Summer Ministry Opportunities (updated)

      As we travel, we do not only share about our future ministry in Hungary. We also have the opportunity to do ministry in many parts of the United States.

     Our most recent visit to Glen Lake Camp yielded much fruit for the Kingdom of God. As a guest speaker at this camp, I had many opportunities to interact with youth. They were a bright group of people and they enjoyed learning - especially when I shared some candy with them. :)  I was asked to teach on two topics in three sessions. However, one of the speakers from overseas was not able to Skype in and they asked me to do another teaching session on world missions. So, I ended up teaching three awesome topics at this camp for the youth: 1) European Missions, 2) Spiritual Practice of Sacrificial Giving, and 3) World Missions.

Teaching Session on World Missions at Glen Lake Camp in TX

The rest of the family enjoyed interacting with the youth and staff as much as their schedule allowed. Emily (5) does not know a stranger. Gabriella (2) she enjoyed singing and the water park and made sure her younger sister Lillian (10 mo) is comfortable in the hot TX weather.

Gabi loves Hymnals!!!

Water parks are a lifesaver in Texas for people from the north!

     After our many days in AR, TX, and LA we arrived home tired. We were schedueled to go to Hollow Rock Holiness Camp Meeting July 17-27. This camp has been help annually since 1818. Emily and I were on this trip together. We stopped in Zanesville, OH and visited with the Grace United Methodist Church for the weekend. Then we headed to Toronto, OH for the camp. We met some great people there. Emily made a lot of good friends both young and old(er).We hope to get back to Hollow Rock sometime in the future with our entire family.

Hollow Rock Camp Meeting since 1818

 

We lived off of this "highway" in the OMS cabin

The OMS cabin

Emily and I were teaching the preschool class about missions in Hungary!

    Emily was in for a special surprise at this camp. Our good friends the Landerholms were at this camp as missionaries representing their work in Hungary through World Gospel Mission. Kristen and I have been friends with Mark since we started Asbury Theological Seminary. When Mark and Eszti were dating, we had the privileged to have them in our home several times and they got to know all of our children. Emily has a special relationship with Eszti and they are best of friends. So, when I needed to speak or go to prayer meetings Emily would stay back with Eszti and they would find fun things to do on the camp grounds. I was especially excited to share the pulpit with Mark and Eszti on the same day and share with the camp about the great work that takes place in the Kingdom of God in Hungary. We have been preparing for ministry in Hungary for a long time. Our prayers has always been "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Mt 9:37-38 NIV) We are excited that God is putting together a group of missionaries who are related to one another in Him and we are excited to work together in many parts of Hungary in the future. For more information please visit the Landerholms blog. They are special to us. They are practically family to us. (http://landerholms.blogspot.com/)  

Emily meets Baby Landerholm!

 

 

Mark grew up at Hollow Rock camp and introduced me to a special hotdog called the slaw dog!

     We just got back from our last trip yesterday (8/11). We were in the Allentown - Easton, PA area for a couple of days and then we traveled to Clearville, PA to speak at a missionary conference. During this trip, I spoke nine times in various capacities. I shared about the current and future ministries of OMS Hungary. We hope to see many partnerships developed for our team and for our specific ministry in Debrecen, Hungary.

     In the middle of this trip, our family enjoyed a little bit of a "down" time at the Crayola Factory. I am not sure if you all have been there but that place is crazy busy. There are kids upon kids at this small facility. There are huge lines for certain things to try out. However, our kids loved everything that Crayola had to offer. It was a blessing from our church family that we were able to make this little detour to Easton.

Crayola Factory 2014

One of the many games these girls enjoyed. Water table?!
You can count on these two little beings to play in it!

     Our last stop on this trip was in the Bedford, PA area. We stayed with a couple for two nights and God was amazing in the development of our relationship. We shared stories about our experiences with world missions and as the hours passed it seemed that we have know one another for years. Our children liked our new friends and here is a picture below how Pastor Buck and Emily connected.

Missions Conference

Emily begged me at Hollow Rock Camp to ring the bell!
Her wish was granted at this small church by Pastor Buck. 

    This is all for now about our summer travels. We still have a little bit more to do in the south. We are gearing up for a long trip to Al, FL, and MS.  We will document that and many other stories that we can recall from these trips. Thank you all for your prayers as we travel. Please keep us in your prayers for the next few weeks as we spend so much time on the road to build a ministry team to send us to Hungary next February.