Hungarian Church goes to where the People are!

What does a congregation do if it wants to reach new people and increase God’s Kingdom?

Well, even if they own their own facilities, one solution is to rent a community center that is in a high-traffic area and begin hosting worship services there.

That’s what Pastor Laszlo has led his congregation in Rákospalota to do this year.

Beyond just Hungary, the Church of God in Europe/Middle East is very fortunate to have this man of God!

Their normal property is in a residential neighborhood, and it meets the needs of their congregation.

But in order to reach the masses, they located an intersection 10 minutes away. This neighborhood houses 60,000 people in high-rise apartment complexes that were built in the 1970’s to house factory workers. This was during the height of Hungary’s occupation by the Soviet Party. The families that were moved into these buildings were workers in the Soviet system and they fully bought into the ideals of the Communist leadership. These ideals, of course, involved atheistic beliefs and no need for God or religion in private or community life.

This neighborhood is a massive intersection of city traffic. There are so many buses and trams that zip through here every few minutes!

FAST FORWARD FIFTY YEARS.

Yes, the 1970’s were already fifty years ago… This neighborhood now houses second and third generations of those families. Even though these individuals have lived their lives in Catholic Hungary, they are completely foreign to the Gospel or the role the Church can play in their lives, individually or communally.

So the Church of God in Rákospalota has made a commitment to try and build bridges with them.

This year, 2020, they have carved out room in their budget to rent the community center for one Sunday each month. That’s their commitment. That’s their experiment. That’s the risk they are taking for the Gospel.

One Sunday each month they are packing up their sound equipment and instruments. And they are setting up their sanctuary in this community center. Leading up to each of those Sundays, they are advertising that there will be a worship service, and inviting people from the community to ‘come and see.’

No commitments. Don’t come to us…we’re literally coming to you. 

Beyond planting seeds and doing evangelism on a broad scale, the hope is much more strategic. The hope is to identify persons of peace in that community whom they can partner with in the future to host house groups, or even Alpha courses. The long-term ideal is to develop enough disciples to launch a new congregation in that community (Budapest’s 15th District).

What is God calling you to do to build His Kingdom?

Almost always, following God requires taking risks and getting out of our comfort zones. That is what Pastor Laszlo and the Church of God in Rákospalota, Hungary, is doing this year.

Will you please join us in praying for God to work mightily through them?