 Calvary Chapel became an officially recognized church here in Hungary. It was in 2001 when Calvary Szeged became a legally recognized local church from the national Calvary Chapel. This legal status that Calvary has nationally has allowed the church to officially invite foreign nationals to work as missionaries and this helped in applying for visas to stay / minister in Hungary. Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe received accreditation this past spring & now offers a BA in Theology. As a legally recognized church people are able to offer 1% of their income to a church when they file their taxes every year.

the current government (which was elected in the spring) proposed a new law last week regarding the freedom of religion & churches. The government will require every church to re-register with a council they will set up which will determine what is a church or not. Only those churches which have 10,000 members or those historical churches will be allowed to remain as churches. Because the current government has a 2/3 majority they have the power to change any & all laws they want including ones about religious freedom. The current government coalition is strongly supported by the Catholic church who has a web site that lists pretty much every church that isn't Catholic as a cult.

this proposal is to be put before the Parliament either latter this year or early next year. Should it pass, Calvary Chapel Hungary would lose it's legal status. We'd no long be able to receive people's tax deductible donations, the accreditation of the Bible College would be lost, and Calvary would not receive any government funding for any ministries (i.e. soup kitchens). What's probably the worst is that people following Jesus in "small" churches like Calvary Chapel would not be protected with the same religious freedoms which they're protected with now.

at the moment those who are involved in the legal aspects of the church are prayerfully considering what steps we are to take. Obviously we are encouraging everyone to pray that God would turn the hearts of the politicians that they would vote against this law which would stifle religious freedom.

please join us in praying for the church here in Hungary!

in His service,

Kyle

time to study

2010-09-06T20:06:00.000+02:00

  one of the things I've always found a little funny is that God has called me to pastor a church in a city where people to come to get an education and in a country where so much depends on what kind of degree you have. When I moved to Hungary 15 years ago, I planned on going back to California after a year and continue college. Obviously that didn't happen. a few times over the years, I've looked into going back to school but for one reason or another nothing ever came of it. Until now! The spring Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe (here in Hungary) was accredited as a seminary and this fall has begun to offer a 3 year program which will end with a BA in Theology.
  since a desire of mine has been to go back to school and get a degree this opportunity was just too good to pass up. so I've enrolled and am now officially a student at CCBCE (www.ccbce.com). Lord willing in 3 years, I'll have a BA in Theology which means A LOT to people here in Hungary. One of the first questions I get from people is "what school did you go to?"
  It seems that I will be able to get some credit for "life experience" but that in no way means that there is no work involved in my studies. For the next 3 years I will need to learn to really discipline the way I use my time as there are many lectures I need to listen to, books to read, and reports to write. Being a husband & daddy, the pastor of a church, working part time, and now taking on college classes will be a lot but I believe by the grace of God I will be successful & what means a lot is Odi is very supportive of my wanting to get a degree (since she already has a Masters in English).
as you know, any school has a price & this is no different. as of right now I don't know what the exact costs will be for me in the end but any extra expense right now is more than we plan for, so if you would prayerfully consider supporting my studies there is a link on the left column of blog where which you may donate funds to us via Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
I'd also greatly appreciate pray for strength that I could do all things well & that I'd be wise in scheduling my time.

thanks!

kyle

a long day

2010-08-12T15:00:00.000+02:00

this last Sunday was a LONG day for myself & one of the church elders Norbi. I was invited to preach at a gypsy church in Hajdúhadház in northeastern Hungary. It's about 35km from Nyíregyháza. The pastor of the Calvary in Nyíregyháza gave his life to Jesus & grew in the Lord at Calvary Szeged. A couple of years ago, the Lord took him & his wife there as he got a job there & she was going to University in Debrecen. Since then, because of the economy, he lost his job, but this has opened the door for him to take over the church in Nyíregyháza. Calvary Szeged has been supporting Gábor & his wife for about 6 months now. We're very excited about what God is doing in & through them.
since I was invited to preach in Hajdúhadház, I thought it would be good to see Gábor & the church in Nyíregyháza.
so Sunday morning Norbi & I left at 5am to make sure we got to Nyíregyháza in time for the morning service at 10am (we made it there by 8:45am by the grace of God). I had a wonderful time preaching about living a life of service for Jesus. After the service they had a church lunch that we were blessed to take part in.
around 2pm we left for Hajdúhadház. When we got there we went to the pastors house for some coffee & pre-church fellowship. This was the first time I'd met the pastor. One of his foster daughters came to church here in Szeged for a while (this is how I got the invite).
the afternoon evangelism service began at 4pm. I had never been to a Pentecostal service before so I had no idea what to expect. the service was long (2 1/2 hours) but a really blessed time to worship Jesus with people from another "tribe". what was great is that myself & the pastor, András, prayed with 9 people to receive Jesus, 5 of them were little kids.
after dinner at pastor András' house, we headed on home. We got back around 11pm.
so it was 19 hours, 830km (500 miles), 2 services, 9 new Christians. it was a GOOD day.

worship in Hajdúhadház

Add caption

Pastor András

2010 summer update

2010-08-05T16:16:00.002+02:00

Hi,

let me tell you a little about what's been going on with us & with the ministry here in Szeged.

personal

we're totally loving being parents & so blessed that the Lord has given us a wonderful daughter in Zara. We can't believe on September 5th she'll be a year old!

every August there is a missions conference at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Austria (a.k.a."The Castle") & we haven't been able to go for years but this year the Lord has graciously provided for us to go through Calvary Chapel Old Bridge. We're so looking forward to having a week to just get refreshed in the Lord & fellowship with many people we haven't seen in years! Zara has been on a long flight before but this will be an adventure since it's about an 8 hour drive from Szeged.

