Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XII No. 92
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 4 December, 2004
'The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?... Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.' Psalm 27:1, 14
Dear Friends,
This letter was planned to be written at least ten times, finally I manage to spend a few hours to “visit” you and to share some highlights and disappointments of this past year. I was a year with ups and downs. Often I felt stretched to the limit, especially when our financial director resigned unexpectedly in August and I had keep things going till we found a replacement in October. But I feel a great sense of thankfulness and reward when observing students stepping out of their own little world and develop a sense of importance for their churches to be involved in missions. Pastors in remoted areas hunger to be equipped to help their churches grow into missionary congregations. I am also very thankful for the growth in our PMTI team. Thank you so much for your faithful support and prayers!
Recently it has struck me how often the word 'fear' is used. There is fear about the political tensions in Ukraine, which might get out of hand, fear of terrorist attacks, of extremist expressions of Islam. In our personal life too, we may, consciously or subconsciously, be carrying fear, anxiety around with us: fear of illness; of people - how we can fulfil expectations; of the future - will we still have a job next year, how will we manage financially? Does it sound familiar to you? Psalm 27 talks about a different sort of fear: fear, respect for the Lord. In times of uncertainty, in which it seems as if the situation in which we are living may cause us to be seized by fear, we are called upon to fix our eyes on Him. After all, He has this world in His hand, does He not?! This has a liberating effect. Advent time, like Psalm 27, is a reminder to us that we should depend on Him for everything in our lives, and place our trust in Him, the Child of Bethlehem, the Saviour of the world.
How do we deal with minorities?
Even in Hungary, the events around the murder of a famous Dutch cineast Theo van Gogh raised a dust. It is striking how often concerns are expressed in one-sided generalisations: Islam wants to marginalize Christians in the Netherlands; foreigners are not willing to integrate into Dutch society; they only want to take advantage. Perhaps these responses reflect something of the way in which people themselves deal with minorities. This is one of the great issues in Central and Eastern Europe!
Missionary challenge of the first degree
During a seminar for pastors who are working on their doctoral research, the subject of minorities and mission was raised. What does it mean to be a missionary congregation as a small Protestant minority in Poland? How should the Churches in Slovakia (and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe) deal with the gypsy minority? The questions came very close to home when we realised that our society actually consists of a large number of minority groups: those who live in the large suburbs, those in the rural areas, but also the business world, etc. Actually, in the work of missions and evangelism, it is always a matter of a meeting with people who are 'different' from us. But what we all have in common is that we are created by God. It is a question of building bridges, of working to transcend borders. As the Church of Jesus Christ, we can show something of the grace of God to the world in which we are placed.
Some random comments from Hungary ...
Some random remarks from the discussions which stayed with me. Actually they are questions which have occupied us for a long time in the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies.
* Both in Hungary and in the Netherlands there is a growing aggressive, militant secularised conviction. Anything related to God is mocked. It seems as if there is selective tolerance.
* Many Christians in Europe have a deep sense of uncertainty: does our faith have anything to say to our secularised society, to public life? Can our Christian faith cope with a discussion with those of different opinions and a different faith? How can we conduct a dialogue which is a testimony? Is it not much safer to withdraw behind safe walls and to conserve what we have?
* To an increasing extent, we are experiencing that Europe is a mission field, in which we all, pastors and Church members, must learn to put into practice the lessons of global mission - for example, how do you deal with people of another religions, another ethnic or cultural backgrounds. We can also learn a lot from Churches on different continents about what it means to live as a minority in a non-Christian society.
* To what extent are our Church structures a help or a hindrance in being a witnessing presence in our society? To what extent do they provide a platform to strengthen our faith and from which to discuss the issues which come up in conversation with others? To what extent are they attractive to young people who believe in 'something'?
* Whether the minorities in our midst are called Muslims or gypsies, the question is, to what extent should society as a whole adapt and be open to 'the stranger in its midst'? What could be the role of the Churches in this?
Dealing with minorities in practice
Recently I visited a Church just to the south of Budapest, which actually came into being through concern for a minority, for a group of twenty (former) alcoholics! It is, therefore, no surprise that in four years time, this Church has grown to over 130 people. Last year, about twenty young families joined, after a meeting was started for mothers with young children. In the kitchen, I have a chat with his wife. It is something I often hear, 'Actually, we are at the end of our tether! András is so busy with Church work that he hardly has time for his family. It is very difficult to involve church members.'
Training to deal with minorities
Indeed, it often seems very difficult for Church members to accept more responsibility. It is not easy to break through old thought patterns and structures. This made it an extremely impressive occasion at the beginning of November when the first students on the Light for the World course were commissioned with the laying on of hands to take an active role in their Churches in the work of missions and evangelism.
Tina, one of the students on the postdoctoral course, is also confronted with this daily. She told me how in Estonia she struggles to involve the dechurched and the unchurched more in Church life, and to proclaim the Word of God to them in a relevant way. The day before she came to Budapest, she had to bury a mafia boss. She was still broken by the experience. The great question which occupies her is how theological education in her country can be more directed towards mission.
The question of minorities and equipping pastors for this crucial issue is actually central to the work of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. Soon we will again be starting the postgraduate (MTh) course for pastors, aimed at this difficult area. You recently received an information leaflet about this. Please contact Enikő Ferenczy (ferenczy@pmti.edu.hu) if you know someone interested in this program.
