The 18.26 Network: Serving the Church Through Vocation, With Karina Legradi

MTW’s 18.26 Network, named for the story of tentmakers Aquila and Pricilla in Acts 18:26, offers a new paradigm for missions: sending people who find secular jobs overseas to do ministry in partnership with existing MTW missionaries and national partners on the field. Vocational missionary Karina Legradi shares her heart and unique path to ministry in Budapest, Hungary.

My journey to serve with MTW in Hungary through the 18.26 Network didn’t come about in the most typical way, but it was clearly God-directed. After being laid off from a Christian organization, I began praying about whether to seek an opportunity to serve in my parents’ native country of Hungary. I applied to numerous jobs in the U.S., but one by one, each of those doors closed. At the same time, I was sensing a stronger and stronger call in my heart to go to Hungary.

Out of 60 job applications I submitted, two organizations reached out: MTW’s 18.26 Network and an international Christian school in Hungary. Connecting the two was fairly seamless and that’s how I could tell that God’s hand was in it. The 18.26 Network has been eager to support me with prayer and meet with me one-on-one to help me with the logistics of moving overseas and making connections with Christians in the region.

I’ve been in Hungary a little over a year now, working full-time as a school administrator. Some of my tasks are mundane, such as ordering textbooks or organizing the payment for field trips. But I also get to do exciting people-oriented tasks like leading the school’s student government, debate class, and being a substitute teacher in any class at any given time slot (which happens daily!). It is a fast-paced job in a work environment that’s small enough for us to encourage each other in the Lord as coworkers, and students and their parents as well.

This school is unique within our network in that only about half of the students are Christians. They come from about 20 countries around the world. Though they receive Bible instruction each day, we give them freedom in their faith journey. As a result, we see many of the Christian students ministering to their unbelieving friends. We see examples of this in all age groups, from the rambunctious first graders who stop what they’re doing when one of their classmates is injured and all rush over to pray, to the 12^thgraders who plan their own worship sessions during lunch time.

In addition to my ministry at the school, I’m helping MTW leadership in Europe to locate and connect with potential national partners in the hopes that an MTW team will one day form in Hungary. I feel blessed to work in Hungary and to have the support of the 18.26 Network to help guide my steps as I minister to the Hungarian people. 

Read about Sarah Harris’ experience with the 18.26 Network in Santiago, Chile.

Is God calling you to partner with MTW through the 18.26 Network? Visit mtw.org/1826 to learn more.