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!