Last Day in Eger

Today we spent the day meeting up with people and winding down before we leave to go back to the US.

We got together with a number of people from the church here, took Natalie and Suzan to a confectionary and coffee shop (cukrászda), which they appreciated, being cake makers themselves.

Here is Felicia playing dolls with Poczok Judit

Here is Suzan and Natalie with Pastor Jani, Tünde and Julcsi.

Here in Eger before and after camp we've been staying with our friend Krisztina - the doctor who first held Felicia. God used her to save our little girl's life and since then we have developed a wonderful friendship with her. She's came out to visit us in Colorado and was there for Felicia's birthday in January. She was a gracious hostess and we had a good time catching up. Krisztina also came out to camp a number of times last week, as she has to each camp over the past 3 years.

We will leave Eger tomorrow morning on the train to Budapest, and then we fly out from there.

 

After Camp

Camp ended on Saturday; we had devotions and prayer in the morning, and then teachers met with their classes one last time. Then we packed up, said goodbye to the kids, and got everyone back into town - a process that takes about 3-4 hours.

We had a great team of servants this year and made wonderful connections with the campers.

After getting everyone into town, people from church showed the helpers around Eger and took them up into the castle. Rosemary and the kids, Natalie and Suzan all went up into the castle, but I ran into our Canadian friends Rob and Kitty who used to attend our church in Eger when they lived in Heves as English teachers. They were leading a team from their church on a trip to Ukraine where they did a camp for their denomination. They were in Eger to spend a few days sightseeing before heading home. We had a great time catching up; it was a wonderful treat.

In the evening, all the helpers got together for dinner and debriefing.

This morning we had church; I preached and we had a full service with many kids from camp coming out.

After church the youth group had their meeting - and even more kids from camp showed up. Kriszti, who leads the youth group here is doing a great job.

We also had a great surprise this morning that the Pápai family from Debrecen drove up for church to see us. We had a great time with them after church catching up.

 

Images of English Camp

Camp is over; the week flew by, but it was an excellent week - a lot of good ministry was done and the Gospel was preached.

Nate had such a good time at camp. On Friday night he was so sad that camp was almost over, that we let him stay up until almost midnight playing games with us in the coffee shop. The next morning he was so exhausted, we couldn't get him to wake up when it was time to go!

Natalie and Suzan did a great job teaching classes, crafts and archery to the kids. They loved the archery - it's somewhat of a national past time here in Hungary, so it was a good connecting point.

This year we had the greatest number of kids come to our testimony times than ever before. We don't make this part of the camp compulsory for them, but this year we had so many kids each day, that often times, kids who came late had to stand because there were no more seats. In spite of that, kids would stand on their feet for an hour listening to us tell them stories of how God had worked in our lives. It was great.

Here's a photo of Anil sharing his testimony. Anil was a medical student in Debrecen back in the day, when Rosemary and I ministered amongst them, and now attends Calvary Chapel in Syracuse, NY.

Erika from church here taught the kids how to do tie dye.

Rosemary spent time with pastors' wives Tünde from Eger and Anna from Nyíregyháza

 

You can find a lot more pictures of the camp on the official Eger English Camp Facebook page.

 

Kristóf's Story

God is using English Camp in Eger to change lives!

Here is one young man's story of how God used English Camp in his life:

 

Jani's Story

We've been so busy with camp; I feel like I have so much to write, but so little time to do it!

For now I will just post this video of Pastor Jani sharing his story of how he came to know The Lord. I'm translating into English, which was interesting since part of the story was about me.

I love looking back and seeing the great things God has done, and I love being part of what God is doing as He is writing new testimonies of His love and grace in people's lives.

Gypsy Church Problems

Back when we started the ministry in Heves, which eventually turned into a gypsy church, I realized that doing ministry is that community, I faced issues which I never had to face amongst the white Hungarians in Eger.

I have put it in terms before of white people problems and gypsy problems. For example, in Eger, when people wanted to confess their sins or ask for prayer, it was things like: "I want to be more loving", "I'm struggling with unforgiveness", "I don't read my Bible enough", etc. These are all valid issues that should not be minimized. But amongst the gypsies, I met with all of these issues, plus a few unique ones which I never faced in Eger, such as: "I stabbed someone", "I'm a prostitute", "If I give my life to Jesus, do I have to stop stealing?"

