May 2025 Prayer Letter

We have some great news from the past 2 months. 

 

Baptism and new members.

April 13^th was a great day at Focus Church, as we saw 6 young believers confess their faith in the Lord Jesus through believers’ baptism. Two had a special connection with Charin, as one was a girl from her Sunday School class, who she has taught for the past five years. The other is a young lady from our small group, whom Charin has been discipling. It was also great to see two teen boys get baptized. We started our youth group a little over a year ago. It is still small, but we are glad to see that it is bearing fruit. The final two were young men in their 20s. One told how he had been considering suicide before he found our church, and how the Lord has given new hope and purpose to his life. Along with the 6 who were baptized, we had 5 others join the church, who had already been baptized previously in other churches. All in all, it was a time of great celebration!

 

New church office and community center:

Our new church office/community center has been a huge blessing. We have worked hard to create great office space for our 5 staff members, and we also were able to turn one room into a living room that we are using regularly for small groups, leadership meetings, and training sessions. The yard and terrace have also been great places for fellowship. The only room we have not yet completed is the studio. We hope to have that finished and ready to use within the next few weeks. We have many plans for the summer months and trust that it will become a center for evangelism and discipleship.

 

Fund raising for mission trip to Ukraine:

Once again, we will be sending a team of about 10 church members to minister at our partner church in Ukraine. This year we will be doing a camp for teens July 31-August 3^rd. Most of these young people are from families of unbelievers. Over the past 2-3 years these teens have been traumatized by the effects of the war with Russia. Most of their fathers are absent – either drafted into the military – or in some cases they left the country to avoid the draft. They are in desperate need for love and attention – and especially for the Gospel. This year our partner church asked if we could cover the expenses for the camp, as most of the participants are unable to pay. We expect the total expenses to be $1800. This is a great opportunity to invest in the kingdom and be a blessing to those who have suffered much. If you are able to help, please click on this link and designate your gift for „Marc Patton – Ukraine outreach.” 

https://globalfaithmission.denarionline.com/Missionaries/Detail/?missionary=Patton%2010137

Here is a video we made at last year’s camp.  

 

Upcoming events:

·      June 9^th – Cookout in the park outreach event.

·      June 30-July 4 – Annual English day camp

 

Family News:

During the Spring Break, we made a quick trip to Jacksonville, Florida to see our new granddaughter, Verity, for the first time. All three of our daughters now live in Jacksonville, so it was great to spend time with them and our son-in-law, Keith. We have another grandchild due in June, as our son Ben and his wife Kelsi are expecting their third child. They will be having the birth in Zanzibar, so please pray that all goes well.

 

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you all!

 

Marc and Charin Patton

 

March 2025 Prayer Letter

 Dear Friends,

 

We have had a great start to 2025 at both Focus Church and with the Hungarian Baptist church planting mission.

 

New church office, studio, and community space:

On April 1^st we will be moving our church office to a new location. We are very excited about this opportunity. This is a two-story house with a fenced-in yard, which is quite unusual for this area of Budapest. This new location gives us more room for our growing staff. It also will have space for a studio where we will be able to produce quality videos for our online outreach ministry. We will also have space that we can use for small groups, youth meetings, training sessions, business meetings and counseling sessions. This will be a big transition, as our offices will no longer be in the same building as our Sunday services, but we believe that the new weekday location will provide greater opportunities for outreach, discipleship and long-term growth. Please pray!

 

Upcoming baptismal service:

In January we announced our next planned baptismal service for April 13^th. At that time, I only had one person committed to baptism. Since then, five more have requested baptism, so we plan to baptize six on April 13^th. We also have a married couple and a few singles who will join the church at that time.  Exciting to see how God is building His church.

 

Church planting retreat:

We had a fantastic retreat for church planting couples which we held from Feb 21-23 at a hotel in Tokaj, Hungary. Eighteen couples were in attendance. This was a great time for me and Charin to get to know these church planting couples better and encourage them in the ministry. We received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from all who participated. We would appreciate your prayers to uphold these pastors who are “in the trenches” starting new churches.

