Meet the Missionaries

It was almost 20 years ago that I met Phil in Moscow. We were just teenagers. He had come from California and I from Hawaii, but we ended up together in a Moscow flat with few other missionaries in 1991. At that time Russia was in in huge transition. Communism had fallen and their whole world was turning upside down. When I first got to Moscow you'd get 30 Rubles for a dollar. Five months later it was 1100 rubles for the same dollar. The Mafia ran everything, including the black market. Initially it was Snickers and Pepsi but later got into seedier thing. Crime was exploding. Muggings and robberies were common. Burglaries were so frequent that there was a market for bolting steel doors. I'd never seen a corpse on the street till I was in Moscow. It was like the wild west and Phil and I were both just kids with a passion for the Lord and a taste for adventure. In other words we were missionaries.

My life would take me back to Hawaii and Phil to California, but Phil would marry and shortly return to the mission field; this time to Hungary.

Phil met and married his lovely wife Joy before they moved to Hungary close to 15 years ago. They adopted a beautiful Hungarian girl (Niki) and had three more children (Karina, Judah and Hannah).

Phil leads worship and is a gifted evangelist so He and Joy were initially church planters. Later he served as an assistant Pastor. Eventually they took on the excellent work of the Bible College here in Vajta. In 2007 Phil stepped in to Pastor the Calvary in Budapest when Pastor Greg Opean asked him to. The church, Golgota Chapel Budapest, continues to grow and play a vital role in the city. They minister to well over 1000 people a week and, I was just told by their media guy that, their services are downloaded over 8000 times per week. He's one of the few pastors I know who has to have two midweek services just to fit the folks in who are coming to hear the Word. The church also has a much needed and well used ministry to the homeless in Budapest. It is a truly active church. Phil also oversees the Calvary Chapel church plants throughout this part of Europe and even into Africa. God has really blessed the Metzgers in all they do.

Paul told Timothy (1 Tim 4:12-13), "Let no man despise your youth, but be an example in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity, encouraging the believers with teaching." Phil and I may not be the "youths" we once were all those years ago in Moscow, but he sure has taken these words of Paul to heart. He is an example for others who want to serve the Lord.

Please pray for the Metzgers and the ministries they oversee. Consider supporting them in your giving. Also check out the different programs they offer at the Bible College. Pray about a semester or a summer here on the mission field. It will change your life.