Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XII No. 95
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Dr. Anne-Marie Kool (PMTI)
Budapest - 14th May, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
'... He gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised ... You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses ...' Acts 1:4, 8
Wait, receive power and be witnesses
In the overture to Pentecost, the disciples are told to wait. It is a time of looking forward, waiting and expecting. And then follows the promise: You will receive power ... and you will be My witnesses. These three things: waiting, receiving power and being witnesses belong very closely together in missionary work. I think we often reverse the order, and begin by organising campaigns and programmes to be a witness. Then we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit, and after that, we wait to see if the Lord will bless our plans.
Be ready and willing to do everything, ... to do nothing, ... to become a nobody
Recently I have frequently recalled the words of Chris Davies, an Englishwoman who for years helped in secret (as a “holy spy”) to equip Christian students in Central and Eastern Europe. When I was asked in 1985 to take over part of her work, she entrusted me with the following, 'Be ready and willing to do everything, be ready and willing to do nothing, and be ready to become a nobody.' In the past eighteen years, I have sometimes known times in which I was asked to wait, 'to do nothing', but also times of intense activity, 'to do everything', and times in which I had the feeling that I was of no significance whatsoever, 'to become a nobody'.
Changes
In the past years in which the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies has grown so expansively, there has been little time “to do nothing”. More and more has been put on my plate - teaching duties, supervisory tasks, and also many managerial responsibilities.. Over three years ago, I presented a plan to the board of the Missions Institute with a proposal to transfer those managerial tasks to someone else which were not related to academic matters and training. Last year, the board took the decision to appoint a business manager, but not much progress was made. I am therefore glad that just over a month ago, the decision was taken to appoint me as academic director, responsible only for the academic department of the Missions Institute, for program’s related to missiological education, and that an interim business manager has been appointed in the person of the present chairman of the board. This is an important step in the reorganisation of the Missions Institute. In the coming period, a business manager will be appointed. I am very pleased that in the meantime, the Reformed Missionary League (GZB) has decided to renew my contract for five years. Will you give thanks with me for these decisions, and also for the good discussions with the GZB delegation last month. Please pray especially for the board of the Missions Institute as they take further decisions about the reorganisation.
Please pray that these decisions will mean that the Missions Institute is even better than hitherto able to achieve its goal of training and equipping pastors and Churches to be witnesses 'in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth'. Will you also pray for me in these times of change?
Being witnesses in 'all Judea and Samaria'
One of the high points of recent times was undoubtedly the study trip with about twenty-five students from Hungary and the Netherlands to Vojvodina (Serbia). In this province of Serbia, which until 1921 was part of the great Hungarian Empire, there now live about two million people, of whom about twelve percent, over 200,000 people, are of Hungarian ethnic background. The Hungarian Reformed Church has about 12,000 members. Everywhere you see signs of the recent war, not only in the buildings and the infrastructure, but also among the people themselves. Suddenly the 'land of Milosevic' takes on a face. Here are some responses of the students. A Dutch student writes:
'There are many things which touched me, which I experienced as being special and which were inspiring. One of the things which touched me was the prayer topic, which the pastor of the Church in Piros presented to us, namely not intercession for a project or for the enthusiasm of the Church members, but for the fact that they were often themselves so selfish, that they might have the courage to live closer to the Gospel, and that they might have the courage to pray. Perhaps it is my Reformed point of view, but I found it very special that prayer should be requested for things, for matters, which primarily concern the relationship between man and the Word. It also indicates what is necessary here under the influence of all the ethnic tensions which there are: the power of prayer must be experienced. On the basis of this, people can work towards unity, as was demonstrated in the Baptist seminary. Despite all the differences in background and history, the Bible remains central everywhere. This must (and shall) be the beginning of unity.'
A Hungarian student writes:
'In Belgrade - it may sound rather strange - I was actually jealous of the tiny Church without a church building. I noticed that the minority position of this Church, the shared past which is so full of suffering, the times of testing and the financial problems, have brought them very close together. It was very clearly noticeable that the love, the fellowship and the shared plans are important for them. Personally, I come from a large city Church, in which people hardly know one another, let alone love one another. They have plenty of money, but their spiritual growth often stagnates. This is why I was so impressed by this Church.'
And to conclude, another Hungarian student:
'In comparison with many Churches in Hungary, the small Churches which we visited were in many respects disadvantaged. And yet, they trust in the Lord Jesus, and so they remain standing. It was incredibly good to hear of a Church which, even during the war, was busy extending the Church centre. These people did not give up, but placed their trust in God. I also learned a lot from the pastors. They do not look at the circumstances, at the many difficulties, but look to their work in the fellowship.'
Finally
In two weeks time, we hope to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Missions Institute. Please pray for a good day, on which we can thank the Lord together for everything that He has brought about for the Missions Institute. God is faithful. He will not abandon the work of His hands!
Yours sincerely in Christ, ,
Anne-Marie
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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or to:
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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@t-online.hu.
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