December 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

Here is our December prayer letter!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Christmas is right around the corner. We are looking forward to a great month of December and also stepping into the new year! Here is the news from October and November. 

New leaders:

In March of this year, we began a leadership training program with nine key individuals. Our goal was to prepare some of them to take leadership of various ministries and others to step into roles in personal discipleship, counseling, or teaching/training. On November 6^th we installed 6 of them into leadership positions. The other three are all involved in our personal discipleship program and also participating in teaching and training. We are now looking forward to beginning leadership training with a new group in 2023. One of our goals is multiplication of leaders, and we are excited that God has brought us many more potential leaders in whom to invest. 

New Leaders

Discipleship Training: 

This fall we added 2 new all-day training events that we plan to do on at least an annual basis. One was on Bible Study and the other on Personal Evangelism.  We had 17-18 participants at each of these two events. It is our goal for all our members to go through our “Freedom in Christ” weekend, and also our all-day training events on Spiritual Gifts, Bible Study and Personal evangelism. 

Training on Bible Study

Speaking at national pastors conference

Outside Speaking events:

This has been a busy fall for outside speaking events. I had the privilege of speaking at two conferences on church planting and at the annual Pastors Conference of the Baptist Union of Hungary. I also was interviewed about church planting on one of Hungary’s national radio stations. Another fun thing was to do a series of seven devotionals for the Pax TV station. This time Charin and I did them together. We are grateful for these opportunities to minister.

 

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

Marc and Charin Patton

October 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

Here is an update on the past two months. 

Family Camp: 

We had a great week of family camp August 24-28. More than 60 people attended this year. We tried to have a more relaxed schedule this year and our people really enjoyed the time we had together. We had a good number of new people come who were not yet members, and it was good to get them better connected to the church. Our theme was "Going Deeper" with an emphasis on having a deeper relationship with God and with each other.

Summer Camp

New Members!

On September 18th we added seven new members to our church. We were especially excited that six of the new members were ages 40 or older! Up to this point 85% of our members were 35 or younger, so we have been praying for a few members from our generation. We are excited to see how the Lord will use them in our church. 

New Members

3 Year Anniversary

On September 18th we also celebrated the three-year anniversary of Focus Church. What a joy it was to look back at the blessings of the past few years. God has given us tremendous growth, and we are slowly outgrowing the coffee shop. We are looking forward to what God has in store for us in year number four!

3rd year anniversary

New Pastor in Esztergom

On September 25^th Joseph Steiner was installed as the next pastor of our former church in Esztergom. Joseph is about my age and has been involved in church planting, pastoring and Christian education for a number of years. We are praying that God will use him and his wife Csilla to move the church to the next level.

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

 Marc and Charin Patton

August 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

These have been busy and exciting times. Here is an update:

Summer Day Camp!

Thank you so much for praying for our first English Day Camp here in Budapest. Everything went so well. We had a great team arrive from Fellowship Baptist Church in Thonotosassa, Florida to help with the teaching and also had 14 of our church members there nearly every day helping with games, crafts, meals, and translation. The 21 children who participated came from 16 different families – and none of these families attend our church…yet! (an on-going prayer request!) On the last day of camp, we had a “closing ceremony” and invited the parents to come. Every family was represented. They saw their children perform, and I brought a brief message. We invited them all back to attend our Sunday service. We were so pleased to have 5 families come back on Sunday. They were able to experience what a church service looks like for us, and I preached a Gospel message. We had several good conversations after church. We have been praying that we could reach at least one family through the camp, and God has given us a good connection with one the families. I have emailed back and forth with the father a few times, and he came to church this past Sunday. Would you please join us in prayer for Szabolcs and his family?

Closing ceremony for parents

 

Trip to Zanzibar:

July 13-26 we travelled to Zanzibar, Africa to visit our son Ben, his wife Kelsi, and our granddaughter Wonder. We were glad that our daughter Hannah Grace was also able to travel with us. Ben had asked Charin and me to teach a weekend retreat to their national workers on the Christian Family. We taught one full day on marriage, and a second day on parenting. We really enjoyed interacting with their people, but it was also a huge challenge, as we came face to face with some major cultural differences. But we received a lot of positive feedback and pray that the Lord will use what we taught to build strong marriages and families.

Family seminar

 

We also had a great time getting reacquainted with our granddaughter. She is now about 22 months old, so she is at a very fun stage. And, of course, we had some good time of sight-seeing and relaxation as well. Please pray for Ben and family. They are expecting baby number two in September and have travelled back to the States for the birth. 

 

A look ahead:

1. Our next big event will be our church’s family camp which will be held August 24-28. We have about 60 people signed up, so we are excited about that. Please pray for a great week of drawing closer to the Lord and each other!

2. We are looking forward to several special events in September including celebrating our church’s 3^rd anniversary on September 18^th. 

 

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

Marc and Charin Patton

June 2022 Prayer Letter

 Summer Day Camp - Please Pray!