Finally
In our efforts to teach and train students to deal with minorities from a missions perspective we are in need of some specific educational and library tools. Audiovisual equipment (videocamera, computer projector etc.) would greatly extend the quality of our education, a licence for access to electronic journals would be of great help our students in their research. One of our partners (OCI) informed us that someone in America is willing to match donations to the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies for such educational tools and library development up to 10,000 USD. The condition is that the gifts towards this match be transferred to the bank account of OCI by 31st December at the latest. This project will greatly help us improve our efforts to teach and train students to become agents of renewal in their churches. Could you help us make the impossible possible?
On 17th December I will leave for a month’s home assignment to the Netherlands. The first two weeks of January I embark on an intensive speaking tour. Please pray for joy and strength in meeting my family and friends in the Netherlands.
Yours sincerely in 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 seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 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.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368. Please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
or to:
2. The Reformed Church in America, P.O. Box 19381, Newark, NJ 07195-1938 or, in Canada, to the Regional Synod of Canada, RR #4, Cambridge, Ontario, N1R 5S5. Please include the name of the person, project or program you are supporting.
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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 MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Saturday, December 4, 2004
Friday, September 24, 2004
Signs of Life from Hungary -- 91
Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XI No. 91
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 24th September, 2004
'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' 1 Th 5:16-18
Dear Friends,
Once a year I am asked to supply a contribution to the prayer calendar of the Reformed Mission League (GZB) within the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. This is a very useful tool to pray in a very specific way for missions as a family, prayer group or Church. This prayer letter contains the contribution to this prayer calendar.
Give thanks ...
After having experienced the building of the Gazdagret church at close quarters for three years, it was a great blessing to be at the official opening last week. It was very encouraging to see a large delegation from my Dutch sending church, Houten. How enjoyable it was to have you to dinner! It is good to strengthen the links again. The church really stands as a token of God's Kingdom at a very central location in the neighbourhood. Every Sunday morning, we see new faces. There is growth, in the spiritual sense as well. It recently struck me that since last year, in three families a husband or wife that was inactive up to now has been to Church every Sunday and is (again) actively involved.
Pray ...
The Protestant Institute for Mission Studies is buzzing with activity at the beginning of the academic year. On Saturday of last week, we held the first exams based on the missions course for Church members. It was extremely encouraging to hear how the course days, the essays and the practical placements had helped the students gain new insight into the task and calling of missions and evangelism. They had carried out their course assignments with much dedication and faithfulness.
Please pray that they may really be a shining light and salt for the earth wherever the Lord has placed them or will place them.
Pray, too, for two important vacancies in the Mission Studies Institute. We are urgently looking for a director of finance, as well as a managing director. Pray also that the Lord will provide the necessary finances.
Give thanks and pray
Recently we heard from one of our partners (OCI) that someone in America is willing to match donations to the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies for educational tools and library development (computers, audiovisual equipment, book acquisition etc.) up to 10,000 USD. The condition is that the gifts towards this match be transferred to the bank account of OCI by 31st December at the latest. This project will greatly help us improve our efforts to teach and train students to become agents of renewal in their churches. Please pray for a miracle, that this matching opportunity be used to its fullness for the improvement of our library and training programs!
Prayer calendar – Why not stick it on your notice board?
Sunday
Give thanks for the Church in Budapest-Gazdagret, where a new church building was recently officially opened. Give thanks for the many new faces. Please pray that the Church may grow as an open, witnessing, missionary fellowship under the leadership of the pastors, Rev. András Lovas and Rev. Eszter Dani. Give thanks for the good contacts that Anne-Marie has with her neighbours, and pray that they may find the way to Christ.
Monday
Give thanks that an awareness is growing in the Hungarian Churches of the mission field close to home: between 600,000 and one million Gypsies. Pray that the love and care for this minority may increase and that prejudices will disappear. Pray for Boglarka, a recently graduated theology student, who has started to work with Gypsies. There is much division among those involved in this difficult work. Please pray for wisdom for the head of the department of missions and evangelism of the Reformed Church of Hungary, Ms Zita P. Toth, in establishing the relevant missionary structures.
Tuesday
In a short time, much has changed in Hungarian society. Many, often overburdened, pastors are struggling with the problem of how to keep young people in the Church. They often feel powerless. Some of them decide to proceed with graduate studies. Please pray for these students in the Master of Theology program, who frequently have to combine study with work and family, that they will have strengt, perseverance, time and money to complete their studies. Pray also for the initiative to start a new entering class soon.
Wednesday
A young surgeon from a town sixty kilometres to the south of Budapest, who until a year and a half ago was addicted to alcohol, took part in our “The World Christian” course. After his two-week practical placement, he felt called to set up a refuge for alcoholics and the homeless. Please pray for him and for the nine other graduates, that they will be useful instruments in God's Kingdom, a real light for the world! (“Light for the World” is the Hungarian title of the course.)
Thursday
There is a definite increase to be seen in the need for missionary training. The Mission Institute organises training conferences, provides courses in missions and evangelism, and publishes handbooks and training material for this. Give thanks for the staff and the board, for their dedication and efforts. Because of the great increase in the cost of living, there are still worries regarding to the budget of the Mission Studies Institute. Will you pray for a solution?
Friday
A praying home front is a great blessing for a missionary worker. Give thanks for the interest of the Church in Houten and also in Oud-Alblas. But the foundation is too narrow. Please pray that the coming period of home assignment (18th December - 14th January) will lead to a lasting broadening and deepening of contacts with Churches in the Netherlands who want to make a contribution to the work of missions and evangelism in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe. Praise the Lord also for the many churches in America who have pledged to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies.
