By Cecil Culverhouse

1. My first impression on returning to Hungary this year was of great activity. Bishop Csomos met us with many of those who work in various areas of church life. I remember when meeting with the bishop was a quiet affair. Bishops attended functions at the churches (such as ordinations), and encouraged the pastors in their work, but very little was happening. Now the office is bustling.
  a. A few years ago the Cistibiscan and Debrecen Church Districts bought a radio station, which reaches 80% of the two districts. It provides significant church programming interspersed with commercial programming.  

  b. The church district has purchased a new conference center that has a current capacity of ninety beds. The district has two major conferences each year, with 1500-2000 attending each. It also has conferences for retired persons, for women, for those responsible for church music, for youth, and other activities.


  c. Examples of how the church district continues to strengthen its educational program are: 

* The new primary school at Sarospatak continues to add a grade each year, making a complete educational opportunity possible at Sarospatak. The Academy at Sarospatak has a new CEO, Vegh Balozs, who was present for our meeting. He coordinates the work of the various institutions and oversees finances. 

* A special primary school for arts is opening in the town of Goncs.
* A University Chaplain is functioning at the University in Miskolc.
  d. The church district is engaged in a mission to the Roma or gypsies. A young woman minister, Anita Borghasi is in charge. They intend for this ministry to be congregationally based and five small ministries are functioning. 

e. Other ministries continue to function. For instance, the Maon Center for mentally handicapped adults is at capacity. It has twenty full-time residents, and others come for the day. It is a happy place full of activities.
* This year the district has a social worker on staff to organize help for the needy throughout the district.
* There is a new church development at Avas Estates.

* A youth center begun by Sandor Szabo is next to the church offices and is functioning well.

It is hard to describe the difference a few years have made in the work of the church district. For many years the church could do very little while living under the restraint of a hostile government. Once freedom came, it has taken time for the church leadership to have the vision and skills to move forward. Now it is flourishing.

2. My second impression is that congregations are alive and growing. An example is the Avas Del Church new church development in the Avas Estates District in Miskolc. This district consists of Soviet block apartments housing 40,000 people; it reminds me of the now demolished Pruitt-Igo housing in St. Louis. The church does not yet have a building; it meets in a Jesuit high school. It started with 20 people, and grew by knocking on doors. It now has 120 members, with two services each Sunday and about 120 in attendance at each.  The young pastor is Andras Dande. His wife is also a minister. The church is partnered with Coates Street Presbyterian  in Moberly.
The Encs church started in 1994 in a town that had no Reformed Church. It began with 100 members and now has 500 and a beautiful building. They have about ten young people confirmed each year. Marie Balsky is pastor, and the church is partnered with the Fulton Church.
The Vizsoly Church (also a partner with the Fulton Church) has been mainly a museum. It is where the first Bible was printed in Hungarian in 1590. The pastor was essentially curator of the museum, because there were very few members. This time, however, we found the church bustling with activity. They are engaged in two building or renovation projects: a youth center and a guest house.
The church at Kalosca in southern Hungary is pastored by Janos Hunyadi, who spent several weeks in our Presbytery when he was a student. His wife, Emoke Petri is also a pastor. She spent a year at Eden Seminary in St. Louis. The town of Kalosca is about 18,000, heavily Roman Catholic. It is a mission congregation. In the five years they have been there, the membership has increased from 140 to 272. There is a baptism almost every Sunday. An adult confirmation class that lasts eight months produces 8-10 professions of faith each time it is held. The congregation has many activities. Janos preaches at two other villages as well as in Kalosca, and Emoke teaches religion in the schools.
3. The third impression I had on this trip was how desperately needy Ukraine is. David Pandy is working hard (more hours than any of us could take) trying to help the church there. Some things are hopeful. The church at Nagydobrony was full of worshippers. The gypsy church was lively. The gypsy school is functioning. A new home for the elderly has been built, and the children’s home is still doing well. The school at Nagybereg continues to function, and the school at Tivalafalva is flourishing.  However, the gypsy school in Nagydobrony has problems, and it is going to concentrate on Kindergarten and first grade.
The school at Nagybereg may lose space for its girls’ dormitory, which was leased from the town, and some doctors want to make it a hospital again. Beregszasz is full of beggars, and largely ignores its large gypsy population. The government is corrupt and uncaring. Unemployment is very high (80%). The church is poor, and lacks good administrative leadership. It is a sad and desperate situation.
4. We saw a good bit of the church in Romania, but did not have the time or ability to assess the situation well. The seminary in Kolosvar seems to be doing well, and we saw some flourishing congregations, but many of the churches are little more than museum pieces, with two or three members left to care for a large and historic building. An effort to force integration of the Hungarian population into Romanian society was begun some years ago, and continues. Many of the Hungarian communities have been scattered, which, of course, affects the church.
5. We were able to see many long-time friends: Bishop Csomos, Hoijni and Zoltan Domolos and their children, Sandor and Elizabeth Szabo, Gabriella Rackosi, Istvan Gyori, Daniel Szabo, Denes Dienes, former Bishop Kurti and his family, former Bishop Horkay, and others.

 

6. I was impressed at the evidence of the partnership with Missouri Union Presbytery: at Miskolc which partners with the Moberly Church and Avas Del; at the Roma (gypsy) ministry with the renovated apartment for a minister to the gypsies; at Encs which partners with the Fulton Church, and at Vizsoly with its partnership with the Fulton Church, and at Scerencs with its partnership with the Jefferson City Church; at Sarospatak with the house given for Daniel Szabo in his retirement, the dormitory we bought, the library repair and the many books we provided, the scholarships for seminary students, the fence around the new elementary school, and the published class lectures of the professors; in the Ukraine the gypsy school at Nagydobrony, a dorm for the students at the Secondary school, the food for the students, the heating system for the Secondary school, the dorm at Tivadarfalva, the renovated house for two teachers at Tivadarfalva. We have been and remain deeply engaged in the work of the Hungarian Reformed Church in that area.