I'm hoping in the fall to enroll in the Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe's accredited Bachelor of Theology program. As you might know Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe was accredited by the Hungarian government this past spring & this fall will begin offering a BA in Theology. When I first moved to Hungary I thought, "I'll come for 1 year & then go back & finish college". Well the Lord had other plans but now this is an open door in front of me & I'd like to take it.

for more updates & goings on with our family, please check out our blog @ www.kyleodi.blogspot.com

or follow us on twitter @kyleinszeged

ministry

summer is usually our "down" time at church as many of the students go home & people go on vacation. This year has been different. We've seen people start coming to church over the summer. More "Szeged" people. So we're really blessed by that. We're especially thankful for 2 new families & some singles that are coming regularly.

at the end of June we had our annual summer conference in Vajta. Pastor Terry Walker from CC Living Word & Pastor Justin Southwick from Mosaic Community Church in Phoenix, AZ came over to teach us from God's Word. It was a very encouraging & challenging week for all who attended. We were encouraged by Pastor Terry to stand in Jesus till the end & by Pastor Justin to live as missionaries for Jesus in the world now. this year we took 35 people to the conference.

I was personally very encouraged at the conference by a couple people from towns near Vajta. They came and told me that they regularly download our services or listen live. We've had some technical hang ups recently as the guy who was doing our website moved back to his home down, so we're kind of lacking in that area at the moment but praying for God to raise someone up with the skills to keep our website up to date.

I've been blessed by a lot of invitations to speak at different churches & events. This weekend I'll be traveling to northeastern Hungary to teach Sunday morning at Calvary Nyiregyhaza. Gabor, the pastor, got saved & grew at CC Szeged, then a couple years ago finished college and get a job up there. Since then, because of the economy, he lost his job. At the same time, God raised him up to take over that church. So I will be going to visit him & teach there. Then in the afternoon I will be speaking at a Gypsy church in Hadjuhadhaz. The daughter of the pastor came to our church a few times while in Szeged & they extended me an invitation to come preach. I'm excited about that! While I'm gone on Sunday, I've asked the Pentecostal pastor to preach for me as they don't have a Sunday morning service. He's a really great, humble man of God & I'm excited to have him preach for me.

Next week I'll be speaking at an outreach event for a new Calvary Chapel in Kiskunmajsa (about 30 miles from Szeged). And the first weekend in September I'll be ministering to the leadership of another church here in Szeged. I'm excited about these opportunities to tell people about Jesus!

September will be upon us before we know it & September for us is really the beginning of our "season". We're going to start out the school year by doing a teaching series called "ask anything". at the end of last school year / beginning of summer I asked people to submit questions and we'd do a teaching series in the fall. Right now I'm going to take 3 weeks & deal with the 3 topics that came in. 1. The Trinity. 2. the reliability of the Bible. 3. What do Biblical relationships look like. After that we're going to go through the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings, examining the Word that became flesh. On Wednesdays we are continuing our journey through the Bible. We should finish Jeremiah by the middle of September, then Lamentations & Ezekiel, and on & on we will go by the grace of God.

also this fall, we hope to send a carload of people to minister in Bosnia along with Laci Nemeth & some of the brethren from Southern Budapest Calvary Chapel. One of our elders was there a couple months ago & we are hoping to give people a bigger vision for the work of God through a missions trip like this.

we do still want to get an outreach team over this fall or early winter, maybe to do some English teaching at schools to reach out to youth & we're looking into what it would practically take to get the Golgota Gospel Choir from Budapest down here for a concert.

Women's fellowship is starting up again this month & we will start a men's fellowship in September. We are also looking to start a married couples fellowship to encourage married couples as we know Satan wants to destroy marriages.

so there's a lot going on & we're excited about what Jesus is going to do in this next season in Szeged!

thank you for your continued prayers & financial support for our family & ministry!

For Jesus' fame!

Kyle, Odi & Zara

prayer requests

- for continued financial provision for us. This last year has been difficult as Odi is not working any more (and we'd like to keep it

that way) so she can have a homeward focus. (there is a link on our blog for those who would like to financially support us)

- for CC Szeged to really catch the vision to be on mission for Jesus in Szeged.

- for people to come to know Jesus & get plugged into the church

- for God to raise up people to serve in the church. (children's ministry, sound ministry, internet ministry)

- that women's, men's & married couples fellowships would be a real time of connection & growth for all involved.

- for grace & anointing to preach & teach God's Word clearly, whether it be in Szeged or other places God gives opportunity to

preach.

- for God's leading about a possible missions trip to Bosnia in the fall

- for God to open the doors & provide if we're to host an outreach concert with the Golgota Gospel Choir.

zara's dedication

2010-07-11T13:10:00.002+02:00

a couple of weeks ago at our annual summer conference for the church, we asked a good friend of ours, Laci Németh, to dedicate Zara to the Lord. We see a Biblical precedence for this, as Jesus was taken to the Temple in Luke 2 to be dedicated to the Lord. This "ceremony" is simply a time of us giving thanks to the Lord for the blessing of our daughter.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward."

