Tony and Agi Frei | Serving in Hungary

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am very grateful to God because I can declare together with Samuel: “The LORD helped us all the way to this place!” 1 Samuel 7:12.

A little remembrance: In February I celebrated my birthday, I turned 60 years old. Also, we started our mission in Tolna on March 27, 1997, and after that, we were registered as EFC Hungary. Here are some special moments in a ministry that were accomplished in 2023.

In August 2023, we arranged the EFC Hungary youth camp and the children’s days. There were about 20 youth and young adults in the youth camp, for three days. They had meetings every morning and afternoon. Their main topic was how it is possible to hear God’s calling for their life. On the children’s days, there were about 80-100 children, with whom my wife, Ági could share the gospel. We also provided them with lunch and some arts and crafts activities. In the afternoon, we spent time near the river Danube and the firemen visited us and provided a so-called “foam party”, which the children enjoyed very much. On that weekend, at the Sunday church meeting, these children’s parents were invited to church so we could talk to them about Jesus.

In Budapest, we have had children’s bible study meetings every month for three years now. These church meetings are perfect occasions for sharing the good news with children and with adults as well. Our experience is that these are quite fruitful meetings. Also, last year was very busy for us. Our friends, Thomas and his missions group from Germany visited us and we had street mission and evangelical meetings in the church in Tolna, Budapest, Ozora, and in Serbia.

Last year, after COVID-19, we finally managed to organize the EFC Hungary General Assembly and EFC-I Europe Conference. Adrian & Lisa Halverstadt, the director of the EFC-I Council, and his wife were here. Together with them, we arranged the EFC-I Europe conference in October. Before the conference, they served in Serbia, Kölked, Budapest, Pécs, and in Tolna. We are very grateful for them; their presence and ministry were a big blessing for us.

At the EFC-I Europe Conference, we listened to different reports, and we made some decisions. I am grateful for our youth that I could hand out some of my tasks and positions to them. My goal for the next years is that I could find successors for every position and that we could build the EFC in Europe as well. Please, pray for that.

We had a guest from Burundi, Dr. Donatien, who recently worked in France as a doctor. We are hoping to start EFC with him in France. After the conference, Dr. Donatien stayed with us for a week, and he served in all our churches. It was a big blessing for our mission and for Dr. Donatien as well, since the brothers and sisters encouraged him for the new French church planting.

Tim and Ethel were here at the EFC-I Europe Conference as the representatives of the Quaker friends. It was useful as the church could build friendships with them. Last year, we had three weddings and a public testimony of baptism meeting.

We were in Ukraine from November 29- December 2, 2023, so we could hand out food and clothes. Before Christmas, we also handed out food and sweets with our co-workers to the poor people in Serbia, Croatia, and in Hungary. We also gave them biblical calendars, prospects, and Bibles.

I am very thankful for all of my co-workers. They help me to build boats and ships in these hard times for the glory of God and for the saving of people.

With love and blessing,

Tony and Ági Frei

Download this month’s full prayer letter here…

The post April 2024 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

We managed to travel to Ukraine by the grace of God for the first time in the last days of July.

We have been praying to God since the beginning of the conflict to prepare a way for us, so that we could take the donations to Ukraine for the poor ones, the refugees, and for the sufferers. God had placed this burden on my heart.

In the last few months, my co-worker, Szilvi, who was born in Ukraine and was four years old when she moved to Hungary with her mother, contacted her relatives after 46 years. Her relatives added me as a friend on Facebook and we started to have a good relationship. They helped us with everything. Szilvi’s uncle’s wife, Marika, was used by God to build the acquaintanceship.

We packed a car of seven passengers and a trailer full with 800 kilograms of food and took it to Ukraine. I am enclosing some pictures of it here. We could help and hand the food packets personally to the poor ones and refugees. We mailed 18 kilograms of packets to the conflict-worn citizens and to the ones who stayed at home.

We built very good relationships with the help of God. We saw in Ukraine that the Hungarians, the Hungarian-speaking gypsies, the Ukrainians, and even the Russians live in peace with each other. We handed out food packets to about 30 families, from all of these four people groups.

We worked with two churches in Nagyszőllős. In one of them, we served in the church meeting. They promised us to help in every area on our next mission journey as a host church. We are preparing our next mission journey at the end of November before Christmas. Thank you in advance for your support on our next mission trip!

Our mission might be very little in a country of 40 million people, but for those whom we could help meant a lot.