Saturday
Give thanks for the fruit of Anne-Marie Kool's work. Just like Nehemiah, a missionary worker experiences blessing in the work, but also opposition. Please pray for good health, for strength to stand firm in the battle, and for protection. Pray especially that she may follow her Lord and Saviour in all faithfulness and humility."
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Anne- Marie Kool
Anne-Marie Kool was commissioned by the Reformed Missionary Union (GZB) of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1993 and is working as the Professor of Missiology and Director of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (PMTI) in Budapest (Hungary). This is a centre for missionary training and missiological reflection for the Hungarian Churches. To an increasing extent, the Mission Institute is also fulfilling a regional role in Central and Eastern Europe. Anne-Marie is also actively involved in the Reformed Church in the area of high-rise residential buildings where she lives (Budapest-Gazdagret).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368. Please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
or to:
2. The Reformed Church in America, P.O. Box 19381, Newark, NJ 07195-1938 or, in Canada, to the Regional Synod of Canada, RR #4, Cambridge, Ontario, N1R 5S5. Please include the name of the person, project or program you are supporting.
3. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA. Also in this case please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
4. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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.
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 24th September, 2004
'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' 1 Th 5:16-18
Dear Friends,
Once a year I am asked to supply a contribution to the prayer calendar of the Reformed Mission League (GZB) within the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. This is a very useful tool to pray in a very specific way for missions as a family, prayer group or Church. This prayer letter contains the contribution to this prayer calendar.
Give thanks ...
After having experienced the building of the Gazdagret church at close quarters for three years, it was a great blessing to be at the official opening last week. It was very encouraging to see a large delegation from my Dutch sending church, Houten. How enjoyable it was to have you to dinner! It is good to strengthen the links again. The church really stands as a token of God's Kingdom at a very central location in the neighbourhood. Every Sunday morning, we see new faces. There is growth, in the spiritual sense as well. It recently struck me that since last year, in three families a husband or wife that was inactive up to now has been to Church every Sunday and is (again) actively involved.
Pray ...
The Protestant Institute for Mission Studies is buzzing with activity at the beginning of the academic year. On Saturday of last week, we held the first exams based on the missions course for Church members. It was extremely encouraging to hear how the course days, the essays and the practical placements had helped the students gain new insight into the task and calling of missions and evangelism. They had carried out their course assignments with much dedication and faithfulness.
Please pray that they may really be a shining light and salt for the earth wherever the Lord has placed them or will place them.
Pray, too, for two important vacancies in the Mission Studies Institute. We are urgently looking for a director of finance, as well as a managing director. Pray also that the Lord will provide the necessary finances.
Give thanks and pray
Recently we heard from one of our partners (OCI) that someone in America is willing to match donations to the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies for educational tools and library development (computers, audiovisual equipment, book acquisition etc.) up to 10,000 USD. The condition is that the gifts towards this match be transferred to the bank account of OCI by 31st December at the latest. This project will greatly help us improve our efforts to teach and train students to become agents of renewal in their churches. Please pray for a miracle, that this matching opportunity be used to its fullness for the improvement of our library and training programs!
Prayer calendar – Why not stick it on your notice board?
Sunday
Give thanks for the Church in Budapest-Gazdagret, where a new church building was recently officially opened. Give thanks for the many new faces. Please pray that the Church may grow as an open, witnessing, missionary fellowship under the leadership of the pastors, Rev. András Lovas and Rev. Eszter Dani. Give thanks for the good contacts that Anne-Marie has with her neighbours, and pray that they may find the way to Christ.
Monday
Give thanks that an awareness is growing in the Hungarian Churches of the mission field close to home: between 600,000 and one million Gypsies. Pray that the love and care for this minority may increase and that prejudices will disappear. Pray for Boglarka, a recently graduated theology student, who has started to work with Gypsies. There is much division among those involved in this difficult work. Please pray for wisdom for the head of the department of missions and evangelism of the Reformed Church of Hungary, Ms Zita P. Toth, in establishing the relevant missionary structures.
Tuesday
In a short time, much has changed in Hungarian society. Many, often overburdened, pastors are struggling with the problem of how to keep young people in the Church. They often feel powerless. Some of them decide to proceed with graduate studies. Please pray for these students in the Master of Theology program, who frequently have to combine study with work and family, that they will have strengt, perseverance, time and money to complete their studies. Pray also for the initiative to start a new entering class soon.
Wednesday
A young surgeon from a town sixty kilometres to the south of Budapest, who until a year and a half ago was addicted to alcohol, took part in our “The World Christian” course. After his two-week practical placement, he felt called to set up a refuge for alcoholics and the homeless. Please pray for him and for the nine other graduates, that they will be useful instruments in God's Kingdom, a real light for the world! (“Light for the World” is the Hungarian title of the course.)
Thursday
There is a definite increase to be seen in the need for missionary training. The Mission Institute organises training conferences, provides courses in missions and evangelism, and publishes handbooks and training material for this. Give thanks for the staff and the board, for their dedication and efforts. Because of the great increase in the cost of living, there are still worries regarding to the budget of the Mission Studies Institute. Will you pray for a solution?
Friday
A praying home front is a great blessing for a missionary worker. Give thanks for the interest of the Church in Houten and also in Oud-Alblas. But the foundation is too narrow. Please pray that the coming period of home assignment (18th December - 14th January) will lead to a lasting broadening and deepening of contacts with Churches in the Netherlands who want to make a contribution to the work of missions and evangelism in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe. Praise the Lord also for the many churches in America who have pledged to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies.