When we moved to Colorado last year, Jani took over the ministry in Eger and in Heves, and he told me a few more unique "gypsy church problems" he has faced down in Heves:

A new couple showed up at church one day, and one of the guys who attended the church came up to Jani after the service and said: "if that couple starts attending this church, I'm going to leave." "Why?" asked Jani. "Well, because they did something to me once, and I have forgiven them, but I just don't really want to be in fellowship with them. "What did they do to you?", asked Jani. "Well, one night they lit my house on fire while I was asleep inside (rám gyújtották a házamat). That made me really upset."

Yeah. I think I would be upset too if somebody did that to me!

Another story he told me, was that one Sunday afternoon when he went to do church, there was a really loud party in a nearby house. "What's going on there?" asked Jani? "Oh, that's where the drug dealer lives, and he's having a big party." But after a while the music suddenly stopped. "What happened?" "They ran out of money on their electricity meter." After some shouting outside, the music started up again and continued on. See, the electricity company installs 'pay-as-you-go' electricity meters on houses of people who are not deemed trustworthy to pay their bills. That way, the person must prepay for their electricity use, and when it runs out, the electricity is cut off. That's not such a terrible idea, actually!

Ministry amongst gypsies is many things, but boring is not one of them.

First Day of English Camp

Monday is always the busiest day of camp from an administrative perspective. For everyone else it is maybe the most relaxing day. We began the day with registration and proficiency testing. After we were got done with that it was time for lunch and orientation, then splitting up into classes.

One of the main theories underlying the way we run the camp is that trust is a very crucial thing in Hungarian culture. Whereas in some places, like America, people are generally willing to objectively consider a message or argument, regardless of who the messenger is, here people won't listen to what you have to say until they know who you are - that you are a trustworthy person, and they understand what your motivations are. I believe that part of the reason this camp has been a fruitful outreach is because we have built the camp in a way that we don't just preach at people, but we let them get to know us, and build trust with us. That way when we share about Jesus with them, they are open to considering because they know that we are sincere and doing this because we honestly want the best for them.

Suzan and Natalie had a big turn out for their craft activity, and have been having a good time mixing with everyone.

Every day of the camp at 5pm we have a time of music and testimonies which we call "Life Stories", and we tell the kids to come and hear the teachers and organizers share about their lives and what makes them who they are. Of course, this is a platform for sharing the Gospel with the kids by telling them about how we came to know The Lord. It is not compulsory for the kids to attend - but most of them do.

Today Pastor Jani shared his testimony - about his life and how he came to know The Lord. It was a story I already knew, since a big part of it had to do with me, but it was a blessing to here him testify of the work that God had done in his life through the church here. It made me consider anew, how we often times do not realize how important the little things we do are. See, when I first met Jani, I found him to be a frustration in my life. He was a guy who I was trying to lead to The Lord, but he wasn't always interested! So, what else could I do but just be faithful to point him towards Jesus? I couldn't have known at the time, that those things I was doing, which seemed so normal and basic, would someday be a great and powerful testimony of how God led Jani to a saving knowledge of him and eventually made him a pastor and a minister of the Gospel. So I encourage you: be faithful to point people to Jesus; if you keep planting seeds, you are going to see the Gospel take root and produce fruit in some lives. I see that with a number of kids who are at camp this year - kids I shared Jesus with many times, yet at the time it seemed to have no impact, but now they are walking with The Lord and attending youth group or church or even are involved in ministry. Testimonies are often being written when you don't realize it. Just keep pointing people to Jesus!

So, Jani's testimony was powerful, and something that the Hungarian kids could relate to very well. Next Shane shared his life story of growing up in a broken home, and not feeling loved by his father, yet finding a true Father in God. The beauty of these life stories is that each person's story is going to relate to different kids in their own situations and struggles, and they tell of how God did a work of restoration and redemption in those circumstances.

After dinner, the evening program was done by Czeglédi Peti, who filled in for Kiss Balázs at the last minute, and did an amazing job. He dressed up as an Indian chief, and led a bunch of group ice breakers, which kept over 100 people engaged for about 2 hours! Quite the accomplishment, really! During evening free time many of the kids mixed with and got to know the teachers in the coffee house we set up. Even hanging out and having fun with the kids is Gospel activity, because it is part of building trust with them.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the camp, and for many of the youth to be saved!