We are thankful for our Hungarian supporters, for Evangelical Friends Mission (EFM), and for the helpers in Ukraine for the accommodation, the coordination, and the financial, physical and spiritual help.

May God bless everyone who supported us. God helped us in everything. Glory and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We think of you with love and gratefulness.

Antal (Tony) Frei

The post Our Visit to Ukraine first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

My daughter, Betti invited Angelica Moore (EFM Short Term Missionary) last Monday to one of her English classes. They had a very blessed time together. Below you can read her report of that.

Every blessing to you all!

With love,
Tony

The post Partnerships in Hungary first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, God gave a lot of blessings to our church. There were many difficulties, restrictions and church closures but our God was always with us as he promised: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). We can be especially thankful for him on three main mission areas: (1) the children’s work, (2) the youth group’s work and, and (3) the gipsy mission.

The Children’s Work

After a long break, we could organize children’s days on three mission places: Ozora, Budapest and Tolna. I think it’s a very great opportunity for this way we can reach the unbeliever parents through their children. The program was similar in every place. We started with singing Christian children’s songs. After, my wife taught the children a story from the Bible (she included the gospel too). Then we prayed together with them. Finally, we made some handcrafts which kids enjoyed very much.

In Ozora, I made a deal with the local leader of the community house. She allowed us to organize occasions again, as the situation of the virus is better in our country. On the 14^th of August, after a few church meetings, the first children’s day was there. Ozora is a village with a lot of gipsy families. People are very poor, but they have open heart to the word of God. At the end of the children’s day, we gave them little presents, candies and some donation dresses.

On the 15^th of August, we organized a children’s day in Budapest. As it was just a few hours long, the unbeliever parents stayed there, they got involved in it, and heard the Good News too. I believe that the seeds fell into a good soil. On every fourth Sunday, we decided to organize a children’s day in Budapest, since this way new unbeliever parents come to the church and hear the gospel.

Thirdly, on the 20^th of August, we had an all-day long children’s day in Tolna. The program was similar as in Ozora. There were about 30-35 children. After the lunch, we took the children to the bank of the River Danube where we played with them and organized a foam party with the help of the local fire department. At the end, we could invite the parents to the church.

The Youth Group’s Work

As I said, I’m thankful for our youth group, too, for they are loyal and enthusiastic. As you know,  because of the pandemic the community house of Budapest was closed for a long period but our youth kept contact on every Sunday morning on Zoom. Praise the Lord, the community house is open now, but they keep on organizing Zoom meetings. We’re also thankful, because they’ll have a youth camp from the 26^th to the 29^th of August. Please, pray for this camp that our youth group can be in agreement and in love in Christ (Psalms 133:1-3).

The Gipsy Mission

Praise the Lord, after a break of one and a half years we could visit our gipsy brothers and sisters from Serbia and Croatia. They were so happy for us, they missed us in the last hard period.

Thank you for your prayers. We are also praying for you and EFC mission work!

With love,

Tony and Ági Frei

Click Here to Download Full Prayer Letter…

The post September 2021 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

My name is Kinga Horváth. I’m from Hungary and a member of Evangelical Friends Church Hungary since I was born. Pastor Tony, his wife Agi, and my mom planted this church 22 years ago in my hometown Tolna. I’m very thankful to God because I belong to this community and that I have lots of kind brothers and sisters in Him. ­­

Now, I’m a 22-year-old kindergarten teacher. I got my degree two weeks ago and my wedding will be soon on the 18 of July. So, unfortunately, I can’t participate on the online prayer meeting on the 25 of July, because I will be on honeymoon with my future husband. I’m very sorry! But, I will pray for you and for your ministries with my full heart!

I know that our God will be with you and you will have a very blessed event, because:

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19-20

Sorry again, that I can’t participate, but I will respond to the following:

On an ordinary day, who knocks on your door? 

Now, I live with my nuclear family. Physically, on an ordinary day, the postman, or the courier knocks on our door, but sometimes somebody of our neighborhood, or one of my friends.

How do you respond?

I open the door for them, and I greet them with a smile. If the person who knocks is close to me and I know him/her well, I give a hug or a handshake.

How do you show Jesus to them?

I show Jesus to them with my manifestations: with my kind words, with my lovely smile, and with my love. I think we, as Christians, are lights so we must shine in this dark world with our acts. Jesus, who lives in us, can help with that.

How does meeting each need minister to you?

