September Update

Past happenings

The past three months have been insane it seems. Right after the last update, we attended the Western Europe Foundations conference at Vajta. This is usually an awesome time of being in the presence of the Lord and fellow missionaries from all over Europe and this year didn't let us down. Marianna and I both felt so blessed by the time with our friends and hearing solid teachings that we didn't want to leave. However, like every mountaintop experience, it did come to an end. The biggest message I heard at the conference was God speaking about the importance of each person in the church and how important it is not to label people based on the problems they might cause in our lives. Rather, to rise above those perceived problems and share the love of Christ in a joyful, pure way. It was an awesome reminder.

Immediately after this, Marianna and I took some time driving through Western Hungary in the new car. It was a great time for us both to just be together, talk, and enjoy seeing new things. The best part for us both was spending time with one of Marianna's old friends in Győr. Also, testing the car out and seeing how great a blessing it truly is was really great for me personally. God so perfectly provided for us through this car, I am so amazed at how He worked everything out. It might be 10 years old, might have some scratches and dings, but it is solid and drives great. Praise the Lord!

The very next week we attended another conference at Vajta which was for all the Calvary churches in Hungary. Here, both Nick translated and taught and I helped with the worship times multiple times. It was also a great time of fellowship and renewal in the strength of our personal walks with God. The focus this year was on renewal and fellowship and to help with that we spent a lot of time outside of teachings and in fellowship. Also, each teaching was really focused on hitting hard and encouraging us to walk actively in our faith. The whole group from Eger really was blessed in this time and we all felt renewed and refreshed through the week. Also, Nick and I had the chance to baptize his foster kid, Balázs. It was really cool to see him make that step of faith in the Lord and be there to help him take it.

After this, we got back to Eger and immediately jumped into another project; the kid's day English camp. For five days, seven of us spent seven hours with eight kids, with Nathaniel helping, of course. It was incredibly intense and exhausting, but such a blessing! I really have a greater appreciation for those who work in the children's ministry and parents of large families! Trying to entertain and occupy these kids while teaching them about Jesus and English was an immense task, but God did a great work and the kids had a great time. The last day there was a talent show and meet-and-greet with the American teachers where almost every parent came, along with some of their friends. They all really loved the program and expressed an interest in us continuing the program next year. Unfortunately, none of them were willing to come to church that Sunday, but we expect a lot more fruit from this ministry in the future as we continue to expand and develop it.

We then had a week of preparation before the big outreach of the summer; English camp! This year we had four guys from Vista, a couple from Australia, Geoff and Angela from Syracuse, and Cali and Stephanie from San Jose! It was truly an amazing camp and it would be so hard to try to explain everything that has happened. God truly worked in a visible way this year and we have seen some great fruit from it already. One thing that was different this year is some friends from Debrecen put on an invisible gospel theater where they blindfolded you and took you through life experiences from birth to death. Almost all of the kids were really stirred by it and started asking questions about God. One boy I had the chance to talk with, Richie, has started coming to church on Wednesdays and is really enthusiastic about following the Lord. I am so excited too because the kid is brilliant! He was telling Cali and I all about quantum mechanics at the camp! It was insane! We also saw a girl named Brigi, who has come to the camp repeatedly, confess belief in Jesus and pray.

Because of the fruit of this year's camp, we've decided to start a once-a-month youth group focused on giving these kids a chance to plug into the church without stirring up the fear a lot of parents have about their kids attending church. We meet and play games, worship God, have a focused topical study, then have some time of fellowship. It's kind of like a mini-English camp. So far we have seen mostly kids already in the church come to these, but we are praying that more and more kids from the camps will begin to come as the program picks up steam. We are even praying about doing it more then once a month, should the kids show an interest in it.

We also received a really neat new flier from a friend of the Cady's in San Diego. The theme is hope and the verse is one of my favorites; Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' On the back, we have a tract which shares about how we should be careful what we place our hope in and how God alone can give us the only real and trustworthy hope. We are specifically praying this will reach out to the many people here in Eger who are suffering from depression and hopelessness.

