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Tibor’s Vision

Catching up with Hungarian pastor Tibor Miklós

John VandenOever April 2, 2020

In 2017, we reported on Tibor Miklós, a blind, Hungarian pastor with a seemingly fearless passion to reach the disabled and marginalized of Hungary with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our reporting, which included two trips to Budapest, brought us face-to-face with the great need of these Hungarians, who have been unable to read or hear the scripture for themselves. But through a partnership with In Touch Ministries, Miklós has crisscrossed the country to meet and minister to people, providing the audio Bible and Dr. Stanley’s messages for them via the Messenger.

 

Recently, we reconnected with Tibor Miklós in St. Louis. One thing that’s always impressed about Tibor is his ability to navigate—not only streets and bus schedules, but also through aligning disparate people behind a shared vision. He is a master at creating networks and strong alliances. He has brought denominations together over the Word of God in Hungary, and on a Sunday morning in St. Louis, he calmed a sea of children and taught a sanctuary of adults to lean into their difficulties. 

Surrounded by 40 children of various ages, Tibor quickly pounced on the curiosity his cane and his blindness created among this restless crowd. By playing a game with them, he taught them a simple insight: with God, a disabled person is able. The Bible instructs us that it is through our weakness, not our strengths, that God is glorified.

Later, in his message to the church at large, Tibor became vulnerable. “I don’t want to be blind,” he said. “I don’t want to be different than anybody else.” But he acknowledged that through his blindness, the kingdom of God is being served. Though it’s not easy. “Every day I have to choose to trust in the Lord and believe His promises. This is just a little time, and then heaven.”

Now Back in Hungary

From his home in Budapest, Tibor reports that the In Touch Messenger is still in high demand. Not only has he expanded his distribution of the devices to Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, but he continues to make inroads among various types of people groups. In a hospital that specializes in eye surgeries, Tibor has established a Messenger lending library for the patients. “I’m excited to see non-believing doctors who are interested in the Messenger and hearing the gospel,” he says. It has given him the opportunity to share his story of the saving power of Christ and the love that compels him to love others. 

Tibor’s vision of networking means he’s always working with the local church. During a recent Messenger distribution among the oral learning Romani culture in Transylvania, Tibor marveled at the amazing thirst he witnessed for God. “The follow-up is very important,” he says. When Tibor leaves, it is the pastors and their churches that reach out to the locals, invite them to church, and disciple them. “These pastors are so happy,” says Tibor. “It is an outreach for them.”

Finally, Tibor told of a woman named Christine who he met at a camp for the blind. He gave her a Messenger then and she returned to the camp the next fall to share her testimony. “She’s 35 years old and completely blind,” says Tibor. “She has problems with hearing, yet is able to hear the Messenger. Her whole body is full of tumors.” She is living alone, but she spoke at the camp in a voice that Tibor described as filled with joy even as it trembled from sorrow and pain: “‘You know what?” she said, ‘I am the most happy woman in the world. And I am not bored. The whole day I am listening to the Messenger.’ This to a group of 150 people! And everybody was crying. It was very powerful.”   

Photography by Ben Rollins

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