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