Mark & Paula Batory
A Life of Purpose,
Faith, and Letting Go
Coming Early 2027
On August 9, 1978, two twenty-somethings drove south out of Michigan in a travel trailer with no fallback plan. Seasons of Surrender is the fifty-year story of what happened next — and the philosophy of marriage, missions, and surrender that came out of it.
Get Notified When It Releases →The Arc of the Book
The book is structured around four seasons of giving things up — and discovering what was actually being given in return.
Season One
The departure. Language school in Texas. Three eggs on a patio chair after a desperate prayer. The first taste of trusting a God who provides exactly what you ask for — and not a carton more.
Season Two
A hospital bed in Michigan. Liver enzymes off the charts. A high-paying job offer from a worried father — and the quiet "no" from a man who knew the difference between cars on a transport truck and souls being made new.
Season Three
The ministry they built when they couldn't return to the one they'd planned. Migrant camps under bedsheet movie screens. Men who came illegally, met Christ, and went home to plant churches in their own villages.
Season Four
Aging. Illness. A grandson born with Down Syndrome whose NICU crib was wrapped like a Christmas present. A leadership transition prepared so carefully it felt like obedience instead of an ending. And a porch swing in the woods where the real work of the final season began.
Inside the Book
Seasons of Surrender isn't a how-to. It's the philosophy of a life — pulled out of fifty years of marriage and ministry and offered to the next generation deciding whether to give Christ their first and strongest years.
Why we went, why we stayed, and what we learned about building churches that don't need us — self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating from the start.
How two strong-willed people built something that lasted across borders, languages, illness, and decades. Including Mark's honest reflection on what it takes to steward a strong wife well.
What it actually looks like to follow without seeing. Why Plan B is often the thing that keeps Plan A from ever happening. And how surrender, lived all the way through, turns out to be the most generous life available.
We hear young people say they are studying for ministry, yet they choose to minor in something else just in case the ministry does not work out. Sadly, for many, it does not work out, because a Plan B had already been formulated for when the road grew hard. Abraham never had a Plan B, and neither did we.
Who It's For
You're a college student wrestling with the call, and everyone in your life is gently suggesting you keep your options open.
You're a young couple wondering if ministry, or marriage, or both, will survive what's coming.
You're mid-career and asking, quietly, whether it's too late to give your life to something that actually matters.
You're a veteran of the work who just needs to remember why you started.
Or you're a parent, pastor, or mentor who wants to put something in the hands of someone you love that says: here's what a life like this actually looks like, from the inside, with nothing edited out.
From the Manuscript
A short excerpt from Season One — the day Paula and Mark learned that God answers prayer in measured kindness, not abundance.
Our last meal carries vivid memories. There was nothing left. Paula prayed: "You know our need and that we have nothing left to eat now for the next two weeks. We want to trust You now to supply for our breakfast tomorrow. We would be grateful if You would please provide three eggs for us to eat in the morning. In Jesus' name, Amen."
The next morning, sitting on our patio chair, was an egg carton. Inside she found three eggs. Yes, three eggs — exactly what she had prayed for, not more, not less.
This is one of dozens of stories woven through the book. Get the rest when it releases.
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