 

Reunited

I arrived in Hungary on Saturday night; I actually love doing the long flight alone - it's so relaxing!

My friend Laci, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Dél-Pest, picked me up and we spent some time catching up. I always enjoy spending time with him - great guy with great vision, and The Lord is doing a great thing through him on the south side of Budapest.

It was great to see Rosemary and the kids again!

Nate and I got coffee in the morning; his was a milk actually. He's so excited being in Hungary. He's been speaking in Hungarian and been outgoing and friendly with people. He was looking forward to this trip for a long time, and he's having a lot of fun.

Natalie and Suzan got into Budapest by train Saturday night, when I was already asleep, so in the morning, we all went to church and then took the train to Eger, where we were picked up by Jani, Szabi and Kati. Jani and I took Nate and Felicia over to Dr. Krisztina's house, and then we joined the others at the orientation for the camp.

Orientation is something that Rosemary and I used to do, and we took it pretty seriously, but now Kati and Ilona were doing it - and I must say that I think they were more efficient and better prepared than we were! They made bound books of material for each level, and it seems that they have thought of everything. Essentially, they have taken what we handed them, and they have made it better.

From a leader's perspective, this is and should be the goal: to raise up people who surpass you in their accomplishments. It was great to see how the church here has done a good job organizing the camp for the first time completely on their own. Many people have stepped up to fill in the gaps, and are succeeding.

But, of course, good preparation is only one piece of the puzzle. What we also need for this camp to be a success is a move of the Holy Spirit, so that the kids would hear the Gospel and it would penetrate their hearts. Please do pray for that!

Speaking of being reunited, one thing I'm really happy about is that our Australian friends Andy and Kim are here at camp again this year, along with many other dear people who have served at camp before, like Geoff and Angela from Syracuse and Shane from Szolnok. One great thing is that a young man named Kristóf who attended camp for many years, whom we shared Jesus with for YEARS, seemingly to no avail, has given his life to Christ, attends the church now, and is one of our main helpers this year! Praise The Lord for that. Another young man, Balázs, who got saved through our first camp in Eger, and has been a staple and cornerstone helper for years, had to drop out because some family members have fallen seriously ill. We will miss him this year; please pray for him and his family members.

Anyway, I will keep posting on here about how camp goes, so keep checking in. In about an hour I am heading up to Felsőtárkány to set up for registration. Camp begins today!

Heading Home

Today was my last day in Eger. As excited as I was to be in Eger this past week, I was totally ready to go home this morning. I miss my wife and kids, and I realize that God has bound my heart up with Longmont and the ministry of White Fields, and entrusted the ministry here to others.

I went to Tesco and OBI, I needed to mail a few things and buy a few gifts, but the main goal was to find a way to take Túró Rudi back home to America. I picked up some Kinder Tojás and Kinder Szelet and then went over to OBI to get a hűtő táska.

Afterwards I met Dani in town for a coffee and then went up to say goodbye to Tünde and Julcsi. Jani came up to Budapest with me, along with Ilona and Judit. When we left Eger the weather was cold but fine, and about half way to Budapest it started snowing, and got worse and worse. I think it might be still snowing outside.

Here in Budapest I'm staying with Laci Németh, pastor of Golgota Dél-Pest, and Kyle Eckhart from Golgota Szeged came up to say hi and catch up. Great guys doing great ministries that The Lord is blessing. It was good to hang out and catch up. Laci lives near the airport, so he will drive me in the morning. My plane leaves at 6am, so we will leave early.

It's been a good trip. I'm so glad that I got to come and support Jani and Tünde and the church in Eger. Please continue to pray for the Hernádi family, for the city of Eger and for the work of God in Hungary, especially through the Golgota churches.

 

Eger Under Construction

Nézd, az Elefanto éttermet újra Elefantónak hívják! A Casa della Pasta úgyis hülye név volt - és mindenki úgy is Elefantonak hívta

 

Church in Eger

Sunday morning I preached at Golgota Eger. It was good to see old friends and see things working well in the church. I especially noted that children's ministry and youth ministry are going well, led by Kriszti.

