Salt and Light - January 14

Greetings from Debrecen,

God's work in Debrecen continues...... This past weekend Darrel spent some time with a friend you all have been praying for, "J."  During the time that he was with Darrel they met up with another friend, "S."  "J" has been saying that he now considers himself to be an atheist but is still open to conversations about God. When they were together "S" had the opportunity to share his testimony with "J." So exciting because "J" heard the gospel from someone else who is from the same part of the world as he is and the joy that "S" had in sharing his testimony with someone else. God is good.

Also just found out that another person we have been praying for, a girl from our discipleship group, is taking the courageous step to be baptized on February 4th. She has been thinking about this for a long time and now she is going to do it through a local church.

Arianna is on her way home from Southeast Asia!

Darrel received his test results and passed the oral section but not the written. So language school continues.

Please pray:

• "J's" heart would continue to be open and that God would speak to him in such a way that He would believe in Him. God would use "S's" testimony in revealing salvation and faith to him.
• This young lady who will be baptized, that the enemy would not distract or discourage her and that she will be obedient. God would continue to give her a hunger to know Him.
• "N," a friend who is trying to follow after God and has made some good but hard choices. She would be encouraged at this critical point in her life.
• God's protection and encouragement for Arianna as she returns today and starts school and a new job in the next couple of days. It seems that the enemy often attacks after serving the Lord on a mission trip, so if you could pray that God would carry her through this time.
• Darrel said that our friend "I" is still anxious about his test results, so please keep praying for him. He will see that it is the true God who is helping him.
• For "C," who is serving in Debrecen this week regarding an agricultural ministry. Pray for divine appointments in sharing about how to use this to share the gospel.

Thank you so much for praying for us!


One of His servants,

Kimberly Hathcock

Salt and Light - December 10

Greetings from Debrecen.

God has a plan! So glad! Thankful that Darrel's exam is over and the results are in the Lord's hands. It will be another month before we get the results. We are excited about having Arianna with us for Christmas! We are blessed! We had the opportunity to worship in a school where the teachers and other workers from several different schools gathered for the first time. A friend of ours was preaching and a lot of people accepted Christ. It was exciting to see God at work!

Please pray:

• Peace in Israel--the city of Jerusalem and the people who live in Israel have become dear to us, so we ask for a miracle that only God can arrange in His way and His timing. 
•  University students taking exams, that the stress and pressure would cause them to seek and depend on God and that He would bless those who trust in Him. 
•  God would give Abigail and Sophia the ability to learn the subjects that are hard and to get caught up with their classes. They would not stress out but trust the Lord to help them. 
• God would prepare Arianna's heart as she gets ready to go to Southeast Asia. 
• Wisdom and discernment to see God's plan for us and that we would be faithful to love and serve those whom God has sent to us. 

Thank you so much for praying!

One of His servants,

Kimberly Hathcock

Salt and Light - November 12

Greetings from Debrecen,

Thankful that God is wise and good in all that He does. It has been a full week and God continues to be faithful. Our friend took his medical exam and he didn't think he did so well, so we continue to ask God to work in this situation in such a way that He will know the one true God. We were blessed to have some guests with us and to see the opportunities that God is opening up for ministry. We are so looking forward to Thanksgiving and how God is giving us different people to invite.

Please pray:

• M, one of my friends, that she would have favor in the eyes of those in charge of some serious legal issues that she will be facing Tuesday. We are asking for God's favor and grace. Most importantly is that M will see God's hand and believe in Him.
• We would keep our focus on Jesus! Knowing Him and sharing Him with others faithfully.
• S would see the importance of being connected to a church and that he would know what the next step will be.
• B, a student who was working abroad, hurt her hand pretty badly and returned home. Pray for healing for her hand and that she would be able to find work. God would send people to encourage her since she is the only Christian in her family.
• Group of young ladies from the Baptist church who are getting together in the next couple of weeks to decide how they will share the gospel with their friends and those around them. God would give them courage and boldness to share the Gospel.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

One of His servants,

Kimberly Hathcock

As You Go - August 2017

Paul & Tena Brock Newsletter Excerpts

Nagykanizsa, Hungary

Dear Prayer Partners,

Kanizsa English Intensive 2017

We want to thank you all for praying for our summer camps.  God must be delighted that so many prayers surely are getting through.

