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praise & prayer
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A
New Beginning...
In Angie’s last summer letter, you heard about
me, but I think it is about time that you hear from me as well.
From now on you will no longer be receiving updates from Angie Virden,
but rather from Andris and Angie Bartos. As we begin our ministry together
we thought it appropriate to end Angie’s “Ledger of Grace” newsletter and
begin one of our own. We have chosen the title from Paul’s charge in Ephesians
5 for us to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us. We hope to do
just that and will report to you quarterly about our status and the status
of the ministry. The most important news that we have to report is that
on January 4 Angie and I were married, very gladly fulfilling God’s will
for our lives. Pastor Howard Lawler, the pastor at Angie’s home church
in PA, officiated, which we greatly appreciated. The ceremony was
made unique in that we said our vows in both English and Hungarian. Pastor
Lawler, who otherwise does not speak a word of Hungarian, did a wonderful
job learning to pronounce the vows in Hungarian. It was the only
part of the ceremony that my parents could understand without translation.
It was so great to celebrate together with our family and friends.
God provided as we sought a place to stay for these six months in the States.
We are thankful that a couple from church has allowed us to stay in their
house while they are away. We continued to experience God’s faithfulness
as he met our need for a car, again through a member of the church.
Since returning from our honeymoon, we have been visiting
supporters and working to raise additional support. God has seen fit to
provide 89% of our needed monthly support. We are amazed and humbled
by His grace. We have had terrific visits in Johnson City, TN; Penland,
NC; and Lynchburg, VA. We look forward to being in PA, MD, WV, OH, IN, MI
and NY. Please be in prayer for us as we travel and report about the ministry
going on in Hungary. We are thankful for this time in the States.
Angie is especially glad to be near her family for an extended period, but
we are both looking forward to returning home to continue our ministry in
Hungary. Please also pray as we strive to glorify God in our marriage.
We are so thankful to have you supporting us in this
ministry through your faithful prayers and support. May God continue to
bless your life abundantly as you follow Him.
Update from Hungary...
In our absence, the ministry
continues to flourish in Tóalmás. The students in the Bible
School are studying hard. The Bible Clubs are holding their weekly meetings
in local churches and homes. The Sing Team is traveling on the weekends
to hold evangelistic meetings around the country. We both miss it deeply.
Please join us in praying for our co-workers faithfully serving God there.
Eric Murphy, the director of the ministry in Hungary,
recently sent out an update concerning the future of the ministry. Eric
and Lynne have served there since the ministry began in 1989. We have included
his update below so that we can share his news directly with you.
Update from Eric and Lynne Murphy, January 29, 2003:
Last Friday I met with staff, students and workers
at 12:00 noon for a special chapel to announce a change regarding our
ministry. Word of Life International has assigned Lynne and me to
serve on several new fronts beginning in December 2004. Yes, we will still
be missionaries, but our ministry will expand to even more of the world.
The multi-purpose goal is:
[1] To help Joe Jordan, our International Director, realize his goals
for Target 2010, which is to increase the number of countries where Word
of Life is serving from the present 46 countries to 100 countries by 2010.
[2] In doing this I will be working with Larry Bollback, our Executive
Vice President of Evangelism, as part of a program to Broaden the Base
helping to build a foundation to send forth more missionaries into the world.
[3] On another level, I am being asked to lead meetings at Word Of
Life in various locations.
[4] Lynne and I will be working with Don Lough Jr. in a ministry of
mentoring and encouragement with the Western and Central European Directors
and their staffs. We look forward being available to minister in evangelistic
events, camps, retreats, churches and Bible Institutes throughout the
region.
[5] In addition, Lynne and I will lead vision trips to bring people
to the mission field, which will include Europe as well as other continents.
What we have learned and done in Hungary is what we are being asked
to do in the rest of the world. The focus will remain on evangelism and
discipleship as well as mentoring and training young men to take high
level positions of responsibility in Word of Life at home and all around
the world.
So, I will continue as the Director of WOL Hungary until December
1, 2004. This will give Lynne roughly two years for additional medical
treatments in Germany, which will occur each April and October. This
is a priority for us. In addition Lynne will receive treatment next
week in a neurological hospital clinic because of a worsening in her symptoms
with MS. Her vision is very blurred and her balance is very bad at
the present time. This problem with her eyes started around January
4 this year. It has been emphasized to us that we are not being asked
to return because of Lynne's illness. We have been told that we would
have been asked to return for these new responsibilities had she been totally
healthy.
We will be able to continue to help our Hungarian staff raise their
mission support, which is a great burden on our hearts. It will
give time to prepare the way for the next director of WOL Hungary.
And, there are a number of renovation projects that we would like to see
realized if it is possible.
Al Konya will become the next Director of Word of Life Hungary.
There will be a very special meeting in late 2004 to install him as the
next director and for us to say a farewell. I will become the Founding
Director and Al will become the Director. Dave James will become
the Associate Director and will continue to oversee the Bible School.
There are many, many emotions for Lynne and for myself. Hungary
is where God sent us and we love Hungary and Hungarians . . . dearly .
. . with all of our hearts. We are being asked to continue to love
Hungarians and to now love the world like we love the Hungarians.
Please pray! This is not an easy time for us, yet we wish to
serve the Lord with everything that we have!
Eric and Lynne Murphy
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Life of Love