Hathcocks' prayer update excerpts

Greetings from Springfield!

It seems like forever since I have last written. We are thankful for safe travel visiting family, Richmond, and Kansas City. We were greatly encouraged by our time in Richmond during the debriefing that we had with IMB. Thankful to hear from David Platt and the things that are evolving. We also enjoyed hearing from other missionaries about what God is doing in other parts of the world. Our girls were blessed to be with other MK's who get who they are because of their similar experiences.

God is good! We have enjoyed speaking with some sweet kids from our church and with the WMU. We so appreciate the prayers, support and encouragement from these godly women. It is exciting to hear about how God is working in people's hearts. This week we will continue with school and finish up some doctor's appointments.

We will head out again next weekend for Florida so I am not sure what kind of connection we will have as we are traveling. As we have been sharing, I am reminded of the people in Hungary that we can be praying for.

Please continue to pray:

• J as God continues to speak to his heart that he would respond obediently and completely surrender his life.
• M, a young lady of another religion, that she would continue to respond to God as He reveals Himself to her.
• God would continue to give the IMB leadership wisdom as they seek God and His direction.
• The missionaries that are retiring who are waiting on God to show them what to do next. They would have peace and clear direction from God. They would be encouraged!
• D, K, M, A, I, Z, and others who do not yet know Jesus, that their hearts would be responsive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
• Our friend and GCC partner, Alyssa, who had her baby last week! God would give her peace, strength and wisdom as a new mother. Also for her husband Denes as he finishes seminary and trusts God for wisdom and direction.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

One of God's servants,

Kimberly

Betsy's update for the week

Hello Everyone,

I hope that this email finds you and yours doing well.  My apologies for being a bit tardy this week; however, better late than never I suppose. :)  Things here have been going well.  The weather has been quite nice and the leaves are falling leaving the trees bare, a sure sign that winter is approaching.  I was able to meet with several students the past week, and the Father blessed me with some wonderful conversations with them.  Please be in prayer for R. and Z.  I was able to discuss spiritual topics with both of them.  However, both agreed that it was very interesting, but they aren’t quite ready to make that step yet.  Please pray that the Father would open their hearts to the gospel.  I also got a new student this week, A.  Please be in prayer for her that the Father would open her heart to hear the good news and believe the gospel.

Sunday, our house group met and continued in our study of Luke’s gospel.  Please be in prayer for this group as they consider what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus and how they can be obedient to that.  Please pray that they would have a great desire to reach their own and the people of Nagykanizsa.  Finally, this week we celebrated Eszter’s birthday!  We are so thankful for her and her vital part in our ministry!

The holiday season is upon us and with that comes Lottie Moon Christmas Offering!  Please consider giving this Christmas season.  One hundred percent of this offering goes to the IMB to fund missionaries like myself and others to proclaim the gospel where it isn’t known.  Due to your sacrificial giving, I am able to live here and completely focus on working with Hungarians.  I don’t have to worry about support or fund raising.  This offering really means so much to me and others, especially with the changes that have taken place at the IMB.  If you would like me to give you a video telling what we do here in Hungary for showing at your church or small group, please let me know!  I would love to help in anyway that I can!  You can also search #whywego and find many videos from others around the world, explaining exactly how Lottie helps us in our everyday lives!

Also, as many of you know, many of our fellow colleagues have taken the Voluntary Retirement and have felt God calling them back to the states to further the gospel there.  With that being said, many transitions are upon the horizon.  One is that probably around 800+ individuals are returning to the states by the beginning of the year.  Many of them didn’t have this in the plans.  So many are returning and have some needs that need to be met quickly, such as housing, cars, jobs, etc.  If you or your church would be interested in helping returning missionaries, please let me know or contact the transitions team at transitionsteam@imb.org.  They will be able to let you know more specifically what currently needs to be met.

On another note, unfortunately, my time here is winding down.  I now have less than three months remaining in Hungary before I return to the states and to the next chapter of my life.  I am overfilled with a mixture of emotions during this time of change.  My hearts breaks knowing that I have to leave this place that has grown to become home and the people that I have grown to love so deeply.  At the same time, my heart longs to return back to those that I left and give some very long overdue hugs.  Also, added to this mix, is the anxiety of my next step.  Please pray for me in the days ahead.  Pray for guidance, assurance, and comfort from the Father.  Please pray for the people that I have met and with whom I formed relationships.  Pray that the Father would work greatly and mightily in their lives, and pray for good times ahead and good “goodbyes” and closure.  Finally, pray for my next step that I would be faithful and obedient, even though I don’t necessarily know the way, but that I would lay myself down all for Him to use as He sees fit.  I greatly covet your prayers in the days ahead.  Please know that I am so thankful for each and everyone of your prayers.  They mean so much to me and to the ministry that we do here.  Please feel free to respond and let me know how the Father is working in your lives and if I can pray for you in any way.

