Sum mer 2009

Dear Friends,
We need to begin this ministry update letter with a very personal special prayer request which is cur-
rently unfolding in our lives. Chris’ mother has just been diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer
which has already reached an advanced stage. There are no truly promising treatment options. Obvi-
ously, we are still in shock and making arrangements to travel to Char-
lotte, NC as soon as possible. We were planning a furlough beginning
next June, but in God’s timing He is bringing us home a bit early. Deb-
bie’s father had a bit of health scare earlier this year, but is doing well
right now. Thanks in advance for your prayers for our families as we
walk in faith down this path which God has planned for us. Stay tuned
to our blog johnsonfamilyhungary.blogspot.com for further updates.

Hilltop Experiences, Hockey Stars, HulaHoops

In May, our team hosted a group of 14 from Liberty University who have expressed an interest in us-
ing their degree of study in missions and world evangelism. We tried to expose them to as many dif-
ferent aspects of missionary life and ministry as possible in the 7 days they were with us in Hungary.
(Their tour of the region also included visits to ABWE missionaries in the Czech Republic, Croatia
and Slovakia.). Besides helping with a major Spring cleaning project at our Resource Training Center
building which we called “Extreme Makeover RTC”, they organized a
youth outreach in partnership with our church plant and 2 other
church plants in the area. The typical “around the campfire” snack for
Hungarians is chunks of fatback melted and dripped onto thick slices
of bread. As you can see, it seems that the “S’mores” were a big hit!
Another day of their visit was spent in concentrated prayer for the
city of Budaörs and the Solid Rock Baptist Church which started in
2001 with significant involvement of then ABWE missionaries, Jon &

the
Johnsons Hunga ry
Tóth Ilona utca 4. + 2049 Diósd, HUNGARY + +36 23 370-018 + chrisjohnson@abwe.cc + http://johnsonfamilyhungary.blogspot.com
 2
Lori Haskell, who had to return to
the US for family medical reasons
in 2005. Pastor István Durkó leads
this dynamic congregation of about
70 people. The church rents a former
cinema to hold their worship services and uses a
myriad of ministry activities to build relation-
ships and communicate the gospel to this pro-
fessing Catholic (but largely spiritually apa-
thetic and self-sufficient) middle to upper-class
town of 26,000 which is growing rapidly near the intersection of 3
major motorways. From the rocky hills overlooking the city, our Lib-
erty guests joined Pastor István and others from the fellowship in
praying over the city, asking God to build His Church in Budaörs and
call out a people for the glory of His Name. You can see more about the church’s ministry at
www.kosziklagyulekezet.hu and pictures and video of our prayer day in Budaörs can be seen at web-
shots.com and vimeo.com or click on the links on our blog johnsonfamilyhungary.blogspot.com.

When the email arrived saying that a former NHL goalie would be in Budapest for
a couple days and available for ministry, I really had no idea where to start except
to call one of my English students whose son plays in a youth hockey league. Like
myself, my friend had never heard of John VanBiesbrouck, but his son’s coach had
not only heard of John, but called him “one of his favorite players” and was shocked
that the Hall of Fame goalie was willing to come to Hungary. Before we knew it, the
news of John’s visit had reached the office of the president of the Hungarian Hockey
Association. Suddenly, the opportunities became endless. For one very long day in
June, we shuttled John from one side of Buda-
pest to the other, from one event to another:
practice and Q&A at a youth hockey camp, lunch and tour of the
Hungarian Parliament building by one of the legislators, practice
with National Youth Team goalies along with one of Hungary’s
top professional hockey players, Levente Szuper, interviews with
all the major sports press outlets, autograph signing, more Q&A
and testimony sharing with players and coaches and finally din-
ner with the Hockey Association
leadership. John was able to share
his faith in Christ very clearly several times during that eventful
day. The next day’s headline in the largest sports newspaper in the
country read: “Az Isten kapusa” (God’s Goalie). The other major
event we scheduled for John was a “Father-Son Sports Banquet” fea-
turing John and ABWE missionary and professional sports chap-