Saturday
Give thanks for the fruit of Anne-Marie Kool's work. Just like Nehemiah, a missionary worker experiences blessing in the work, but also opposition. Please pray for good health, for strength to stand firm in the battle, and for protection. Pray especially that she may follow her Lord and Saviour in all faithfulness and humility."
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Anne- Marie Kool
Anne-Marie Kool was commissioned by the Reformed Missionary Union (GZB) of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1993 and is working as the Professor of Missiology and Director of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (PMTI) in Budapest (Hungary). This is a centre for missionary training and missiological reflection for the Hungarian Churches. To an increasing extent, the Mission Institute is also fulfilling a regional role in Central and Eastern Europe. Anne-Marie is also actively involved in the Reformed Church in the area of high-rise residential buildings where she lives (Budapest-Gazdagret).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368. Please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
or to:
2. The Reformed Church in America, P.O. Box 19381, Newark, NJ 07195-1938 or, in Canada, to the Regional Synod of Canada, RR #4, Cambridge, Ontario, N1R 5S5. Please include the name of the person, project or program you are supporting.
3. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA. Also in this case please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
4. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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.
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Friday, August 27, 2004
Signs of Life from Hungary -- 90
Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XI No. 90
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 27th August, 2004
'When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed... But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.'
Neh. 4:1; 9
Dear Friends,
'There's no place like home!' Do you know that feeling after a period of being away that it's wonderful to be home again? I am 'tending my pot plants', and enjoying the magnificent oleander on my terrace. After a few weeks holiday and an unforgettable two-week stay in Malaysia at a conference with fellow missiologists, I have the feeling that I can face the challenges again, spiritually and physically.
I returned to Hungary just in time to meet the almost eighty-five year old Dr János Bütösi, one of the founders of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies, now living in America. In his highly prophetical address, he emphasized that if we take the business of mission and evangelism seriously, we should not be surprised to meet 'Sanballat's', who, just as in the time of Nehemiah, oppose us in building our 'wall'. For me, it was as if the penny dropped. I determined in the future to dedicate myself more to prayer than before. 'But we prayed to our God'.
Two days later, quite unexpectedly our head of finances and administration handed in her resignation, and the next day (yet again) reported sick. For the last three months, for various reasons she had already been at work less than half the time. You will understand that this situation considerably delayed the progress of the work of the Mission Institute. Might this be seen as the work of 'Sanballat'? Please pray that we will soon be able to fill this vacancy.
Itinerant Romany seminar
Early on a beautiful May morning, we left in two minibuses for a study trip of five days to various projects for mission to the Romany (gypsies). The intention was to offer the more than fifteen students the opportunity to explore the complicated issues of ministry among the gypsies in Hungary, who are often treated as outcasts, and to help them to put into practice their missiological insights gained in the Master of Theology program thus far. In some places, we were struck by the extreme poverty. Elsewhere, for example in a tiny village in the eastern part of the country, Rohod, we were put to shame by the tremendous hospitality. Afterwards one of the students wrote:
'We took part in a prayer meeting in which we heard extremely vibrant, deep prayers. It was really a prayer meeting, in the literal sense of the word. People prayed. It became clear to us that the prayer life of this Church, consisting of gypsies and non-gypsies, was very important, and that they had experienced very clear and specific answers to prayer.'
(link to picture): Figure 1 Prayer meeting in Rohod
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/roma.htm
Elsewhere we heard, that 'It was difficult to convince the presbytery to hold their (gypsy) services in the church on Sundays. In the end, it was a great step that they allowed it.' One of the students, originally from Romania, had a special experience when visiting a nursery school for gypsy children. She tried out the Romanian she knew from the past on the children, who spoke a language derived from old Romanian.
'It was a really beautiful, unforgettable moment for me. When I was little, I grew up with a deep revulsion against speaking Romanian. Now this language is helping me to make friends with some gypsy children. In the Kingdom of God, everything becomes completely new, and takes on a new value and meaning.'
One of the students who took part in this study trip was Boglarka. She graduated from Papa in June, as the first student specialising in mission studies. The assessment of her thesis was so good that the dean, who was on the examining board, immediately proposed to publishing it. During the Church examination a few weeks later - with an examining board of about thirty pastors - Bogi was asked what she envisioned to do after her studies. With fervour, she made a plea for the importance of the Churches to accepting their responsibility for 'the strangers in their midst', for work among gypsies. She emphasised that social work and evangelism should be closely interlinked: word and deed must go hand in hand.
A few days ago I heared that she is appointed to establish work among gypsies in her Church district. Praise God for the first students who have graduated from Papa, and especially for Boglarka! Please also pray for her as she takes up this pioneering work.
Feeling at home!
For some years I have been in the habit of inviting ten or fifteen students to my home at the end of the term for a so-called pizza party. The idea was actually born of necessity several years ago. Some students were to coming to my home for dinner, but I still had to start making the pizza when they arrived. There was nothing else for it than 'many hands make light work'. I simply set them all to work, which was a great success! Since then my pizza parties have become a tradition. One kneads the dough; others chop onions, peppers, salami; someone else makes the pizza sauce; and always someone offers to coordinate the lot. It is a fantastic exercise in cooperation, in which everyone can use their gifts. Often at a certain point there is the question, 'What topping shall we put on the pizzas?' Invariably my answer is, 'You must decide about that yourselves. Discuss it among yourselves!' These are unforgettable evenings, in which the students - sitting on the floor - often ask very personal questions.
At home in my Church?
