Budapest, 17 December 2007 (send out 28 February, 2008)
Dear Friends and Family,
There's much to be learned from guests! Guests help you to see your situation through new eyes. I regularly have guests, especially from the Netherlands. In this Kool News, I have asked some of them to give their impressions.
Impressions of Budapest (1)
'For years, Kool News (and the previous Signs of Life from Hungary) has been a resource for many about mission and evangelism developments in Central and Eastern Europe. These reports reveal Anne-Marie Kool’s unique contributions to these developments. I can confidently attest to this. She has asked me to share my impressions in her newsletter with you in my own way. Since I became involved in the work of the Mission Institute as a volunteer two years ago, I have grown to know her and her work.
Since 1990, I have increasingly become familiar with this region through participating in various activities, particularly dealing with people who have disabilities. As a professor of missiology in a post-Communist region, Anne-Marie has dealt with everything imaginable: teaching those with a Communist upbringing that engenders faith in nothing and no one. Because of this, you never know if people will do what they promise and say what they think. And yet ...Anne-Marie is one of those people who take up the challenge. She believes in possibilities, because she trusts that God will help despite all the gloom. (Gloomy - that's what it looked like here last week: drab and grey.) Then this morning, suddenly the sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was a refreshing breeze. Symbolic of all the brightness which can be seen in the eyes of the students with whom Anne-Marie is dealing and who are learning how to understand the commission of the Biblical message within the context of their culture.
It was an impressive moment the first Sunday of Advent, there were more than twenty-five people who expressed a desire for the first time to become actively involved in the Church. There were also many children born into the church this year. The church is experiencing true growth thanks to the relentless dedication of the pastors and the many active volunteers.. There is much to learn - you do that if you have the opportunity to work with Anne-Marie. She is a teacher in heart and soul. She seems continually to radiate, not as a goal in itself, but out of commitment to the Good Cause of Jesus Christ. Inspiration is what you gain from being under her teaching. Somewhere in a building on Calvin Square, step-by-step work is being done to help students discover their true humanity in Christ.”
(Mineke Hardeman, Budapest, 13th December, 2007)
From Saturday, December 1st to Tuesday, December 4th, Henk Massink, an elder from the Reformed Sion Church in Houten was a guest in Budapest. He, too, has been visiting Hungary since the beginning of the 1990's. Here are some of his impressions. (My, ”home churches” of Sion and the Gazdagrét both have connections here.)
Impressions of Budapest (2)
Miklos and Toncy Nagy warmly welcomed me in their flat in the Gazdagrét area. They, too, visited our Church in the Netherlands in 2005. It was good to renew our connections. Their home is about two hundred meters from the Gazdagrét church. With them, I again had discussions until deep in the night about the social and political situation in Hungary. It again became clear to me how strong the Communists aftermath still is and how harmful these influences are for society. The socialist government (under the leadership of a former Communist) is squashing any form of social creativity and responsibility.
Gazdagrét Church
On Sunday morning, the Gazdagrét church quickly filled. It is remarkable how many people have joined the Church through the Alpha course. It must have something to do with the fact that the church members are very hospitable to people from the neighborhood. In his sermon, Pastor Andras Lovas skillfully linked the situation in which people find themselves to the lament found in Psalm 13. Rev. Lovas showed that complaining is part of a Biblical life of faith that should transform from complaint into prayer and through faith into trust.
Mongolian Service
On Sunday afternoon, with Anne-Marie, I attended a small Mongolian Church. Janet, one of Anne-Marie’s former students invited us to join her at the Mongolian church that meets in Budapest. She was closely involved in the formation of this church in a poorer part of the city. The service was to start at 5:00 p.m., but at that time, we were standing in the cold outside a closed door. Just after five, a number of people came up with an unmistakably Asian appearance, one with the key to open the door. Talking was not easy but the reception was extremely warm.It was a special service, lasting about two and a half hours. It was a farewell service to two Korean evangelist-pastors who live in Germany, who had led an evangelistic campaign for the past ten days. The elder evangelist sang a song in which you could hear the wind whistling across the Mongolian steppes. Then the other Korean pastor took over in Mongolian. It happens that since the 1980's, there have been quite a lot of Mongolian women working as seamstresses in Budapest. (In 1994, I had contact with Munhjin, who came to faith in the Pasaret Church, AMK).
Now there were finally about forty people present at the service, the vast majority women. The word was like a sharp two-edged sword. The sermon focused mainly on Revelation 22:8. Eight forms of sin are mentioned. Anyone who commits any one of these sins ends up in the 'fiery lake of burning sulphur'. During the service, the pastor asked the Church members - while everyone had their eyes closed - to raise their hands if they knew they had committed any of these sins. It was a serious word through which the conscience was touched. But it was not left at this. The preacher commended the blood of Christ as the way to salvation and victory. In this, he gave the example of the powerful work of God's Spirit in the hearts of heathen (Mongolian) priests. The Church clearly expressed its joy about this great grace. This service also seemed to be a type of commissioning service where various church members were assigned tasks. sing. After that, with a firm hug, everyone said good-bye to the two Korean guest pastors, and they sang to us as special guests. It was all particularly impressive and moving.
(H.F. Massink)
Finally
When you read this belated Kool News, teaching is well underway into the second semester with about 80 students in five courses! I’m greatly enjoying it. Next week a guest professor from Ghana, Prof. Dr. Cephas Omenyo will teach a class on Renewal in African Christianity: the case of Ghana. Pray that the course will be a great blessing to the 25+ students who have registered. Thank you for your faithful support and prayers!
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Anne-Marie Kool
