We have some great news from the past 2 months.
Baptism and new members.
April 13th 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 3rd. 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 9th – 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
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