In the middle of July, the theme of 'home' was again on my agenda. I was asked to speak at a women's conference with about 250 participants about the rather abstract subject, 'My Church is my home'. For many, this is taken for granted. 'I have been going to Church all my life. I feel at home there, because all my friends and relations belong there too.' But for many, it actually is a question. They do not (or no longer) feel at all at home in the Church. The question is, how can we make our Churches a home for the unchurched and for people on the fringes of the Church? How can we lower the doorsteps? Perhaps we are obstacles ourselves!? Many Churches in Hungary are rather closed to newcomers. Probably our Churches, including ourselves are in need of conversion as well! And how can we help others to feel at home in our Church; how can we love and accept them in such a way that they come to know the love of the Lord Jesus through us? Perhaps Christian women in Hungary can learn something from you in the States! Or in Netherlands? Please let me know!
Learning from one another
At the beginning of May, a unique conference was held in the Mission Institute organized by the Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies (CEEAMS), which was established eighteen months ago. With about twenty participants from eight different nationalities and various denominational backgrounds, we reflected together what are the issues and challenges in the area of missiology and evangelism in our region. We realised that independently of one another, we have lots of contacts with the West, but that there is hardly any exchange of thought or experiences among ourselves. In many places, missiology or mission studies is still in its infancy. There is much we can learn from one another, for example with regard to the issue of minorities (work among gypsies), the relationship with other religions (e.g. Islam), the role of the Church as a missionary community in a post-Communist society, etc. The conference was an important first step in coming together and building bridges. We realised that there is more to bind us together than to divide us!
Talking about meeting people and sharing, it was a very special experience to represent the CEEAMS at the International Conference of the International Association for Mission Studies in Malaysia at the beginning of August. For the first time in my 'career' as a missiologist, I had the opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the world and to hear from them what issues they consider important and how they go about in their teaching. Besides this, the conference was held in Asia, where I had once been, fifteen years ago. It was a particularly stimulating conference, because I was confronted with completely new questions from the Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist contexts, which tend to be outside your horizon in Hungary, such as interfaith dialogue and witness.
(Link to picture) Figure 2 Meeting with a lecturer at the Islamic university in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/maleisie.htm
Meeting with colleagues, many of whom I only knew 'on paper', was extremely enriching. New ideas for international cooperation in research projects were discussed. Regarding the question of coming to terms with the Communist past in Central and Eastern Europe, and the ethnic and denominational division and conflicts associated with this, we could learn for instance from the process of reconciliation in South Africa. Mission is more than calling people to conversion. It means teaching them as followers of Christ to translate their Christianity into all the areas of life. For more information about this conference, and the papers that were presented, see http://www.missionstudies.org/.
(Link to picture) Figure 3 Visit to a big, new mosque in Putrajaya
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/maleisie.htm
Of course, it was also wonderful after the busy conference to be able to relax and spend a few days with a colleague from Utrecht, Martha Th. Frederiks, seeing something of Malaysia. One unforgettable visit was to Malacca, where the influence of the Dutch colonial past is still clearly discernable. We stood by gravestones from the seventeenth century, and visited a Church built by the Dutch in 1753, next to which was the 'Stadhuys' (town hall).
Finally
I’m sure you can image that I returned home full of good intentions to spend more time in study and reflection, with friends, doing sport, in brief, in short: living a more 'normal' life. For the time being, it looks as if the resignation of our business manager puts these good intentions on hold. I am extremely thankful for the good cooperation with the board, who recently took a decision to appoint a 'managing director', or CEO to be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Mission Institute. Please pray for the board, and especially for the chairman, Dr Ákos Bodnár, as two important vacancies have to be filled in a short period of time. I would also like to thank you for your concern and prayers. I received many responses to my last Signs of Life.
Yours in Christ, our Lord and Saviour,
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 seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 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.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368 (Yes, this is a new address!).
or to:
2. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA.
In both cases please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
3. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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 MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 27th August, 2004
'When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed... But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.'
Neh. 4:1; 9
Dear Friends,
'There's no place like home!' Do you know that feeling after a period of being away that it's wonderful to be home again? I am 'tending my pot plants', and enjoying the magnificent oleander on my terrace. After a few weeks holiday and an unforgettable two-week stay in Malaysia at a conference with fellow missiologists, I have the feeling that I can face the challenges again, spiritually and physically.
I returned to Hungary just in time to meet the almost eighty-five year old Dr János Bütösi, one of the founders of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies, now living in America. In his highly prophetical address, he emphasized that if we take the business of mission and evangelism seriously, we should not be surprised to meet 'Sanballat's', who, just as in the time of Nehemiah, oppose us in building our 'wall'. For me, it was as if the penny dropped. I determined in the future to dedicate myself more to prayer than before. 'But we prayed to our God'.
Two days later, quite unexpectedly our head of finances and administration handed in her resignation, and the next day (yet again) reported sick. For the last three months, for various reasons she had already been at work less than half the time. You will understand that this situation considerably delayed the progress of the work of the Mission Institute. Might this be seen as the work of 'Sanballat'? Please pray that we will soon be able to fill this vacancy.
Itinerant Romany seminar
Early on a beautiful May morning, we left in two minibuses for a study trip of five days to various projects for mission to the Romany (gypsies). The intention was to offer the more than fifteen students the opportunity to explore the complicated issues of ministry among the gypsies in Hungary, who are often treated as outcasts, and to help them to put into practice their missiological insights gained in the Master of Theology program thus far. In some places, we were struck by the extreme poverty. Elsewhere, for example in a tiny village in the eastern part of the country, Rohod, we were put to shame by the tremendous hospitality. Afterwards one of the students wrote:
'We took part in a prayer meeting in which we heard extremely vibrant, deep prayers. It was really a prayer meeting, in the literal sense of the word. People prayed. It became clear to us that the prayer life of this Church, consisting of gypsies and non-gypsies, was very important, and that they had experienced very clear and specific answers to prayer.'
