PMI Missionaries

Rob & Tunde Futo

Ministry Area: Hungary
Responsibilities: Marriage enrichment conferences, teaching
E-mail Address: rtfuto@hotmail.com
Family Web Site: www.futo.inhun.com

The primary focus of the Futo's ministry in Budapest is to compliment and encourage the existing Reformed congregations in Hungary. Through a renewal group called the Bible Society, Rob teaches Biblical Theology, Evangelism and apologetics, and counseling to train and equip lay leaders.

Last year, they added a monthly "All day Saturdays program" which is geared towards the single community and offers lectures and small group discussions. Rob and Tunde also lead a small group at their church that meets every other Friday night for young couples. In the summer months, they perform counseling and host week-long conferences on marriage and other topics like "Sonship." This year's book translation project is Francis Schaeffer's classic work "True Spirituality." Tunde leads their church choir and translates hymns and anthems into Hungarian. They will soon produce their second CD.

Latest Report: (updated 1/4/2012)

2011 Annual Report — Ministry Report of Past 12 Months:

As I reflect upon the ministry in 2011, I am reminded of the Lord's faithfulness and goodness. He has opened many diverse doors and given many exciting opportunities to preach His gospel. He has called us to primarily a teaching ministry, and I would like to share with you the main highlights of the past year. As a missionary it is always "uncomfortable" to talk about yourself and what "I" have accomplished. This report is not about what "I or we" have done this past year. It is about the Lord's faithfulness and what He is doing through us. This is no small difference. My heart is filled with thanksgiving to the Lord and I want to give glory and honor to Him alone! So rejoice with us and praise God as you read about His faithfulness to the Hungarian people! The main areas of ministry:

The Bible School is a three year program for lay people which meets 1/month on Saturdays, (10X/year) for eight hours. This past year I taught on 16 Saturdays and was responsible for Biblical theology, Evangelism and Apologetics, Biblical Counseling and Sonship. Over the past ten years we have had 1,200 students and currently over 400 students are enrolled throughout Hungary. We currently have Bible Schools located in the cities of Budapest, Debrecen, Mátészálka, Békés county, Tatabánya and Miskolc. I believe the school is so popular because there are very few, if any, Sunday school programs in Hungary. The Bible school is the most important part of our ministry and requires much reading and preparation. I am very thankful to the Lord for the time He has given me this past year for preparation, as I was able to renew and deepen the material for evangelism (based on Francis Schaeffer, Nancy Pearcey and Tim Keller's work). D.A. Carson came to teach this year on Biblical theology, and he was an inspiration for me to re-work and deepen my Biblical theology material. I am also very thankful for Szabi, Gyuri and Berci whom I work with in the school. We try to meet every Tuesday afternoon for a time of sharing and prayer. The Lord has blessed us with wonderful times of fellowship.
Saturdays Program and Film Klub. 1/month program that always meets on the last Saturday of the month from 1:00 til 9:30. This year was the 10th year we have had a film club in Budapest which reaches out mainly to the singles. The average attendance continues to be around 100-120 people. The format is simple. We have a lecture on a topic and then break up into small groups to discuss it, watch a movie related to the topic and then discuss the movie. Once again this year, we have talked about many exciting topics and watched many wonderful films. A few examples from this past year: We watched the movie 12 Angry Men and discussed the principles of persuasive reasoning. For the topic of Stress management we watched the movie "The Greatest game ever played". For the topic of "Top 10 mistakes that leaders make", we watched a German movie called "The wave" based on a true story in which a high school teacher's experiment with a dictatorial form of government. The movie frighteningly portrays how easily the students were drawn to a strong personality who promised them unity and order in the midst of their postmodern meaninglessness and boredom. We even watched a few comedies this year, which also have an important message, i.e Green card and City Slickers.

I am also very thankful for the team of people the Lord has raised up which makes the program possible. We have a team that works in the kitchen making the sandwiches and drinks, the worship team, the small group discussion leaders and the media-web page people. Without their work it would be impossible. They humbly serve for 11 hours. All of the talks have been taped and many people throughout Hungary download them and listen to them.

This past year I am also very thankful to the Lord for the small group leaders I have been meeting with 1X month for a time of discipleship, training, planning and prayer. Strong friendships have formed over the past years.
Our church in Biatorbagy (just outside of BP). We belong to a traditional Reformed Church that has changed very little over the past 400 years. Around here, change comes slowly. Tunde's choir ministry for adults and children continues to be the most dynamic ministry in the church. The 40+ adults and 20+ children meet every Friday night to learn new songs and practice. Many new people continue to join the choir and the Christmas concerts were sold out once again.

