on the streets of Budapest

On Thursday afternoon, we went along with a team of people from 'Youth with a Mission' to do street evangelism in Budapest. Now you have to understand, this is not in my comfort zone - it is not particularly my gift or my calling. However, since this week's focus was on evangelism, the assignment to participate in street evangelism as a group, was embraced and carried out with a real good involvement on the part of the team and much, much prayer. For several days prior, we spent extra time each day preparing dramas and music. And I prepared a very short gospel message based on Matthew 11.28 - "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest". When the time actually came for me to get behind the microphone - after some songs and a testimony and a drama - it was becoming easier to relate the verse to the weary people on their way home from work in this busy square, Muscva Ter (Moscow Square). I didn't talk long but I simply talked about how God created us with the intent that we should have a relationship with Him. But we have given our hearts away too many times to too many things - whether it be the pursuit of knowledge, adventure, financial success, fame, or a relationship - and our hearts have been broken. But God is our heart's true home. By sending Jesus, He made a way for us to know the rest He promises. Forgiveness and peace have been made possible by Jesus' death on the cross. And because Jesus had never sinned, death could not hold him and he rose from the grave to make a way for us to come back to the Father.
Of course all the time I was talking people were just walking by, rushing to catch a trolley or a train, or waiting to meet someone, or a few did stand a safe distance away to listen. Melinda translated for me. At the end of the message, Adam, a Hungarian YWAMer just spoke briefly in Hungarian to tell people to come and ask for a book we had about Jesus if they were interested in knowing more. I was really surprised at how many people did come to ask for a book. We had some conversations with people but we were pretty limited by language and glad that some of the local missionaries were there to speak with people. It was a good team effort in that regard. They also had made the arrangements about having a permit and such, and the police did carefully scrutinize their documents when we first arrived and started setting up.
As we were finishing up, I saw a very familiar sight: literally hundreds of homeless men and women gathered and lining up to receive soup from the Salvation Army truck that arrived on its weekly rounds. I thought of the Out of the Cold program at Yorkminster Park and said a prayer of thanks that all over the world Jesus' followers are doing their best to feed the hungry - both spiritually and physically.

That evening I stayed in Budapest to visit relatives of Jane and Doug Johnson. Sue and Peter invited me to their beautiful home overlooking the Danube river and we had a wonderful meal together with a young couple who were also passing through Budapest and stopping in for a visit.