(link to picture): Figure 1 Prayer meeting in Rohod
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/roma.htm
Elsewhere we heard, that 'It was difficult to convince the presbytery to hold their (gypsy) services in the church on Sundays. In the end, it was a great step that they allowed it.' One of the students, originally from Romania, had a special experience when visiting a nursery school for gypsy children. She tried out the Romanian she knew from the past on the children, who spoke a language derived from old Romanian.
'It was a really beautiful, unforgettable moment for me. When I was little, I grew up with a deep revulsion against speaking Romanian. Now this language is helping me to make friends with some gypsy children. In the Kingdom of God, everything becomes completely new, and takes on a new value and meaning.'
One of the students who took part in this study trip was Boglarka. She graduated from Papa in June, as the first student specialising in mission studies. The assessment of her thesis was so good that the dean, who was on the examining board, immediately proposed to publishing it. During the Church examination a few weeks later - with an examining board of about thirty pastors - Bogi was asked what she envisioned to do after her studies. With fervour, she made a plea for the importance of the Churches to accepting their responsibility for 'the strangers in their midst', for work among gypsies. She emphasised that social work and evangelism should be closely interlinked: word and deed must go hand in hand.
A few days ago I heared that she is appointed to establish work among gypsies in her Church district. Praise God for the first students who have graduated from Papa, and especially for Boglarka! Please also pray for her as she takes up this pioneering work.
Feeling at home!
For some years I have been in the habit of inviting ten or fifteen students to my home at the end of the term for a so-called pizza party. The idea was actually born of necessity several years ago. Some students were to coming to my home for dinner, but I still had to start making the pizza when they arrived. There was nothing else for it than 'many hands make light work'. I simply set them all to work, which was a great success! Since then my pizza parties have become a tradition. One kneads the dough; others chop onions, peppers, salami; someone else makes the pizza sauce; and always someone offers to coordinate the lot. It is a fantastic exercise in cooperation, in which everyone can use their gifts. Often at a certain point there is the question, 'What topping shall we put on the pizzas?' Invariably my answer is, 'You must decide about that yourselves. Discuss it among yourselves!' These are unforgettable evenings, in which the students - sitting on the floor - often ask very personal questions.
At home in my Church?
In the middle of July, the theme of 'home' was again on my agenda. I was asked to speak at a women's conference with about 250 participants about the rather abstract subject, 'My Church is my home'. For many, this is taken for granted. 'I have been going to Church all my life. I feel at home there, because all my friends and relations belong there too.' But for many, it actually is a question. They do not (or no longer) feel at all at home in the Church. The question is, how can we make our Churches a home for the unchurched and for people on the fringes of the Church? How can we lower the doorsteps? Perhaps we are obstacles ourselves!? Many Churches in Hungary are rather closed to newcomers. Probably our Churches, including ourselves are in need of conversion as well! And how can we help others to feel at home in our Church; how can we love and accept them in such a way that they come to know the love of the Lord Jesus through us? Perhaps Christian women in Hungary can learn something from you in the States! Or in Netherlands? Please let me know!
Learning from one another
At the beginning of May, a unique conference was held in the Mission Institute organized by the Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies (CEEAMS), which was established eighteen months ago. With about twenty participants from eight different nationalities and various denominational backgrounds, we reflected together what are the issues and challenges in the area of missiology and evangelism in our region. We realised that independently of one another, we have lots of contacts with the West, but that there is hardly any exchange of thought or experiences among ourselves. In many places, missiology or mission studies is still in its infancy. There is much we can learn from one another, for example with regard to the issue of minorities (work among gypsies), the relationship with other religions (e.g. Islam), the role of the Church as a missionary community in a post-Communist society, etc. The conference was an important first step in coming together and building bridges. We realised that there is more to bind us together than to divide us!
Talking about meeting people and sharing, it was a very special experience to represent the CEEAMS at the International Conference of the International Association for Mission Studies in Malaysia at the beginning of August. For the first time in my 'career' as a missiologist, I had the opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the world and to hear from them what issues they consider important and how they go about in their teaching. Besides this, the conference was held in Asia, where I had once been, fifteen years ago. It was a particularly stimulating conference, because I was confronted with completely new questions from the Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist contexts, which tend to be outside your horizon in Hungary, such as interfaith dialogue and witness.
(Link to picture) Figure 2 Meeting with a lecturer at the Islamic university in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/maleisie.htm
Meeting with colleagues, many of whom I only knew 'on paper', was extremely enriching. New ideas for international cooperation in research projects were discussed. Regarding the question of coming to terms with the Communist past in Central and Eastern Europe, and the ethnic and denominational division and conflicts associated with this, we could learn for instance from the process of reconciliation in South Africa. Mission is more than calling people to conversion. It means teaching them as followers of Christ to translate their Christianity into all the areas of life. For more information about this conference, and the papers that were presented, see http://www.missionstudies.org/.