Until He comes,

Betsy

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Prayer Requests: 

-Students: R. and Z., Anikó

-Sunday Group: obedience and growth

-Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

-Future of IMB

-My time remaining: I would finish the race, strong

-My future steps:  God would show me and give me assurance and comfort

Hathcocks' prayer update excerpts

Family and Friends,

We are grateful for the time Dr. Ard and his daughter Anna spent with us in Debrecen this past week. God did give them divine appointments and some great conversations with students. God is at work in the lives of students who are coming to Bible study, and they are growing and serving. We had the opportunity to go to Darrel's class and meet some of his students, they are so precious, please pray for them. So thankful for the conversations that we had with them and the opportunity to be a light. 

Coffee house went great with many students coming, including one of Darrel's former students. Several people had a great discussion with him. God is using this in so many ways. So thankful for God's creativity and how he orchestrates the events in our lives to work together for His Kingdom.

Please pray:

• God would draw people, especially lost people, to the Intensive English classes that will start on Monday. Today people will have the opportunity to sign up as well. We are excited about how God will use this to reach people who are lost and to open the eyes of the church to how they can reach out to the lost in Debrecen.
• The young people coming on Monday night would continue to desire to know Jesus more and more and to be a light where God has placed them in school and at work. God would give them boldness to share about Him.
• Our focus would be on Jesus, totally. Many of our colleagues will be finalizing their decision to leave or stay with IMB this week. Pray that they would discern God's voice in this area and that His peace will remain in their hearts in the coming days. FYI - Darrel and I were not offered the VRI because of age, so we plan on continuing with our plans for STAS in January. It is hard to say goodbye to people who have become like family to us.
• God would continue to stir in the hearts of Darrel's students a curiosity about Him and desire to know more about Jesus.
• Pray for Darrel's former student who knows a lot about his own faith but is willing to learn and talk about Christianity as well.
• Update on the refugees in this part of the world. They are closing the refugee center in Debrecen and moving them away from the bigger cities. There are mostly men, several from Iran, who are left. Several of these men have become Christians recently. There is also talk about a big group coming through Romania but we will see what happens. This border does not have a fence as of yet. Please pray for the refugees, discernment for the government to see who really is a refugee, terrorist, or someone just taking advantage of the situation. There is no easy solution. There are several groups assisting and ministering to the refugees so pray that they will have opportunities to share their faith.
• Jesus would be lifted up during the Saturday evening English worship this week. We are excited about being able to meet on campus.

Thank you for praying for Hungary!

Blessings,

Kimberly Hathcock

Adams' prayer update excerpts

Hello,

Solomon advises his sons in Proverbs 4:26 to “Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.” This verse describes what I was thinking as Mike and I prayer-walked Torokbalint this month. Our colleague and friend, Betsy, accompanied us one day and took the attached photo of this colorful fence and straight sidewalk. Many of the sidewalks, however, were not so straight. They were broken and overhung with ill-cared for trees that blocked our way. I was careful to watch for holes and low-lying branches so I would not stumble and fall. Sometimes we had to walk in the street, which made us feel like Hungarians. In the book of Amos, the prophet calls the Israelites to repentance when he said, ”Seek the Lord and live,…” . I prayed that verse many times as I strolled through Torokbalint this month. One man we met seemed to be a seeker of wisdom, if not God. He listened as Mike shared the salvation story with him and he allowed us to pray with him. He even asked if he could pray for us. You can pray for him. His name is “Frank.”

You can rejoice with us, because two of our campers became believers this month. One of these, “D,” attended a subsequent Christian camp where the seeds planted by the team from North Carolina were watered and we saw the fruit for which we long desire . Please pray for her mother, who told us the news about her daughter, but admitted that she herself is not a believer.

Mike and I had the opportunity to sing with a friend who officiated at a funeral this month. It was the second time we have been asked to sing at a  funeral of someone we had not known. The three of us were standing outside near the wall where the ashes of this lady were going to be placed. As we started singing the 4th song, two of the cemetery workers came forward, took the urn and placed it in the small opening in the wall, covered it with her marker, and then started sealing the grave. I didn’t know whether to stop singing or keep going, but opted to continue just as our friend Pisti was doing. Our singing wasn’t that bad.  We were so glad that Pisti was able to share the gospel with the family during the ceremony. What a joy to know that they still have hope.