Our summer day camp is right around the corner. July 4-8 we will have 21 children attending our first ever English day camp at Focus Church Budapest. It is really exciting that none of these children are from our church. Most of them are from the public school where Charin teaches English. To the best of our knowledge they are all from unchurched families. We are so excited about the opportunity to connect with these families and share with them the love of Christ. Please pray that the Lord will open the hearts of the children through the camp, and also that we would be able to connect with the parents as they drop off and pick up their children. We will also invite all the parents to a closing program on Friday the 8th. And we are thankful for the team from Fellowship Baptist Church in Thonotosassa, Florida who are coming to help. Thank you for your prayers!

Pentecost Picnic and Volleyball outreach:

Pentecost Monday is a holiday in Hungary, and we held a picnic at the park next to our church. We encouraged our people to invite friends and family who do not attend our church to come join us. Many visitors did come. The volleyball was a big hit. Since then we have been setting up the volleyball net on Monday evenings in the park, and we have had a lot of people come out. We even had a few people join us who were just passing by and stopped to watch. A couple of the people we have connected with through the volleyball have even come out to church. Please pray for these opportunities to reach out in the community!

 

A look ahead:

1. On May 22^nd and May 29^th we will be holding membership classes for people interested in church membership. Several families have already registered, and we are looking forward to seeing who all will come. We continue to pray for 25 new members in 2022. 

2. Pentecost Monday (June 6^th) is a national holiday in Hungary. We are planning a cookout and picnic that day. We will be encouraging our people to bring visitors as well to give them a chance to connect with our church. Please pray for a great time of fellowship and relationship building.

3. We have had 20 children register thus far for our summer English day camp. Most of these are from the public school where Charin teaches. We are praying for 40 children - primarily from unchurched families. Please pray with us to this end!

 

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

May 2022 Prayer Letter

 

Baptismal Service!

Without question the biggest event of the past month was the baptismal service we held on May 8^th. What a joy it was to see eight young adults profess their faith and follow the Lord in believers’ baptism. We rented the large auditorium which is located directly above the coffee shop where we usually hold our services. It not only has a built-in baptismal tank but also a much larger seating capacity. We didn’t get an exact count, but I would estimate that we had 150-180 in attendance. 

Almost all the young people baptized were from unchurched families, so we had many unbelievers in attendance. Our guest speaker was Pastor Samuel Mike who has a real gift for evangelism. He gave a clear presentation of the Gospel, and several people lifted their hands asking for prayer for salvation. It was also a joy to hear the testimonies of those who were baptized. Every story was unique, and I am always amazed to see how God works to bring people to Himself! We closed out the service with a great time of food and fellowship.

This was by far the biggest event we have had since our grand opening more than two years ago. It was a huge encouragement to our people to see the fruits of their labors. I am also curious to see what new fruit we will see as a result of this service. I am praying that many of these visitors will return and that the Gospel seeds planted would bear fruit in the future. 

Prayer Requests:

1. On May 22^nd and May 29^th we will be holding membership classes for people interested in church membership. Several families have already registered, and we are looking forward to seeing who all will come. We continue to pray for 25 new members in 2022. 

2. Pentecost Monday (June 6^th) is a national holiday in Hungary. We are planning a cookout and picnic that day. We will be encouraging our people to bring visitors as well to give them a chance to connect with our church. Please pray for a great time of fellowship and relationship building.

3. We have had 20 children register thus far for our summer English day camp. Most of these are from the public school where Charin teaches. We are praying for 40 children - primarily from unchurched families. Please pray with us to this end!

 

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

Marc and Charin Patton

April 2022 - Prayer Letter

Discipleship:

Andras and Nelli

One part of our discipleship pathway is our “First Steps” discipleship for new converts. We designed this material to be used one on one, laying the foundation for Christian faith. The young couple pictured (Andras and Nelli) were just married in December. They are preparing for baptism in May. I have been taking them through the First Steps material. We also have six others going through this material. Charin is working with two ladies, and we have four other church members working with the other four. Doing discipleship this way makes it much more personal, allows for deeper relationships, and also allows us to involve more people in ministry. It has been a joy to see the growth in both those being discipled and in those doing the discipleship!

 

Leadership Training:

Leadership Training

On March 22^nd we launched our leadership training. I have been working with our worship pastor on developing our curriculum. We will be meeting once each month on Tuesday evenings for about 2 ½ hours. We currently have nine young adults participating. Each session has a mixture of teaching, discussion, and prayer. We are also trying to give them opportunities to serve alongside our current leaders. It is our goal to raise up the next generation of leaders for Focus Church and for our future church plants. Please pray for wisdom and effectiveness in this ministry. 

