Halfway Around the Globe

Recently a colleague of mine sent around this graph posted.  I do not know the original source, so I cannot vouch 100% for its accuracy.  But I can say that it does seem to represent the trend I have noticed and felt living here in post-Christian Europe. It is a bit hard to see…sorry for the poor quality.  Here is what it says in the box: Percentage who know a “True Follower of Jesus Christ”. The columns are (from left to right): Global, Africa, South America, Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe.

So that sent me on a bit of a research drive to see if I could find some more concrete evidence for the current spiritual situation of each continent.  What I found was consistent with the graph…and was sad to see.  We hear so much about the 10/40 window, Asia, and the unreached people groups (as we well should!!), but sadly Europe is often overlooked.  While I am all for and very convinced of the need to reach the unreached, I fear that Europe is rapidly becoming unreached in our current missions emphasis.  Just some food for thought during the day!  Thank you for taking time to care about and seek to reach out to Europe!  Please join me in praying for this continent!!

The following statistics come from Operation World and are from 2010.  The percentages for people claiming to be Christian are far different.  However, based on the way Operation World defines “evangelical”, that percentage is of more interest since it is likely far closer to the actual percentage of true followers of Christ.  You can find more information on their website at: www.operationworld.org

Percentage, by continent (or large land mass), of those claiming to be Evangelical Christians:

1. North America: 26.8%
2. Pacific: 17.8%
3. Africa: 17.7%
4. Latin America: 16.7%
5. Caribbean: 14.3%
6. Asia (including the 10/40 window and the Middle East): 3.5%
7. Europe: 2.5%

It is official!  I am now a car owner for the first time ever!!  My first car finally made it into the dealership and I have had the joys of getting to pick it up…and take it for a spin 🙂  I am so thankful for it, especially with all of the countryside ministry I am doing and will be doing.  It allows me to better minister and opens doors of opportunities that were not there before!  Thank you so much for your support which allowed me to purchase this vehicle!  I would love to take your for a ride anytime!  So drop on by and I will show you the city!

The latest in the prayer letter editions!  I hope you enjoy reading and are blown away by what God is doing here!  Please also share this with your friends!

Prayer Letter 42 (November)

That’s right!  The newest film has rolled into town!!  It is a little longer than normal (a little more than 10 minutes)…but I think you will find every moment worth it!  So sit back, relax, pop some popcorn, and celebrate what God is doing in Hungary with me! And please feel free to share this video and this website with your friends!

http://lukeys87.wistia.com/projects/10lpsrby0p

Life is certainly anything but dull!!  This morning I was informed that the authorities had found a bomb from World War 2 in my neighborhood.  In order to remove it, they shut down the university that is 2 blocks away and stopped traffic on my street for several hours.  The authorities also decided to deny walking access on my whole road, but didn’t have to evacuate anyone from my building.  This made life interesting since I was hosting our weekly staff meeting.  Fortunately, all but one member had already arrived before the police stopped allowing anyone in 🙂  Imagine what a great excuse that is to miss a work meeting…Sorry, I couldn’t make it, but there was an old bomb needing to be excavated!  I certainly never ran into anything like that in America!  There is never a dull moment living in Hungary!!

One of the most hectic and busiest months I have ever faced is nearing its end.  If you know me well, you know that is saying quite a lot!  God has definitely poured down opportunity down upon me and gave me just enough stamina to make it through!  While I am very thankful for all that was accomplished this past month, I can also say that I am hoping things will calm down a bit and that I don’t face another month that is quite as crazy as this last month has been!  It has been a blessing to see all that happened…even though it feels like a lifetime happened all in October 🙂  But, I hope you will join me in praising God as I reflect back on all that He did and brought about:

