Greetings to all our family and friends as we celebrate the birth of our
Savior while serving in Hungary for the fourth season!
We have some exciting news to share with you regarding the months ahead. Our
sending church’s leadership, Calvary Chapel of Fredericksburg, and our serving church,
Calvary Chapel of Esztergom, along with our family, have been in prayer regarding how to
raise the additional funds necessary to continue this ministry for many more years to come.
We all have agreed that it is necessary to return to Virginia for the spring and summer
months in order that we raise the additional support necessary to fully fund Kids’ Club
Ministries. We are also excited to announce that we will be transitioning to and trained by
Saving Grace World Missions (www.sgwm.com). SGWM will provide us with the
resources needed to do even a better job in sharing our kids’ ministry vision globally,
which your partnership has been so faithful. This transition will offer convenient ways to
give online and through monthly bank account debit. Here are some ways you can help
make these transitions successful: continue your monthly support during this time; pray
we would be able to share our vision with those to whom the Lord leads; pray for
committed monthly donors; and most importantly that our return to Hungary can be
accomplished quickly while being 100% funded. We truly appreciate everyone’s
faithfulness!
Below is a summary of what the Lord has been doing in our mission work with the
youth in Hungary and Slovakia these past few months. As you recall, while on our
furlough in the States we were blessed to serve with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
during their Power Camp this past summer. Many of the kids brought in their loose change
as a service project to help fund the building of a basketball court in Hungary and more
than doubled their goal. We were very encouraged by this and also deeply touched by one
girl who gave her entire savings. Construction has begun on the basketball court and soccer
area. Our hope and prayer is to use this to reach out to the older youth in the area. This
past October there was a large festival in Slovakia that provided a great opportunity to
share the gospel. We were blessed by a number of Bible college students that came to
assist us with street outreaches.
Halloween is not as big over here as it is in America, but while some were engaged in
this celebration, we took the opportunity to share about the love of our Savior. So, during
Kids Club we used the “pumpkin prayer” to teach the youth about getting sin out of our
lives and allowing more of God in.
Thanksgiving season is a great time to reflect upon and thank God for His many
blessings. This year, our language teacher and her family came over for Thanksgiving
dinner. It was a mixture of American and Hungarian foods. Our favorite was the wild boar.
We had a wonderful evening of fellowship and making new friends.
Kids Club continues to grow and flourish. We now have a steady translator and worship
for the kids on Friday nights. We continue to encourage these young people in the church
to never give up, because they are the future missionaries, pastors, and worship leaders.
We are looking forward to reconnecting with many of you in the upcoming months, plus
for the opportunity to make new friends! Thank you for impacting so many kids’ lives!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The McCartney’s.
a December 25th, 2009
-
Newsletter: Winter 2009
December 25, 2009 by Administrator
Category MK Korner | Tags: | No Comments
-
Newsletter: Winter 2009
December 25, 2009 by Administrator
Greetings Family and Friends,
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support during this, our third winter in Esztergom,
Hungary. God has blessed us with many opportunities to be His hands and feet as we
minister to the precious youth in Hungary and Slovakia . He has kept us in good health,and
brought translators and Bible college students to help with various events and outreaches.
Several Bible college students came to help us share the Gospel on the streets of Slovakia
at an October festival. A number of teens were attracted by the face painting and balloon
animals, affording us the opportunity to give them Bibles and share the Gospel. In
November, we hosted five Bible college students in our home who assisted us with a youth
event for the Esztergom church. In December, we hosted five more Bible college students
who aided us and the Kids Club youth in ministering at the local senior citizens home. We
enjoyed singing their favorite Christmas carols as the Kids Club youth gave out homemade
desserts. We also shared the true meaning of Christmas and the Gospel. Please keep us in
prayer this spring as we coordinate with the Bible college students for a number of
outreaches involving games, music, and street evangelism.
We continue to have Kids Club each Friday, but there have been some changes. We are
now meeting in a small building in front of our house where we play basketball, foosball,
and ping pong, followed by a Bible study at our house. One Saturday evening each month,
some of the local youth in Esztergom come to our house for a time of worship and Bible
study. We have been blessed by a translator from Budapest who travels here each month to
help us. Many of the youth from Kids Club and the church here in Esztergom come over to
join in the fun and fellowship. Please pray for us as we’re reaching out to kids from two
different families whose parents are not in fellowship; we want to encourage them in their
walk with the Lord. Also, please lift up Armando and Angelo in our Friday night Kids
Club. They love the Lord and have supported us at street outreaches. Michael and
Armando have become good friends. They are in the same class in Hungarian school and
are able to communicate well in spite of the language barrier. Please continue to pray for
our language studies. We were recently blessed to find a language instructor who has been
giving us lessons in our home twice a week. We’re getting better, especially Sam!
A friend gave us a print of Jesus and a young man sailing through a storm, with waves
crashing all around them. Their focus was not on the storm, but on the goal that was before
them. As we reflect upon the natural disasters and economic crises all over the world in
2008, the print is a good reminder that these storms are just signs of the times for the
Lord’s soon return. Help us take our eyes off the circumstances and keep them fixed on the
goal before us. We praise God for opening doors for us here in Hungary and Slovakia .
Pray that we stay focused on sharing the Gospel with all the precious young people that
God has placed in our path.
Pressing onward with the strength that comes from the Lord,
Isten Aldjon (God Bless), The McCartneysCategory MK Korner | Tags: | No Comments