(Psalm 127:3 ESV)

church building

2010-05-13T11:29:00.003+02:00

as many of you know, we as a church have been praying about looking for a new church building as the place where we are now (and have been for the past 8 years) is just becoming to expensive for us. In March I told our landlord of the situation and we began negotiations about a decrease in rent. at first he agreed then wanted to change things up a little bit, which we weren't comfortable with, and then at the beginning of this month I told him that we are giving him 3 months notice and we're going to be leaving. Well, when he heard that, he immediately began to say that he doesn't want to lose us and that if it's going to help us stay there then he will decrease the rent if we sign a 6 month extension, which would take us to June 2011. after much prayer, thought and seeking new places, the elders & I agree that the best thing for us would be to stay where we're at and the money we save now during the summer to put it away for the winter when we have to heat.

so I'm glad we're staying cause we're "established" here, now we're just going to continue to trust our generous Lord to take care of all the needs of His church.

10 years

2010-04-19T14:03:00.001+02:00

this April is the 10 year anniversary of be being the pastor of Calvary Szeged. was a ready to pastor a church at the age of 23, probably not. but then again, it's hard to say if a man is ever ready to pastor God's people. the past 10 years has been an adventure to say the least.

yesterday at church I was greatly surprised that the church had been secretly organizing a surprise party for me to celebrate this occasion. it started by ordering pizzas for everyone, then the elders showed a slide show of the past 10 years. it really struck me how many people I've been honored to server and minister to. then they surprised me by having our good friends, Laci & Keri Németh come down from Budapest.

then the event culminated with a treasure hunt, after 3 clues, I was lead back to the pulpit where there was a gift for me. it appeared to be a book, when I opened it up and opened the book, much to my surprise there was an iphone in it. needless to say, I was completely taken back by this.

to see the love and generosity that the church has for me, completely humbles me & makes me so proud to teach & pastor the wonderful people of Calvary Szeged.

so I'm a blessed man and now I've got an iphone, look out!!

live from New York.........

2010-03-30T16:06:00.003+02:00

for the first time ever, I'm in NY. I'm on my way back to Hungary after spending a week with my Dad in CA. I can't wait home to my girls, "skypeing" with them has been great but it's not the real thing.

my trip to CA was a surprise for my Dad. and was he surprised. I went to help him with some stuff & just to spend some time with him as his health isn't the best. over the course of the week we had a lot of good conversations not only about the near future and options for him but also about eternity. I got my Dad a Bible last week and he's gonna read a chapter a day in the hopes that "it'll help him think clearly". I know the Word of God will do it's work in His life.

I also gave my Dad a book I just read call "The Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller. It was given to me when we were in CA in January by Justin Southwick & it has really helped me to see the parable of the "prodigal son" in a whole different way. I gave it to my Dad to help him see the great love that God has for him in that He gave His Son for us. The parable isn't only about the "younger son" being lost, it's about the older son being lost too, but in a different way. But more than that, it's a book about God who, recklessly & extravagantly, spends all to show us His love & bring us to His feast. I highly recommend this book to all.

all in all the trip to spend time with my Dad was worth it, I pray there would be lasting fruit from it.

now it's time to get back to my beautiful family in Hungary & get ready to celebrate the most joyous day of the year this Sunday as we celebrate that Jesus is alive!!

Jesus is alive. anything is possible!

for Him!

kyle

2010 winter / spring update

2010-03-06T15:48:00.001+01:00

we'd like to share with you briefly some things that have been going on here in our lives & the life of Calvary Szeged over the past few months.

church news

- last weekend we hosted a 1 day "winter conference" where we invited the Southern Budapest Calvary & a fellowship from Kiskunmajsa which is seeking to affiliate with Calvary here in Hungary. our theme was the role & the mission of the church in the modern world. many people expressed that they left encouraged and challenged.

- we continue to be blessed my our "multi-national" worship team on Sunday mornings. Our worship team is made up of 1 Hungarian, 1 Romanian, 3 Nigerians & 2 Indians, it's a real reflection of our church & our city, as Szeged is filled with many students from all over the world who come here to study or do research. It's a blessing that they are singing in Hungarian & English, so everyone who joins us on Sundays can worship Jesus.

- also our small group Bible study continues to be a blessing to those who attend on Friday nights as they have the opportunity to open up to each other a lot more.

- in the midst of the current world economic crisis, we've started a food pantry at our church to help those in need with some food basics. this ministry is just getting off the ground but we hope that it will be an effective way to help minister to practical needs people have as many people are losing their jobs or taking a drastic cut in pay.

- because many people's work situation has changed, the giving in our church has dropped drastically, to the point where we are praying about where Jesus would lead us. I recently talked with our church landlord and in principle he's agreed to a $130 reduction in rent. there are still a couple of details that we need to work out. we've been in our current facility for almost 8 years and he really doesn't want to lose us especially in this economy. In spite of this "good news" with him, we are still going to be looking and praying if there might not be a better place for the church to meet. so please join us in prayer about this situation.

