October Update 2012

Greetings from Hungary!  We’re delighted to give you another update on the truly exciting things the Lord is doing here in Eastern Europe.

Lacroix Family in Hungary (click to enlarge)

Family: October 15 marked our fourth year anniversary since the day we settled on the mission field here in Hungary.   Praise the Lord for keeping us during that time, and for all the wonderful things He has done!

Over the past several days, we have been having a bout with the gastrointestinal flu.  Two of the girls seem to have contracted a fairly strong case of it at the Immigration Office, and then it began to affect others in the family here.  The Lord has healed each one in answer to prayer. Currently Len is the only one battling this sickness.

In September we attended two weddings.  One was the wedding of Dora, who is the daughter of pastor Sandor or the church in Erd, which we have helped in the past.  The other wedding was Gabor's, one of the men that Len has been discipling.

Dora and András

What made it a challenge was that both weddings were being held at the same time on the same day!  So although we wanted to attend both, we were unable to do so.  After praying about it, we finally decided to attend Dora's wedding ceremony, followed by Gabor's wedding reception.  So we sat up on the third balcony of the Baptist church where Dora and Andras were married, and once the ceremony was almost ended, we quietly left and went to the nearby Rose Garden Baptist church for the reception of Gabor and Kriszti.  When we arrived, the reception had just started, so it was good timing.  We got to meet many of Gabor and Kriszti's relatives and friends, as well as spend time with the wedding couple and others we already know.

Kriszti and Gábor

One of the highlights of the reception was when Gabor shared with us how his oldest son, Dávid S., recently gave his life to the Lord at a summer camp.  Before he attended the camp this summer, Len met Dávid, who is a senior in high school, and the Lord provided an opportunity for Len to plant a seed, by sharing his testimony with Dávid. At the wedding reception, Gabor said that Dávid attended the camp in August, which was conducted by a sister church from America, called Trinity.  When they gave the invitation at the camp, there were no public responses, so the leader assumed nothing happened.  But that day, Dávid made a decision for Christ.  He was truly born again, and his life has been completely changed.  Gabor was so blessed as he told us about this that his eyes filled with tears.  Even though the camp leaders thought nothing happened, God really used that camp to impact Dávid's life for eternity, and he will never be the same. Praise the Lord!!

Len injured his great toe in August, and thought he may have suffered a contusion. He then re-injured it in Romania, so He is still trusting the Lord to heal the sharp pain that still comes and goes.  Please continue to pray with us for his total healing.

Len and Dávid

Ministry: Len received a great testimony from Dávid V., one of his disciples.  You may recall that Len meets with brothers in a small group format for discipleship, called a Life Transformation Group (LTG).  Now Dávid says that he himself is multiplying disciples this way also.  He wrote: "I've started a LTG with two brothers from my youth group. And they love it. I'm in the youth group leadership and we have a vision. It's mainly about making disciples, and we were thinking about it how we could help young people become one. And then God told me that this is the time I should share the LTG [strategy of making disciples]. So I did. And the leaders started one, and now they've started to grow in Chirst and in fellowship. Now we will start LTGs from the youth group as well. My girlfriend started one with two other girls and they enjoy it very much. God is moving in the youth group and also in our church."  Praise the Lord for this wonderful report.  It means that we are finally beginning to see a second generation of disciples emerge from our labor here in Hungary. To God be all the glory!!

Meanwhile Len is planning to attend a conference in the UK.  When Len told the person in the UK who is hosting the conference that he is in Hungary, she gave him the name of a Hungarian church leader, named Aron, who will also be attending.  When Len called Aron, he learned that he is part of the same church where Dávid is serving, and he knows Dávid very well.  He said that the pastor, named Gabor, will also be attending the conference in the UK.  This is an amazing coincidence, since Dávid has been wanting Len to meet his pastor, Gabor.  Now he will be able to meet him during this conference, and spend time together in fellowship.  Please pray for Len as he goes to the UK, so that the Lord will bless him and establish divine connections with people that will open new doors of opportunity in Hungary and elsewhere. 

Ildika (pastor Geza's wife) with Jennifer at wedding

Back at home in Hungary, we've continued conducting evangelism, and prayerfully planning future ministry activity.  We intend to meet further with the church leaders and disciples in this nation in the fall.

A Russian believer, named Denis N, contacted Len through the Internet recently, after reading Len's salvation testimony online.  Denis accepted Jesus Christ few years ago, and as newborn Christian he enjoyed the Holy Spirit, peace, joy and righteousness poured on him very much; but after few months he walked away from God and turned back to worldly things, beginning to sin consciously and willingly. Then he experienced a fierce demonic attack on his spirit causing insanity to the point that he was placed into the mental clinic for treatment! After that treatment, he returned back to his family and has repented, but he still experiences fear that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ have left him alone, because of his sins, and do not want to touch him.  Spirits of fear and unbelief totally occupied and terrify him now.  Although he is in Russia, we have been reaching out to him. And we ask for you to pray that the Lord will deliver Denis from the demons that now haunt him, and break every curse in his life, bringing him back into sweet fellowship with the Lord.

Now for another exciting praise report!

Administrative Needs: Our immigration visas (known as resident permits) were due to expire in October, so we were required by law to apply for renewal in September.  Their were ten people involved in the visa project with Len, helping to complete an enormous task in record time, even while he was out of the country in Romania during the last part of the project!  Praise the Lord that everything was submitted on time.

We returned to the Immigration Office to receive their decision in mid-October, and we were so delighted to find that they granted renewal of our residence permits for three years!  Praise the Lord! And thanks to those of you who prayed that it would be granted three-year permits.  There is a great open door of ministry for us here, and we are just relieved to have this expensive and time-consuming visa process behind us for a few years now.

Resources:  This month we would also like to encourage you to read "Crying Out to God Loudly" (see here), and "Taking Heaven by Force" (see here), as well as another about the apostle Paul, called "A Man Who Was Caught Up Into Paradise" (see here).

Once again, if you didn't see it last month, don't miss "Testimonies from Voila" (see here), regarding the amazing things the Lord has done in the lives of pastor Linu and Nella! It will surely build your faith.  As always, Len's entire collection of most popular blogs are at "Writing for the Master" (see here).  We welcome your comments on this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

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 the multiplication of disciples in Hungary and the beginning of a second generation.
2. For Gabor's son, Dávid S., coming to know Christ.
3. For all that He has done in and through us during these past four years in Eastern Europe.
4. "May the glory of the LORD be praised in His dwelling place."  (Eze 3:12)
5. For the divine connections with Hungarian leaders through this conference in the UK.
6. For the opportunities to evangelize the lost here in Hungary and the hunger of some for the good news.
7. For granting us three-year residence permits, so that we can continue serving Him here in Hungary.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to reveal Himself to all the non believers in Budapest whom we have touched.
2. For the Lord to continue using all of us in our personal evangelism work, including the children.
3. For the Lord to continue using Len's disciples Dávid V., Greg and Gábor to reach the lost with the gospel, as well as make disciples.  And for the Lord to enable us to spend some extended time in fellowship and prayer with them this fall.
4. For the Lord to continue to multiply disciples through Dávid V. and the others in his church. 
5. For the Lord to deliver and Denis N. in Russia, bringing peace and joy back into his heart.
6. For the Lord to heal Len from the gastrointestinal virus, as well as his injured left toe.
7. For the outpouring of His Holy Spirit here in Diosd to continue to ripple all across Hungary and Eastern Europe.
8. For the Lord to powerfully anoint and help Len as he meets with pastors, elders, and disciples here in Hungary this fall.
9. For our financial blessing.  

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

Love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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