 

International conference in Warsaw, Poland

March 20-22^nd I was part of a delegation from Hungary participating in an international conference on missions and church planting in Warsaw, Poland. There were participants from 10 eastern or central European countries. I was co-leader of the church planting track and did a workshop on how to develop a pathway for discipleship. It is great to be able to both learn from and encourage church planters from other countries in the region.

 

Family News:

We will make a quick trip to the US from April 18-May 1^st to visit family and see our new grandbaby, Verity Elise Wood, for the very first time. We always value these opportunities to spend time with family. Please pray for safe travels!

 

Opportunities for partnership:

In closing let me mention two financial needs:

·      Support for our summer English day camp. We need about $2,800 toward building rental expenses. (Please designate – English camp)

·      Furnishings for our new church offices, studio, community center. Special gifts of any amount can be used toward furnishing this new space. (office furnishings, kitchen equipment, couches and chairs for the living room area). Please designate – new office. 

 

Thanks so much for partnering with us through your prayers and financial support. God bless!

 

Marc and Charin Patton

 

Support Address: Global Faith Mission Agency, P.O. Box 1088, Hixson, TN 37343-9998

Sending Church: Trinity Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida

 

January 2025 Prayer Letter

 Dear Praying Friends,

 

January is always a busy month of planning and vision meetings for the new year. We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for 2025. But let me back up and bring you up to date on the past 2 months.

 

TV interview:

In November one of Hungary’s national TV stations interviewed me and some of our members for one of their religious shows. It ended up as a 10-minute portion of the program describing the founding of Focus Church. The reporter was Catholic, but I felt like he did a great job presenting our vision and ministry in a positive light. It is always hard to know how many people actually watch the broadcast, but we were thankful for this opportunity to introduce our church and vision in a broader way. You can have a look at the show by clicking on this link: 

Advent outreach:

We held an outreach event in December targeting the families of our summer English camp participants. We invited them to a “family advent evening” of games, crafts, songs and a Gospel message. We were very pleased with the turnout. It is our goal to have more than just the one point of contact with these families over the course of the year. 

Advent outreach

Family news:

From December 20-January 3^rd, we made a quick trip to the US to be with family for Christmas. We always treasure these times we have together, especially when we have all four of our kids and grandchildren together at the same time! We were not able to stay long enough to be there for the birth of our third granddaughter. Our daughter Nancy gave birth to Verity Elise Wood on January 20^th. We are so thankful for her safe birth, and she is certainly a beautiful baby. We are enjoying the pictures and video calls now, and hope to see her in person during our Spring break. 

Nancy and Verity

 

A look ahead:

• January 26^th is Vision Sunday at Focus Church. We have exciting plans for the new year and look forward to sharing them with the church.  
• February 6^th I will be cohosting a “church-planting open house” with about 15 young Hungarian pastors to share with them a vision for church planting in Hungary. 
• February 21-23 we will be holding a retreat for church-planting couples at a hotel in Tokaj, Hungary. These are Hungarian couples who are already involved in church plants. The goal will be to not only express appreciation for their faithful service, but also to encourage them in the ministry. 

 

We value your prayers and financial support.

 

Marc and Charin 

November 2024 Prayer Letter

 Dear Friends,

 

Fall ministry is off to a great start. We have had several big events and exciting developments. Here are the highlights:

 

New worship songs and concert:

Over the past few months our worship pastor collaborated with others on our worship team and a few other worship leaders to write seven new worship songs in Hungarian. These were recorded in a studio by our worship team and introduced in a concert on September 21^st. The worship songs are fantastic with great variety in content and style. We are already using them on a regular basis in our services, and it is my prayer that they will be used in churches all across Hungary. I’m grateful for an amazing worship pastor and team who were able to put this all together!

Worship team and those who helped with the concert.

 

5-Year Anniversary of Focus Church

We celebrated our church’s fifth anniversary on the weekend of September 28-29^th. On Saturday several of us went out into the area around the church to pass out flyers and invite people to church. On Sunday several of our families with young children went out to a nearby playground to pass out balloons and invite people to church. It was a blessing to see one family with children and three other individuals show up for our Sunday afternoon service. Our Sunday service was a celebration of God’s goodness and also an opportunity to share the Gospel with the visitors in attendance. We also received three new couples into the church membership. 