- the elders & I have been meeting every Monday morning for prayer and it's been good for all involved as we get more time to seek Jesus' heart for the church.

- in today's local paper I read an article that the wait lists for parents to get their kids into a pre-school is over 18 months in some places but with an average of about 12 months. there is a great need for pre-schools here in Szeged & this is something we still want to do, so we will be pursuing this opportunity in the future, even though last year the city said they don't have a place for us to operate a pre-school, we're gonna keep seeking, keep asking, and keep knocking & see what Jesus does!

family news

- yesterday (March 5th) Zara turned 6 months old. it's amazing how time has flown! she brings so much joy to our lives every single day & we are so thankful that so many of you prayed for her over the years.

- late winter, early spring celebrates 2 milestones for me (Kyle), February 21st was my 15 year anniversary here in Hungary (I thought I was only coming for 1 year but God had different plans) and April celebrates my 10 year anniversary as the pastor of CC Szeged. I know I haven't done everything right, but Jesus has been so gracious to us & the church over the years. I think the thing that blesses me the most is that now in Hungary there are 2 Calvary Chapels that are being pastored by men who came out of CC Szeged. We are humbled and honored that Jesus would use us in His church to bless & build up His people. We look forward to whatever Jesus has for us in the future.

- Odi recently restarted the women's fellowship, with more of an emphasis on fellowship, prayer & sharing life together.

- again, the economic crisis has hit us very hard as far as our support goes. so please pray that the Lord would either raise more support for us or provide more opportunities for work. For those interested in supporting us financially, there is a link on our blog (www.kyleodi.blogspot.com) where you can give a tax deductible donation through Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. you just need to scroll down on the drop down tab to find my name and fill out the rest.

prayer requests

- for continued wisdom for Kyle to lead the church.

- for Jesus' direction in where we should go as a church, if we should even go at all.

- for open doors to open & operate a pre-school here in Szeged.

- for financial provision for both the church & us personally.

- for continued strength & health in our family.

for Jesus' fame,

kyle, odi & zara

it's been a long time

2010-02-21T07:48:00.003+01:00

15 years ago today, I arrived in Hungary with my friend PJ. we came to Baja to help in the Calvary Chapel there. for both of us it was a 1 year commitment. had you asked me at that time how long I'll be in Hungary, I probably would have told you 1 year, maybe 2. today I'm celebrating 15 years of serving Jesus as a missionary / pastor here in Hungary. it's been an adventure, learning another language and culture. the best thing that has happened is that Jesus gave me the most amazing woman to be my wife & now blessed our home with a beautiful daughter.

what the next 15 years will bring, I have no idea, but whatever happens me & my house will follow Jesus. cause following Jesus is a journey, not an arrival.

to all those reading this, thank you. thank you for not forgetting about me in the past 15 years & thank you for joining with us as me & my family serve Jesus here in Szeged.

for Jesus' fame

kyle

baby swimming

2010-02-12T13:52:00.002+01:00

zara's pediatrician recommend that we take her to baby swimming to help in her development. so yesterday was our first baby swimming and it seems that zara liked it. here's some video

laughing baby

2010-02-02T17:22:00.002+01:00

update on baby Felicia

2010-01-26T07:53:00.001+01:00

for all you who are praying for Felicia, God is answering. so keep praying!

here's an update on her condition:

http://nickandrosemary.blogspot.com/

friends in need

2010-01-24T07:04:00.003+01:00

our friends, who are missionaries in Eger, just had a baby girl on Friday but she is in critical condition. please check out their blog & pray for the life of their precious daughter. http://nickandrosemary.blogspot.com/

thanks.

home sweet home

2010-01-09T10:43:00.002+01:00

after a long day of travel, we made it home. it was a great trip. it started in LA when we we're moved into business class cause the flight to Amsterdam was oversold, so we made the "sacrifice" to let more people on the plane! now that is the way to fly. Zara did great on the flight, again!! she slept about 7 1/2 hours straight, so we both had time to rest. hopefully we won't be hit with jet-lag.

anyways we were welcome home by our wonderful neighbors who had dinner ready for us and also bought us a small Christmas tree and decorated it. we've got the best neighbors in the world!!

well time to keep unpacking!!

the good, the bad, and the ugly

2010-01-04T18:36:00.000+01:00

no the good, the bad and the ugly isn't a description of this picture, I think this is how I'd summarize our trip here to California. it's been all of those things.

the good.... our first christmas with zara. blessed beyond words by the fellowship, care, a love of the saints. spending time with family.

the bad.... as with every trip, no matter how long or short, there never seems to be enough time to do all we want to do or see everyone. hopefully our next trip won't be in the too distant future, so we can come back and see people we didn't get to.

the ugly... this will go down as a memorable trip. it got ugly when I caught a stomach flu and was out for 48 hours. and got even uglier when my mom fell on the stairs at my aunt's house and broke her foot and shoulder. :-(

with that said and 3 days left of our trip. we're ready to get back to the comfort of our own home.

time to start packing

California

2009-12-21T01:15:00.000+01:00

well we've been in CA for almost 2 weeks now but we really haven't talked about how our trip was with Zara. in a nutshell it was great! as you can see on the plane she had a little bed to sleep in (don't you wish they had those for adults!!). our little world traveler didn't scream or cry and when we were deplaning people said "I didn't know there was a baby on the flight". it took all of us a couple of days to adjust to the time but it's been easier than we had anticipated with Zara.

we've been so blessed to spend time with family & friends.

personally, I'm not missing the weather in Hungary. there's been a lot of snow since we left with temps in the 20's & 30's. I'm lovin' the sunshine & 70 degree temps!!

but we'll have to go back to the cold next month, until then, we're gonna enjoy every day!

