Summer Mission Update

Summer Missions Conference: Our time at Vajta in June was a truly blessed time. We all had a great time fellowshipping with our fellow missionaries and ministers from around Eastern Europe, many of whom we can only see at times like these. There were some really great teachings from Bob Caldwell, Thomas Powell, and Rich Chaffin. Here is a link to the teachings. While there was no central theme, The Lord brought a message out to me about returning to your first love and abiding in the love of Christ. This was great as it echoes the teachings I am preparing through John 14-16 and has given me a lot of inspiration for them.

Renewed Focus: One thing I discovered at the conference was that in some ways I had lost focus on what God had called me to do. Early in the week, God began opening my eyes to the fact that I was trying to meet my idea of success rather than simply minister to those around me. He showed me I need to focus more on the needs of the people He has brought, share with those who will listen, and let Him do the rest. Also, to stop looking at how few we might be sometimes and rather focus on how strong we are. Since this change in me, I have seen a dramatic change in the church and I am excited about where God is taking us. Also, since this our numbers have increased as God has brought new people to the fellowship.

Summer Camps: Both camps were really blessed! In Debrecen, I was really able to connect to the students and the last day I was able to share about God's unconditional love and unconditional acceptance. The kids were very open throughout the week and the Gospel was shared multiple times in very clear and distinct ways. Also, I was reminded of a few of the helpers I have seen come to the Lord through this camp. Lili, a girl whom I saw come to the Lord through these camps, even joined me in leading worship one of the days.

The camp in Eger was a bit more rough for me as I was in a group of sports guys (me being a guy who always was bad at sports) but God opened doors there as well. The last day I was able to share with the older kids about the reality of truth, reality of God, and the reality of Jesus. From these four, one came to church the next Sunday! Here also I was able to see a helper I saw come to the Lord stepping up and teaching a class! It's such a blessing to be able to see such obvious and lasting fruit as this! These camps are a huge success, not always in a short term evangelistic way (dozens getting saved overnight) but rather in a long term, life changing decission kind of way. I have seen it happen time and time again, it just takes some time and some pouring into them before they can come to a place of trusting the Lord.

Outreaches: On August 13th, a small group will come out for some evangelism again from Budapest. Last time we saw some great responses to the conversations but no commitments to follow the Lord or come to the fellowship. Part of this has to do with the culture of mistrust towards religion and establishing relationships before commiting to a church, but the other part is maybe we aren't doing something right. Please be praying for God to show us how we can not just preach the Gospel but be effective in helping people make a real change in their lives towards following God. Also, we are praying about planing some sort of a marriage conference for the couples in town focusing on how to strengthen and improve their marriage from a Biblical perspective. We feel like this is a strong need in our community here and will be a true blessing to the families here.

Campus Crusade for Christ: I've also been working on an ecumenical outreach at the local college with the Methodist pastor here in Szolnok. Before the camps, I was able to meet with the Lutherin pastor as well. We all are in agreement that something needs to be done to reach out to the college group. Even more, there are no existing ministries reaching out to them yet. Our plan is to hand out information packets to new students and offer them a "surrogate family" here in Szolnok who can help them out and guide them around. As they do this, hopefully there will be chances to share the Lord and His love to them. I still have a lot to do and would like to include the Reformed church in the plans as well. Next month I am planning on contacting the college about permission and the Campus Crusade group for the materials. Please pray for everything to work out as I will have roughly a month to bring everything together to hit the first year students on their first week when it will have the most impact. Also, I think this will have a great effect in establishing our presence in the city with the other churches.

Financial Blessings: God has opened the doors of heaven lately! Besides receiving more than enough donations to cover our debts and needed purchases for the summer, God has also opened the door for me to teach English at another primary school here in Szolnok. Starting in September, I will be teaching English 15 hours a week to 6 to 15 year olds three times a week! Both of these schools are the best schools in their respective locations and will provide both a sense of belonging to our fellowship as well as many new connections in the community and leadership of the area. While the income is not significant, it is enough to help cover most of our necessities and allow more of our donations to be spent on outreaches and church related functions. We are truly blessed at God's faithfulness and feel amazed at the heart of His body to give!

Family News: Emily has been growing in leaps and bounds lately! She's begun speaking, singing and dancing. We are truly blessed with how kind and friendly she is with others and how comfortable she is in most situations. Marianna and I have been enjoying some nice time of spiritual growth and closeness to each other. Thank you to those who have been praying for us and our marriage! We have found it easier to read the Word, pray and share with each other what God is speaking to us. Please continue to pray that God would protect us from the enemy's attacks and perseverence in maintaining our spiritual disciplines.

Prayer requests: English camps; that God would help us to lead these children to Christ as we follow up with them. Campus Crusade outreach; that God would use the churches, in unity, to reach out to the new and foreign students, leading them to Christ. August outreach: that we would be effective in leading people to a changed life in Christ. Church; growing deeper in the Lord and continuing to keep our eyes on Christ and His plans. Teaching jobs; that God would use me as a witness in these places and give me opportunities and connections to continue spreading the Gospel in Szolnok. Family: continued growth and openess to the work of the Lord in our lives