Family Day games in Hungary
Hungary: Love Lives There
By: Jeanette Windle with Damaris Grauer and Birgit Karsch
“You must be sure to come,” a Sorsok Háza (House of Destiny) resident told her peers of this fall’s evangelistic family day at BCM’s Elim Center in the rural Kopáncs region of Hungary. House of Destiny ministers to social outcasts such as the homeless, the elderly with Alzheimer’s or dementia, addicts, and those dealing with mental health issues. “Love lives there on Kopáncs. You will really be accepted, and you can recharge your batteries there.”
Her fervent affirmation was an encouragement Damaris and Birgit needed to hear. Originally from Germany, they had served in Hungary with BCM for 30 years (see “Here I Am, Send Me—to Hungary?” BCM World Magazine, March 2016). Elim Center, the camp and ministry facility they had founded on two hectares (five acres) of land outside the town of Hódmezövásárhely, had just turned 25 years old.
Over those years, they’d led countless children’s and women’s clubs, day camps, evangelistic family days, discipleship and student outreaches, and counseling ministries. For almost a decade, they had also led an evangelistic outreach at the nearby House of Destiny (see “Bringing a New Destiny to House of Fates,” BCM World Magazine, March 2019). They’d occasionally had short-term ministry partners but just one long-term male co-worker, László, a Hungarian national, who also pastored a small church that met at Elim Center.
Now the center property, including their own small apartment, was in dire need of repairs. Energy costs were soaring, and ministry funds at an all-time low. Prayers that God would raise up new BCM missionaries for Hungary remained unanswered. They couldn’t keep up physically with property maintenance along with preparation and cleaning for camps and other ministry functions. For the first time, Damaris and Birgit seriously considered closing down.
When they’d first come to Hungary, they had made a commitment that as long as God provided funding, they would take that as God’s will to remain there. They began praying earnestly for God’s leading as to the future of BCM ministry in Hungary.
Did God answer? Damaris shares, “The ball started rolling, but not as we’d expected. It was more like one small stone beginning to roll, then more and more.”
Elim Center, Hungary
The courtyard at Elam Center
First, a German church Damaris and Birgit had never visited heard of their need from another missionary and began monthly support for BCM Hungary. A young woman Birgit had once discipled communicated that she wanted to become a regular contributor while several others raised their contributions. A short-term missions team came to do some urgent repairs. After many visits to government offices, László was able to negotiate a reduction in the center’s energy rates.
“God was moving hearts like water,” Birgit expresses.
More importantly, they were seeing increased response from those to whom they were ministering. A woman they’d met years earlier while helping another family called asking for help when her husband took his own life. Another acquaintance was willing for the first time to send her foster daughters to Elim Center events. Two teen girls asked for an in-depth Bible study. One House of Destiny woman called to ask for biblical advice on how to deal with a friend who was an alcoholic. Another who had been critical of the Bible studies Damaris and Birgit taught there contacted them to say, “I’m really waiting for us to be together again and to sing Christian songs.”
Requests for counseling from those in need were also multiplying, including single mothers desperate for help to raise children alone, a family whose young son had died from a fatal illness, women dealing with personal abandonment, grief, and illness. Others, many of whom were not church-goers, were expressing a desire to know God better and asking how biblical principles might change their own lives.
“Birgit, I’m now reading the Gospel of John,” one young mother shared after the Elim Center team had supported her through a severe life crisis.
Another woman shared, “I’m like the paralyzed man in the Bible (Luke 5:17-26). You are like his friends. You carry me to the house where Jesus is and uncover the roof so I can see Him.”
“It is so beautiful to see how women experience God’s comfort, encouragement, deep peace, and even joy, especially in their deepest suffering,” Damaris expresses. “We are always amazed at what these valuable people have been through when they let us share in their lives. Then we can invite them to turn to the Lord Jesus, who calls the weary and burdened to himself (Matthew 11:28). Praise the Lord!”
Children’s Bible Club
Preaching in Hungary
Meanwhile, the fall evangelistic family outreach at Elim Center proved a great success. The day broke a heat record along with a strong wind, so all volunteers were perspiring by the time preparations were ready. But that simply provided an excuse to include numerous water games, which were met with great applause.
Among those who attended were many new to Elim Center and the gospel. One man expressed that he’d sought out this group of Christians because he’d come to recognize God’s presence when he’d tried to commit suicide by jumping from a speeding train. His attempt failed when he landed on a thick haystack.
“I know God was there,” he concluded, accepting an evangelistic pamphlet. “Now I know God is with me and wants me.”
A 19-year-old student proclaimed herself to be a Satanist and withdrew from the group during the evangelistic sermon László preached, but she carefully read the lyrics of each worship song. The team asks for prayer that these words will impact the girl’s heart and draw her to Jesus.
The successful family day was a final “rolling stone” that confirmed God was calling Damaris and Birgit to remain in Hungary. They also could now see that 30 long years of sowing the seed of God’s Word with sometimes limited response was not in fact a negative. The very longevity of their ministry while countless other expat missionaries had come and gone had become a real heart opener, as Hungarians to whom they’d faithfully ministered told them again and again.
“They see how much we love them to stay this long,” the two BCM Hungary missionaries express.
Needs remain for finances, urgent repairs for Elim Center, and new colleagues to carry BCM Hungary into the future. But Damaris and Birgit are staying put. They intreat, “Please pray with us that the seed that has been sown can sprout. We see an open barn door, a ripe harvest, but who will help to bring it in? Heavenly reward and great joy in the face of serious trial await those who are called.”
To contribute to BCM Hungary ministry, visit BCMintl.org/give.
Sharing crafts at House of Destiny
Participants in the women’s ministry
Originally Published in BCM World April 2025
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