St. Nicholas Project 2009

2009-12-15T15:45:00.000+01:00

as I blogged on December 6th, we began the "St. Nicholas Project". I challenged the church to bring joy to some mentally handicapped young people who live at an institution in Szeged. it was a challenge for a couple of reasons. first becasue the school told us when we could take the gifts & do a "show" for them and it was only a little over a week from the "challenge" to the church. so I didn't know if we'd get the 45+ packages or not. aslo I felt kind of strange challengeing the church and then leaving for America. but it turns out I guess I was of "little faith". the church answered the challenge in a wonderful way. not only did they prepare enough gift bags, there were a few left over. here are some pictures of this year's "event". the first pic is the gift bags (obviously), the second is of members of CC Szeged "preforming" for the school, and the last 2 pictures are of the young people who recieved the gifts.
I was told that the staff of the school was very grateful for our gifts. but we don't want this to just be a "it's Christmas and we're Christians so we should do this", we really want to help this school throughout the year. so we're going to be talking with them about how we as a church can minister to the school, either by coming and do things with the students or renewing a room or the courtyard.
anyways, I'm just so blessed that CC Szeged answered this challenge and that we've taken the first step to really reaching our community.

more St. Nick day pictures

2009-12-07T13:00:00.000+01:00

some more pictures of Zara & us from yesterday.

St. Nicholas Day

2009-12-06T15:10:00.000+01:00

today many people here in central & eastern europe celebrate St. Nicholas Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas#Saint_Nicholas_Day). and since we have St. Nick's cutest little helper we had to take pictures of her as such. and yes that is Zara up in the pulpit with me. She came up to help me with this morning's sermon which was about God's heart for those in need, which was exmplified in the real Saint Nicholas. the sermon was the call to action for Calvary Szeged for our first "Saint Nicholas Project". this year we are going to perpare Christmas presents for 60 mentally hanidcapped here in Szeged. we hope to bring some joy to their lives through these gift packages and to point their caretakers to the Babe of Bethlehem.

Thanksgiving in Hungary

2009-11-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

sometimes people in the US will ask if Thanksgiving is celebrated here in Hungary. The answer is "no". Thanksgiving is an American holiday. But every year WE celebrate Thanksgiving. This year we've invited some friends over and will feast on this 18.5lb (8.4kg) turkey.

We celebrate Thanksgiving not out of tradition cause here it's just a "normal" weekday (and there's no football on TV), we celebrate because as we look at our lives, even though there are difficulties & problems, we truly have so much to be thankful for. Especially with the arrivial of our daughter 3 months ago.

I think Thanksgiving should be celebrated all over the world. I think people do need to stop every once in a while & give thanks to the Almighty for the abundance of blessings that He pours out on us from day to day. If people gave thanks more & complained a little less, then their joy in life would increase.

We hope you have a wonderful day giving thanks to God for His abundance in your life.

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." - Hebrews 13:15

good news for Calvary Chapel Hungary

2009-11-23T20:31:00.002+01:00

today the Hungarian Parliament approved a bill in which was included the accreditation of Calvary Chapel Bible College Hungary. This is a great "victory" as the Catholic gave a lot of money to the "Christian" opposition to try to block this bill. Now the bill will be given to the Hungarian President who has 15 days to sign it into law. this means the Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe (www.ccbce.com) will now be able to offer accredited Bachelor of Theology degree.

we're very blessed by this cause this could benefit so many people in their desire to get a degree in Biblical studies. what excites me personally about this is that for the past few years, the thought has been in my mind that, it'd be good to "go back to school" to get a degree. I've looked into a few places but never really acted upon anything, but now since this has really "fallen in my lap" I think it would be a good thing for me to begin a course to get a Bachelor's degree. So Lord willing, I'll start as soon as possible. I'll be sure to blog about it as things progress.

response from the mayor

2009-10-30T08:07:00.002+01:00

yesterday I got a response from the mayor about our request for facilities to operate social services (soup kitchen & 2 pre-schools) in Szeged. the response was "at this time we don't have any buildings that meet the health board requirements". it was a little discouraging, but I guess this just means that we have to think a little "longer term" (maybe doing these things in 2011??). our rental agreement for the church is up in December 2010, so maybe we'll look to move to a different facility where we can have "multi-use" capabilities. please continue to pray with us about how we can be effective for the Kingdom of God here in Szeged.

christmas in cali

2009-10-12T00:11:00.003+02:00

for those of you who've followed us on facebook you know that my dad was in the hospital a couple weeks ago with some breathing problems. the honest truth is that his health isn't so good. my dad is fully aware of his condition and there is one person who really "inspires" him to get better that that is his granddaughter. both Odi & I are so dad that we aren't as close to my parents as we are to hers. after talking to my dad a couple of times, we think the best thing for us to do, in his current situation, would be for us to spend some time with him. so we're gonna be spending Christmas in California. we're gonna be around from december 8th till january 7th.

