In 1986, Jim and Valerie Knies were appointed with Baptist World Mission to minister in the country of Malaysia. They worked with the Chinese believers of Bible Baptist Church of Kuala Lumpur. After four years of ministry, Pastor Bill Toh took over the pastorate, and the Knieses transferred to the then newly opened mission field of Hungary. Dr. and Mrs. Knies recently returned to Kuala Lumpur for the 30th Anniversary celebration of the church. The Knies family arrived in Pécs, Hungary, on July 2, 1993 to begin language school. They started services in their living room on September 4, 1994. With the help of their Hungarian co-workers, the Oláh family, other Hungarian believers, and much prayer and provision from the Lord, the church presently owns and meets in a large building. Bible Baptist Church of Pécs chartered on May 1, 1997. Through the years of ministry many people have found the Lord as their Savior and have been discipled to become mature believers. On April 5, 2009, the church was turned over to national leadership. During the following summer, James, Jr. was married to Jamie Harvath after their graduation from Maranatha Baptist Bible College. James and Jamie are presently preparing to return to Hungary as missionaries. Jim, Valerie, Anna, and Mary are working to establish a new work in Budapest, the Fôvárosi (Capital City) Baptist Church. For more information about the church there you can go to: http://www.fovarosibaptista.hu/

In April of 1999, Dr. David and Jean Potter with Ami joined the missionary team in Pécs and began a Bible Institute to train Hungarian nationals to serve the Lord. Presently, fifteen students, mostly adult church members, regularly attend classes which are taught by Dr. Potter, Dr. Knies, and occasional guest pastors and professors.  The students meet twice weekly for several months throughout the year. On June 8, 2008 was the first graduation of the Bible Institute with two men graduating and heading into the pastorate.  Dr. Potter taught classes in Romania for several months and has been a guest professor in India.  He also is involved in the ministries in Nagykanizsa and Budapest.

(Click on Potters' picture to enlarge it.)
[Pictured are David, Jean, and Ami]
To see more about the ministry of the Potters, and read several helpful and interesting articles, please visit their website at: http://hungaryhearts.com

The Gedeon Oláh family came to Pécs from Eastern Hungary for the first ever service of Bible Baptist Church in 1994. They have been an integral part of the Hungarian ministry ever since. Many Hungarians have come to Christ due to their witness.  Several church members were brought into the ministry through their personal efforts. Gedeon graduated from the Pécs Bible Institute in June of 2008.  Following his ordination council where he defended his Doctrinal Statement, he was unanimously recommended to enter the Gospel Ministry.   He was ordained on June 8, and then commissioned with his family to be sent out as the first missionaries of the Bible Baptist Church of Pécs.  In October of 2007, the Oláhs began a weekly Bible Club meeting in the city of Nagykanizsa, 90 miles west of Pécs.  In the ensuing months, several people trusted Christ as their Savior.  On June 22, 2008 the Oláhs had their first Sunday service in the Lighthouse Baptist Church of Nagykanizsa, Hungary.  On June 13, 2010 the church was chartered with 22 members.  Pastor Gedeon Oláh resides and his dear family is assisting in the ministry along with their co-workers, Tim and Cheryl Hughes.

The Oláh Family (names according to age) Gedeon, Jolanda, Ramona, David, Peter and Hanna

Béla Horváth came to Bible Baptist Church in 1999.  Béla holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and also a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.  It was during his years as a student at the Technical University of Budapest that he was saved in 1998.  One year later, the Lord used an invitation in his mailbox to lead him to the Bible Baptist Church of Pécs, where he was discipled from the Bible.  After some time, Béla came to the conclusion that there is no other career more important than the eternal work of reaching souls for Christ and teaching them to live by the Word of God.  Béla then surrendered to the ministry of the gospel. He has graduated from the Bible Institute, and he was ordained to the gospel ministry on April 5, 2009.  On the same day, he was installed as the full-time pastor of Bible Baptist Church of Pécs. On March 4, 2006, Béla married Emília Rakovics, who was saved as a fifteen year old girl at the church family camp.  Emília, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, has been active in the children’s ministries of the church for many years and is a wonderful help-meet to her husband.  The Horváths have two sons, Ferenc and András.