A lot going on here in Nagykanizsa....19 people prayed to ask Christ into their lives. We praise God for the work He is doing in people’s hearts here in Nagykanizsa and beyond. Some of the 19 came to our city through family or friends just to be at this English camp, a couple from as far as Budapest (110 miles away). We think they had divine appointments to hear the gospel.

• Please pray with us that we will be able to do a good job of follow-up with all those who said they wanted to begin a personal relationship with Christ.
• Pray they will take the materials we mail to them and do the lessons that will help build the foundations of their spiritual lives.

We had two excellent teams with us this summer. The Summit Church in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area of North Carolina sent us 14 people to host the camp. And The IMB sent us an Endeavor Team made up of young ladies from several states....

Twelve people prayed asking Jesus to come into their hearts during the English camp week. That only happens when God is directing and obedient people are prepared to share the gospel. We thank Griff & Katie Crews and Phillip Black for getting their team ready and for sharing their lives and testimony with our students.

Our second team of Endeavor students was led by Betsy McCarter. Many of you already know Betsy. She was a journeyman with us for 2 years. She brought a group of 6 girls (ages 15-18) who were here for 30 days. They were part of the English camp assisting the Summit team. They also learned several Hungarian songs and helped lead our worship services at church.

Working together both groups were able to build relationships with students and talk with them about why they as young people had chosen to follow Christ. We like to say the students could see a Christian life “fleshed out” in the lives of the American students. This helps the Hungarian young people see that faith in Christ is not just something for their grandmother.

Prayer group before a gathering

The Endeavor team focused on leading the Purpose Driven Life study in small groups.... At the end of their time here there were another seven people who had prayed asking to begin a personal relationship with Christ. We greatly rejoice that this number of people would want to know God.

• Pray that we will see them follow-up and become those who produce 30, 60 or 100 times more.

We also would like to mention our current Journey woman, Katelyn, and our previous Hands On workers who came again for the summer camps, Samantha and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn stayed over for 2 more weeks worked very long hours with both teams. We feel so blessed for all our help this year.

I must tell you of one young man, "J."  He heard the message and began a personal relationship with Christ....Paul told him that we would be having a baptism in August. He said he wanted to be baptized. We told him he had to have his parent’s permission since he is just 12 years old. He went home that evening and explained it to his parents about beginning a personal relationship with God and his desire to be obedient in baptism. They said yes.

• Pray for "J" that God will grow him in the faith and that his testimony thru baptism will lead others to do the same.
• Pray that his parents will understand the symbolic testimony as they hear it explained and demonstrated.
• Pray others will also be obedient in baptism.

Paul performing a baptism

We would also ask that you pray for Paul, Tena and Katelyn this fall. As of this writing we have been informed that we will not be receiving any Hands On volunteers to come help us from August to December. We are disappointed but know that God understands what is needed and will again prove faithful.

We ask you to join us in praying that we will receive some volunteers in January who can help us next spring.

• Pray that we will be effective in working with the number of students that will come to us for English through Bible lessons.
• Pray that the three of us will have the strength to do the work of five or six.
• Pray that the Gospel will be clear for those who come and that it will change their lives as they hear about the love and sacrifice of Christ for them.

Thanks again for your prayers for us and the Hungarian people.

Paul & Tena Brock
Nagykanizsa, Hungary

Contact the Brocks  
IMB Western Hungary website: http://www.hope4hungary.com

Bakers in Budapest - August 16, 2017

 Sowing seeds through Summer Camps
in Dunakeszi and Békásmegyer.   

Many children heard the gospel for the first time. New contacts were made.  For many the gospel and religion are still foreign.  We hope through relationships and continuous contact with believers these can experience God's love and the gospel.