• We hosted a week long mission trip called BHHP for people from all over America.  Read more about this in my section on How Can I Be Involved?  Think and pray about joining us next year!  We need you!!  Not only did we host it, but I was in charge of helping to organize 18 different schools that we visited across 4 days…all in all we were in front of nearly 1,880 students!
• Our big outreach at the end of BHHP had about 50 new students join us!  I was asked to speak during that event and I was able to share about Batman, false masks that we wear, and God’s love (an interesting combination right?).
• I had the chance to host about 8 students over to my house for a dessert party and a showing of How to Train Your Dragon.  This was a great way to get to know students on a deeper level…and to just have fun!
• After 5 months of training, I ran the Budapest marathon.  Unfortunately, I was a bit sick heading into it and so was not properly hydrated.  I definitely felt that about halfway through when my thighs began cramping!  Despite that I was able to finish after about 4 hours and 20 minutes 🙂
• I had the chance to travel to the nearby city of Miskolc for a 3 day school visit and outreach.  It was action packed as God opened many, many doors!  Many students came out to the outreach!  I attempted the challenge of reading (literally) my talk for the outreach in Hungarian.  There is nothing like making a bunch of language mistakes in front of an audience 🙂  That certainly didn’t help my dislike for public speaking 🙂
• My language classes have continued as I am still striving to conquer the road to fluency
• New staff training kicked up with two days of lectures and discussion
• Of course in Budapest, the weekly meetings for students have been running full steam since September…each week has seen new students come out!
• I am meeting with students to share the gospel, go through Bible studies, and just encourage them to draw closer to God.  I have been able to use some fun things, like tennis, as a way to bridge gaps and build relationships!
• Last, but not least, I am still trying to take some distance education seminary courses.  They are a tremendous blessing and have immediate practical applications for me.  My only regret is not having more time to devote to them!

Here are a few pictures that capture my past month!

Well…they say better late than never.  Hopefully that is true since I find myself in that camp a lot!  Hopefully you have already received a copy of this in your mailbox since I usually do get those out on time 🙂  If you haven’t and would like to, just send me a message and I can add you to my list!

Prayer Letter 41 (October)

It is here!  It has made its comeback!  Check it out:

http://lukeys87.wistia.com/projects/ek8oiphkcc

Wow!  That is all I can say as I reflect back on this past week!  It was crazy, it was busy, it was awesome, and it feels like it will take me some serious time to unpack all that happened!

You can read more about this week in my upcoming prayer letter, but I did want to share some additional things to try to give you a more complete picture of all that happened!  22 Americans from all over the states came over to spend a week with us.  During that time they participated in English classrooms (high school and university), helped with numerous dorm outreaches, participated in the big university and high school outreaches, and shared their faith with students during the afternoon.  This is an amazing, jam packed mission trip week.  If you are interested in learning more, or if you would like to come (PLEASE DO!!), you can find more information on in the How Can You be Involved Section.

Within 4 days we were able to visit 18 different high schools.  This included numerous new schools that we had never been in before.  It was amazing to see how God moved and acted!  Several students joined us after school.  During that time we were able to engage them in gospel conversations.  Many of the students have already found me on Facebook and I am currently messaging with a big group of them!  A lot of these students turned out to our Friday night outreach!  It was incredible to see how God worked and acted!

Thank you so much for your prayers for me!  I can tell you that I desperately needed them and God greatly used them!  Despite being in charge of organizing the high school side, visiting schools myself, planning for the Friday night format, and being the main speaker, I was able to find peace in God and enough energy to survive.  God worked through your prayers to accomplish this!  Thank you so much!  Be sure to check out my prayer letter and the latest Live with Luke for more info on how God moved this past month!!

When things crank up, they really crank up!  So much has been happening that I haven’t had time to even think about adding any new posts recently!  But, I did want to take a quick second to through out a fast update.  So here are some things that I have been up to lately, some things that are in the calendar, and some things to pray for!

• We started our new ministry semester
• I spoke at the weekly meeting on September 20th
• Jumped back into language (lessons 3 times a week and a school visit to practice speaking)
• Planning for a huge ministry week, October 1-4, where we hope to be able to visit 20 schools in 4 days in order to speak in 4-5 English classes at each school
• Preparing a talk for the Outreach on October 4th (that we will invite all the students to from the 20 schools we visit)
• Launched back into some athletic things (tennis, running)
• Training for the Budapest Marathon on October 13th
• Planning a trip to Szeged on September 25th to do classroom talks and meet students who came to SpeakOut
• Planning a 3 day trip to Miskolc, October 16-18
• Hosted a board game night for students and staff on September 21st
• Following up with 4 students from SpeakOut (Bálint, Balázs, Benedek, and Ágoston)

I hope that gives you a small snapshot of what God has placed on my plate so far!  Your prayers are definitely appreciated and I look forward to updating you soon on how God worked, is working, and will work through what He has set before me!