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Praises
- From my NAB Central Europe Field Director role in Hungary/Serbia:
- For more information: please read (and subscribe to) MEK’s Newsletters and ZZ Serbia’s Newsletters. I know many of you reading about and supporting Gateway may also be interested in reading about my other role in Hungary and Serbia. Please let me know (rschmor@nabconf.org) if you would like to receive MEK and ZZ’s newsletters directly as well on a regular basis.
- Hungary and Serbia Trip – In Hatvan, Hungary, I attended our annual MEK (CHE) Board Meeting; and in Novi Sad, Serbia, the annual CHE Euronet Conference with Community Health Evangelism (CHE) teams from all over the Balkans and Central Europe. The CHE Euronet Conference included reports from 9 different CHE teams. The leadership of the two teams from Albania and I had great discussions, which will likely result in at least one new sister-church partnership; more on that to come!
- From my NAB Gateway Director role:
- Romania Field Visit with NEW NAB Romania missionaries – This time went great as I accompanied my new friends/colleagues Jonathan and Jeni Bransford (from New York state) and introduced them to our Hungarian Baptist friends in Romania, where they will be serving! We met with our Global Mission Partners, our current NAB missionaries, Hungarian Baptist leaders, pastors, Camp Falcon Rock staff, Hungarian Baptist church members, and many others. I was also able to do some Gateway host receiver training with our Global Mission Partners, Miriam Yurkowski (née Modi) and Robi Bálint).
Prayer
- From my NAB Central Europe Field Director role in Hungary/Serbia:
- Please pray as our work with MEK Hungary continues and srengthens every month! Also, please pray for ZZ Serbia as this partner repositions itself for new ministry objectives in the future. Pray for me as well in this as I represent NAB Central Europe, Hungary/Serbia, as Field Director. (For more information, please read MEK’s Newsletter and ZZ Serbia’s.)
- Also, please pray for two requests from our Serbia team: 1) Marija Maran (ZZ Serbia volunteer and board member) was recently told her cancer had returned and metastasized; pray for her as she and her doctor are hoping to use new (to Serbia) surgical equipment to remove new tumors that have appeared. 2) Nesha (Marijana Čizmanski’s 25-year-old son-in-law) had back surgery recently that went well, but he has a long road to recovery.
- From my NAB Gateway Director role:
- Alberta Mission Conference(s) – I was in both Edmonton and Trochu for the GEM (Greater Edmonton Mission) and CAM (Central Alberta Mission) Conferences respectively. These conferences include multiple opportunities for connection with partnering churches and individuals for NAB Gateway. Pray for fruit from this trip.
- (Re-scheduled) NAB Gateway Online Short-Term Mission Leader Workshop Training – Please pray for this event, November 13–14. This is Gateway’s long-standing team leader training, and we are trusting/hoping for a number of mission trip leaders to participate in this first ever, ONLINE ONLY event!
- NAB International Mission Department Meetings and New Missionary Orientation/Training – Edmonton, Alberta.
- Philippines FUSE Trip July 2027 – APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AND DUE BY NOVEMBER 30! – Please continue to pray for applicants to join this upcoming Gateway FUSE Team to the Philippines! (See nabonmission.org/fuse/ for more info or pass along this opportunity to a young person you know.)
- For all Gateway’s ongoing sister-church partnerships in various stages of development and engagement in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Mexico, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Cameroon, and Albania.
- For more North American churches to engage in sister-church partnerships.
NAB’s Central Europe (Hungary/Serbia) Field
As most of you are probably aware, I’ve been serving as the NAB Gateway Director for many years, and that is what you know me as and how this newsletter is identified.
But what is lesser known is that I’ve also been serving as the NAB Central Europe Field Director since January 2024 as well (see my Prayer/Praise portion of this newsletter each edition), having taken over these responsibilities from Ron and Jean Seck who retired in December 2023 (but are still giving their time and energies as volunteers with CHE Balkans/Europe Partners as they are able).
And so for this edition of my newsletter, I’ll be highlighting this other role that I give my time to with some current events and news from the Central Europe field.
L to R: Judith Olah, Feri Olah, Sandi Temesvary, Hessel Keuter
MEK Hungary
Our NAB ministry in Hungary is through our partnership with MEK Hungary, which stands for Community Health Evangelism in Hungarian. This is a wholistic Gospel strategy focused on the highly marginalized Roma/Gypsy population. MEK’s work in Hungary has been in a number of villages but is currently focused on the medium-sized village of Apc. MEK has a team/staff of five workers and is directed by Feri Olah (who is himself a Roma pastor as well). Currently, the work in Apc has been largely focused on seniors, but the team is looking to redirect their attention toward young people in the village. There is also attention being given to the purchase and remodeling of a community center as a new place of activity, with the hopeful support of Apc’s newly elected mayor.
Find opportunities for involvement and service with MEK Hungary through NAB Gateway at nabonmission.org/get-involved/nab-gateway. Short-term mission teams, sister-church partnerships, and volunteers in mission are available. You can also financially support MEK Hungary at nabonmission.org/countries/hungary.
ZZ Serbia
The NAB’s service in Central Europe also includes the nation of Serbia and our partnership with ZZ Serbia (the Serbian version of CHE). ZZ’s wholistic Gospel work is focused on the Roma population of Donje Petrovci, and the families of this village. ZZ is directed by Marijana Čizmanski, who has a small team of volunteers who serve, including her husband Emil from time to time. Currently, much of the attention and needs of ZZ have focused on the health of volunteer/board member Marija Maran (cancer) and Nesha (back surgery), Marijana’s newlywedded son-in-law to her daughter Martina.
L to R: Marija Maran, Marijana Čizmanski, Emil Čizmanski, Adrijan Maran
Likewise, find opportunities for involvement and service with ZZ Serbia through NAB Gateway at nabonmission.org/get-involved/nab-gateway. Short-term mission teams, sister-church partnerships, and volunteers in mission are available. You can also financially support ZZ Serbia at nabonmission.org/countries/serbia.
For the Kingdom,