Cindy: Have you known Anne-Marie for long?
Ágnes: Not really. I took a course with an African this year. Dr Cephas Omenos. It was so different in how priests are in Africa from Hungarian priests. They are not like European priests, I don’t really know all of them, but the Hungarian priests that I know are all cold. They want to be friendly but they keep themselves at a distance. It seems that the African personality of a priest is so much warmer and more friendly.
Cindy: Tell me about yourself. Were you raised Catholic?
Ágnes: No, not really. I was raised in a very nice family but we didn’t go to church. I was searching for something, and money didn’t really satisfy me. Then over time, it just happened that I was looking for something more. When things changed in 1990 there was a change for me as well. There were now religious books and articles printed and I read them and knew that this was what I had been searching for. When you have God, it changes your whole life, suddenly you have a purpose.
I was raised in a small village in the south of Hungary. When I was 20 I went to England to study and learn English and then I went to Israel for 1 year and then to the Carribean to work on a cruise ship for 3 years. It was nice but I needed something to have more stability.I earned enough money to return to Hungary a buy a flat after this. I never really planned my life. But I was looking for something more than just money and that kind of stability.
Cindy: So this is when you started to study at KRE? Why did you chose KRE?
Ágnes: Yes. I wanted a school that was religious. I was interested in math and English but didn’t have enough time to prepare for my examinations so I decided to just pursue English at KRE.
Cindy: You are a fourth year student and you have also taken courses through CIMS? What courses have you taken?
Ágnes: The Veritas forum. I would highly recommend this class. It was so helpful. I have told my friends that are also English majors and we agreed that it would have been so good to have more classes like the Veritas Forum. The way it is taught is so good. It’s not just theoretical, but it’s so pratical. We work in groups and then each group invites someone of faith to come and speak to the whole group about their work and how their faith impacts their work. We are not just opeing a book, we are talking to a real person. It really affected all of us in the group to hear these things. My friends and I said after the Veritas class ˝It’s a shame; we chose the wrong major…we should have chosen a theology major...to be in the Institute.˝
Cindy: What do you hope to do in the future?
Ágnes: I am not really sure. It depends on the possibilities that I will have.With my major people can go and teach or go to another university and study some more. I am not interested in a career. I would like to settle down and get married and have a family. I am quite quiet and don’t really like to speak a lot. I would like a job where I don't have to talk so much. I didn't get an English degree to become an English teacher but basically because I wanted a degree. I would like to learn more and stay here in Hungary. I am done traveling. This is my country.
Cindy: What are your hopes for your church?
Agnes: I think that my priest is very good at organizing things. He's doing a pretty good job. There are lots of young couples. I am hoping that my church will be even more open . We have lots of small groups and lots of ministries for people small kids, for kids in high school. My boyfriend and I are involved in this way.We have lots of excursions in the summer.
Cindy: What are your hopes for the future of Hungary.
Ágnes: I recently read a book of a Jesuit monk who lived for 40 years in Japan and came back to live in Hungary. Actually he spoke to the Veritas group and I bought his book and he said that the Christian faith in Hungary has been here for 1000 years. But in Japan they are mostly Bhuddist and Christianity has been suppressed but yet the Christians faith is so much stronger in Japan than in Hungary. In Hungary we have people that are so depressed and their faith doesn’t really influence their outlook on life. What I hope for the Hungarian people is that their faith will be strengthened. Then out of this strong faith, things will be changed. Then there will be political change. If we could have a perspective of the Christians in Japan. Their way of thinking is so different than Hungarians. Because of communism we are afraid to practice our faith. I see in my church that already there is a change in their way of thinking.I see in my church they have 3 or 4 kids in a family. Some famililies have 6,7,8 kids. This is a different way of thinking. Big families show that you have more faith, you trust God is going to take care of you. When you are fearful and worried about money, you only have 1 or at the most 2 children. But when you have faith and you trust God to take care of you then you see bigger families with more children. You know God will take care of you.
Cindy: How is your family in accepting your faith?
Ágnes: At first they were afraid a bit. But now, it’s like when you are not a Christian, then your life is a big mess. When you start to believe and go on the right path, then God starts to sort things out in life. And when my parents saw my sister and then me become Christians and our messy lives started to get straightened out, then they realized that it is good. But it doesn’t make them want to go to church or anything. It would be too hard for them. They feel like it would look stupid to all of a sudden show up in church. In their town they have never gone to church so it would be so strange.
Cindy: How would you suggest that we could advertise CIMS better?
Ágnes: You should tell the English department. There are many teachers that it is obvious that they have faith by the way they teach their classes. I think if Anne-Marie could meet with these teachers. Maybe when they have an English teachers meeting, Anne-Marie should go there and introduce her courses and tell about the different seminars that are being offered.. I think many of them would be very interested and would promote them to their students. There are many English teachers at KRE that are Christians and they would be very interested in Anne-Marie's courses and having their students attend her courses.
Also, it would be good to advertise on the internet throught the Neptune program.