Future happenings

We have a lot of things on the plate for this next three months, ministry wise as well as personal. First up, we have two music outreaches we are organizing for the next two weeks. We are hoping to use music as a way to draw people and then use the opportunity to witness to them with the fliers as well as spoken testimony. With the Vajta teams we have had lately, we've seen a lot of success with live music in drawing people. However, we don't want to just draw them, but see them come to the Lord! We can really use prayer for this as nothing we can possibly do will bring conviction and salvation to people. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Pray we are able to follow the Holy Spirit and that He would work in a huge way during these outreaches! The dates for these are September 16th (today!) and 25th, both from 6:00pm to about 7:30pm.

Also, on Saturday, September 26th, the city is doing a heart health awareness day. This is a great idea considering the largest cause of death in Hungary is heart disease. We are going to take advantage of this opportunity to do an outreach about Spiritual heart health. For example, sharing that a hope actually helps your heart stay healthy where depression and hopelessness weaken it. We will be offering a free heart check-up with the help of some doctors from Debrecen and giving people the good news at the same time. Please pray for this event also, first that people would come, second that people would hear the message, and third that more people would take better care of their hearts, both physically and spiritually.

On the 23rd of October, we have been asked to host a Vajta team for a 10 day outreach! This is the first 10 day group we will have had the chance to work with and we are excited about the possibilities. As of right now, we are still praying for people to volunteer to come and about what exactly we can do, but we want to really take advantage of their presence and do a lot of evangelism and outreach. Please be praying for the team that they might come with hearts to serve and be a part of the work here, and for us to come up with things for them to do that God would use their talents and gifts in, would benefit the body here, and would give them a vision and a desire for missions in the future.

Now for the two big news items! The first is that we are feeling our time here in Eger is drawing to a close, but the good news is that we feel God is leading us to take part in a church plant in Szolnok! Nick has shared a vision with the church about Eger being a planting church for the surrounding region and our desire to plant a church in Szolnok fits in perfectly with this vision. Also This is really exciting for us as we have been praying and seeing signs and confirmation that this might be what God wants for us. Also, at the conferences this summer, I learned that many of the surrounding churches have been praying for the area but that no one has stepped forward to do the work! As you can see from the map, Szolnok (the red mark) is far from the other Calvary groups (the blue marks.) It is a large city (population of about 75,000) and no major church groups are active there. It is a university town similar to many of the successful churches in Hungary. Also, it is Marianna's home town! Needless to say, we are very excited about this opportunity to step out in faith and looking forward to seeing the Lord do a work there.

However, it is still a ways off as there are a few things that need to happen before we can start. For one, we are praying for someone to come alongside Nick here in Eger to assist him in my place. Basically, as of now, there really isn't anyone ready to take that step and take over the things I am doing. To leave now, I feel, would be irresponsible and neglegent to the current calling God has on our lives as a family; namely to assist Nick in the running of the church. Also, we will need to re-establish a support base for the church plant. To be honest, I feel completely unable and unsuited for this work, but I am completely convinced in God's ability to make anyone willing into the man He needs for the job. He can make a donkey talk, he can surely use me if I stick close to Him and am willing to let Him do what He wants with me.

The other big news is that our little family is about to get a little bigger. That's right, there is a baby on the way! Marianna and I are expecting the next member of the Daniels family sometime towards the end of April! Praise the Lord! We are so excited to meet this new member and praying hard for God to make us good parents for him/her. Marianna is doing well but is often very exhausted. Please join us in prayer for this new life! We are also going to try to make it back to San Jose for this Christmas, however this depends a lot on two things; the health of the pregnancy and the finances to make the trip. We are a little nervous about how the trip might affect the baby and Marianna's health. If there are any complications, we will have to postpone the trip until a later time. Also, with the baby coming, we will have a lot of things we will need to take care of here and might not have the finances for a return trip just yet. We aren't worried though. We have learned a lot these past few years about how well God provides for us and how He always gives just what is needed, when it is needed most. Please be praying that we would trust God in this and, if it is His will, be able to spend this Christmas with the family in America.

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and emails! I can't help but think of how richly God is blessing us through so many of you and your encouragements, prayers, and support! We are so excited about the coming year and pray that you are as well. Looking forward to sharing with you all what God is doing out here in Eger, and soon, in Szolnok!

Love,
Shane and Marianna Daniels (and soon, baby too!)