(Link to picture) Figure 3 Visit to a big, new mosque in Putrajaya
http://home.hccnet.nl/d.v.d.weerd/annemarie/maleisie.htm
Of course, it was also wonderful after the busy conference to be able to relax and spend a few days with a colleague from Utrecht, Martha Th. Frederiks, seeing something of Malaysia. One unforgettable visit was to Malacca, where the influence of the Dutch colonial past is still clearly discernable. We stood by gravestones from the seventeenth century, and visited a Church built by the Dutch in 1753, next to which was the 'Stadhuys' (town hall).
Finally
I’m sure you can image that I returned home full of good intentions to spend more time in study and reflection, with friends, doing sport, in brief, in short: living a more 'normal' life. For the time being, it looks as if the resignation of our business manager puts these good intentions on hold. I am extremely thankful for the good cooperation with the board, who recently took a decision to appoint a 'managing director', or CEO to be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Mission Institute. Please pray for the board, and especially for the chairman, Dr Ákos Bodnár, as two important vacancies have to be filled in a short period of time. I would also like to thank you for your concern and prayers. I received many responses to my last Signs of Life.
Yours in Christ, our Lord and Saviour,
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 seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 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.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368 (Yes, this is a new address!).
or to:
2. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA.
In both cases please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
3. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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 MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Friday, May 7, 2004
Signs of Life from Hungary -- 89
Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XI No. 89
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 7 May 2004.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Eph. 3, 20-21
Dear Friends,
In the seventeen years that I have been in Hungary, it has never before been the case that you did not receive a Signs of Life from me for five months. A lot has happened. It has been a time of personal difficulties and struggles, and also of problems with my health. Meanwhile there were the challenges of teaching - never before did I teach five new courses in one term - and the financial concerns for the Missions Institute, which are still pressing, although we were able to close the year with less of a shortfall than had originally been anticipated. Looking back, it was like a journey through the desert: I longed for water, was tired and sometimes even felt despondent.
An oasis time
And then, unexpectedly there was an oasis. At the invitation of the Reformed Church in America, at the end of March and the beginning of April, in a three weeks period, I visited more than ten Churches in seven different States, and I stayed in twelve different places. Everywhere I received a warm welcome and met with great interest for the work of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. What struck me is that mission is really considered a matter for the whole Church. At the Sunday worship service, I was usually asked to talk for ten to fifteen minutes about the work of the Missions Institute. People listened attentively, and in particular there was much prayer. Mission is not something for a missionary evening with a small group of missionary supporters, but rather it is for young and old, for the whole Church. I also noticed much concern for those on the fringes of the Church and the un-churched. Much is being done to take down barriers and remove the doorsteps. In most places, more than 10% of the budget is being dedicated to missionary projects.
During the trip, I also spoke at a conference for Christian businesswomen, with fellow leaders of theological institutes in Colombia, the Philippines, South Africa and China. It is impossible to express in words what it meant at the end of the conference to receive a Bible with the signatures of more than thirty people, who said they were willing to pray for me regularly. I will try to keep you update on our prayer concerns!
After three busy weeks, I came home spiritually refreshed, ready to continue the journey through the desert.
Praise God for the willingness of many people and a number of Churches to regularly pray and support the ministry of the Missions Institute?
An historical time
In the past years, I experienced many historical moments in connection with 'the changes' of 1989. The joining of the EU last week was another such moment. But for many, it was accompanied by mixed feelings:
'So many new regulations are being imposed on us "from above" in Brussels that we are loosing the unity of our Hungarian culture.” Old "mechanisms" are coming into action again, from the time when "from above" was in Moscow…
A new time
In the meantime, the PMTI programs continue. In March, we started the 'World Christian', a six-month distance learning course for Church members interested in missions and evangelism, with one teaching day a month in Budapest, under the excellent leadership of my colleague Siba-Rohn Hilda. The sixteen participants are from different Church backgrounds and represent a wide range of professions. The aim is to teach them to live their Christian life with a worldwide perspective, and to take their responsibility as Christians in the world seriously. Zoltán comes from the Hungarian speaking part of Serbia. He came to faith a year ago after a godless life in which he was a law unto himself. Now he has the desire to share his newfound faith with others, and especially to start a youth ministry in the area in which he lives. He travels all night to be able to attend the course on Saturdays, as does Ferenc, who comes from the Hungarian speaking part of Romania. Besides some elders from a Church in Budapest, there is also a surgeon, who used to be an alcoholic and who was converted four years ago. He too has a desire to be an instrument in the service of God. Without exception, they faithfully do their assignments, write papers and prepare for the practical placements this summer.
Please pray for these students, that they may be an instrument of renewal in their Churches, and especially for the scholarship fund, so that they can complete their studies. Their own contribution to the course only covers twenty percent of the actual costs. For every student, about 225 USD is still required.
Travelling Romany study seminar
Next week, students of the Masters program course are taking part in a study trip of a week throughout Hungary to visit all sorts of projects related to missions to the Romany (gypsies). In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of what an important missionary challenge the Romany form. In the whole of Eastern Europe, there are about six million of them, of whom about 600,000 to a million are in Hungary. It increasingly strikes me that the work of the Churches is very fragemented. The workers are often very lonely, have received hardly any training, and actually have nowhere they can go to share their struggles, not to mention the lack of reflection on the how and what of work among the Romany.
Please pray for growing cooperation, including internationally, and for a more compassionate, forgiving and reconciliatory attitude in the Churches. Pray that we may find the funds to pay for this trip. We trust that the Lord can supply the 2500 USD needed.
At last
After a period of waiting for half a year for approval regarding fire regulations, three weeks ago for the first time my Hungarian home church, the Gazdagret Church was allowed to hold the regular Sunday service in the new church building. A month earlier, the situation still seemed hopeless, but suddenly there was a change. Prayers were answered. In one of the first services, we were encouraged to look to Him 'who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us'. The official opening will take place on 19th September next.