Shane led worship and I brought a message about the Kingdom of God from Matthew 5, Romans 13 and Ephesians 4.

Please pray for this church! It is good to see how they have accepted Jani as their pastor and surrounded the Hernádi's with love and support during this time of difficulty. Please pray that the church would be an effective tool for reaching people for Jesus in Eger and the surrounding region.

 

Thank You Video from the Hernádi's

 

Temetési Videók - Videos of the Funeral

Ez akkor készült amikor megérkeztünk és készültünk a temetésre, mielőtt megjöttek a gyászolók.

This was right when we arrived and we were setting up, before the funeral.

Jani beszéde. Ige hirdetésem után, Jani felállt és beszédet mondott. Nagy ütős volt. Nem tudom mennyire lehet hallani a felvételen mit mond, mert fújt a szél.

After I preached, Jani got up and spoke. It was powerful. It's a bit hard to hear what he's saying because of the wind.

Misi's Funeral

Today was the big day. I got out to the Szent Donát cemetery around 10:30 and the funeral began promptly at 11.

Shane did music, and I officiated and preached, all in Hungarian. I'm glad that I haven't lost any of my Hungarian after being in America for the last year. It was very cold out, to the point where I had trouble turning the pages in my notes, and after preaching for 25 minutes, my knees hurt.

After I spoke, Jani got up and shared a few words. Quite a few people were there - well over a hundred, and many people came who I had hoped would come but didn't expect to see there. The gypsies came out from the gypsy church in Heves, as well as members of the Eger church who I hadn't seen in a while and a number of pastors from other churches in Eger and from Calvary Chapels around the Hungary.

It was a sad event, and tragic to see such a small coffin. Many tears were shed, but not nearly as many as I have seen shed at other funerals in Hungary, because here the focus was on the hope of the resurrection. The Gospel was preached, people were called to consider the fragility and fleetingness of life and put their faith in Jesus to be saved. I believe that God was glorified.

After the funeral I went to pick up Julcsi, who was being watched by a neighbor, so Jani and Tünde could go straight to the church for the reception. After getting Julcsi, we went to the church and got to spend good time talking and catching up with the Hernádi's friends and family and many people from church.

Afterwards I went out with Dani to Egerszalók for coffee and then went out to dinner at HBH downtown; I got borjú paprikás - my old favorite, and then came back to the guesthouse where I got to FaceTime with Rosemary and the kids and then spent time talking to my hosts and their son. Really nice people, and, knowing that I was a pastor, they had a lot of questions about the Bible, and we had a great time together.

 

Eger - Friday

The day began with meeting Kati at the plaza. As I was trying to get there on time, I had to wait a while, because a load of firewood was delivered to a building down the street, and it blocked traffic until they could move enough of it out of the way. Ah, Hungary! I love these kinds of things actually :)

After meeting with Kati I went downtown and ran some errands. All along the creek is all torn up, because they are working to put in a bicycle path next to the creek. That's a really nice idea - only problem is it doesn't seem very practical since every spring - including right now - the creek floods and covers the bicycle path. Everyone I talked to in town seems to think that the plan is ridiculous and isn't going to work. It does kind of look like a mess right now - it is especially bad to see how much they aren't concerned about the environment and just dump construction waste into the creek. I watched one guy actually shoveling trash into the creek...

I went out to lunch again with Jani and Tünde and the went with them to buy gifts downtown and exchange some money. After that I went and drove by the places we used to live here in town while I talked to Rosemary and the kids on the phone. Nate remembers a lot from living in Eger; I think he would love to get to come back for a visit.

Here's a picture of the block of flats where we lived for our first few years in Eger, on Csiky Sándor utca. The house next to us, where a family used to live, is now apparently empty and has lost its roof:

After that I went to the Hernádi's and our friend Krisztina came over. Krisztina is the doctor who saved Felicia's life; she also treated Misi and has known the Hernádi family through us and through the church here. We had a nice time together catching up, and afterwards Krisztina came with us to the church and I taught a class about understanding grief and mourning and how to minister to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. It was something that I had wanted to do for years actually, and I was really glad to get to do it. I didn't know hat Jani was going to be there, but it was actually nice, and he opened up about a lot of his feelings. It was a really great time together and I believe that it was useful for all who attended - which was a pretty good-sized group.