I think it’s important to see the members of the other ministries.

Even if people don’t physically knock on your door, how is hospitality a part of your everyday life and ministry?

I just share what I see in our mission/ministry. Hospitality is very important for us. We remember Hebrews 13:2: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

In the ministry, when we have believers and unbelievers as guests from abroad, they always say that they like our church, our town, and our country because people are hospitable here. For example, we introduce special Hungarian food, we talk with them a lot, we listen to them, and we organize programs for them. We surround them with love and care! But, it isn’t our glory – it is the glory of the Lord!

In everyday life, we can show our hospitality to our family members, to the church members, and to our friends. When they are in our home it is important to make them feel that Jesus is the Lord of our house. He can make peace and love. If we can forward God’s love in the hospitality, people can see that we are special.

With love,

Kinga

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The post August 2020 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

This story comes from Bettina Frei, the daughter of Tony and Agi Frei. They live and work in the country of Hungary.

In spite of our expectations, the last four months were very blessed at home. In Hungary all the kindergartens closed, so my daughter (Aliz) stayed at home with me and my 2-year-old twins. Also, most of the offices asked their employees to work at home, which included my husband. He still works at home. First, when we heard about the restrictions (e.g. closing schools and kindergartens), we were shocked and a little bit worried. We had to change our daily routine. We also had to re-evaluate our customs. For example, I started to go shopping only once a week and we started gardening. Our kids had to stay at home all day because playgrounds were closed too. So we had to learn how to spend 24 hours a day together in unity.

God has been teaching us how to be patient with each other and how to appreciate the time with our children because they are growing up so fast. My husband and I started to pray more together and we also started fasting once a week for different people in trouble. At first we were reluctant with the Zoom meetings and we missed the personal meetings in church; however, these online meetings were more blessed than we thought. We experienced how we can be in unity with people who are very far from each other. Also, as we were always at home, we had more free time, so we could seek God more deeply. We got many messages from God. For instance, I started to understand God’s grace and the importance of devotion and seeking God’s word every day.

So, to sum up, God blessed us very much during this time and taught us a lot of things. My husband and I think that the world has to stop and think about its behavior and everyday life. We have to spend much more time with Jesus to be able to stand in these last days and to collect oil in our lamps.

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The post What is God doing in Hungary during the pandemic? first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Here is how Tony answered the four questions I sent to missionaries and national leaders:

How is COVID-19 affecting those who live in the area where you live and minister?

• Unfortunately, the Coronavirus reached our country too. We have lots of workers who work abroad, and we have lots of students who are “guests” in our universities, and colleges. These people are required to go into quarantine for two weeks. On March 11 the government proclaimed a state of emergency for at least 15 days. All churches, schools, and universities are closed for an undefined period. Restaurants, malls and other similar shops are closed because on the 27th of March the government ordered the move-out restriction. Hungary has 300 infected people, 10 who have died, many who are in quarantine, and 34 who are recovered now.

How is this situation affecting the ministry you lead?

• We teach religious education for children in primary schools in Tolna. In this hard situation we can’t teach in schools, but we keep contact online. I organized some online groups with the children and their parents so they can do the tasks of the subject.   We can talk and I can send some Bible verses to encourage them.
• Like all of the churches, our EFC churches must be closed. But we keep in touch by phone, and every Sunday we organize an online church meeting with the ZOOM application. We have youth meeting in the morning, and in the afternoon we are together with the whole church. I can preach to them and the members can share testimonies with each other. We also pray together to the Lord.

What are some opportunities you are seeing for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know him?

• Agi and I see some good opportunities in this crisis. Rarely-seen brothers and sisters can join the online church meeting. In these hard times we can hold it together even better. I invited some companions to this group so they can participate if they want. Lots of unbelievers have questions too. They are in panic and they need more hope and love. I believe, in this bad situation, we have a chance. Everybody stops a little bit, stays at home, and starts thinking about the meaning of life. It is a great opportunity to lead their thoughts to our God.

What are two or three prayer requests we can use to pray for you and those you lead?

• Of course, we need your prayers for safety against COVID-19, and we also pray for you and your churches. Please pray for new opportunities. We live in unusual times. Our lives have changed in lots of aspects, but we trust that God has given us new chances through these things. Please also pray against fear. Many people are blocked by the fear.

Tony closes his report with this verse of encouragement for all of us: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

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The post EFM COVID-19 Updates | Pray for Hungary first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.