Pray for Adrian, to continue following Jesus.  We have not been able to contact him for weeks.

Grain Game - using Bible verses with object lessons and games to convey Biblical truth.  (This child participated in the game about choices.)

• Pray for those in the camps who heard the gospel and those whom we made contact with. Ask God to continue to work in their lives and for the new relationships to grow.
• Pray for Adrian.
• Pray for us as we prepare to travel to the U.S. in September.  We will be staying for over three months.  Please feel free to contact us at monteaprilhavehope(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you for partnering with us in the gospel here in Hungary.

The Bakers, Monte and April and family

Europe Facts
Of the 7.5 billion people in the world, 11% are European.  99% of Europe is lost.

Bakers in Budapest - July 19, 2017

Pray for Adrian. 

• Adrian surrendered his life to follow Christ. He asks prayer for God's help to know how to live for Him in this world, in the challenging situations he daily faces and make adjustments. 
• Pray for fellowship, truth, encouragement. 

 (Adrian gave permission to use his picture & real name.) 

Pray for Grain Game CAMPS July 24-29. 

• Pray for children to hear about the camps and come (in Dunakeszi and Bekasmegyer). 
• Pray for the gospel to be shared and relationships to be built. 

Thank you for joining us in His work here in Hungary.

Monte, April, Joshua, Elizabeth, Olivia, and Stephen

Salt and Light - May 7

Greetings from Debrecen,

So thankful for your prayers. Our daughter Arianna was at a critical point of decision about her major in school and God directed her desires and she did make a change this week. I am so thankful for your prayers for her as she pursues a degree in intercultural studies. I am so thankful that God always shows us the next step and He is faithful to keep us on the right path since He is God and knows what is up ahead and we don't. I just want to say that you all were praying this week and God answered our prayers this week! Thank you!

We continue to catch up with people as God brings them back into our lives.

Please pray:

•  "I," a young man who is a new Christian, that he would grow and make good choices. That God would empower him to overcome some obstacles in his life. 
•  "J" and "A," who have a hotel business who really want to use it for ministry, but there is an issue that needs to be resolved so they will have the freedom to continue. Pray that this issue would be resolved quickly as it is one that could continue for a long time. God would bless their desire to use this as a place of ministry. 
• Our neighbor and friend "M" is having a difficult time. She is not a Christian and I told her that I was praying for her, so pray that she would see how God is taking care of her and acknowledge that He exists. Also that she would be more open to spiritual conversations. 
• When I was walking this morning I saw another neighbor, "I," who is having a lot of knee pain and will have to have surgery. I told her that I was going to walk and that I would be praying or her. Pray that she would see God at work in this situation and that it would encourage her faith and that her husband would see it as well. 
• God gave us another opportunity to share with "K," pray that his eyes would be open to the reality of God. While we were gone today he came by and dropped off a black light we were looking for and told Darrel that he would like to believe that God showed him the way! Yeah, God! 
• Another M who lives in Hungary but works sometimes in Serbia lost his passport right before he was going to head home. Praying an impossible prayer that it would be returned or that he will be able to get a temporary passport quickly.* 
• Darrel will meet with "J" and a former student from the Middle East (We have prayed for him before, he was the one who was given a Bible and his religious leader took it away). Pray for Darrel to have wisdom in what to say and that these guys would have open hearts to hear the good news.

I don't mean to overload you all with prayer requests but if you could pick one and pray for them this week that would be awesome.  Thank you so much for praying!

One of His servants,
Kimberly Hathcock

*Update: Just wanted to let you know that our friend who lost his passport in Serbia found it this morning and he will get to return to Hungary and to his family! Yeah, God!

Salt and Light - April 23

Greetings from Debrecen,

Thankful for His strength and the work that He is doing in Debrecen and in the lives of students. God continues to give us favor with our friend of another religion as we enjoyed a time together of learning and sharing. Our friend from Holland came and spent Easter Sunday with us. Darrel did an awesome job preaching and clearly sharing the gospel story. We keep praying for our friend who was there and listened.