Johnsons
the
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lain, Bruce MacDonald as speakers. Since such events are
not typical and hockey is such a minor (though growing)
sport in Hungary, we wondered if we’d be able to fill the
70-seat restaurant room we had reserved. God blessed our
faltering faith with a full house with at least 2/3rds being
non-believers! Dignitaries from the local city council attended, but
perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the presence of Hungary’s most
famous hockey fan, a popular rap music artist who calls himself
“Gangxsta Zoli.” That evening everyone in that room heard the story
of John’s changed life and Bruce’s clear relevant explanation of the
gospel. On a side note, Bruce also had a chance to have a lengthy con-
versation about salvation with my friend (NT),
the one whose son plays youth hockey and helped
get the ball rolling with John’s schedule. He has now received a New Testament
and other materials. We plan to begin a study of the Gospel of John this month.
You can watch a video biography of John VanBiesbrouck’s career on You-
Tube.com. You can see video and more pictures of the sports banquet and John’s
ministry in Hungary on our webshots.com and vimeo.com websites also accessi-
ble from our blog, johnsonfamilyhungary.blogspot.com.

As part of his involvement in the community, the church-planter/pastor with

whom we are partnering (Gyuri Varga, pictured left) serves on the board of the
local public elementary school. In an effort to build relationships with the teachers, parents and chil-
dren, he offered our church’s assistance in organizing and conducting the 8-week Summer Day
Camp program which involves children from eight public schools in the district. So, for one solid
week and 3 days a week for most of the others, members of our church, our ABWE-Hungary mission-
ary team (including Brianna & other
MKs) and helpers from the USA
(two college girls from Florida & a
family from Indiana) had an oppor-
tunity to impact the lives of between
60 and 100 kids, ages 6 to 14 every
week this summer. It was quite a bit
different from the VBS programs we
typically conduct through our
church, especially since the public
school environment is supposed to be
“religiously neutral” with no active
“proselytizing.” In spite of these
stated restrictions, we were still able
to demonstrate the love of Christ,
build relationships, present clear

Johnsons
the
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moral lessons and talk about our personal faith in private conversations. The teachers,
principals and city council were very gracious in their expressions of appreciation for
our help. We’re pleased and excited about the foundation that’s been established. As a
follow-up, we’ve invited the children to a half-day event at our church on Sept. 18th
which will be more like a regular VBS / Kids Bible Club event.

Other Highlights
In late June, Gary & Gloria Nance came
from our home church in NC to encour-
age us and serve alongside us for 10
days. They provided a wonderful chil-
dren’s program during our church’s fam-
ily retreat and helped with many practi-
cal aspects related to the Sports Banquet.

The Phillips family (Kevin, Joy, Christiana & Brianna) are approach-
ing the end of their first year of ministry with us in Hungary. We are
proud of their progress in Hungarian language study, impressed by
their genuine love for Hungarians and grateful for the gifts they
bring to our ABWE team and the ministry of church-planting in
Hungary. We pray that God’s grace will continue to sustain them as
they deal with all the issues of adapting to a new culture as well as
the unique challenges which come with being parents of a special needs child. Their website address is
www.phillips4hungary.com.
Our daughter and son-in-law, Bethanie & Joe Wakefield, recently celebrated
their first wedding anniversary. They still live and work in Charlotte, NC. Joe
and his musician friend, Ryan, are in the final stages of producing a demo CD
for distribution with the prayer that God would open even more doors for their
ministry through music.
We’ve received close to $13,000 in special gifts to
help defray the non-covered medical expenses we
wrote about in our February email update. Since
that time, we’ve acquired an additional $1500 due
mainly to a major dental procedure. Please con-
sider helping us retire this remaining deficit which
currently stands at $3400. Checks should be made out to “ABWE,”
designated for account# 11064 and mailed to: ABWE, POB 8585, Har-
X
$3400
risburg, PA 17105-8585. You can also donate using the web at www.abwe.org/give.
Thanks so much for the blessing you are in our lives!

Johnsons
the
Hungary