March 2018 prayer letter

Greetings from cold, snowy Hungary. We rejoice that even in these cold, winter months that the Lord has been at work.

Esztergom:

We’ve begun the year with a sermon series on spiritual disciplines. In our small groups it has been good to hear that many are being more faithful in personal devotions. A number of our people set a goal to read through the Bible completely for the first time. We have also encouraged our people in the area of fasting and prayer. We believe that spiritual growth in the lives of our individual members will help us grow stronger as a church as well.

We also have been praying for numerical growth. We were pleased to see a family of four begin attending in January. In February we had a Valentine’s Banquet and encouraged our church couples to each bring an unsaved couple with them. Of the 21 couples in attendance, eight were couples who do not know the Lord. Our guest speaker spoke on the family, but also worked in the Gospel message. We continue to pray for souls to be saved and new people to be brought into the church.

Extended Ministry:

In January I taught my class on the Christian Family at Word of Life Hungary Bible Institute. I always enjoy interacting with these students. I had students in my class from 15 different countries, so it is a great opportunity for international impact. At the end of January I preached in Mannheim, Germany for my friend Rodney Kidd. In February I did a Vertical Church weekend at the Baptist church in Eger, Hungary.

Vertical Church Conference:

In previous letters I mentioned how the Lord has used the Vertical Church vision to influence many pastors and churches in Hungary. This past fall I teamed up with two other Hungarian pastors to begin planning a conference for pastors, leaders and Christian workers. The conference will be held March 16-17 at the Baptist church in Kecskemét, Hungary. The interest has been overwhelming. We closed registration one month before the conference, as we had already reached maximum capacity. We are expecting about 420 participants from 95 churches. Our main goal is to spread a fire of passion for the glory of God in the pastors and leaders who are coming. We are praying that they will go home with a renewed faith and vision for their churches. Please pray with us to that end. Thank you for standing with us in prayer and support!

Marc and Charin Patton

Valentine's Banquet