OUR TEAM
Since Truth Planters began, God has been calling individuals to join our team. Many have left their full-time jobs and are trusting God to provide for all of their needs while they seek first His Kingdom. If you would like to support one of our team members through prayer and finances or simply receive their newsletters, please contact them directly. Those who are raising financial support are held accountable by their mentors for their activity, wellbeing and financial stewardship.
JAMES & LUCY HODGES
SOUTH WALES, UNITED KINGDOM
James and Lucy are married with two beautiful children. They have a great desire that young people in South Wales (and beyond!) would experience the same life-transforming love, truth and power of God that they have both experienced. Together they are planting a new church called “The Lighthouse” and engaging in various outreach ministries as they seek to see community transformation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Support through Stewardship (UK tax payers) – click here
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact James:
FRIGI & SINIMOL RAJ
KERALA, INDIA
Frigi and Sinimol are married and have one beautiful daughter. When Frigi lost his job in April 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic which hit India very hard, he threw himself into mission work, trusting that God would provide for his family. He soon felt God strongly calling Him to full-time mission work. He joined the Truth Planters team and is now involved in evangelism, teaching, church-planting and supporting local churches all over India.
Mentors: James & Lucy Hodges
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Frigi:
PATRIK AND VIKI Szabo
NYÍREGYHÁZA, HUNGARY
Patrik and Viki are newlyweds with a vision to advance the Kingdom of God everywhere they go. They are both gifted worship leaders and love to share the gospel with whoever they meet. Viki has a powerful gift for songwriting and her songs are enjoyed all over Hungary and beyond on YouTube and Spotify. She is also the main translator for our Hungarian video content which is broadcast on PAX TV and YouTube.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Patrik:
Contact Viki:
Anna Snalam
SOUTH WALES, UNITED KINGDOM
Anna grew up in the North of England and came to know Jesus at a young age. During 2020 and 2021 Anna was seeking God about her future and felt Him clearly leading her through Bible verses and other confirmations to join the Truth Planters UK team. Anna is an energetic, passionate follower of Jesus with a heart for discipleship & healing. She now serves in the South Wales valleys helping with church planting, worship, mental health outreach and youth work.
Mentors: James & Lucy Hodges
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Support through Stewardship (UK tax payers) – click here
Contact Anna:
acsnalam@hotmail.co.uk
Tim & Krista Ponder
MARYLAND, USA & BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Tim and Krista are passionate videographers and photographers dedicated to using their creative gifts to advance God’s kingdom. With years of experience running their photography business in Hungary and the USA, they sense a strong calling to use visual storytelling to draw individuals closer to Christ and ignite a passion for serving. With their time split between USA and Hungary, they are also actively involved in international student ministry with a vision to make disciples of all nations.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Tim & Krista:
Ödön Pap
Budapest, Hungary
Ödön (known as “Eddy” to English speakers) grew up in Romania and speaks English, Romanian and Hungarian fluently. Despite coming from a Christian family, he resisted God for many years and called himself an atheist until one day he had a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ. His main focus now is to lead others to Jesus through sharing the gospel on the streets, at organised events and through social media. He also loves to assist church planters and mentor believers to become strong disciples of Jesus.
Mentor: David Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Ödön (Eddy):
Eliot & Adrienn Kovács
Szeged, Hungary
Eliot and Adrienn have a passion to raise up a generation of on-fire, missional-focused, healthy, equipped followers of Jesus in Szeged and to inspire the body of Christ in Hungary and the surrounding nations to live like the believers in the book of Acts. Their ministry involves leading a team of passionate young evangelists, hosting prayer and worship gatherings, preaching, leading worship, training believers, street evangelism, and helping to pioneer and lead their local church.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Eliot:
MARCELL KONDOR
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Marcell has a gift for one-to-one evangelism and pastoral care and delights in serving the people around him in any way he can. As well as being the chairman of Truth Planters Hungary, he is a leader in his local church and can often be found mentoring and discipling young men, teaching at churches and youth events or travelling with the Truth Planters team.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Marcell:
Akos & Irisz Orcifalvi
Budapest, Hungary
Akos and Irisz are newlyweds with a passion to see people meet Jesus and have their lives transformed by him. They both have a deep love for God and for people and love to use their gifts to serve the purposes of God’s Kingdom. Based in Budapest, they are church planters and also serve in a variety of ministries involving evangelism, teaching, worship and ministering to the poor. Alongside this, Akos is studying theology and Irisz is studying social work. Akos is also a board member of Truth Planters Hungary.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Contact Akos:
DAVID & HANNAH STEELE
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
David and Hannah are married with five beautiful children – 3 girls and 2 boys. Though Hannah prioritises motherhood in this season, she is active in ministry and can often be found mentoring young women, teaching on subjects such as marriage and parenting, as well as being a vital part of our latest church plant. David is best known for his international teaching ministry but also serves as an elder in his local church, and spends his time raising up and training new missionaries, organising events and mission trips, reaching out to the local community, offering pastoral care and creating videos with the aim of equipping, encouraging and inspiring believers all over the world to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
Mentors: Paul & Karen Carr, Team Leaders of Freedom Church, Colchester, UK
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Support through Stewardship (UK tax payers) – click here
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Support David and Hannah’s adoption – click here
Contact David:
Gerda Keserű
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Gerda became a Christian in Budapest 2007 and had already been a full-time missionary for 10 years before joining Truth Planters in 2024. She has a passion to help people truly embrace their identity in Christ, experience his deep healing and to discover and fulfill their God-given calling. She does this through mentoring individuals, offering prayer ministry, coming alongside people through creative activities, evangelism and helping to equip missionaries or potential missionaries for healthy, long term service.
