"There are already too many dead on the field and we cannot be generous with any but our own blood. The blood of Hungary has re-emerged too precious to Europe and to freedom for us not to be jealous of it to the last drop. And on this anniversary of liberty, I hope with all my heart that the silent resistance of the people of Hungary will endure, will grow stronger, and, reinforced by all the voices which we can raise on their behalf." - Albert Camus, 1957.

Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution. Hungarian students and factory workers kicked the Soviets out of Budapest. The rest of the world watched passively as the Soviet Army a few days later reclaimed the city, killed thousand and enslaved our country again.

Honoring the heroes of the past will create the heroes of today. Certainly heroes of today are those selfless, caring, loving, unknown adults who are daily investing their life into the future generations. They are the ones who touch history. To serve them in their heroic effort we've launched Youth at the Threshold of Life (YTL) 22 years ago. This past weekend we held the 25th Nationwide YTL Symposium.

Our 25th YTL Symposium

150 educators gathered from all over the country to learn how they can help their students to find meaning in life, to build lasting relationship, establish their decisions on solid values and avoid the traps and risks. They've heard the gospel as Dave Robinson (co-author of YTL) and Gabor shared their personal stories and gave an invitation to receive Christ. 3 educators have inidicated a decision to invite Jesus into their lives. 81% of the educators wrote that they will teach the whole YTL curriculum in their classroom, including the gospel parts. These educators will teach the curriculum this year to over 5800 students. This means that in the past 22 years close to half-a-million students had been sitting in a class where YTL had been thought.

Small-group discussion after the gospel-presenation.

Written feedbacks after we've shared the gospel:

"This is an incredible symposium. Thank you for sharing your stories. Your stories gave credit to what you teach." - Dalma
"First I felt really detached as both stories seemed unrealistic, too direct stories with morals. When it turned out the stories were about your own lives, it was really cathartic. I was specifically touched by Gabor’s story as I come from a discfucntioning family and I was a tormented child myself. Some years ago I also tried to forgive my father but it was too late, he was dead by then. I travelled to the cemetery where he was buried but couldn’t find his tombstone. I don’t know what’s next… Thank you so much for all this." – Nagy Gabriella
"Fantastic. Shocking. Inspiring. You both became so vulnerable. Thank you!"
"It gave me strength. I became a believer not long ago. Your stories confirmed in me that I made the right decision when I invited Jesus into my heart."

A policeman using YTL

The policeman on this picture on the right is from Tatabanya who has been using YTL for 7 years and has been teaching the program in hundreds of classes. He shared that there are several children who he was able to identify as victims of sexual and other family abuse by using YTL. The tools in the curriculum enabled him to get help for these kids and rescue them from abusive homes.

YTL impacts generations.

In 1998, a young mother of a 2 year old baby came to the YTL symposium. She committed herself to God and became a volunteer for YTL. 18 years later, this mother now decided that it's time for her then 2 years old little girl to come to the YTL symposium. She studies to become a teacher and was deeply impacted by this weekend. Her name is Kriszta and she is on this picture with me. Amazing to see how YTL touches generations after generations.

Prayer-needs:

Pray for the follow-up of the symposiums.
Pray for us as we transition various leadership responsibilities to the new National Team Leader and as we work with the leadership team to train them in the coming months.
Pray for our new role to become more and more clear with YTL Global within Cru. We'll send more info soon about that, but it's very exciting to see how God opens new doors for YTL, builds a team around it, etc..
Rahel is applying for med-school in England. Pray for a good place for her.
Renato is making a decision about his future: staying in Hungary, going to England or the the U.S. to study are all on the plate.

Your faithful partnership impacts thousands upon thousands! Thank you!

Advancing the Kingdom of God together,

Gábor & Edina Grész