Summer Update

Greetings from Eger!

We hope you had a great summer. Ours was eventful and fruitful, and we are excited about all that the coming months hold. Here is a short summary of what we've been up to the last few months, and what we've got coming up.

Conferences
In June we went to the Foundations conference in Vajta, a conference for Eastern European church leaders. Five of us went down there from our church; Jani and Tünde couldn't come because Tünde was pregnant at the time. Since then her baby has been born; Júlia is beautiful and healthy, a true gift from God. The conference was a great blessing for those of us who were there. One of the speakers at the conference was our friend Pete Nelson from Longmont, CO. Nick and Pete have both been praying for Ukraine and about ministry opportunities there for years, and got to take a short trip there while Pete was here for the conference. The Lord blessed the trip and they were able to make some useful contacts, and are praying about the next steps.
In July we had the Summer Conference in Vajta. The theme of the conference was renewal, and God did do a great work of renewal in many people that week. On the last night of the conference Nick taught about 'renewal in service', which was followed by a time of worship and prayer. The good fruit from this conference is still noticeable in our church, months afterward.
At the Summer Conference Balázs decided to get baptized, and it was a great joy for us to see him express his commitment to following Jesus in this way!

Outreaches
We had 2 main outreaches this summer: Our annual English Camp for high school and college students, and another English Camp for younger kids.
Last year we had many people with young kids interested in our English Camp, but since it is geared for teenagers, it wasn't ideal for them. So this year we organized a second camp for smaller children, where we also taught English.
The kids camp went very well, but was incredibly tiring! Along with English, Rosemary taught Bible lessons every day and Shane taught them songs about God. All the kids had a great time, and we expect the camp to grow next year.
One thing we were glad about is that our neighbors sent their 8 year old son to the camp. Gergő had a great time, and we are glad for the opportunity to bless our neighbors and share Jesus with them.
The big English Camp had 75 campers this year, and was probably our best camp so far from a practical standpoint. Everything ran smoothly and perfectly; it was such a blessing. The camp was also very successful from a spiritual perspective. One new thing we did this year was to have a table of free stuff, on which we Bibles, the book "More Than a Carpenter" (in Hungarian), and various fliers. The kids took the Bibles faster than we could pass them out. They also took many copies of the books.
Since English Camp we have started a youth group, which meets once a month on a Saturday. Our hope is that in addition to ministering to the youth in our church, it will be a way to continue ministering to the kids from the camp.
We have also started an English Club, or rather re-started it. Rosemary is now leading it, and so far it seems successful. She got a phone call the other day, that an article about her and the English Club will be in the Heves county (Eger is the Heves county seat) newspaper, which also mentions our church!
We are very thankful to all those who came out and served with us this summer. We had help from many in the church, as well as Kim and Andy - a couple who study at the Bible college in Vajta, April - who lived in Eger and served with us when we first started the church in 2005, Geoff and Angela from CC Syracuse, and a team from CC Vista.

Future
We will have another baptism service on September 20, at a lake near Eger, as we have done the past 2 years as well. There will be 3-4 people who will be baptized to make an outward statement of their new life in Christ.
We are excited to have more and more babies being born in the church, and look forward to having a full children's ministry in the future!
On a sad note, some people from our church are moving away from Eger, some to Budapest for school and work, others moving abroad. Notably, Judit Poczok is moving to England this month for a year to work. Judit has been in our church before it was even a church! We are going to miss her, and pray that God blesses her time in England.

Two weeks ago, we held a vision meeting in which we laid out the future vision of the church. (Audio here - *Hungarian only) In summary, the long term vision is to start Bible studies in the surrounding cities and villages, which are outreaches of the Eger church, with the goal that they would grow into independent churches. The short term vision is to do various forms of outreach to reach Eger, both evangelically and socially.
We are working on the possibility of getting a grant to do some sort of social work in Eger, perhaps with troubled teens, homeless, or elderly people. If we would be able to do this, we could serve these people in Jesus' name while at the same time providing jobs for people in the church. Please join us in praying for this possibility. We have handed in the initial paperwork, but there is a lot involved in this, and it is sometimes over our heads.
In the next few weeks we will begin doing some outreaches to the college here, as well as an event for Heart Day at the end of the month, where we will tie in the Gospel with the message of having a healthy heart.

Family
Our biggest news is that Rosemary is pregnant again! We are expecting the new addition to our family in January. Rosemary is currently 20 weeks along, which means that we should be able to know the sex soon. We're very excited, and feel very blessed!
Nate is now two years old. We took him to the zoo for his birthday, and he got to see all his favorite animals which he knows from books and videos. He even got to pet some of them, including a giraffe! He is a big guy now, and is talking more and more.
Balázs started high school yesterday, and is loving it. He has some friends in the school, including some from English Camp and one who is also a Christian. He is doing well in general, and it is great to see the positive changes taking place in his life as he is here in our home.
Nick is going to start school again at the end of this month, and is enjoying being in school again. It will be hard in the next few months, with the new baby coming, and all that is going on in the church, so please pray for him.