By now many of you have heard that IMB has had to make the decision to offer voluntary retirement, available to 600 – 800 field personnel and office staff in Richmond, Virginia, in order to become more financially in line with our budget. Our age and years of service in Europe make us eligible for this opportunity. Please be in prayer for us and our colleagues as we seek to know God’s will for our future in ministry here in Hungary. We need to make a decision in the next few days and this is very difficult after pouring our lives into the lives of the people we have come to love over the years. We are so grateful for the support we have received from each of you and ask that you offer up additional support during this time of decision and potential transition.

Mike and Terry

Hathcocks' prayer update excerpts

Greetings from Debrecen,

We are thankful to be here in Hungary at this time working with students. Darrel's class will start this Wednesday! If you would like to pray for one student for this first semester let me know and in the next couple of weeks when we get the final class list I will send you their name. We are excited about seeing how God will work in their lives this semester. We continue with school and we are expecting my mom and her husband to visit us. We are very excited. Darrel preached this morning at an international church and did a wonderful job challenging the students. As you have probably heard in the news that the refugee crisis continues and intensifies. There is not easy solution.

Please pray:

• Darrel's class on Wednesday, that God will bring the students He wants in the class. Darrel will communicate clearly and the students will feel the freedom to participate in the discussions. He will be a light and that the conversations will continue after class.
• Wisdom and discernment for the government officials working with the refugees. Also for the best way believers can offer practical and spiritual help to the immigrants.
• Students who came to church this morning would see themselves as missionaries where God has placed them among other students. They would be bold and ready to share their faith.
• IMB missionaries who will have the opportunity to take an early retirement in the next few months, that God would speak to them clearly and that He would give them peace. Also for everyone else who is waiting on God, to discern what His plans are for their lives. We are all praying and asking God for what He wants us to do.
• J. continues to come to Bible study and is still very open to God. Pray that what ever is stopping him from fully trusting in Jesus will be removed.
• D. continues to call from his home country and will be back with his father at the end of this month. Pray that God would give him the ability to understand and believe in Jesus. Only God can do that!!!
• While Darrel teaches at the university, the girls and I will be on campus, pray that God would give us divine appointments to share the gospel.
• God would give us the ability to learn and speak Hungarian as we meet with teachers this week and prepare for an exam in December.
• I need wisdom as I teach my daughters that God would direct my words so that they bring clarity where there is confusion and encouragement when they are discouraged.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Blessings,
Kimberly Hathcock

Betsy's update for the week

Hello Everyone,

I hope that this email finds each of you well!  Things are starting to get busy here in Hungary.  School starts this week.  Please be in prayer for all of our students.  Pray that they will have a great start to the school year, study hard, and excel in their classes.  Please be in special prayer for our believer students, as well.  Pray that, in addition, they would be a light for their fellow classmates and would be bold to share the gospel with their friends.  Please also pray that God might open hearts of the students that he sends our way to learn English.  Pray that they would have eager hearts to learn about Jesus and His desire for a personal relationship with them. 
Finally, please be in prayer for Friday and Saturday.  Friday night we are having Youth Group again and Saturday we are having a party for back to school.  Please pray that many would come and that we can make new points of contact.  We had Sunday House church this week and many people returned from summer vacation and activities.  Please pray that we can reconnect with those relationships. 

On a different note,  I wanted to mention a change that has recently taken place within our company.  I’m sure some of you have seen the article, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware, since you are my prayer partners.  As some of you know, the IMB has had some financial challenges over the last few years and our budget has not been able to be balanced.  Due to this, we have a deficit that must we corrected.  After much prayer and consideration, it has been decided that the next best step is to decrease our number of personnel both in the states and on the field.  Currently, the company is projecting for 600-800 units to leave by the beginning of next year.  Of course, this is quite a large step; however, we are trusting that God is sovereign over the company and what we do.  I am mainly telling you this to ask for prayer.  Please pray for the leadership of the company.  Pray that God would direct their steps in the days ahead, steps that would glorify and honor Him.  Please pray for the units that will be leaving their positions.  Pray for good transitions and continue spread of the gospel.  Please pray for those who remain as many will have to take on more responsibility.  Pray for flexibility, openness, understanding, and above all perseverance in spreading His word.  I have attached the press release below, and if you have any further questions, please respond back and I will try to answer them as best I can or direct you to someone who can answer them. 

Thank you all so much for the prayers and your partnership.  They mean more to me than I can express. 

In Christ
Betsy

Prayer Requests:
-upcoming school year
-believers to be strong
-Friday night group
-party on Saturday
-upcoming vacation
-reconnecting with friends
-Sunday House Group
-future of the company


Link to press release: http://www.imb.org/updates/storyview-3489.aspx#.VeS9U7QnVUQ