Gerda has a big heart for fulfilling the Great Commission in Europe and in the United States and often travels between the two.
Mentor: Jessica Diehl
Raising Support: Yes
Level reached:
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact Gerda:
JOHN COOPER
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
John and Susan are from the USA. They have been married for 24 years and have two boys. With over 25 years of experience in youth ministry leadership, local church leadership and non-profit leadership, John serves as an elder and advisor, offering wisdom and pastoral care to our missionaries, board members and volunteers, as well as playing a key role in various ministries that Truth Planters Hungary has pioneered. John is an excellent teacher of Biblical truth and has a particular heart for young people and for the marginalized in our society, such as those who are struggling with homelessness.
John has so much to give in ministry that he also serves on the “One Kingdom” team (a ministry of Team Expansion), serving teams all over Europe as Media to Movement catalysts.
John and Susan are blessed to have mentoring, support and accountability provided by their sending church in the USA as well as Team Expansion.
Mentors: Barry Stephens and Charles Lindsey (Monterey Church of Christ, Texas)
Raising Support: Yes
Give a tax-deductible gift (US citizens) – click here
Contact John:
Jessica Diehl
Florida, United States
Jessica is married to Doug and together they have 7 children. In the summer of 2007 she heard God say to her, “Enough. It’s time. Come to Me.” A few weeks later Jessica heard the gospel for the first time and gave her life to Jesus. As the Prayer and Intercession co-ordinator for Truth Planters worldwide, she leads a team of passionate prayer warriors who meet regularly to uphold the work of Truth Planters in prayer, taking the personal prayer requests of our missionaries to God, interceding for the strategic Kingdom work we are doing, and providing our whole team with a constant flow of encouragement, timely words from scripture and prophetic insight.
Mentors: David & Hannah Steele
Raising Support: No
Ildiko Tabajdi
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Born in Budapest, Ildiko now lives with her husband and two boys in a small town in Hungary, close to the Steele family. She has personally experienced the marvellous grace and patience of God as He has loved and pursued her over many years to bring her to where she is today – in love with Him and passionately desiring to use her God-given gifts to get the message of the gospel out to as many people as possible. Ildiko’s experience in business, law and accounting are critical to her role as a board member of Truth Planters Hungary and her servant-hearted approach makes her a pleasure to work with.
Raising Support: No
BRIAN EARLY
OREGON, UNITED STATES
Brian lives in Oregon, USA. He has been married to his only wife Tracy since 1983 and pastored in local churches from 1992-2019. They have raised three wonderful girls, who are now married to godly men. Brian is now retired from full-time vocational ministry but serves in a volunteer capacity through guest speaking and as the chaplain for the local police and fire departments. He accepted Christ as His Savior at age 20, being rescued out of a life of darkness and sinful pursuits while in the US Navy. God soon after called Him into service, giving Him a passion learning and teaching the Word of God. Brian has two theological Master’s degrees and completed doctoral work to help equip him for teaching and equipping.
Raising Support: No
TOM POULTON
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM
Tom lives in the UK with his wife Olesya and their 3 children. He is on the leadership team of his local church where he is actively involved in preaching and youth ministry. Tom committed his life to Jesus when he was 20 years old after being challenged that if the gospel is true then it demands your whole life, not just a part. A few months after his baptism, he travelled with a church mission to Belarus which opened his eyes to what living as a follower of Christ means and inspired him to learn Russian. He has since volunteered with charities and ministries working in Russian speaking lands. Tom works as a finance manager, is a trustee of Truth Planters UK and has a passion to see the ground-breaking good news of Jesus transform peoples’ lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Raising Support: No
YOUR NAME HERE?
WHEREVER GOD CALLS YOU
Learn more about how to apply to become a Truth Planters Missionary here.
Mentors: Having the right support and accountability can make all the difference on the mission field.
Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:37-38