On January 10th, 1994 - a few years after the Iron Curtain was dismantled, at the dawn of a new and never anticipated era - we’ve mailed a simple letter to the National AIDS Coordinator, Dr. Denes Banhegyi in Hungary, asking him to provide a computer for us. What has followed this simple letter has marked our missional history in Hungary. We’ve argued in this 3-pages-long proposal that the best way to prevent young people from risky behaviors (promiscuity, drug, gangs, etc.) is to lead them to Jesus Christ. This simple fund-raising letter led to a personal meeting with Dr. Denes Banhegyi. “Youth at the Threshold of Life” (YTL) was born. We’ve never dreamed that 25 years later we’ll look back and see the floods of miracles as a result of that letter. God deserves that we highlight just a few of those miracles:

Through YTL in Hungary alone over 8,000 educators had been trained and have heard the gospel at our accredited week-end-long educator’s symposiums
Through YTL over half a million student have received either a Gospel of Luke or saw the Jesus film or have heard a gospel presentation in Hungarian classrooms
Through YTL God opened doors to start student ministries which have produced thousands of Christ-followers, hundreds of faithful laborers and dozens of full-time missionaries
Through YTL hundreds of Christian volunteers had been equipped to share the gospel; some used this opportunity to plant a church
Through YTL in 62 countries millions have had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Most recently in a large closed country someone told us: “God has given us YTL and it blossoms in our country.”
Bible-based curriculums were developed and utilized to educate future generations
Through YTL thousands of believers were mobilized to come for short-term mission trips to Hungary
Through YTL we could enter with credibility into the educational arena
Through YTL we could partner with the Hungarian Police to launch a nationwide campaign through which over one-hundred-thousand students were reached with the gospel

(“The Outrageous Promise”, the book David Robinson and Gabor coauthored tells a more detailed story of this modern day miracle of God. More information: www.outrageouspromise.com)

As we look back to the past 25 years of this miraculous journey we are more convinced than ever that God’s Kingdom is advanced:

through prayer,
through the ‘nobodies’ who remain available,
through risk-taking, bold, sacrificial faith that honors His Word and
through mission-focused committed teams.

The past 25 years reminds us that we have much to celebrate and much to anticipate as we continue to pursue God’s mission.

YTL symposium in the former communist university

The Robinsons, Dr. & Mrs. Banhegyi, The Greszes

Dear Praying Friends,

On November 17th, in two cities (in Memphis and in KC) our team held two conversational evangelism trainings (called The Changing Face of Evangelism and the Well-being of the City) hosting 300 people at these two places. And the team in KC also hosted a master’s training and trained 26 people to lead this evangelism trainings in other cities.

We (Edina & Gabor) were leading the training in Memphis at Harvest Church. We were greatly encouraged that 224 people dedicated a whole Saturday morning to become equipped to engage in meaningful spiritual conversations with non-believers. At this training we address the current reality of how rapidly the church is shrinking in the U.S., we talk about the need for a paradigm shift in evangelism, we introduce the “CoJourner” framework and share 6-9 different simple conversation-starter strategies and tools while we give an opportunity to practice it by pairing up in twos. At the end of the training we close by offering an online-coaching and follow-up opportunity.

Edina training the group on using one of the conversational evangelism tool.

Participants pairing up and practicing what they‘ve learned. Putting into practice what was taught is a vital part of this training.

Gabor demonstrating with a volunteer from the crowd how to use the “Life in the City” conversation starter survey and cards. We've used this tool with great success in KC and other places to start spiritual conversations.

Edina interviewing Suzanne Wukasch - they’ve together used in Hungary at a beach one of the tool we’ve trained people to use. Susan shared how easy it was to approach several girls with this tool and how deep and meaningful conversations they had.

Participants putting into practice what they learn - more pairing up and practicing.

FEEDBACKS & OPINIONS:

Here are some of the feedback from the participants in Memphis:

“This training gave me more practical tools to engage non-believers in spiritual conversations.”

“I’ve learned that I can easily engage someone I just met with into the possibility of discussing spiritual things.”

“It helped me to frame the conversation based on where they are in their spiritual journey. Thought me to be a better listener and asking good questions based on what was said.”

The Changing Face of Evangelism and the Well-being of the City training so far was held in 9 cities and 1020 people were trained in it.

Here are some other feedbacks from previous trainings:

"Especially in a city like NY, the word ‘Evangelism’ will often conjure up an image of a 50+ year old women entering a subway car and passionately (and sometimes harshly) speaking scripture and beckoning passengers to ‘Consider Their Ways’. This image has often pushed the contemporary believer to excuse themselves away from the table called "harvest". The tools and training in The Changing Face of Evangelism and the Well-Being of the City are invaluable as they intertwine: mission, need, strategy and simplicity." - Heston Williams, Lead Pastor, Purpose Life Church, Brooklyn

“…helped to take the scariness out of evangelism and replace it with practical ways to start share my faith that I can apply daily.”- Kendall J., TX

"Learning new evangelism techniques, particularly the ‘Sometime’ method, made evangelism a whole lot less intimidating. Evangelism always felt so forced, but I learned tools that help it feel natural. I used the ‘Sometime’ method the day after I learned it, and it led to an awesome conversation with a girl who was originally resistant to talking with me about the gospel!" - McClaine B., TX

25 years ago today a miracle has happened: YTL was born

"These tools are AWESOME!"