Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XI No. 86
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 26th September 2003
“Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not seen. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
Ps. 77:19-20
Dear Friends and Family,
On the 10th October, it will be exactly ten years ago that I was sent out by the Reformed congregations of Houten and Oud-Alblas to Hungary, on the invitation of the Reformed Church of Hungary, in cooperation with the Reformed Mission League in the Netherlands Reformed Church. It was the first official commission, although I had been working in Hungary since 1987. The text was chosen on the basis of the hymn 'God moves in a mysterious way', which was as you may remember also the title of my thesis. The translation of this English hymn by the poet William Cowper (1731-1800) played an important role in the Hungarian revival after the Second World War. I have often been inspired by the marvellous words: 'Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill He treasures up His bright designs, and works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.'
In the last ten years, too, this hymn has travelled with me on my pilgrim's way. I have often been a witness to the fact that God moves in a mysterious way. Sometimes His footsteps have been hidden, but often the light has suddenly broken through.
'His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.'
Remembering
Actually, I can now hardly imagine that for the first year and a half I was working from my little study in the Meredek Utca as a jack-of-all-trades. I did everything from conducting legal negotiations about the deed of foundation, to arranging the renovations, to making photocopies (on the corner of the street, ten minutes' walk away). In the meantime, our team has grown to ten persons, and the ten square metres of my study to a Missions Institute of almost two hundred square metres. What a highlight it was when I was asked to lead the first missiology study group in 1995! Two students enrolled. In the meantime, the number of students has grown to almost eighty a year, beside the more than twenty members of the Missiological Research Fellowship and the sixteen students linked with the postgraduate program. Fortunately there are now many more involved in the teaching. God moves in a mysterious way! I am almost overwhelmed when I think about the many training sessions we have held throughout the country for youth groups, women's unions, elders' meetings and pastors' conferences etc.
Sometimes I leaf through the guest book that is lying on my desk. This brings to mind all sorts of faces. Visitors from at home and abroad, sometimes with the most diverse questions, but always with a great interest in the work of missions and evangelism. Very often they have visited because of an interest in the ministry of the Missions Institute in the Hungarian Churches.
Partnership and Cooperation (1)
Many of you, readers of the Signs of Life, have visited to demonstrate that the work of the advancement of the gospel in Hungary was near to your heart. You were concerned about the highlights and the low points. You sent me numerous Christmas cards! What an encouragement it was to know that you prayed regularly for us, not to speak of your willingness to give! Looking over the donations of the last few months we were simply amazed! And the circle kept expanding. The Signs of Life - originally intended for the Church magazine of the Sion Reformed Church in Houten, the Netherlands - is now sent by e-mail to almost two hundred addresses in the Netherlands, and the English translation is sent to as many readers from South Africa to Brazil and North America. Many of you have contributed in this way to the equipping of the Hungarian Churches to become open, missionary communities, attracting those who seldom or never go to church. But there is still a long way to go, and it is my prayer and our prayer that this partnership and cooperation in the Missio Dei, the mission of the Lord God, will continue.
Partnership and Cooperation (2)
With thankfulness I also remember the staff of the Missions Institute, with whom I have been cooperating since 1995. These have really been pioneering years. We have learned a lot. Partnership and Cooperation is not a simple matter. Sometimes difficult decisions have had to be taken. Perhaps one of the most important lessons I have learned myself is to let the God move in His mysterious way. What it comes down to is following Him, and letting go of problems and situations. After all, it is His work, is it not? I am extremely grateful that there has been a significant growth in the sense of responsibility of all the members of staff, in taking the initiative, and especially in standing up for the Cause of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Challenges (1)
Two weeks ago I was talking to Boglarka. She has just begun the last year of her theology program, and is writing her final thesis about a subject from the history of missions in Hungary. Enthusiastically she told about her desire to go and study abroad for a year - she is very interested in going to a non-Western country - and then to work among gypsies. I also had a deep feeling of thankfulness when I spoke to Noemi. What I had tried to pass on to her in the missiology lectures had fallen 'in good soil', and was already bearing fruit. I was reminded of this when Annett and Emma came up to me after the first missiology lecture and offered to work as volunteers in the library of the Missions Institute. What a challenge to deal with young people and to motivate them not to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ to themselves!
A challenge of a different sort is posed by the tutorials with doctoral students. I really enjoy these. One of the students is the Rev. Sandor Gaal, who besides his work as a pastor is also a head of the department of missiology at the Reformed Theological Faculty in Debrecen and an active board member of the Missions Institute. Despite his many responsibilities, he has also made a lot of progress with his doctoral research. Pray that he will be able to finish off the research during his three months sabbatical!