Yours in Christ, our Lord and Saviour,
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 seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 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.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368 (Yes, this is a new address!).
or to:
2. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA.
In both cases please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
3. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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 MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
If you want to unsubscribe from this list, or would like one of your friends to receive the Signs of Life from Hungary, send an e-mail to dick@vdweerd.org with the text: (un)subscribe PMTI -news.
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 7 May 2004.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Eph. 3, 20-21
Dear Friends,
In the seventeen years that I have been in Hungary, it has never before been the case that you did not receive a Signs of Life from me for five months. A lot has happened. It has been a time of personal difficulties and struggles, and also of problems with my health. Meanwhile there were the challenges of teaching - never before did I teach five new courses in one term - and the financial concerns for the Missions Institute, which are still pressing, although we were able to close the year with less of a shortfall than had originally been anticipated. Looking back, it was like a journey through the desert: I longed for water, was tired and sometimes even felt despondent.
An oasis time
And then, unexpectedly there was an oasis. At the invitation of the Reformed Church in America, at the end of March and the beginning of April, in a three weeks period, I visited more than ten Churches in seven different States, and I stayed in twelve different places. Everywhere I received a warm welcome and met with great interest for the work of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. What struck me is that mission is really considered a matter for the whole Church. At the Sunday worship service, I was usually asked to talk for ten to fifteen minutes about the work of the Missions Institute. People listened attentively, and in particular there was much prayer. Mission is not something for a missionary evening with a small group of missionary supporters, but rather it is for young and old, for the whole Church. I also noticed much concern for those on the fringes of the Church and the un-churched. Much is being done to take down barriers and remove the doorsteps. In most places, more than 10% of the budget is being dedicated to missionary projects.
During the trip, I also spoke at a conference for Christian businesswomen, with fellow leaders of theological institutes in Colombia, the Philippines, South Africa and China. It is impossible to express in words what it meant at the end of the conference to receive a Bible with the signatures of more than thirty people, who said they were willing to pray for me regularly. I will try to keep you update on our prayer concerns!
After three busy weeks, I came home spiritually refreshed, ready to continue the journey through the desert.
Praise God for the willingness of many people and a number of Churches to regularly pray and support the ministry of the Missions Institute?
An historical time
In the past years, I experienced many historical moments in connection with 'the changes' of 1989. The joining of the EU last week was another such moment. But for many, it was accompanied by mixed feelings:
'So many new regulations are being imposed on us "from above" in Brussels that we are loosing the unity of our Hungarian culture.” Old "mechanisms" are coming into action again, from the time when "from above" was in Moscow…
A new time
In the meantime, the PMTI programs continue. In March, we started the 'World Christian', a six-month distance learning course for Church members interested in missions and evangelism, with one teaching day a month in Budapest, under the excellent leadership of my colleague Siba-Rohn Hilda. The sixteen participants are from different Church backgrounds and represent a wide range of professions. The aim is to teach them to live their Christian life with a worldwide perspective, and to take their responsibility as Christians in the world seriously. Zoltán comes from the Hungarian speaking part of Serbia. He came to faith a year ago after a godless life in which he was a law unto himself. Now he has the desire to share his newfound faith with others, and especially to start a youth ministry in the area in which he lives. He travels all night to be able to attend the course on Saturdays, as does Ferenc, who comes from the Hungarian speaking part of Romania. Besides some elders from a Church in Budapest, there is also a surgeon, who used to be an alcoholic and who was converted four years ago. He too has a desire to be an instrument in the service of God. Without exception, they faithfully do their assignments, write papers and prepare for the practical placements this summer.
Please pray for these students, that they may be an instrument of renewal in their Churches, and especially for the scholarship fund, so that they can complete their studies. Their own contribution to the course only covers twenty percent of the actual costs. For every student, about 225 USD is still required.
Travelling Romany study seminar
Next week, students of the Masters program course are taking part in a study trip of a week throughout Hungary to visit all sorts of projects related to missions to the Romany (gypsies). In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of what an important missionary challenge the Romany form. In the whole of Eastern Europe, there are about six million of them, of whom about 600,000 to a million are in Hungary. It increasingly strikes me that the work of the Churches is very fragemented. The workers are often very lonely, have received hardly any training, and actually have nowhere they can go to share their struggles, not to mention the lack of reflection on the how and what of work among the Romany.
Please pray for growing cooperation, including internationally, and for a more compassionate, forgiving and reconciliatory attitude in the Churches. Pray that we may find the funds to pay for this trip. We trust that the Lord can supply the 2500 USD needed.
At last
After a period of waiting for half a year for approval regarding fire regulations, three weeks ago for the first time my Hungarian home church, the Gazdagret Church was allowed to hold the regular Sunday service in the new church building. A month earlier, the situation still seemed hopeless, but suddenly there was a change. Prayers were answered. In one of the first services, we were encouraged to look to Him 'who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us'. The official opening will take place on 19th September next.
Yours in Christ, our Lord and Saviour,
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 seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 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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If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368 (Yes, this is a new address!).
or to:
2. I.D.E.A Ministries, 4595 Broadmoor—Suite 237, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, USA.
In both cases please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
3. You could also send your donation directly to our Hungarian Bank:
You can also send a donation directly to Hungary:
Account No: USD account number: HU36105600000772300102010108
EUR account number: HU28105600000772300122010100
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
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
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 MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
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