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.



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.



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





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



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



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.



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.

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!

This past week, we had 48 kids and lots of teen helpers from our church together for Baseball Camp in our hometown of Petofibanya. We praise God that many restrictions due to Covid had been lifted in time and God provided all we needed in order to make this happen.









The majority of the kids attending this camp come from unbelieving families and we are privileged that parents, year after year, entrust their kids to us for a week. Our camp days include a time of singing, teaching topics related to team work and baseball that also turn our attention back to Jesus and the Gospel.



Above: Noel (above right) who comes from a foster home where teammate Erika works looked forward all year to his second Baseball camp. Although he struggles with agression and anger issues, he had minimal problems at camp and was once again encouraged by the love of Christ he experienced.



Above: Our son Ben (pictured center) was able to take some time off of work to serve with us at camp. It was a joy to be with him as well as serving along side of our daughters Ellie and Kira who are taking on more and more responsibility at camps.



Above: Teammate Roger did a great job planning and putting the entire camp together and bringing devotions each day.

The kids enjoy baseball training, team building games and of course lots of water games. Over the past few weeks we have had record temperatures in Hungary and the water games were a great way to keep cool in the afternoon. By God's grace we had no issue with rain, even as it was forecast on the last day, God cleared away the clouds.





On the last day of camp, we invited parents to come and see what their kids had learned throughout the week. We celebrated with hotdogs and had a great turn out. This is a great way to get to know new families and God continues to give our church a positive reputation in the community.







It was encouraging to see the joy and excitement of all the teens from our church serving at Baseball Camp. They are so built up by being together and using the giftings God has given them to serve the kids. Most of the them will continue to take part in various camps throughout the summer which gives them hands-on experience in Great Commission work. In times like these where we are seeking to lift the name of Jesus on high, there are always counter attacks from the enemy. There was a matter on the first day of camp with one of our teen helpers that caused lots of friction and I believe was aimed at dividing and causing strife. We praise God that He made a way for us to work through this difficulty and maintain a spirit of unity while speaking the truth in love.



We also have teen helpers who are not members of our church like Brenda (pictured above). Brenda has attended VBS in the past and helped in various camps. She is beginning to sense her need for Christ and various people were able to share more about the Gospel with her throughout the week. Please pray for her and for continued open doors to reach out to her in the summer months.



Above: Boti said that before camp he didn't believe in God, but now he does. He is showing more interest and we have connected him with our youth group ministry hoping for more opportunity to help him know Christ in the future.



Above: Our daughter Ellie (right) and Alina (Left) helping with worship at camp.



Our daughter Ellie shared that first time camper Peti (pictured above) was very curious about the subject of hell and brought up his need of going to church to confess his sins. Ellie was able to share that we can confess our sins directly to God in prayer and she was able to answer some of his questions about hell. Later as parents were picking up their kids, he told his mom, "I'm going to confess my sins in prayer tonight." She looked at Ellie and smiled. May God continue to direct Peti in personally experiencing Jesus and coming to an understanding of the Gospel! Ellie has a passion for apologetics and is currently looking into which College she will be choosing to attend next year in the US. Please pray for her as she seeks God's guidance.

On the last day I was invited into a conversation with one of the teen helpers who was asking for prayer. This helper had come to faith years ago in one of our VBS camps, but does not live in our hometown. This makes it difficult to offer continued spiritual support. This teen helper shared about their struggle with bulimia, identity issues and more. I was grateful for this helper's desire to turn back to Jesus who is the only one who can give true deliverance and the help needed. Please pray for this unnamed helper to experience the life changing grace and love of our Savior. Pray that God's truth fill their mind and that all lies and deception become exposed and renounced in their life. Thankfully, this helper is also attending our VBS in the last week of July, so we'll have more opportunity to personally encourage and help where needed.

After a few days of rest, we'll be off to English Camp to reach out to 65 campers in which 2/3 are FIRST TIME campers (Praise God!). We would love to have you join the team of intercessors who will be praying for specific requests as we are there from July 8th - 16th. Because of the sensitive nature of these prayer requests, we ask you to contact us for access to the password protected English Camp Prayer Blog. Email Us

Check out some of these highlight films from our Baseball Camp and rejoice in what God has accomplished!

Reunited in peson

We praise God for freedom to meet again every Sunday in person for worship service. God was gracious to provide the area we use for our summer camps as our temporary meeting place for Sunday Worship through the local government. We've been able to meet in person since May 23rd, and have just been informed that the mask mandate has also been lifted for indoor meetings. We'll be back to our regular meeting space next week!







Above: Teammate Miki's son Bence with his great grandmother and grandmother at worship service.





Above: Heidi with Alina spending some quality time in the open field behind the building where we meet.

Investing in the youth

As school was coming to an end and summer camp season approached, the youth group ministry once again began to grow. Please pray for these teens and young adults to come to maturity in Christ and find growth and encouragement in their faith this summer.

MOPS ministry

I was invited to do some portrait photography for families that attend our church's Mother's of Preschoolers ministry. After the photo session, teammate Heidi (above left) came up with the idea to pray for a few of the mothers who were expecting and very close to their due dates. Afterwards we also distributed an autobiography by evangelist Nicky Cruz who was saved from a violent life with gangs. There are a few of these mothers that have shown interest and have met personally with Heidi on various occasions. Please pray for them to be transformed by God's grace leading them to put their trust in Jesus Christ.





Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! We look forward to sharing all that God does at English camp in our next report.