Roy and Lainey Hitchman

November 2023 ... Ipswich, Clacton, Internationals, Women's Conference and a Wee visit home

It’s November, ALREADY? Whenever Lainey reminds me that it is time for an update, it always comes as a surprise, a shock, even when I look back at when the last update went out and discover that we are well overdue for a catch-up. It is a blessing, though, that life is busy, the stuff we are doing is interesting and varied, and that time is not dragging by. Anyway, here it is, a list of the things that we have been up to or have planned in the near future.

Ministry Update

Ipswich and Clacton

We had the joy of travelling to Ipswich and later on to Clacton in August. Here we had the privilege of speaking at a singles event, two marriage events and a Sunday service. It was wonderful to meet many new people and to be hosted so well by Sam and Jill and David and Stacy!

Project Progress

The project has been coming on leaps and bounds! We will soon have a working kitchen. Roy has been busy constructing cupboards, cutting benches and installing what needs to be installed. The plumber has returned to finish the kitchen and bathroom installation, although there was a slight hiccup with a faulty part, and we are trying to source a replacement.

Our electrician, Berci has finished wiring the electrics in the bathroom. He will return later to finish the kitchen sockets and lights. We’re very grateful for all his help in this process, he has generously donated his time! Roy has been doing all the prep work for this and has been learning a lot on the job.

Once this is complete, we’ll be in a position to focus our attention on the living room area which means sanding floors and decorating.

We can’t wait to be in a position to welcome our first guests! The house will be used for debriefing, rest and retreat and for working with couples experiencing crises in their relationships.

A Special Visit

We really enjoyed spending a weekend in Budapest with our wonderful friends and supporters, Damian and Helen. We’ve known Damian and Helen for over 30 years and really treasured time to relax and laugh together.

Student Intake

There has been a new student intake for the Christian scholarship programme, a programme aimed at students coming from countries where Christians are either persecuted or discriminated against. Some students are believers, some have a nominal faith, but it is wonderful to have the opportunity to speak into their lives and walk a discipleship journey with them.

Part of this discipleship journey includes a Bible study at the university. This semester, we have tackled another big question, “Why am I?” Here, the students get to grapple with why God made them the way that He did, why He positioned them here, and what His purpose might be for their lives. In other words how God's call exists alongside their careers. We use our Life! for Singles discipleship course as the basis for these discussions. You can find out more about this course here.

In addition to the international students, we also now have an extension to this ministry. The Hungarian government has initiated temporary worker visas to people from the Philippines, Indonesia, Ukraine and South Korea. Many of them are settling in our area to work on contracts with Audi or supporting industries. Those who are believers are finding our church, where the services are always translated (recent sermon here) either from Hungarian to English or English to Hungarian. We are blessed to be part of this local church and support the pastor and of course Lainey and I are happy to include the international workers within our international programmes.

We also extended an invitation to all of the internationals, students and workers that we are connected with, for them to visit us at home for a day of fun, food and games. As you can see we had a lot of fun, conversations and an opportunity to deepen relationships.

Life for Singles

Roy has been working hard with Sarah, the German translator for the Life for Singles manual. We are delighted that editing has been completed and that now this discipleship material will reach the German-speaking world! We are praying for those who will be leading groups.

Ladies Conference

In October, Lainey travelled to London to speak at a ladies' conference. The conference theme was “Anchored in faith, hope, and love”, and Lainey was ministering in the area of loving God and loving others. She had a fabulous time at this uplifting event, enjoying the teaching of the other speakers, wonderful fellowship with the ladies, and experiencing fantastic worship in English! She also got to satisfy a few of her cravings for UK food.

Click here to access Lainey's Ladies Conference teaching about Agape.

Dorcas Project

You may remember that our church had started an initiative under the leadership of Riani to reach out to the local community. We delivered homemade blankets to the younger children of a local children’s home. We are currently crocheting more blankets for the permanent residents of the home. A sister project, ‘Set Free’ led by Zsuzsi (on the right of the photo) from our church, works with these vulnerable young people across Hungary.

Home Assignment Plans

Lainey is now in Northern Ireland for a mini Home Assignment and a visit with her parents and our son and daughter-in-law. Roy is holding the fort in Hungary and pushing the Paraszt Haz project closer to the finish line. We hope to do our home assignment in May 2024 and can also pop in a date if you’d like us to come and speak or visit.

Financial Update

We are incredibly grateful for the gifts we received to help towards our financial situation. Thank you so much! We are still not over the line and still need to increase our monthly support; we are almost halfway there! Although we still have some fundraising to do, some of the pressure has been alleviated, and we really appreciate you all!

We are thankful for those who support us regularly, without you it would be impossible to do any of what we do. Through your kindness we are able help others. For some this means help to navigate the situations they face, for others it is providing direction on their discipleship journey, for others it may mean encouragement as they deal with family or relationship issues.

We deeply appreciate all the love and support that you have given us in this last year. We know that we would not be able to do what we have been called to do without your partnership.

Available Resources

 

If you’d like to buy the book in bundles of 5 or 10 then please get in touch with us directly and we’ll make sure that you get a good discount.

Roy and Lainey

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