I stuck around the church and with the help of Ilona, Kati and Szabolcs, put the finishing grammar touches on my message for the sermon, which I'm going to do in Hungarian tomorrow. As I was working on it with them in the church office, I began to feel very sick. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me; maybe I'm just exhausted, but I'm really praying it won't cause any problems tomorrow at the funeral. The weather is supposed to be cold but sunny tomorrow. I don't have a coat, only a sweater, so I really hope it will be warm enough for me to get by without just what I have.

Please pray for the funeral tomorrow, that Gid would be honored, that the Gospel would be heard, and that The Lord would be with the Hernádi's. Please also pray that every part of the service goes well.

Here's a picture of the Hernádi's from today:

 

Eger - Thursday

This morning, after writing some notes for the funeral, I went to the plaza to see Gabi - our family's hairdresser for the 7 years that we lived here. Gabi not only cut Rosemary's hair and my hair, but she cut Nate's hair and gave Felicia her first hair cut. It's always good to see her and she always gets it right.

Later on I went out to lunch with the Hernádi's. They were busy today making arrangements for the funeral and the reception. Quite a few people are going to be there, from all over the country.

It the afternoon I came back to my guesthouse with the intention of working on the computer a bit, but jetlag caught up with me hard, and I fell asleep for a few hours. I spept so hard that I could hardly move when I woke up.

Around 5 I got together with my good friend Dani and we went and drank coffee and did some very necessary catching up. I am glad to see that he is doing better in every aspect of his life. When I think of Dani and many other people at the church, the scripture that always comes to mind is Philippians 4:1 - Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

From the coffee house I went back over to the Hernádi's. Tünde was away at the church's women's book club, and so we had organized for me to meet with the elders to pray for the church and discuss things that are going on. One thing that has struck me while being here, and something I heard from Dani tonight, is that the church here, although small, is full of people who truly love each other, truly seek The Lord, and truly live out their faith. Their is quality. Today I was reading an interview with Greg Laurie in which he said: if you take care of the quality, The Lord will take care of the quantity. These guys have done a good job taking care of the quality and I'm proud of them and I praise God for it.

After we prayed for the church and talked, Tünde got home and I hung out for a bit drinking a late night coffee and talking. It was a great time of fellowship. Jani even mentioned that when I was here we didn't always spend a lot of time together with no agenda, just hanging out. We did sometimes, but everyone was always so busy. One of the blessings of this week is getting to spend a lot of quality time with the Hernádi's. That's important, because as they say: some people are like Ukrainian candy - they take a long time to open up :)

 

Eger - Wednesday Evening

After breakfast at the place I'm staying, I spent the day with Jani and Tünde. We planned out the order of service for the funeral and Tünde picked out pictures of Misi for the slideshow which will be shown at the reception after the funeral, which will be at the Kálvin Ház.

After that we went and picked up Julcsi from óvoda, and then went to ZF to eat at their cafeteria. There is a lady who works there who is from the Baptist church in Egerszólát where we used to do our baptisms and who came to Golgota many times when I was pastor. She remembered me and we talked and she gave us free dessert.

We went back to the Hernádi flat and I played with Julcsi while Jani and Tünde sat down to wrote the email announcement for the funeral, which was very hard for them to do, and I could tell they were glad that Julcsi and I were playing together so they could have a moment together to grieve.

Around this time, Ákos called, asking if we wanted to go with him up to Bélapátfalva to look at the place they were considering for the gyülekezeti hétvége spring retreat. We all went up, but by this time, the jetway which I thought I had escaped by sleeping well caught up with me and I passed out hard in the car. I was so exhausted that I felt sick. But it was beautiful up in Bélapátfalva, and the hotel they are going to rent out is awesome, better than any of the locations we ever had for these retreats when I was here.

The Hernádi's with Bélkő hegy behind them:

When we got back to Eger we went to church, where Ákos taught. It was really good for me to see, as I looked around the room, that people I baptized and ministered to are standing strong in their faith. Another great thing to see is how much the church here loves to pray. They are a group of people who truly love each other, and this situation with Misi has surely strengthened that bond.

