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Dear Praying, Helping Friends:

      "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us from this present evil age." (Gal.1:3)  Rescue us, yes, and use us to preach His Word until "every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:11).  To this end, God called us to Central & Eastern Europe in 1990 to establish a school that would train young Hungarian men to know the Word, preach it, and plant churches.  In 1992, that vision took a big step forward with the founding of Karolyi Gaspar Institute of Theology and Missions.  In 1996 we had our first graduates; in 1997 our men were expelled from the state church; in 1998 we organized the first new church of its kind since the Reformation, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central & Eastern Europe.  By God's grace, we now have 22 small but growing congregations (and four preaching points) in Hungary , Ukraine and Romania .  Pray, dear friends, that God would use this young church, already fruit-ful, to bear much more fruit - until a vast multitude comes to Christ in this region of Europe .

      When our first graduates went out in 1997, they had to start with no support from their own people because, at best, they had only one or two persons interested in God's Word.  We now have 26 congrega-tions and preaching points where people are giving financially because they have come to Christ and been grounded in the faith.  They are now giving $40,000/year to support our 15 men.  The other $110,000/year must still come from us until the RPCCEE can fully support itself.  Self-support is the great goal and one that, by the grace of God, we hope to reach in another four to eight years (It took 20 years to do this in Korea ).  Pray, then, that the church would continue to grow until we reach this goal.  Some of you have said to me: "You are up in years.  What if something happens to you now?"  Well, the Lord called me to pioneer this work and has not yet called me home or told me to retire (at age 75).  But our new mission is becoming more and more involved in the work, and they could keep it going if anything happened to me.  For example, the treasurer of our board, George Mall , will go with me next month to visit the work.  Pray for our trip (September 27 to October 6) as we visit some of our congregations and all of our men.  Pray for safety in travel, and pray that George and I would be a blessing wherever we go.  Note, too, that we have a new website.  It is just a beginning, but we encourage you to visit us at www.WBWMission.org

      I am pleased to report that we are having our best year of camps in the history of the work.  This year, in Hungary , Ukraine , and Romania , we have more camps than any previous year (17); attendance is up; the Word is being taught with great effect, and people are listening with deep interest.  We pray this "rustling of the leaves" is a sign of much more to come where many will come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him to the glory of God the Father.  We have a part in this.  It is to "lay the foundation (of the church) as an expert builder" and be "careful" how we build on this foundation (I Cor. 3:10).  Christ's part is to breathe life into our efforts and bless them so that sinners are converted and built up in the most holy faith until the "whole building" in Central & Eastern Europe "is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord…a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit" (Eph.2:21)

      Most foreign missionary work today, even in solid Reformed circles, is not aiming clearly at this goal.  We hear a lot about evangelism (the all-important first step) and discipling (all-important, too), but we hear little about aiming at a self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating national church.  It is as if people were in an airplane, headed down the runway, with the pilot unaware the plane must be airborne if it is to reach its destination.  This is not a silly illustration, for most foreign missions today are not thinking and working with this focus.  They are not consciously working toward a self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating national church.  But unless this is the goal and unless this actually happens, what have we really accomplished?  So let's not just talk about our great mission experiences, or that some have heard the Word, or that some have even come to Christ.  Let's talk about Christ's church.  Let's talk about a national church that is developing and has its own leadership and is moving to where it can stand on its own and propagate itself for years to come until the Word of God has reached every dark corner of that region!  Otherwise, all our work and all your giving will be in vain!

      And what are the things a foreign mission must do to go airborne?  They are: 1) Giving a sound theological training to national church planters 2) Eliminating all those candidates who think they are called, but are not 3) Giving financial support to those who are truly called 4) Giving them the material tools (property and equipment) they need for their work 5) Continuing to teach and train them after they graduate and go out 6) Making sure that a good foundation (high standards) for the church is laid in the early years of the work 7) Being careful, above all, not to forget the Christian training of the children of the pastors and the members of the church.  When these things are done, we can 8) End our support and guidance and let our spiritual sons and daughters leave "home" and do the work entirely on their own.

      In our Hungarian work, steps #1 and #2 are finished.  But steps #3 through #7 are ongoing (Our school has ongoing post-graduate training for all our church planters.  All financial support is accompanied by accountability and as much counsel as is necessary to make sure the work is what it ought to be.  And Christian training is the norm for all the children of our church.)  Let me illustrate how this is happening with one of our men, Csaba Zolya in Vulkan , Romania .  Csaba ("CHA-bah") graduated from our school in 2002 and has been reporting to me (and his fellow pastors) regularly since starting his work in southwest-ern Romania .  He is doing his work very well - good preaching, good pastoral care of the flock, aggressive evangelism, and living the life.  But to help him live the life even better, we have encouraged him to find a partner in marriage.  Now, after a second courtship effort, we believe he has found the right one, a really fine girl in our church named Ibolya ("EE-bow-yah").  I admit to having had a major role in encouraging him to marry, then helping him in his courtship (his parents are not believers and cannot help him in this).  So we are sure of his call.  We also think that now is the time to help him and his congregation get a building.  After this, we will continue to support him financially until his little flock is large enough to fully support him and his family.  But now is the time to make this investment in his ministry (of a building) so that he and his congregation can move on to the final phase of self-support.

      In other words, for the work in Vulcan to go airborne, we need the right pilot (and co-pilot) in the cockpit with the right training and an airplane large enough to carry them all.  This means that we must now make this investment in Vulkan , Romania .  The building will have a meeting hall, library, and coun-seling room for the congregation (first floor) and a large upstairs where Csaba and Ibolya can live when they marry.  Adding to the challenge, the dollar has been falling in value in Romania while the cost of living has been increasing. (Two years ago we bought this land in Vulkan for $6,000.  Today it would cost $12,000 to $15,000.)  The projected cost of construction in Vulkan has vaulted from $52,000 to $66,000.  Still, this is a great price because much of the work will be done by the men of our church.

      SUMMARY.  Our operating cost is now $110,000/year for which only 65% is pledged.  It was 72%, but we lost some giving in transition to our new board.  Also, many of our friends are near our age; some have passed away or had illness or are retiring with less income.  Finally, the dollar has been falling in Europe versus the euro and national currencies, especially Romania where it has fallen 22% the last 18 months.  This is a big hit.  So we urgently need more regular support, even small amounts.  As for one-time costs, we need (1) $700 to fly to Hungary (2) $1,000 now and $2,000 in November as extra help for our men to offset the fall of the dollar (3) $500 for home schooling materials (4) $54,000 for construction in Vulkan, half of it ($27,000) to start now, the other half to keep going through the winter and finish in the spring in time for our bride and groom to move in!  Pray fervently for these needs, spiritual and material, and help us as those in Philippi helped Paul - joyfully and sacrificially.

                                                                                                                                 Yours in His faithfulness,