Still meeting folks we haven't seen in a while. It is interesting to me that our Indian friend who had also lived in the U.K. is living and working in Israel and curious about the places Jesus had been. What is God doing? We keep praying and trusting that He is at work.

God continues to give us favor with our church and we are open as to how God would use us. In recent days we have been becoming increasingly aware of the spiritual warfare that we see and experience here. To say that we value your prayers is an understatement because we really need them.

Continue to pray:

• That our friend's eyes and ears would be open to the witness of Jesus as he lives and works in Israel.
• God would give Darrel the ability to speak and learn Hungarian so he can pass his test in June so he will be finished with full time language school.
• Our daughters would have the faith to trust God for His provision in every area of our lives.
• For a young lady from our Bible study, that as a busy student she would carve out time to spend with God, and that she would continue to grow in her relationship with Him.
• For another friend, that God would speak to him in such a way that he knows that it is the one true God.
• That "A," who is a new believer, would grow in his relationship with God.
• A lady that we buy our eggs from who is not a believer. Darrel has had some good conversations with her.
• We would be faithful and fruitful.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

One of His servants,
Kimberly

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!

So thankful for today and God's faithfulness. We are so excited about how God will work through Darrel's class. He had a great first meeting. I will wait another week before assigning students for prayer until the class list is final.

We are thankful for the things God is doing on Monday nights. Darrel's class especially has a mix of non-Christians and new believers. J. is really coming along. Keep praying because there are others who need to know Jesus. We were on campus Wednesday walking and praying and asking God for conversations. It is very interesting as we walked around we saw so many different kinds of people from many different places. This week we found out that there has been a building purchased near campus for the purpose of functioning as a mosque. We see a lot of M students.

Please continue to pray:

• God will continue to send those who He wants to be a part of the class and that there will be opportunities to talk after class.
• Monday night, that God would give us wisdom as we teach and disciple the young people who come.
• Our desire is to be a good steward of the time God gives us with the students who come into our lives. We would encourage, teach and equip them for the things that God has planned for their lives.
• All the M students who are on campus, that the witness of Christians would be strong and that believers would have the boldness to share there faith.
• Please keep praying about the refugee situation in Hungary and throughout Europe. God would give the leaders wisdom and that the refugees would have the opportunity to hear the gospel and experience His love.

Thank you so much for praying,
Kimberly Hathcock

Betsy's update for the week

Hello Everyone,


I hope that this email finds you well and that you are enjoying this last week of August.  Here in Hungary, this is the last week of summer and most of our students start back to school next week!  So everyone is soaking in those last few moments of summer break before hitting the books again.  I have seen on that most of you guys have already started back and that even football season has kicked off.  It is definitely signs that fall is right around the corner. 

This week we were able to have house church and continued our study in the book of Luke.  Please continue to pray for our house church and for those who are coming to be obedient with what they are learning.  This Sunday was also the last Sunday for one of our students, "Zs".  He will be traveling to Debrecen (in Eastern Hungary about 5 hours away) for medical school and probably won’t return until December.  Please be in prayer for him and his adjustment to university.  We are so excited for him, but will miss him very much!.  Another student, "Z," will also be starting high school in Budapest next week.  Please pray for him and his adjustment as well. 

Finally, I have some absolutely wonderful news to share with you guys!  We have a new sister, "E."  She is a student of my supervisor’s and she prayed to receive Christ this morning!!! Praise HIm.  Please be in special prayer for her, because as it turns out, she is moving to Norway tomorrow to join her husband.  Please pray that God would make Himself known to her and that she will be able to find some other believers to grow with! 

Thank you so much for y’all’s prayers.  I am grateful for each and every one of them.  Please let me know how God is working in your life and if there is any way that I can pray for you.

In Christ,
Betsy

Prayer Requests:

-new believer, E. and her growth in Christ
-Zs’s move to Debrecen and adjustment to university life.
-Z’s move to Budapest for high school
-Sunday Group and Friday night group
-Our new students