Dear Friends,
30 years!
Charin and I arrived in Hungary on August 20, 1993, to begin our adventure here. It is amazing to celebrate 30 years in Hungary. What a privilege and blessing it has been to be used of God to bring light and hope to the lost. We are thankful for you, our faithful supporters, who have allowed us to be here!
Expanded office area:
This summer we have spent many-many hours renovating our office area. We now have two small offices, and one larger office that can serve as a studio and a meeting room for up to about 20 people. We also gained some much-needed storage space. All this is located in the same building we use on Sundays, so this is a huge blessing!
English day camp:
Our English day camp was fantastic with forty-six 1st-4th graders and seventeen 5th-8thgraders in attendance. Our team of Americans from Thonotosassa, Florida did a great job. We also had a great team of our own people and a few local missionaries who helped out. Charin did a great job coordinating the week and doing much of the teaching with the younger children. Of course, the most important thing was that the children heard the Gospel clearly presented throughout the week, and many of them expressed their desire to follow Jesus. We have had continued contact with several families. We were thrilled that one family of five joined us for our church’s family camp. We also have several teens who returned for Sunday services and a special event held for them in August. We would love to see a youth group launched with these contacts.
English Camp - 1st-4th graders
Missions trip to Ukraine:
One of the most exciting things that happened this summer was that we were able to send a team of ten to do outreach and evangelism in the Hungarian-speaking area of western Ukraine. One of our elders led this team. We assisted a pastor and his wife who minister in four Hungarian-speaking churches. Our team ran a day camp for them and also did a weekend camp for the teens. Many of these children have been separated from their fathers since the beginning of the war, either because the father was drafted into the army or in some cases the father left the country to avoid being drafted. It is sad to see all the damage done by the war, not only to those caught up in the fight, but also to their families who are left behind. Our people described these children as “love starved,” and I am so glad that our church could minister to them. We are considering sending occasional teams during the year to encourage this pastor and continue ministering to the families there.
Summer day camp in Ukraine
Family Camp:
We closed out the summer with our church’s annual family camp held in Balatonfoldvar August 24-28. It is amazing to see the growth of our church. Last year we had about 60 in attendance. This year we had more than 90 participate. These camps are a great time to build relationships with our own people, but also to help new people connect on a deeper level. We had 2 families of five and another family of four come to camp who are not yet members and also a few single adults. We are praying that the Lord will continue to build His church.
Church family camp
The big move:
September 10th is the big day! That is the day we plan to move into the larger auditorium for our Sunday services. We are praying that this step will bring a big boost in attendance, as we launch into a new school year. This move also means a need for more workers and an increase in giving. Please pray that we would be able to meet these challenges!
God bless,
Marc and Charin Patton
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