A Generation Led to Jesus: Remembering Pastor Chuck, Part 18
As Hungarian teenagers and their parents came to a personal relationship with Jesus in the 1990s, the Calvary Chapel movement expanded. Churches were planted all over Europe as leaders allowed the Holy Spirit to lead the work. This story is reprinted from Issue 98 (Winter 2024) of the print magazine.
Pastor Rod Thompson was used by God to minister in Hungary and Serbia.
More Workers in Eastern Europe
In 1992, Calvary Chapel missionary Rod Thompson’s friend Paul Lange came out to take over the church in Baja, Hungary, so that Rod could minister in Subotica, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). “In Hungarian culture, they considered anything outside of their mainline religion a cult,” explained Paul. “There we were, meeting in an apartment or rented rooms. Many parents were concerned for their kids and came. But, of course, the Lord has His ways, and they also were transformed. Churches were planted all over Europe. [Missionary] Greg Opean was tremendously used by the Lord; he was like the apostle of Hungary.”
Paul and his wife Jeannette served overseas for nearly 20 years, church planting and helped oversee the Bible colleges in Austria and Hungary. Now Paul is the director of Calvary Chapel Bible College at Horizon University in Indianapolis, IN. He often talks to students about the dichotomy of stepping out in faith and letting the Lord lead: “There is always room for some organization and planning; we should not be foolish. But primarily, we must be sensitive and open to God so that the Holy Spirit leads the church. We can never replace being led by God with the programs of man. Above all, we need to be true to the Word of God—not watering it down for the culture.”
Paul added, “Chuck Smith used to say, though he had many plans, he would pray: Lord, here are all my plans for the day. You’re free to interrupt them any way You want. … Chuck constantly emphasized walking in the Spirit [instead of relying] on our own resources.”
Missionary Greg Opean (left) looks on as Pastor Chuck Smith greets well-wishers after dedicating Calvary Chapel Budapest’s facility in Hungary.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Of those early days, Greg reminisced, “It was like living in the Book of Acts. God was opening doors, and we were simply walking through them. When we were invited to Szeged and needed a car, we prayed for one; the next day, God gave us a car. In Szeged, we did evangelism, and a church was planted there.”
In the 1990s, Jim Scheer, youth pastor of Calvary Redlands, CA, and missionary pastors Armando Garcia and Greg Opean (middle and right) view Budapest from afar.
One family vacationing in Szeged all gave their lives to Jesus. After returning home, they wrote letters to Greg and Rod, saying “that they were fasting and praying that God would send someone up to Esztergom [Hungary] to start a Bible study.” Greg got on the phone with his friends from the Calvary in Redlands, CA, begging them to come help. “So Armando Garcia came with three other guys and started a work, which began to flourish. Greg, along with Phil Metzger and a handful of others, moved up to Esztergom to help in that work, … until the invitation came to ‘come to Budapest’ where Greg and some of the team went next.” They planted Golgota Budapest [Hungary]—now a 1,500+ member church. Greg, along with his new bride, Jennifer, settled there for 12 years building up the Budapest church.
“We didn’t have a big vision for Hungary,” Greg explained. “We walked one day at a time through the doors as God opened them. We ministered to that one person God put in front of us. There were so many divine appointments.”
In our next installment, we share how unity, grace, and accountability were the keys to a thriving ministry in Hungary.