After church we went back to Jani's place, organized a bit more for the funeral, talked with Tünde, and then Jani and I went out together to the Shiraz hotel in Egerszalók - one of my favorite places to go for long, deep talks. And we had one, and it was hard and sad but wonderful. We laughed and we also talked about serious things, and experiences and memories, and we talked a lot about The Lord and the Word. It was time well spent together.

 

Eger - Wednesday Afternoon

There are some smells here in Hungary that bring back strong reminiscence, and they are probably not the smells you might think of. One of the strongest that hit me was the smell of öblítőszer (fabric softener) from the clothes drying on the rack in the hallway. Another is the smell of the air, full of moisture and smoke from furnaces.

Here's my view of Eger from where I'm staying, with Nagy Eged in the distance

Eger Trip - Wednesday morning

I'm up at 6am local time and feel well rested. I slept we'll on the flights over, which was great because it left me fresh to talk and spend time with people immediately after arriving in Budapest.

I missed my connection in Paris after my flight from New York was 40 minutes late. I literally ran to the gate and was a sweaty mess, but arrived at 7:05 to a flight that was scheduled to leave at 7:15. I could see my plane at the end of the jetway, but they wouldn't let me on no matter how hard I protested. They put me on the next flight at 12:30, so I spent 5 very boring hours in Charles du Gaulle.

Upon arriving in Budapest I was picked up by Ákos, an elder from the church and the man who took our family to the airport in March of 2012 when we moved from Hungary. Ákos took me to his home in Domoszló, where I was reunited with his wife Evelin and their daughter and with Ilona, one of the lay leaders from Golgota Eger. We ate and drank coffee and caught up for a few hours. They wanted to discuss how the week will go and how they think Jani and Tünde are doing.

After leaving there, Ilona drove me into Eger, where we first picked up the church's car for me to use while I'm here, and then she took me to the guesthouse on Pacsirta utca that they are putting me up in; only 100 meters from where Nate went to óvoda (preschool). It is the finished attic of the home of a family who K. Judit from church teaches English to. It's very nice and clean; only bummer is that it seems they don't have wifi. One of their kids is headed over today to try to help with that.

I took my stuff up to the apartment and then headed over to Jani and Tünde's flat for dinner. It was surreal driving around in Eger again, listening to Radió Eger in the car and seeing the old neighborhoods where we have so many memories. It is very wet here in Hungary; on the radio they were talking about how floods, and I could see that the ground is saturated with water. There are tons of potholes and standing water everywhere. But there is also that deep green on the hills and fields that I love so much.

It was great to see the Hernádi's. Tünde cooked great Hungarian food - soup and túrós tészta. Afterwards they put their daughter Julcsi down to sleep and we spent about 3 hours catching up and talking about everything from the Heves church to White Fields to how they were doing and what happened with Misi.

They asked me to officiate his funeral, which will be on Saturday at 11am at the cemetery which they can see from their balcony, looking towards Nagy Eged hegy. Can you believe that after 8 years of pastoring I have conducted so many wedding and baptisms that I can't keep track of them anymore, but I have never officiated a funeral. This will be my first. I plan to do it in Hungarian. Please pray for me to have God's words. I want to bring comfort and hope to the family, yet challenge those who are not believers with the Gospel message.

Today it is raining outside. I plan to spend the day with Jani, planning the funeral and just being together. In the evening there is church, where I look forward to catching up with brothers and sisters from Golgota. It seems to me that this whole tragic event has brought them together in a powerful way. One of the many good fruits which can be seen from the people here walking by faith in dark, difficult times.

My apartment:

 

 

An Unexpected Trip

I'm in Paris right now, en route to Eger. I wasn't planning this trip, but I'm glad to make it.

My dear friends the Hernádi's lost their son on Thursday. The good news of the gospel is indeed good news, because it means that not only is Misike no longer suffering, but he is in glory, and he will be reunited with his mom and dad on that day which all of creation earnestly longs for.

Heaven is not an abstract idea, but a place where we will know and be known, we will hug and be hugged. I believe that Jani and Tünde will get to meet Misi, that they will get to know him, and he will no longer be a baby, but will have a resurrection body just like the rest of us will who have put our faith in Jesus Christ.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinthians 15:53-56

This is what I long for: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." - Revelation 21:1-5

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. - Job 19:25-26

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" - John 11:25-26