2021 English Camp Report

We have thankful hearts toward God as we saw Him working all things out in order that we could hold English Camp once again when other countries continue to fluctuate with regulations and lock-downs. Initially we had a low number of those registered, but in the weeks heading up to camp, we had to close registration due to reaching our limit for our facility in Lakitelek.

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Three quarters of campers this year were attending for the first time. Many of them had no personal connection with anyone that attended in the past but rather discovered our camp online. Although we try to be clear on our advertisements that we talk about Christian themes and camp staff are believers, some are still surprised when they arrive that we make much about God. Bence, a first time camper, told his room leader, "Are they going to be talking about God all week?" But as the days went on, Bence opened up more and more and had a great time at camp. Bence's sister Kata also attended English Camp and their little brother Boti had attended our Baseball Camp just a few weeks ago. After camp was over, they all came to our Friday youth group meeting for the first time! Pray that the Lord bring this entire household to faith in Christ.

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Above: Bence (far right) attends our youth group for the first time after English Camp.

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Above: Little brother Boti (top) who attended Baseball Camp and Kata (above center) who attended English Camp.

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Above: Sharon was responsible to teach level 7, which focused on more complex language usage, unique expressions and exploring personality types.

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One of my responsibilities this year was to lead a morning Bible reading class. We take the kids through various Bible accounts helping them practice their pronunciation, learn new vocabulary and test comprehension with questions. This lays some of the groundwork of seed sowing through the week as kids are hearing about Jesus from the Word each day. Some of these kids are reading the Bible for the first time! I also shared parts of my personal testimony each day as it related to the characters we were reading about in Scripture and their encounters with Jesus. On the fifth day of camp, we share the Gospel message in our reading time and have a special presentation that we refer to as "Gospel Night" for the evening activity.

"Gospel Night"


Two Pioneers members, Erika and Robi shared their personal testimonies and we also had a Hungarian pastor, Barnabás come and explain the Gospel to the kids.

I praise God in seeing so many of our youth from Petofibanya serving alongside of us in reaching their generation for Christ! They served as room leaders, and put together a drama that had many in tears on Gospel night as Jesus was presented as the mighty and merciful Savior.





It is our custom to give the kids freedom to leave after this presentation, but we also invite anyone that would like to stay to remain in the room to talk to leaders. We praise God for the 11 who remained and 1 who came back after leaving because of conviction God was putting on her heart.



This Camp is open to anyone in Hungary, but of course our desire is to reach people from the areas we have church planting works. Viki (pictured above), who lives in our area was one who registered last minute and didn't initially expect to be able to attend camp. She is one of our church-planter partner's former students in public school and has begun attending our youth group. We're thankful that she was able to hear God's word throughout the week and she continues to be open to finding out more. She stayed after and was able to talk with Ellie and Sharon.



Above: Sára was one of my Bible reading students and had spoken to another about how my story about panic attacks and fears in my life (before knowing Jesus) really hit home for her. She stayed after and spoke and prayed with Patrik and Bence who serve in our youth group from Petofibanya.



Above: Ibolya (pictured above) swiftly left with many others right after the presentation was over. But she couldn't shake the conviction that the Spirit was putting in her heart. She came back later into the main meeting room and found Sandy who was her teacher throughout the week. Ibolya told her, "I know I'm lost." Sandy revisited what we've been studying throughout the week and what was spoken about this night and Ibolya put her faith in Jesus. This was the first time she had ever prayed in her life. Ibolya had discovered our camp online and came without any personal connections with campers or staff.



Above: Lora (above right) stayed after and talked to Anna. Anna is the daughter of Miki and Erika, our long time partners in church planting. Lora was part of a youth group in the past but said that they don't talk much about the Bible where she attended. She felt that she drifted far from God during the time of isolation because of Covid. At our camp, she realized how much she missed God and said that everything came together on Gospel Night. She observed that we have a personal relationship with God and she wanted the same. Anna prayed with her. Lora lives only 8 minutes away from Anna's college residence, so they made plans to spend time together after camp.

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Above: Our daughter Kira (left) with her roommate Panni.



Above: Aliz (striped shirt), Panni (to her right), and Lilli (can't see in pic) also chose to stay after and talk. Panni said that Gospel Night provided the final missing piece and everything came together and made sense. All three of them prayed to put their faith in Jesus.



Above: Fanni who put her faith in Jesus four years ago at camp also stayed afterward to talk. She knows she is having trouble gaining traction with her faith and finds it challenging being alone in a dorm for school. She was wrecked after seeing the drama put on by the teens and just wept. Erika spoke to her and they agreed to begin meeting online once a week.

These are just some of the stories and the more visible things we could observe, but we know that God is working in many more hearts and kids have not left this camp the same. Please pray for those who have made some type of decision, or have become open to seeking God. Pray also for those who live closer to Lakitelek and have no living local churches in their vicinity to join. Pray that God raise up workers and plant more thriving local churches that could become home to many of these kids.

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Petofibanya VBS one week away!


We would appreciate your prayers for us as we ready ourselves for our next camp in Petofibanya. This is the largest turn out to date with 126 kids signed up from our community with no advertising. Many are kids returning year after year and spreading the word about our VBS. Please pray for entire families to come to know Christ through this ministry!

Now enjoy some highlight films from English Camp!













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