For more information about the ministry in Pécs go to:  http://www.bibliabaptista.hu/english.html

To receive the Knieses' weekly update from the field, "The Hungarian Munchies," please send an email request to jimknies@yahoo.com

Here are some pictures of the ministry and people to whom they minister.

(Click on a picture to enlarge it.)

Click here to read: Testimonies of Church Members

Ministry in Budapest Pictures from the neighborhood of the 11th district
The chain bridge	The local market	The Gellert Hotel
Jim's office in the new apartment	Bartok Bela Street--in front of our apartment building	2 Orlay Street--our apartment building
The Freedom Bridge, a short walk from our apartment	The famous Gellert Hill	The Citadella, symbol of freedom and of Budapest
Update from Bible Baptist Church of Pecs
Celebration of the 15th Anniversary of Bible Baptist Church
Pastor Bela Horvath and Emilia	The Congregation	Anniversary Choir
Mother's Day		Father's Day
Children's Ministries
Play from I Samuel	Children's Sunday School	Children's Choir
Special Music
String Ensemble	Ladies Choir
Ladies Bible Fellowship	Baby Dedication of Andras Horvath
Hiking and Picnic	Feri Hovath goes fishing	Evangelistic Meetings with Missionary Bob McKinney from Poland
Update from Lighthouse Baptist Church of Nagykanizsa
Sunday morning congregation	Pastor Gedeon
Second Church Anniversary and Chartering Services June 13, 2010
Signing of the charter	Pastor Gedeon rejoices at 22 charter members	Visiting pastors and co-workers pray for the new church
Pastor and Mrs. Rhon Roberts have had a special part in the works in Hungary for many years
Update from the Bible Baptist Church of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Celebration of the 30th Anniversary - April 4, 2010
30th Anniversary Service	Pastor Bill Toh has led the church since 1992	Pastor Jim and Valerie receive a special gift
The youth choir	Pastor Jim, the church "Father"
Church photo for 30th Anniversary	Visit to the church plant in Malacca, Malaysia
Happy memories from Jim and Valerie's trip to Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers	Inside the Petronas Towers
Valerie's birthday cake and fellowship		Chinese Feast, of which there were many
Cheong Family	Anthony Woo Family	Timothy Loh Family
Stephen and Pauline Toh	Bill Toh Family
Family Photos
Valerie Turns 50	Mary throws a party	Jim presents a Family Seminar in Poland
Mary	Anna

Families at Bible Baptist Church of Pecs
Andrelli Family  (Gabor and his mother, Valeria)	Gado Family (Béla, Andrea, Béla, Jr., Réka, Virág, Máté)	Horvath Family (Bela and Emilia)
Kiss Family (Zoli, Anna, Zoltan, Judit)	Olah Family (Ramona, Peter, Yolanda, David, Gedeon, Hanna)	Anna Rauschenberger
Makura Family (Lajos, Rita, and Mate)	Szilárd Nágy	Sashalmi Family (Gabriella, Sanyi, Sándor)
Bariczky family (Jozsef and Maria, Adam)	Eva Jambor	Bori Horvath
Arpád Bogdán	Renata Werner (Belazs and Laura)	Godwin (a medical student from Nigeria)
Berkes Marika	Karpati family (Gaby Gal; Zoltan and Betti)	Kovacs family (Attila and Erica and Brigitta)
Schnieder family (Gabor and Gyongyi; Csilla, Milan)	Jolanda Sapi	Emilia Rakovics
Janos Kovacs	Marvin Brown	Vivien Bodo
Reti Family (Brigitta, Mate, Miklos)	Jozsef Hoffman	Erzsabet
	Potter family (David, Jean, and Ami)	Knies family (Jim, Valerie, Anna, Mary)

Click here to read: Testimonies of Church Members

Click here to see Pictures from 2008/2009

Click here to see Pictures from 2007/2008

Click here to see Pictures from 2006/2007

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