we're very excited about this because we know how much of a blessing this will be to my dad. my mom & step-dad will come down to CA during the time we'll be there to see their granddaughter.

a trip like this for us, especially now with a child, is very expensive. not only the plane ticket but also a rental car while we are there. if you'd like to help us on this trip, there is a link on the left side of our blog - "support our ministry" - and you can click on that and donate to us via Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

as this will be our first trip to CA with our daughter (and our first trip in 2 years) we'd like to connect with as many of you as possible. we know that it is the holiday season & that there is a lot going on, but if you have time to fit us into your schedule please contact us via e-mail (kyleodi@gmail.com) so we can begin to plan our time there.

thank you all for your love, prayers & support.

kyle, odi, & zara

meeting with the deputy mayor - part 2

2009-09-29T19:52:00.003+02:00

as I posted yesterday, I was called an invited to a meeting with one of the deputy mayors of Szeged in regards to the church's desire to open 2 pre-schools and a soup kitchen for the homeless. what really surprised me (oh me of little faith) is that they took my letter and our desire seriously. so, today I, and Balázs, one of the elders from the church who is a lawyer, went to the mayor's office & we met with the deputy mayor and the head of the social services office. they were prepared and knew who "Golgota" (Calvary Chapel) was. after them asking me some questions about Calvary here in Hungary and the church in Szeged they asked about why we want to do these things. I told them that as we look at the life of Jesus, He reached out to people on a real, physical level and met their needs, which opened their hearts to hear the spiritual message. I told them that it is our desire to meet the needs that are obvious in our city. the head of the social services was open to us from the get go and by the end of our meeting the deputy mayor was also open to us operating social services. when he asked what we want from the city I told him we need facilities. we will be able to get the money to operate these "ministries" from the central budget but we need places to operate. he said that they will look for places for us and get back to me in a week. so we left very excited and hopeful.

when I got home our "contact" in the mayor's office called me. he told me that he laid the ground work for the meeting by giving the deputy mayor a lot of info about our church. he showed our letter to his boss, the deputy mayor in charge of city development and said that after he read the letter there was a "sparkle in his eye" that we want to do this. and because of this we were given audience today. our contact told me that the request for facilities would land on his desk in a couple of days & that now he would be able to finish a study that the city commissioned this summer about were new pre-schools need to be operated. he said that the city stopped this inquiry for some reason but now with us wanting to open two pre-schools, his boss would reopen this inquiry.

needless to say, I am in awe of what is going on. when I think about this rationally, we're a small church, with not much experience in things like this, with little money. but I know that we've got a big God on our side and we've got a heart to reach out and meet needs here in Szeged. so if this thing happens all I can say is, "all glory be to God."

please continue to keep this in prayer & check back often for updates on this.

thanks!

meeting with the deputy mayor

2009-09-28T19:03:00.002+02:00

a while back I wrote that we are taking steps towards opening two pre-schools here in Szeged next year. we have a contact in the mayor's office and he told me to write a letter to the mayor to introduce our church and tell them what we want to do. so last week I wrote to the mayor. much to my amazement his office called me today asking if I could come in tomorrow afternoon to meet the deputy mayor. so tomorrow I, and hopefully one of our elders from the church Balázs (who is a lawyer) will be going for a face to face. please keep this meeting in prayer.

family photos

2009-09-27T08:19:00.000+02:00

we realized something, we had lots of pictures of Zara with pretty much everyone, and lots with mommy and lots with daddy but we didn't have any with mommy & daddy, so we finally had some pictures taken of us as a family yesterday.

new pictures of Zara

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000+02:00

over the past few days we've noticed that Zara is more & more active and alert during the days. thank God she is starting to learn that night time is for sleeping. for the past couple of nights she's only woken up twice to feed. anyways here are some pictures of Zara with her eyes open & at the bottom what I like to call the "fat & happy" face which happens after feeding.

Zara's first walk

2009-09-16T17:33:00.000+02:00

Today we took Zara on a walk for the first time. We HAD to take a couple pictures because she just looked SO CUTE in this little outfit.

social health care

2009-09-13T16:26:00.000+02:00

so, I know there is a big debate over the health care system that the president is proposing. Living in Hungary for many years and seeing a social health care system up close, America would be stupid to adopt a similar system. our current system isn't perfect but it's the best thing out there.
what is this picture?? This is what Odi got for dinner in the hospital for 4 nights after giving birth!!! this is just a small display of what a social health care system would bring in America.
by the way, yes, I did bring Odi all kinds of regular food!

job description

2009-09-12T08:23:00.001+02:00

just got this from a friend of ours and thought it worth sharing.

PARENT

This is hysterical.. If it had been presented this way,
I don't believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call...
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

night 3

2009-09-11T20:34:00.002+02:00

tonight is night 3 with Zara at home. the first night was tough, Odi slept about 30 minutes, I got about 3 1/2 hours or so. I releaved Odi at 6am by taking Zara into bed with me for a couple hours and we all slept well. last night, things were better, we both woke up "rested" and Zara wasn't up too much during the night. tonight is night 3, we hope that she sleeps well tonight and only wakes up to eat. we'll see what night 3 holds........