New members

 

Conference on Church planting

On October 5^th we hosted a conference on church planting and evangelism. We had 165 participants from about 60 churches or church plants. The goal of the conference was not only to encourage those already involved in church planting, but also to promote church planting and see new people called into this great work. There is a huge need for church planters in Hungary. I am praying especially for young men who have the needed gifting and ability to start new churches. Please pray with me that we will see God raise up a new generation of church planters in Hungary!

Church planting conference

 

Leadership Retreat:

Leadership development is one of our priorities at Focus Church. On the weekend of October 11-13, we invited some of our key leaders to join us on a retreat in Egerszalok. The goals of the weekend were to share vision, strengthen unity, listen to our ministry leaders and spend time in prayer and worship together. The retreat was a great success, and we returned home with a greater sense of purpose, anticipation and unity. 

Leadership retreat

 

Fall Break:

Charin had her fall break during the last week of October. After two intense months of ministry, it was a treat for the two of us to get away for a few days of rest and recuperation. We also spent time in prayer and seeking vision for the next season of ministry.

 

A Look Ahead:

November 8-10 – Charin and I will be attending a retreat for pastors and their wives and will be sharing at one of the sessions.

November 19 – I will be interviewed by a national TV station about Focus Church. 

November 23-24 – I will be speaking at church plant in Romania.

December 7 – Evangelistic program for families at Focus Church

December 20-January 3 – Brief trip to the US for Christmas. 

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! You are a blessing!

Marc and Charin

 

 

 

September Prayer Letter

Great Summer!

Summer is camp season in Hungary, and our church held three camps and many of our members helped in other camps as well. These are great opportunities for outreach and spiritual growth. 

 

English Day Camp – July 1-5

The first camp was our English Day Camp held at our church. This is Charin’s big week, as she plans and oversees the camp. We had a team from Florida come to help, and many of our members helped with translation, game time, snacks and meals. 90% of the 72 children who came do not attend our church on a regular basis. Most don’t go to church at all. They all got a good dose of the Gospel throughout the week. We also shared the Gospel with their parents as well at the closing ceremony. One family visited several more times on Sundays during the summer. We’re praying for fruit that remains!

Closing ceremony with parents

Ukraine Missions Trip – July 20-27

It was exciting to send another team to Ukraine this summer to do a Vacation Bible School for our partner church there. We got reports of a great time with a lot of good feedback from both team members and the missionaries who serve there. We plan to send another team in October to do a weekend event for women. Many of the husbands of these women are off fighting in the war, so there is a great need to encourage the women and children left back at home. Please pray for Ukraine!

Two or our young ladies leading singing in Ukraine

 

Focus Church Family Camp – August 19-22

The last big event of the summer was our church family camp. We had about 90 people spend four days together in Szajol, Hungary. I really do feel like our church functions as one big family during these times. It was an important time for spiritual growth and building deeper relationships. We had teaching and small group discussions in the mornings, free time in the afternoons, and then special evening sessions. Monday was a prayer walk, Tuesday a worship night and Wednesday a night for testimonies. God worked in powerful ways, and we are fired up for the Fall!

 

Worship time at Family camp

Family Time:

We enjoyed a visit from our daughter Nancy and her husband Keith in July. We also enjoyed visiting Ben and his family in Zanzibar in early August. 

 

With Ben and his family in Zanzibar

With Nancy, Keith and Betty

A look ahead:

September 21 – Focus Worship Concert – Our worship pastor and his team wrote 7 new songs this summer and will be introducing them in this concert.

 

September 29 – Five-year Anniversary – Yes, it’s hard to believe, but it’s been five years. We are looking forward to a great celebration!

 

October 5 – Church Planting Conference. Our church will be hosting this event, and we are hoping to draw dozens of church planters, pastors, and leaders, from across Hungary to join us for this event. Please pray that many will be stirred up to plant strong, Gospel-preaching churches in Hungary!

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support!

Marc and Charin Patton 

June 2024 Prayer Letter

Camp season is here!