Challenges (2)
Last weekend brought a challenge of a different sort. Together with Hilda Rohn, a member of staff at the Missions Institute, and Rev. László Szalkay, a student on the postgraduate program, I took part in a mission conference on the invitation of the Missionary Consultant of the Reformed Church of Poland, Rev. Semko Koroza. The Polish Hungarian Reformed Church has only 4,000 members and about ten pastors (among a population of forty-two million!) The Churches are very small and focus mainly on survival. But in recent years, the realisation has grown that missions and evangelism are of crucial importance. About fifteen to twenty Church members and pastors came, including the president of the synod. We were most warmly received, and despite language difficulties, some weighty discussions ensued. Following on from the lectures about the Biblical basis of missions, and missions and evangelism in the Hungarian context, many considered the most important question to be how to be a witness to Jesus Christ in their families, in the neighbourhood and at work. How can we bring up the question of God in a very natural way in our everyday conversations? For most people, it seemed to be an impossible task. 'We Polish don't do that!' We came to the conclusion that perhaps our fears of rejection by other people are greater than the reality. People expected from us more or less cut-and-dried solutions, a 'quick and easy answer' to the situation in Poland. As every situation is different, of course we were not able to give this. Our Christian way of life in itself is an instrument in missionary work. We can bear testimony through this, and we can 'stimulate' or even ‘provoke’ others to ask questions.
We noticed clearly that we were able to show our Polish brothers and sisters through our visit that they are not alone and are not facing the task on their own. We can learn a lot from one another, and we can help one another!
Challenges (3)
Besides the many challenges in the work of teaching and training, there is also the challenge of keeping the Missions Institute running. We are thankful that we have already received 15,000 USD more in gifts than last year, and that to a large extent this is due to an increase in Hungarian donations. There is also thankfulness that this year we have already been able to save 10% on the budget. Nevertheless, the shortfall in the running costs has grown to 12,000 USD. For the rest of this year, a further 33,000 USD is needed. The library in particular needs support. We have received several significant library collections of retired missiologists, but with the current staffing it will take several years to process the books. In the meantime the students are waiting to use these books!
Another challenge is the extension of the library. The first global plans for this were made three years ago. Then a global budget was set, with a large margin for the 'unforeseen'. In recent months, the global plans have been worked out in more detail, and all sorts of set backs are coming to light: new windows are needed, the electrical wiring has to been renewed, the floor must be reinforced etc. You wonder why this did not come up at an earlier stage. And in the meantime three years have passed, and the costs of the furniture have increased considerably. In order to be able to complete the library, we urgently need 22,500 USD.
The workshop room on the third floor is nearing completion, even though a considerable sum is still needed for the furnishings and for the air conditioning. We have not yet been able to buy any tables or chairs. This year, a further 22,000 USD is needed.
Dilemmas
In my Signs of Life, I have constantly tried to share with you the joys and sorrows. On the one hand, there are many open doors for missiological teaching and missionary training; on the other hand there are concerns about keeping the Missions Institute running. Last week I received a telephone call from Pranesh, who is from India, and who is the leader of the training work of an international missionary organisation in Hungary. 'I would like to ask your help in the training of our missionary workers.' This request was reinforced today by another mission organisation. Besides this, we regularly receive requests from pastors who want to spend study weeks with us.
We are bearing in mind the names of over 160 people who requested information about the postgraduate course, but who had insufficient language skills to participate in it. What courses can we offer them?
On our journey back from Poland, we visited a theological seminary in Wroclaw. 'Could you help us meeting our very strict accreditation requirements by becoming our visiting professor?'
We are in a constant dilemma about which priorities to set. For example, what priority do you give to fundraising? Is this subordinate to or more important than the teaching? Annually we submit over twenty-five projects to over twelve different Churches and organisations. Fortunately this is teamwork, but my contribution is still needed too. Another priority is to start a course for future teachers of missiology.
Please pray for continued wisdom in distinguishing between what is important and what is urgent.
Finally
At the end of August, I returned from holiday and went to Church again for the first time. On arrival I was greeted with: 'Do you know that Aunt Rozsa passed away this week?' In the last two years, Aunt Rozsa had become my Hungarian 'grandmother', my neighbour in church. We always sat together. She was very caring and prayed a lot for me and for our ministry. That Sunday, the place next to me was empty. Then I realised that I had lost somebody, a member of the family, to whom I had become very attached. I will miss her a great deal. Yesterday I heard from a member of our staff team, Veronika, that nothing more can be done to improve her eye problems. She only has at most 40% vision. This week, it is hoped, her husband will have the last of his chemotherapy. They too are both very close to me. Please pray for them.
With great thankfulness for your faithful partnership in the Gospel,
yours sincerely Christ,
Anne-Marie Kool
This is the monthly prayer update of Anne-Marie Kool for friends of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. She has been commissioned by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the Netherlands Reformed Church in Driebergen, the Netherlands in 1993, seconded to the Reformed Church in Hungary. Since 1995 she has served as the director of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies in Budapest. In 1998 she was appointed as Professor in Missiology at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Papa.
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Account No.
USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
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Name of account: Protestáns Missziói Tanulmányi Intézet Alapítvány
Name of bank: General Banking and Trust Co.Ltd, H-1092 Budapest, Ráday u. 42-44.
Swift code: AEBBHUHB
Bank swift code: AEBBHUHB
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The Protestant Institute for Mission Studies, Kalvin ter 7.II, P.O. Box 150, 1461 Budapest, Hungary. Tel/fax + 36 1 216 20 54. E-mail: kool@pmti.edu.hu or amkool@axelero.hu. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN SUSPENDED!!
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