Zara came home today!

2009-09-09T19:23:00.001+02:00

this afternoon Odi & Zara were released from the hospital. we brought her home in the same winnie the pooh outfit that I was brought home from the hospital in 33 years ago! so now we're home and getting ready for life to change but we both know it's gonna be a change for the better!!

preggo pics

2009-09-08T09:56:00.000+02:00

these pictures were taken a couple weeks ago by a photographer friend of ours.

Zara - day 3

2009-09-08T09:45:00.000+02:00

Zara was born with a lot of hair!!

first "good" pictures of Zara

2009-09-07T09:40:00.000+02:00

here are the first good pictures of Zara now that she is out of the intensive observation and in the room with Odi.

more pictures

2009-09-05T21:52:00.003+02:00

so here's some more pictures, we can't even express in words how thankful we are to the Lord for this precious gift of out beautiful baby girl!

pictures of Zara

2009-09-05T20:03:00.001+02:00

so, here are some pictrues of our beautiful baby daugther, Zara Reese. we think she is the cutiest thing either of us have seen. becasue she came a little early, they have kept her under intensive observation in an incubator becuase she was having slight breathing difficulty. she is doing much better now, and if she continues to improve then they will allow her to be moved to Odi's room either late tomorrow or on Monday.

our first family picture

Zara Reese is here!!

2009-09-05T04:17:00.002+02:00

when we woke up this morning we didn't think we'd finish the day being parents. but tonight around 10pm Odi's water broke and we went to the hospital. she was in labor from about midnight till 2:15am, when our beautiful baby girl was born. Zara Reese Eckhart arrived weighing 7.92 lbs (3.6kgs) and she is 19.7 inches long (50cm). hearing her little cry was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard!! both mom and baby are doing well and resting. it's been a long night, I hope to get some pictures up tomorrow. thank you all for your prayers.

love,

kyle, odi & zara

on-line support opportunity

2009-08-28T09:13:00.002+02:00

after our "family update" post a friend of mine told me that I should think about putting a paypal link on our blog if people wanted to give to support our ministry here in Szeged. I don't know how I feel about that but something better came up. yesterday I recieved an e-mail from the missions pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa about an online tithing system that was just set up and how now it's possible to donate to missionaries online. so if you would like to support our ministry financially, you can do so but going to

donate on line

when you are there, you simply need to enter the amount you want to give (everything helps), then select my name from the drop down menu, and fill out the rest.

thanks for your time & support.

kyle & odi

teaching at Dél-pest Golgota

2009-08-24T09:14:00.003+02:00

Laci Németh told me I made history as the first guest teacher at the Dél-pest Golgota. here's the proof.

I must say, Laci was brave to let me teach! and why are we doing a similar thing with our hands? is that all he took from his 4 1/2 years in Szeged?? :-P

home sweet home

2009-08-24T07:58:00.002+02:00

so we were supposed to go to BP for a week of R&R at a timeshare hotel. well when we got to the hotel it turns out that the people who gave us the week messed something up with this particular week and the hotel had no knowledge of the booking. they couldn't do anything and the people who gave us the week are on holiday in Spian. so we had no place to go but had to stay in BP cause I was teaching in the Dél-pest (south BP) Calvary on Sunday. thankfully some of our friends took us in for the night! we went to church on Sunday, I taught for Laci Németh (he said I made history as the first guest teacher of Calvary Dél-pest), then spent some time with him & his family (went to see Lotti in the hospital) and now we're home. we're both kind of glad to be home, there are always things to do here in preparation of the baby's arrival. so it was an adventure but it's always best but "home sweet home"

family update - august 2009

2009-08-19T17:27:00.004+02:00

as I'm writing this, we're a little more than a month away from our daughter's arrival. Odi is due to give birth on September 29th. a couple weeks ago at the doctor, he said everything looks ok and the baby is a little bit bigger than "normal". but we'll find out when she arrives.

last tuesday, we went to visit the hospital where Odi will give birth. we were both pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. they've really put some effort into making the newborn ward nice. so it was nice to see where the big event will happen.

we're so very excited about our daughter's arrival, we've got everything ready, now it's just time to wait for her to come.

please pray for everything to go well in this last 4-5 weeks and for a smooth delivery.

a woman who used to be a student of Odi's gave us a "home week" of her timeshare so we can have a last vacation before Zara arrives. it's in Budapest, so we're looking forward to a week of R&R in Budapest next week. we hope to visit many friends up in BP.

I'm sure everyone has felt the effects of this "recession / economic crisis" (or whatever they're calling it these days) we're in. we in Hungary have felt this as well. cost of living continues to rise, as the government raised the VAT (value added tax) from 20% to 25% on july 1st. that means anything you buy costs more. i share this with you because we personally started to feel the effects of this crisis recently. one of our supporting churches recently sent us a letter that due to this crisis they've had to reevaluate the missions budget and have decreased the support for us and for pretty much all missionaries. we were actually looking forward to a slight increase with the arrival of our daughter, but now we have to deal with a reduction. on top of that, because Odi has been on "sick leave" due to her past history, she doesn't have the same income level and I don't have many English lessons right now. so, we're having to look at more expenses and higher cost of living with less money.

