April Update 2012

Greetings from Hungary!

It's wonderful to see everything greening up, the flowers blooming, and hear the birds singing here.

Jennifer, Denise, and Joseph

Family: When Len traveled to Belgium in February, the family he stayed with invited him to come back again with the whole family.  They had planned to take time off from school and work during the first week of April, and suggested that would be the best time for a visit. We did not plan to go, but after praying about it, we both felt the Lord wanted us to make the trip.

So we traveled there in our van, across Hungary, Austria, and Germany.  According to the GPS, it should have been a thirteen-hour trip.  But with bathroom and food breaks for the children, it took fifteen hours.  The return trip took seventeen hours!  Len had not driven on the German autobahn since the late 80's.  It was quite an experience going down the autobahn in our family van at over 75 mph, being passed by cars going double our speed and up to or exceeding 190 mph.  Our van held up wonderfully, and the Lord protected us from many dangers. 

We spent a week at the home our new, Belgian friends.  They are a lovely, hospitable family that delights to serve and show kindness. They insisted that we sleep in their master bedroom, plus the children got two extra rooms as well.  Meanwhile, our host and hostess slept on an air mattress in their living room. They thought nothing of this, and said they have done it before.  They said that when men and women of God come to their home, they leave a blessing and don't take it with them when they leave.  So this was their joy to do for us.

Rachel (daughter of Belgian hosts) with Charity

The time of fellowship and fun with them was a gift from God.  And as promised, they took us to see the battlefield near Schönberg, where Len's father had fought in the US Army during World War II in the Battle of the Bulge. But the highlight of the trip was the Sunday worship services, where they have continued to experience a mighty revival ever since February when Len was their last.  The Spirit of God is moving mightily there!  The worship was absolutely wonderful, the preaching was excellent, and the time of prayer was powerful.  They start at 8:45 AM, break briefly at 2:00 PM and resume at 2:30 or so.  They end whenever the Holy Spirit is finished, which was around 6:00 PM.  Afterward, we went back to the home where we were staying, where there were a total of 35 guests for dinner.  We got to sit together with the pastor and his wife, Sakis and Josy, and enjoy edifying fellowship.  They invited us to visit with them again at their home the next day, which we did.  Again, it was a wonderful time of encouragement, strengthening, prayer, and fellowship with them while our host family watched our children.

 Later in the day, they invited our hosts to bring the children over for dinner.  So we were there for nine hours and it didn't seem like we were there that long at all.  Everyone had a great time.   We feel this was a blessing from the Lord for us, since we needed to be refreshed and get away for a time of rest.  It was all that we could have hoped for and more, especially since it seems unlikely at this point that we will be able to go to the States for a break this summer.  However, that is still a matter of prayer, and we have not ruled out that possibility.

Last month we reported that Len had been sick with a sinus infection.  After six weeks with it, he was finally healed.  Praise the Lord.  But four days later, he caught another very bad, head cold from someone, which he is just now starting to get relief from. Thanks for your prayers.

Joseph, Len, and Christopher

Ministry:  We continue to focus on prayer, worship, evangelism, and discipleship right now.  We can truly say the Lord is moving among us.  It has been exciting to experience Him in intimate and supernatural ways these past four months.

Our children are also involved in evangelism now as well! They love to hand out tracts.  And it's a joy to see the gratefulness of some people to receive the message of the good news.

Len recently evangelized a man at the Volkswagen dealership, named Attila Kornhoffer, who was also getting his car serviced.  He said he does not have any spiritual beliefs, since "he only believes what he can see."  After Len spoke with him about the Lord, his car was ready and he had to leave, so Len gave him a gospel tract.  As Attila was getting into his car, a vehicle pulled right in front of him with the license plate number “GOD 947”.  This car went ahead of him as he was leaving the parking lot.   Pray that Attila will personally come to know the Lord Jesus.

Meanwhile, Len has been praying for several months about a trip back to Bulgaria (not Belgium) that he has desired to take.  Please join us in praying that the Lord would give clear direction, open doors for the gospel, and financial provision for the trip.

Len was last their in May 2009 and the Lord has blessed us with some precious friends their that we've grown to love, and some of whom we've known since his first trip their in 1993.

Jennifer is still waiting for an opportunity to meet with our neighbor Annamaria across the street.  Annamaria had indicated a real openness to meet with her about a difficult personal trial she is going through, but when Jennifer has attempted to connect, she has not been available. Please pray for the Lord to open that door, and keep the enemy from stopping her from hearing the gospel, so that she would come to know Jesus.

Resources:  Len has recently written a blog called "God Chooses the Weak Things" (see here).  If you would like to read this or any others he has recently written, you can find them at "Writing for the Master" (see here).

In closing, we have much to praise God for, and many opportunities for you to join us in prayer.

Praise the Lord with us for the many answers to prayer:

1. For our trip to Belgium and all that he did in our lives while we were there, as well as the revival.
2. For the opportunities to evangelize the lost here.
3. For Len's healing from the six-week infection.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to reveal Himself to Lászlo and Annamaria, Zsolt and Andi (ZHOLT and ON-dee), and our hairdresser, Juszti (YOU-stee).
2. For Attila Kornhoffer to personally come to know the Lord Jesus.
3. For the Lord to use all of us in our personal evangelism work, including the children. 
4. For the Lord to continue using Len's disciples Greg and Gábor to reach the lost with the gospel.
5. For the Lord to complete the healing in Len from this current illness since returning from Belgium.  
6. For the Lord's direction, blessing, and financial provision for a ministry trip to Bulgaria.
7. For a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit here in Diosd, in Budapest, and all of Hungary.  And that it would ripple all across Eastern Europe.
8. For the Lord to send forth laborers to the Hungarian Roma (gypsies). 
9. For the Lord to bless the Bosch family, whom we stayed with in Belgium.
10. For our financial blessing.  That the Lord would continue to raise up partners to help us with special gifts and monthly partners, so that we will be able to focus on the ministry in Eastern Europe and accomplish all that He has put in our hearts to do.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

Love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

There are two ways to donate to Doulos Missions International. You may either send a check or money order by mail to:
Doulos Missions International
PO Box 5526
Manchester, NH 03108-5526

Donate Online