Angela Papp interview: 11/08
Cindy: Tell me about yourself.
Angela: My mom is Polish; my Dad is Hungarian. I learned Polish at home because my Mom spoke Polish at home. I always lived in Budapest , but my Mom spoke Polish until I was 4 or 5 but then she had to speak Hungarian so my 3 younger brothers don’t know any Polish. When I was 3 my parents became Christians; my Dad first and then my Mom. She needed a whole year of convincing because Polish are very Catholic. My Mom was raised Catholic, very devout Catholic, so my Mom’s family rejected her when she became a Christian. My Dad’s family was accepting and they also became believers later. I accepted this faith as a child but did not really make it my own until I was 18 years old. I never rebelled, it just wasn’t really my faith before that, it was my parent’s faith. I really feel that I became a Christian when I was baptized. I knew that I should be baptized, so I became baptized in my church, the Hungarian charismatic church and that’s when I really felt the Holy Spirit enter into my life, so that’s when I would say I became a Christian. My whole way of faith was transformed. The Holy Spirit really filled my life after I was baptised. It has really changed the attitude of my life. I was baptized when I was 18, older than most of my friends because my parents wanted me to make that step when it was my own faith. That’s really when I feel like my life was changed. We went to many different churches as a family. Every time we switched it was because of a split; mostly because the church would split very often over very small issues. For example, the last split was over whether we should be baptized twice. I was baptized into the ˝Father , Son and Holy Spirit˝ but because Jesus name was not mentioned, it’s not good enough. The Hungarians are like that you can’t forgive and forget and move on.
When I graduated from high school I wanted to go to Canada because my aunt lived there and I wanted to learn English better. But I was refused three times, because I could not prove that if they let me in that I would return. Because I was not married, and I had no car or house or anything that would show that I would return. A friend told me about a ministry in England for Eastern Europeans called Ellel. It is a healing, deliverance and evangelism ministry that trains people in these ministries. I stayed there for two years, first as a young people team member then as a household manager. I took care of running things and then helped manage the conferences on the weekends. We had conferences every Saturday and Sunday. We ministered and trained at that time.Then I came home to Budapest to go to university. But ended up with a scholarship to study in England at the West Yorkshire School for one year. I studied about world view but it was very academic. Quite unlike the KMTI classes at KRE.
I met my husband last year. He is actually the director of Ellel Hungary. He is from near Budapest. His father is a pentecostal pastor and my husband is the worship leader. When we met we had a lot to talk about because I love the work of Ellel. We got married in August and we live in a flat just about Ellel.
Cindy: Why did you chose KRE?
Angela: There were two universities to chose from. I wanted to study English and there was KRE and another university in Budapest, but the one university is much larger. The class size at the KRE is much smaller and more intimate. I also found out that KRE was apparently religious and that appealed to me. I had heard that there was a student was dismissed from KRE because he was homosexual so then I thought they (KRE) must be Christian, not just in a historical sense but in a practical way. They really followed through in their beliefs. There are many Christian teachers here. And even though they are teaching secular subjects, they are incorporating their faith somehow into their subjects. You can sense it (their faith) by their teaching.
Cindy: How do you know Anne-Marie?
Angela: I met her in the first course I took at KMTI last year. ˝The Revival in Ghana˝with Dr Cephas Omeno lecturing. Now I am taking two more courses through KMTI: The Veritas Forum and ˝The Climate Change in the Church˝.
Cindy: What courses would you recommend to others?
Angela: The Veritas Forum. It started originally in Harvard where Christians and non-Christians debate about their faith and what it means to believe. They invited famous speakers to talk about their faith and we are replicating this forum here and so far we have invited speakers to come and tell us about their faith. It is very interesting; I really enjoy it. I am so happy to do something Christian finally in my courses here. I tell my friends about this course. If this faculty at KMTI did not exist, it would be very boring; very non-Christian. We have everything that an English department should have but the KMTI courses are so much more. It's really effecting my life.
Cindy: Are there courses that you would suggest that we add to the KMTI course offerings?
Angela: Yes! First what is the goal of this faculty?...to spread knowledge or to help students find faith?
