Catch Up

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Above: Enjoying God's creation at Szép Alma. We're back 'online' after a weekend of rest and encouragement at a PI team leaders' retreat in Szép Alma (which literally means Beautiful Apple).

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Above: Leaders of teams in various areas of Europe seeking to initiate a church planting movement.

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Above: The retreat was designed to offer plenty of free time to connect. I (Allen) was also able to celebrate my 34th (oh, I mean 36th) birthday which I like to keep 'lowkey'. It's hard enough to keep track of Sharon's, Ben's Elianna's and Kira's birthday. As I consider my life at 34 (um, I mean 36), I praise God for His outpouring of grace in my life, giving me the invaluable gifts of a loving wife and three wonderful children. I praise Him for giving me the responsibility to serve as a servant leader on a multinational team. I thank Him for His constant provision in my life as He often gives more than I expect.

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Above: Elianna enjoyed the company of the other girls that also attended the retreat.

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Above: Ben and I were able to spend some time in the woods. He was sure to point out the fort he planned to build and also began collecting logs to complete it.

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Prayer Requests:

While at the retreat, we heard some disturbing news about events in our church service in Petőfibánya. Miki told me that he had just been teaching about how God brings deliverance and freedom when church member Lidia was overcome with a panic attack. I believe this panic attack had physical aspects and spiritual aspects. The good that came about was a greater awareness of the reality of the enemies tactics, and also the building of unity and faith as the church surrounded Lidia in prayer. This type of disruptive and disturbing activity is not new and usually escalates when there is a burst of spiritual growth in our church. To be more specific, the enemy often uses fear as a form of attack and bondage in many people's lives.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father."— Rom. 8:15.

What a source of freedom to know that our Father is greater than our enemy. What a source of peace to know that victory is His, releasing us from all types of bondage. Please pray for the young in faith in our congregation to be protected from the enemy. Pray for them to grow in the knowledge of HIs truth through learning and trusting in His revealed word. We are under attack, and you can help us press on and gain more ground through your prayers!

Tomorrow our church has been invited to participate in a May Day celebration in Petőfibánya. We will be presenting a puppet show and interacting with the kids with a craft, face painting and singing. These are great opportunities to introduce our church to the community and distribute Christian reading material. Please pray for relationships to be built, and for new people from the community to be drawn to God's truth either by visiting our church or through reading the material. Please also Pray for unity on our team, and strength and wisdom to fulfill our commitments with quality for God's glory.
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