My responsiblities in the church include leading the family ministry as well as teaching on Sunday nights with Szabi and preaching when our pastor needs a break. Last month we had elder elections and God did a miracle. All of the older elders (most of whom are not believers) stepped down and allowed the next generation to move into a position of leadership. Including myself, we now have 16 elders whom are born-again and ready to serve. This past year has been a time of preparation for the elections as we started a men's ministry earlier this year to see which men are ready to serve.
Marriage ministry: Throughout the year I have had the privilege of teaching in churches throughout Hungary on topics such a conflict resolution and "sanctification in marriage" as well as hosting three summer week long marriage conferences. This is something I enjoy as it is a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel in order to bring real healing. I also serve with The Biblical Marriage ministry where we have made it a priority to train married couples so they can lead a marriage ministry in their church. This involves two long weekends per/year as well as a summer conference.
Highlights of 2011: Tünde's newest Christmas CD, entitled "Immanuel" was published just in time for the Christmas concerts. This year we are also putting on a Christmas concert in Budapest in addition to the two "sold out" concerts in Biatorbagy. Including the mini-concert in the church, approx: 1,300 people attended the concerts. Over 100 people are involved in the musical production, along with Randy Mayfield once again coming from the States to sing in the concert.
- This past month my book on marriage, entitled "Let's make Peace… but how" was finally published (170pgs, 2000 copies). The book is a Biblical theology of marriage using emotional focused therapy as well many illustrations to help make it practical. Please pray for the Lord to use it in the lives of many couples.
- This past summer I was involved in an Intervarsity conference for training college students in evangelism and apologetics. Looking back on the year, those three days were a highlight for me to see so many young people eager to learn how to reach their non-christian friends with the gospel.
- Our church tried a new exciting form of evangelism this past October in our town. I held a discussion format outreach in the city center where each of the five evenings were based around a question concerning Christianity: i.e. Don't all religions teach the same thing? If God exists, then why is there so much suffering? Has science disproved Christianity? Isn't the Bible just one religious book among many? Between thirty and forty people came out for a lively discussion that always ended with the good news being proclaimed. Praise God for the openness for new ways of doing ministry.
- We started a ping pong club on Monday afternoons in the church house. The Lord blessed us with a professional ping pong player who is also retired and a Christian. We have three tables set up and kids in the church bring their friends.
- Just a few days ago we hosted our first New Year's eve party for singles at our Saturdays-Film Club program. It was a huge success as close to a hundred singles from throughout Hungary came together for a fun packed evening of games, film club, ball room dancing, devotion, testimony, small group discussion and prayer. Twenty singles were involved in the planing and leadership of the event which ended at 7 in the morning. Many singles came who had never been to our program before and were captivated by the love, openness, laughter and friendship they experienced. Praise God as He continues to raise up men and women who are taking on leadership responsibilities and growing in their faith.
Personal Counseling: This past year I was not able to do as much personal counseling as I have in the past. Please pray for the Lord to help me find more time to meet with people who are hurting and need to hear the gospel.
The new "Christian news" web page in Hungary www.Mindennapi.hu (which means daily) of which I am a board member is now one year old. It continues to grow and see new readers added everyday. There are approximately 10,000 readers/day. Although the readership is up, there are many problems within the editorial staff. They come from a very diverse background. Some are Catholic, others Pentecostal, others are still non-christians but open to the gospel, and others just became Christians this past year. Please pray for the Lord to do a miracle in the lives of the writers as well as the readers. Please feel free to look around the web page even though it is in Hungarian. I believe it has the potential to reach many people throughout the world who speak Hungarian.

It is our prayer that ministry in 2012 will continue in the same areas as mentioned above. I do not foresee any drastic changes. I would like to list a number of prayer requests/goals and ask you to please pray with us.

In 2012 we have 68 teaching Saturdays scheduled for the school year and churches are on the waiting list wanting for us to set up a Bible school in their city. This year we have also added a fourth year to our Bible School. We will invite those students who have completed the three year program to attend. A young pastor named Péter Komlosi who just finished his Phd. in Edinburgh will be responsible to teach on church history with a view towards missions.
Please pray for next year's Saturdays-Film club program. Some of the topics we will be discussing next year are: Is the world going to end in 2012?/ Emotional intelligence/ What is Christian counseling? /The Amazing Bible! /What is the Occult?/ Is cynicism a tool for learning or a destroyer of relationships?/ Please pray for the many singles coming to our program. Although some do find their spouse and get married, please pray for the Lord to supernaturally help many to find their future spouse. Also if you know a good film that relates to the topic please email me! Please also pray for me as I disciple the small group leaders as we meet 1X month.
Please continue to pray for our church and the new leadership. Please pray for us to be able to develop and implement a new elder training-teaching program and for the new elders to actively serve in the church! Please pray for us to finally be able to organize our church after years of chaos and for everyone to find their place in the ministry.
Please pray for our trip to the States the last two weeks in April. Our plan is to come back with Tünde's choir and be a part of some missions conferences.
I will continue to lead a Bible Study/ teaching time once a week on Wenesday mornings with the 15 writers and staff of the Christian news web page www.Mindennapi.hu next year. Please pray for the Lord to work mightily in the lives of the writers.

Lastly on a personal note, the girls are doing wonderful. Hajni turns 12 this December and Csenge turns 10. They are both really enjoying school because they have excellent teachers and wonderful friends. They also really like choir on Friday with mommy, and ping pong on Monday with daddy. Csenge is learning to play the the piccolo and Hajni the harp. They have been keeping up with their English as Lindy and Mary Lyn visited them from the States as well as Mabel from England. Because their English is so good, they are studying German in school and are doing great. This past summer was special as they slept in a tent during our week in Romania as well as our time down at Lake Balaton this summer.

As we say goodbye to 2011 and look to the New Year, I would like to encourage you with a section of scripture that meant a lot to me this year — Hebrews 10:19-24
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

The Futo family (Csenge, Hajni, Tünde, Rob)

Sola Gratia adult choir