 

English Day Camp – July 1-5:

Our English day camp is right around the corner. 72 children are signed up to attend. They will be with us Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. In other words, we will have a full 40 hours to invest in their lives. Most of these children are from unsaved families who do not attend church. Please pray for Charin as she directs the camp. We have two couples coming from Florida to help us and of course, many of our church people will be involved. Here is a picture from last year of our “closing ceremony.” Nearly a hundred parents came to see their children perform, and they also heard the Gospel clearly presented. Many of the campers are returning this year, and we pray that the Lord will continue to work in their hearts and the hearts of the parents. We are trusting God when He says His word “will not return void but will accomplish that which He pleases.”

Closing ceremony - 2023

 

Focus Church on mission:

We will send a team of 8-9 to Ukraine July 22-26 to run a camp for our partner church there. Please pray for travel safety and open hearts. We want to be an encouragement to the missionary couple serving there, and see children and teens reached for Christ. We also have two other teams heading out to other locations within Hungary to serve in children’s camps.

 

Church Family Camp – August 19-22

We will close out the summer with our annual family camp. These camps are always a great time for spiritual renewal, strengthening community and connecting new people to the church. We are hoping to have 80-90 of our people in attendance. Prices are going up and this year’s camp will cost $150 per person. Many of our church members are university students or single young adults with limited resources. We are hoping to raise $1500 for scholarships to help people attend camp. Would you consider sending a special gift to meet this need? You will find a donation button at the bottom of the letter. 

 

Hungarian church planting:

I have had several meetings with church planters over the past month. In May I travelled to Kalocsa, Hungary to meet with a church planting team there. In June I met with 6 church planters to discuss strategy for church planting in Hungary, and later we had 9 church planters come to Focus Church for a day of training. Please pray that we will see new churches planted and existing church plants strengthened. I am currently working with 32 church plants across Hungary.

Pastors and church planters in Kalocsa

Family Time:

We are looking forward to some relaxation and family time this summer. Our daughter Nancy and her husband Keith will be visiting us in July.  We will then travel to Zanzibar, Africa at the end of July to visit our son Ben and his family. 

 

We wish you all a blessed summer!

 

Marc and Charin

 

May 2024 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

It has been a busy two months. Here are the highlights:

International church planting conference

On March 14-16 I served as one of the hosts for an international church planting conference held in Bicske, Hungary.  We had participants from 10 countries: Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Canada, and the USA. The attendance was about a hundred, as we also invited pastors and leaders from churches in Hungary to join us, who are considering planting a church. The conference had a good mix of preaching, practical teaching, small group discussions, prayer, worship, and fellowship around the table. We received a lot of positive feedback and look forward to seeing the fruit of healthy new churches across central and eastern Europe. 

 

Focus Church – baptism and new members

On March 24^th we held a baptismal service at Focus Church. Three young men followed the Lord in believer’s baptism. Each went through our discipleship program. It is always a joy to see the spiritual growth that takes place through this. We also had a young couple and three more single adults join the church. We had a great attendance with numerous visitors. God is building his church!

 

Freedom in Christ weekend

In April we did two Freedom in Christ weekends, one for the ladies and one for the men. These are always great times to see the Lord do a deep work in both spiritual healing and setting people free from sin, deception, and guilt. 

 

Graduation in the US

In early May we made a quick trip to the States to attend our daughter Hannah Grace’s graduation from Cedarville University. Our other daughters Nancy and Esther made the trip from Florida to join us. We also were able to meet up with most of Charin’s family. This short week was such a blessing and time of refreshing for us all. 

 

A Look Ahead:

·      July 1-5 – English Day Camp – We have over 60 children registered already. A team from Fellowship Baptist Church in Thonotosassa, Florida will be joining us to help with the camp. Please pray that the Lord will work in the hearts of all the children and their parents!

·      July 22-26 – Ukraine Missions trip – For the second year in a row we will send a team from Focus Church to help run a day camp for our partner church in western Ukraine.

·      August 19-22 – Church family camp – This is always a great time for building relationships and spiritual growth. Please pray for a great week!

 

Exciting days ahead! We are grateful for your faithful prayers and support.

 

Marc and Charin Patton