Interview with Biro Adalbert
C: Tell me about yourself.
A: Right now I’m attending two schools. One is Karoli and the other is ELTE. I started my B.A. in English this year. I decided to immerse myself in English. I enjoy talking and practicing the language. I enjoy talking because written language is a sort of dead language.
C: What do you hope to do with this degree?
A: I chose this degree to reach a proficiency level in English and I am also getting my masters this year at the faculty of theology. I’m going to parallel universities. Once I get my degree, I don’t want to start my pastoral career; not really a career but a calling from God. I’m not really sure that I want to be a pastor, that’s one of the reasons I started this other degree in English. I don’t really fit into the context of the traditional reformed church pastor.
C: Can you tell me about your background?
A: I was born in another region so I’m not really a Hungarian citizen but my ancestry is 100% Hungarian and I am really proud of it. Basically I was raised in the western region of Ukraine. It was settled by many different minorities, one of them being Hungarian. 160,000 Hungarians are there surrounded by Russians and Ukrainians. So we were a minority. But the place where I was born was 100% Hungarian so I grew up speaking Hungarian. Our village was a village of 3,000 people. I lived there all my growing up years until I was 18, until I graduated from high school. Then I came to Budapest to go to the university. I had two choices to make. I could have started my studies in the Ukraine but it is a corrupt system. Once you get in you have to pay a kind of bribe for each exam. It doesn’t matter what you know. There is a rate and if you pay it, you pass. It depends on how valuable the exam is how much you have to pay. You can study but what really matters is if you paid the amount needed to get a passing mark. So I didn’t want my parents to have to pay into this corrupt system so instead I applied for a scholarship. There are 25 scholarships available to students in the Trans Carpathian area provided by the Hungarian government. I was chosen to receive this scholarship based on my points on the entrance exam. So that is why I am studying here. This is now my sixth year studying here and I will graduate this year in theology. But I plan to study English at the other university and I hope to be able to go to the U.S. to really learn English and become a proficient English speaker.
C: Tell me about your family background.
A: I was born in a traditional Hungarian Reformed family. My parents and grandparents would take me to church since the age of three. I found it really boring and I really didn’t understand what it was all about. As I grew up, I gained knowledge and I began to question things in church. Why do we baptize children? Why do we have confirmation? I was trying to get at the root of these things in the Bible. Then when I was in high school I went to a Reformed high school; one of four in the Trans Carpathian region. It was the best of all the Hungarian schools. 98% of those that graduated went on to a university.
Before I went to high school, when I was 14 years old, we had a week of camp as a part of confirmation. At the camp there were other Christian children and we learned about God and the Bible. I sensed something transcendent. That was a point when I really felt that I met Jesus. After that I went home and I sensed that the way I was living my life was not the way God wanted me to live. That was a kind of turning point where I thought about moving forward toward high school and then university.
Then in high school, I received even more knowledge through my church education. We had to learn the catechism by heart. I recognized that before this that I was just repeating these things without really having any real knowledge. Then in high school it started to make sense to me. I began to pray to find out what God wanted me to do. I found the passage in Isaiah 49:6 “I will make you a light unto the Gentiles”. Through this verse I felt God calling me to be a missionary.
Before I started my theological studies, I felt God calling me to be a missionary and maybe that is still what God is calling me to do. I’m not sure what and where God wants me to do ministry. I’m not sure if he wants me to be a pastor. That’s why I’m not going to start my ministry right now. When I graduate I should start my ministry but it doesn’t feel right for me right now.
C: So what are your plans now?
A: I know that I am a Christian and that God has used several things to have an impact in the direction my life is taking. There was a new rule that every student had to have an intermediate language certification by your 7th semester before you were allowed to go on. So I went to the U.S. for three months and that really broadened my perspective on life. When I came back I started working for a multinational Dutch company here in Budapest for several months. I found many people there that would confide in me about their spiritual lives. I was doing a bit of spiritual counseling there. I found that I am interested in much more that theology and Greek and Hebrew and Latin. I want more of the real life.
C: Can you tell me about the courses that you took with Anne-Marie?
A: I took the “Climate Change in the Church” course and a course on Missiology. What I gained from those courses: AMK teaches her courses in a different way than the western education system. She requires a lot of reading and response. She requires response not only to her questions but also to what you have learned and how you will apply it. It’s much more practical that theoretical. It was much more challenging that the other theology courses where you aren’t required to do much research but just go to class and listen. What’s really good about the AMK courses is the amount of dialogue between students. She is more of a coordinator. It’s not just a conversation between her and the students but with all of us from different faculties in the university dialoguing together with her moderating. These dialogues really caused us to challenge our world views. I found it very engaging. Dr John Brouwer’s course is more interactive in the same way. These courses allow us to share our own opinions and then to form conclusions together. I would really recommend these courses. AMK really makes me think. She pays more attention to her student’s questions. The way she teaches and the way she treats her students is very different. It’s a completely different type of teacher –student relationship.
C: What courses would you recommend to be taught again?
A: Reconciliation is a topic that is worth repeating over and over again.
My thesis will be about foreign conditions in Hungary. It’s important for Hungarians to realize that our world is really diverse. The phenomenon of racism is very much prevalent here. Even though I am Hungarian, but because I was born in the Ukraine, Hungarians are not very welcoming. I’m discriminated against. It makes me feel like a stranger everywhere. In Hungary, I’m Ukrainian: In Ukraine, I’m Hungarian. So reconciliation is an important topic for everyone.
C: Are there other courses that should be offered by KMTI?
A: Missiology
C: How would you recommend that we advertise KMTI and the courses we offer?
A: Use the Neptune system. Have links on other websites like Gazdagret. The university has a website and so does our faculty. It would be good to have a link from there. Also put posters up. Create eye catching posters and get them to me, I will see to it that they get put up in appropriate places.
C: Any other thoughts?
A: AMK courses are about real life. They are more demanding but worth it. Many students are afraid of AMK courses because she requires so much. But at ELTA the courses are even more demanding. At KRE students just don’t expect such demanding courses. Many students are critical of her grading system but I have learned not to go to courses for grades but for the real life value.
