Breaking Up Dry Ground: Steve and Audrey Zub

One aspiration we nurtured as parents was to include our children, as much as possible, in our ministry, making them feel a part of serving the Lord with us. During this second term, they were older and had learned to speak Hungarian. A weeklong evangelistic outreach in the small town of Bicske provided such an opportunity while the children were on summer vacation. The Bicske Baptist Church invited our whole family to participate in July 2000.

Steve preached every evening in an outdoor tent. Audrey and Brendon, Jonathan, and Stephanie ministered to the local community’s children in the mornings. By the end of the week, over forty children were attending, and sixteen committed their hearts to God. From this, an ongoing children’s club was established for the church starting in October; Audrey continued to teach. We stayed actively involved with the church for six years, watching it grow from fifteen people meeting in an old converted pub into a church building with an average attendance of over ninety people. It is not often when the whole family can minister together like this; it proved to be a significant highlight. We believe children need to feel they are a part of what their parents are doing without feeling the pressure to participate against their wills.

Audrey and Ildiko Kovacs met with the church-planting wives of Debrecen in late January. These women needed to experience the joy and freedom of Christ to serve with their own gifts and abilities stemming from the different circumstances and stages of their lives. From this group, we assisted in three church plants.

Audrey stated, “There are so many hurting people, so many people with hard lives, living with broken dreams, abused and used by this harsh world, they just need to know that they are loved, accepted and valued. After five years, we are beginning to see how to touch peoples’ lives in this culture. The alabaster jar of God’s love has been broken and is being poured out. The fragrance of His love is in the air. We are that broken jar.”

This is an excerpt from the book, On Mission. Download your free copy today.