 

Easter Outreach:

Recording of worship videos

The Lord laid on our worship pastor’s heart the vision to produce two quality music videos for the Easter season. Daniel wrote two new worship songs: one about the cross, and one about the resurrection. We then recorded both songs professionally. The song on the cross will be released on Good Friday, and the resurrection song on Easter Sunday. These will go out on all our media platforms. Please pray that they will be used to encourage believers and to be a testimony to the lost of our hope in Christ. If you are not currently following us, you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and catch these releases. The name of our church in Hungarian is Fokusz Gyulekezet.

 

A look ahead:

1. We are planning a baptismal service for May 8^th. We will be renting the 400-seat theatre which is above our coffee shop. We are praying for a big attendance with many visitors. 

2. We have begun advertising our summer English day camp, and a number of children from Charin’s school have already signed up. We are praying for 40 children - primarily from unchurched families.  

3. We also continue to pray for our goal of 10 baptisms and 25 new members in 2022.

 

Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers and support! 

 

March 2022 - Video Update

Dear Friends,

Here is a brief video update sharing our vision for the next few years. Enjoy!

Marc

January 2022 Prayer Letter

Family Time!!!

It is a rare thing to have all our kids together at the same time, but God blessed us with that opportunity this Christmas. Our children are “scattered to the four winds.” We hadn’t all been together since our oldest daughter’s wedding almost three years ago. Nancy and Keith live in California, Ben and Kelsi in Zanzibar, Africa; Esther is in Florida, and Hannah Grace is studying at Cedarville University in Ohio. Of course, the highlight of it all was to have our granddaughter Wonder here! She is 14 months old and a bundle of energy. 

 

 

Church growth:

On December 12^th we received 8 new adults into the membership. David and Dominika are a young couple with their first baby. They recently moved to Budapest and were looking for a church. Rebeka married one of our young men this past summer. Jonatan began attending with his wife this past summer. His wife recently got saved and is in our discipleship program. The other four are single young ladies. Lidi plays violin for an orchestra in Budapest. Betty is an intern at Word of Life Hungary. Szandra is studying to be a preschool teacher, and Eszter teaches at a school for the blind. Each brings unique gifts and value to our ministry, and we are looking forward to seeing how God will use them in our church!

 

Youth Outreach:

Our youth meetings seem to be feast or famine. On December 4^th we held a Christmas party for youth. Once again, we had a great turnout of more than 20. We are now doing one youth meeting each month on Saturdays. Please pray that we will see a good core group formed. It was also a blessing to have one of our young men bring the message. It was the first time I have heard Gergo speak, and he did a great job!

 

A look ahead:

 

1.  January will be a busy month of planning and preparation for the new year. Please pray especially for our all-day leadership team meeting on January 22^nd!

2. Please pray for our next two youth meeting that will be held on January 15^th and February 5^th.

3. Please pray for seven adults who are now going through discipleship and preparation for baptism.

4. We continue to have visitors every week. Please pray that we will see many of these become regular attenders. 

5. We are praying for 10 baptisms and 25 new members in 2022.

 

Thanks so much for another year of faithful prayers and support! 

Christmas 2021

New Members

December Youth Meeting

November 2021 Prayer Letter

 November 2021

We’re two years old!

Focus Church celebrated its 2^nd anniversary on September 26^th! It has been a crazy time trying to plant a church in the middle of the Covid pandemic, but the Lord has been so faithful. It was a joy to look back at all God has done during the past two years. We also did an interview with three of our members who were with us from the beginning. They also shared their perspective of being a part of a church plant. All in all, it was a great day of rejoicing.

 

Church growth:

“Some plant and some water, but God gives the increase.” We stand in awe of how God is growing His church! Each Sunday we have first-time and return visitors, and in October we held two events after our regular service where we met with prospective members and shared the vision of Focus Church. At the end, 19 adults expressed interested in either baptism or church membership. We are beginning discipleship programs with the nine who have not yet been baptized, and we have also been meeting personally with the others who have already been baptized in the past and are now requesting church membership. Lord willing, we will be adding these new members before the end of the year.

 

Youth Outreach:

Our desire to launch a regular youth meeting has faced many challenges. We tried two different Friday evenings, and no teens showed up for either event. We then decided to try doing one Saturday each month. On November 6^th we invited the teens to a hike and had a great turnout. We are planning a Christmas event for December 4^th. We have a great team of willing workers, but we are still praying for that core group of teens around which we can build a youth group. Please join us in prayer to that end!

Church Office:

We got the keys to our new office around the first of October. We are so blessed for this opportunity. The office is in the same building we use for Sundays, so it has given us a great base of operation for our ministry. 

 

A look ahead:

 

1) Please pray for the nine adults going through our “First Steps” discipleship program. We are praying for each to have a clear understanding of salvation and to gain a good foundation for their faith. 

2) Please pray that we would do a good job integrating the new members into the church. 

3) Please pray for our next youth event planned for December 4^th. 

4) Please pray for a blessed holiday season for both our family and the church. 

2 year anniversary - interview

Youth Outing

New Office