One big thing in our lives right now, is that we have significantly less money now than in years past. Because of the financial crisis, some of our supporting churches have reduced their support. We are thankful for everything we get, but things are tighter financially, especially with a growing family. Nick still works teaching English, which helps a bit.
If you would like to support our ministry here in Eger financially, it is now possible to donate online (tax deductible) here.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We appreciate it very much!
Blessings,
Nick and Rosemary

English Camp Update

I'm writing from the camp to give a quick update on how the camp has been going so far.
We have 75 kids this year, and I would have to say this is our best organized camp so far. Rosemary and many others have put a lot of work into preparing the practical details of the camp, and it's running like a well-oiled machine!
But of course, that is not all that matters. Our desire is that the camp would be effective and fruitful spiritually, and we see that that is happening as well. Every day we have testimony times, in which the helpers talk a bit about their lives, and of course, as believers the most significant part of their story is how they came to know the Lord, and what their life is like in Him.

One thing we did for the first time this year was to make a table of free stuff the kids can take if they like. On the first day we ran out of New Testaments - and couldn't buy more from the distributor :( - we also have 100 copies of More Than a Carpenter in Hungarian, as well as CDs and Welcome Packets from our church.
Some of the helpers have been doing an Invisible Theater, where they take the kids on a journey through life - from birth to death, using Bible verses. It ends with them reading a verse that whoever believes in Him will live eternally, and the participant is raised from the dead to eternal life. The reaction from the kids is that it is very moving, and it has been running constantly in the afternoons.

We have invited the kids to come with their parents to church on Sunday, usually we do have quite a few kids and their families come out - so please pray for that, that they would hear God's Word, and receive it.

We would also like to start a Youth Group after the camp, and are praying that kids from the camp can connect with that too.

There is so much going on here that it would take forever to write it all down. All in all - it is a blessed time and things are going great.
Please continue to pray for the kids, for the helpers, and for God's will to be done in this place.
Thanks!

English Camp update

Please pray for our English Camp. In the last week we've been having kids cancel. Please pray that this would not continue, and that even more kids would sign up and there would be a ton of kids at camp this year! Thanks!

Eger English Camp

Our church in Eger is now 4 years old. We used to live in Debrecen and work with that church, and also came up here for 2 years for a Bible study that started with a girl, Judit, who got saved at Debrecen's English camp.
We now have our own English camp for the local high school and college students. It has grown tremendously, with 35 at the first camp and 80 kids at last year's camp. We are expecting 100 kids to attend this year.
Speaking a foreign language is a must here-and to graduate high school, most students need to speak 2 languages. Americans cannot comprehend that, as so many people I know think they can speak Spanish if they can order food-tacos and salsa por favor!!
We try to create a native speaking environment by bringing native speakers-mostly Americans, but this year an Australian couple as well-and by spending all day together.

I am writing this note to let you native speakers know about our outreach to our community, and to ask you to contact me if you are interested in coming to help with the camp.

The camp runs with about the same program every day: 3 hours in the morning in conversation with a native speaker (we have some Hungarians come who teach the beginners), free time in the afternoons where the kids can choose an activity like crafts, sports, hiking, baking, etc, and then we end the day with an "exciting" evening program like a talent show, games/activities, and our biggest hit-an American Idol style Karaoke contest. Really. I have stage fright, but Nick makes me do it and I sang Like A Virgin when I was 9 months pregnant.

If anyone is interested or wants to know more info-PLEASE contact me! We are short on helpers this year from Native speakers!
Some helpful stuff-Camp dates are Monday July 27 until Saturday Aug 1.
You can check our church website for more info-www.eger.golgota.hu

God bless, Rosemary

Post English Camp

The English Camp went really well this year - Praise God for that!
With more kids this year, there were some new challenges, but all in all it was a joy, and the kids and teachers all had a great time.
The Gospel was preached and seeds were sown. A number of the campers made commitments to Jesus, and the youth from our church who attended were strengthened as they were able to share their faith with their peers - many of whom are their classmates in school.
On the last day of camp, we passed out invitations for the students to bring their parents to church on Sunday, and today the church was full and people were having a hard time finding seats! I shared an evangelistic message from Ephesians 2:1-10, and we gave Welcome Packets to the parents and copies of Why Grace Changes Everything and More Than a Carpenter to the kids who came.
Praise God for a great camp, and for those who committed their lives to following Him!
Please pray:
- For the kids who were at the camp and who heard about God's love for them
- For those who came to church today and heard the Gospel Message
- For those who made commitments to Jesus at the camp
- For those who nearly made commitments, but are still counting the cost

Prayer Request: English Camp

Tomorrow we will start our 3rd English Camp here in Eger.
This year we have 80 kids coming, which is the most we've ever had - almost twice as many as last year.
We have barely enough teachers, and have even had a few problems - which God has worked out graciously. Shane's wife's dad will have a serious heart surgery on Monday or Tuesday, and we were really counting on their help to teach. Obviously they need to go and be with their family during this difficult time, but we weren't sure how we were going to cover without them here. But God is faithful, and he provided us with two girls from Debrecen who have taught in similar camps before, and are able to come for the exact amount of time that Shane and Marianna won't be at camp! It worked out perfectly - praise the Lord.
Please pray that God would use this camp in a great way. Previous camps have been very fruitful, and we're excited to see what God will do this week.
Please pray for us to have wisdom and sensitivity in how we share the Gospel.
Please pray that these kids would be impacted, and that their hearts would be receptive to the seed of the Gospel.