Cindy: I think this is part of the goal. That student's faith will grow as a result of these courses is not always the goal but becomes the result of the courses. I think that many students take the course because they are interested in Christian ideas and then through the course grow in their own faith and applying what they learn in their own lives.
Angela: I think that it is important that the courses offered appeal to both Christians and non-Christians because KRE has a much higher non-Christian population. First of all what came to mind is a very popular topic: Creation vs. Evolution. I think this is something that non-Christians like to talk about just as much as Christians. It's very popular in Hungarian media right now. There are several books that have just been written about this topic.
Something my husband suggested has to do with the decline in the institution of the family in Hungary. Actually, he thinks it is a global problem. But it would be good to look at the institution of the family and it's decline effects society. Actually Otto Bixler, the American/Hungarian director at the Center (Ellel), would love to do a lecture on this. He just wrote a book on communism and how it effects Hungarian families. I also thought this would be a good topic: How Communism Effected Hungary. Otto Bixler wrote his book out of his experience at Ellel East. It is a healing ministry for all of Eastern Europe and he has observed much through this. He has lived here for twenty years and has good insights on how communism has effected this area.
Another topic that would be good is ˝Global Warming from a Christian Perspective˝. It's also very popular right now. To discuss what is our responsibility as Christians, how God told us to take care of the world and what that means now.
Also, I would be interested in hearing how the politics of America effects American Christianity. Perhaps to have someone from the U.S. Speak on how they see the changing of society in America. Actually our teachers at KRE are already teaching us that the 19th century was pax Brittanica; the 20th was pax America and the 21st will be pax China. Through time Britain became debted to America and now America is debted to China. All the products are made in China and now all the brains from Europe are being attracted there as well. Engineers from Europe are going to China.
Cindy: How do you think we can best advertise KMTI?
Angela: You need to interconnect with the faculty. Anne-Marie needs to make KMTI better known in the other faculties. You should advertise during the one or two week period when students are applying for their next semester courses. You should put out posters in all the different facilities of KRE around Budapest. No one knows about where you are located except students who are already in this building. You need to get the courses on the internet and have posters in all the locations the end of January/beginning of February.
Cindy: What are your hopes for your future?
Angela: For myself, I hopefully will graduate next year in English with a degree that allows me to teach. But I would really like to work with my husband at Ellel ministries. I would like to try teaching, elementary students. I used to work at the American International school and would enjoy working there again as a teacher. I have aslo done some translation work and would enjoy doing more of this.
Cindy: What are your hopes for the future of the church?
Angela: The church I go to is in a small village outside of Budapest. It is a pentecostal church with about 100 people. My father-in-law who is the pastor has his eyes on getting the whole village saved. He actually has prophesied about this. We will see. But we are actually looking for a place to buy a plot of land to build a new building. We constantly have space problems. About the church in general in Hungary. The work we are doing at Ellel, we are trying to build bridges with pastors. We train pastors twice a year and I'm the translator for these conferences. That's how I'm involved. We try to build bridges because in the past there was a wrong perception of our ministry that it was only about deliverance from demons and we were seen as super spiritual. Once Hungarians have a certain perception, it is very difficult to change their minds.
Cindy: What about the future of your country?
Angela: That's a big question. The political situation is so depressive. I don't have too high hopes for the country. As a Christian, I hope that we can do some work here. Many of my friends who live abroad think Hungary is crazy. We had communist rule for 50 years. Then there comes democracy and then we go back to communist leadership thinking that they had changed. I just don't understand that. The leaders right now, they are communist...their dad's were communist. Hungarians have a saying ˝a dog will never be a sausage˝ (it sounds better in Hungarian) but it means that something is not going to change just because you change the name or dress it up. It's still the same. People don't think outside the box. They only remember that there wasn't unemployment before and think that's all that matters. They only see it one way. All this depression, it's the fault of communism and all the alcoholism too. The suicide rate is going up. People don't see any other way out. An important matter that people seem to be missing is the whole decline of the family. It's so obvious and it effects everybody even Christians are getting divorces.I think it's important to focus on the family and what a difference it can make in our society. The stability of the family can make a big difference.