I was talking with another missionary about this recently and she said something that I never thought about. she said that when she goes back to the states, people think that she gets the same salary as a staff member of the sending church. we've been very blessed at how God has provided for us over the years through different churches & people, but in case you were wondering I don't receive the same salary as a pastor in the states.

we know that God is bigger than this crisis and He's not worried. we know He will provide for us. we'd like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining in God's work here with us financially.

for anyone who is interested TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donations can be sent to

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa

3800 S. Fairview

Santa Ana, CA 92704

please include a note that the check is designated for us and they will attach it to our monthly support check.

we truly don't like to bring this issue up, but it's something that's going on with us and we'd like to ask you to pray with us about.

in His love,

kyle & odi

church update - august 2009

2009-08-19T17:00:00.003+02:00

welcome to our first "church update" blog post. I figured it was about time that we entered the 21st century. we hope you check back often to see what's going on with us & Calvary Szeged.

summer is typically a "down time" for the church here in Szeged, as many of the students go home for the summer, and of course there are those whose time in Szeged comes to an end as they finish their schooling. this summer was no different. now that we're in the second half of August, we're starting to see people slowly come back. September is always an exciting time as there is a new influx of people and God always seems to bring people who want to get involved in the church. so I'm excited to see what's gonna happen in the church this September.

one thing we want to start this fall is at least one home group. I'd like it to be an "all hungarian" fellowship. I'm also praying about an "all english" fellowship cause we have a lot of english speaking people in our church. I'm not sure about this because many of our "english crowd" already get together for fellowship, so I'm leaning towards just seeking to support what they've already got going.

something happened this summer that really surprised me. God gave me a very clear vision about what He wants to do as a church here in Szeged. It all began in the beginning of July when Odi & I attended the Eastern European Missions Conference ("The Foundations") in Vajta. Pastor Bodi from Debrecen told all us pastors here in Hungary about a possibility he just found out about that applies to all of us. it's this; we as registered churches can request money from the governement to do pretty much any social service. social services here in Hungary include pre-schools, soup kitchens, old folks homes, homeless shelters, old folks day care, etc. when I heard about this, my heart was moved cause the Lord was beginning to show me that here in Hungary, if we want to be effective we need to meet the real needs of people. right now because of the political situation here in Hungary and the social changes they've broutht about, there will be in the next 12-18 months a greater need for these social services. when I came back to Szeged and told our elders, they liked the idea but felt it was "too good to be true" that the government is going to give us money to do ministry. I told them that I know this is where God is leading and we have to take this step. so I filed the papers with the government to get money for us to operate 2 pre-schools, a soup kitchen, and an old folks day care, starting next year.

what is amazing is that God has been bringing me in contact with people who can help get these things going. we've got a women in our church who has the qualifications to run a pre-school, and I know some social workers would would love to do these kinds of ministry. but our one big problem with this is facilities. we would need places to do this. i was talking with a neighbor cause i know he works for a company that writes tenders to get money for the city. i asked if he could help us cause we would need to try to get a grant for a place. he told me that his boss' full time job is he works for the city governement in the area of city development and is directly under the deputy mayor in charge of development. so he set up a meeting with me and his boss, and I told him what we want to do and what we need and he said that it shouldn't be a problem! next month he wants to set up a meeting with me, him, the deputy mayor, and the person responsible for running all the pre-schools here in Szeged so we can talk about where we can open up pre-schools next year.

anyways, I know I've written a lot about this, but we are all very excited about the future and these opportunities that we have as a church to meet people's needs and thus minister to them and share the good news with them.

so, as things progress, I will be blogging about them.

please keep all these things in prayer. thanks for standing with us.

in Him,

kyle

U2 concert

2009-08-17T15:14:00.005+02:00

a week ago I was blessed to be able to go to the U2 concert in Zagreb. unfortunately Odi couldn't come at this stage of her pregnancy, but, if the rumors are true and U2 comes to do another leg of their tour here in Europe next year, then we're going!!!!!

anyways, it was an AMAZING night, that I won't forget. what really struck me though, beyond the thumbing of the music since I was only 4 meters from the stage, was that U2 were using their concert to get a message across, and it came across so clearly when, before "moment of surrender" Bono asked everyone to take out their phones and light up the stadium. he said that in this universe, we might be small but we can "be a light in the darkness". our lives can make a difference if we choose to let them. I know that now, more than ever, I want my life to make a difference in my little "world" and I want my light to shine more & more!

let your light shine brightly

truly amazing.

a wider view of the "inner circle" taken by Kornél. (unfortunately for Kornél & Laci they didn't get tickets in time and had seats)

down in the "inner circle" with Arpi & Andi Horvat-Kavai, Lisa Collins, Madarász István, and Balogh Robi. about 3 hours before the concert.

2009-08-16T16:28:00.001+02:00

So this picture was taken of Odi about 2 weeks ago, this was at 32 week. it's amazing to think that Zara Reese is going to be joining us next month!!

first blog

2009-08-16T08:20:00.000+02:00

well, hello world! this is my first blog post. I guess I'm catching up with the rest of the world. from time to time, I'll blog about what's going on with us and with the church here in Szeged. hope you're blessed by what you read here.

kyle and odi