Signs of Life from Hungary -- 83

Budapest

6 March 2003

'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' Phil. 4:4; 6-7

Dear Friends and Family,

Recent weeks have been characterised by significant highlights and serious disappointments. Paul’s admonition to “rejoice in the Lord always” has been as real and relevant as his reminder “not to be anxious about anything”. Recent financial figures have revealed that we have enough money in the bank for another two months. What to do? 'Rejoice in the Lord!' and 'Do not be anxious.'!

About “Rejoicing” and “not being anxious”

When Paul wrote these words to the Church in Philippi, he was in prison. One wonders how it is possible to rejoice when everything around is against you. His secret lies in the fact that this joy is not based on the situation in which he finds himself, but on the Lord! What a lesson, to remind each other of constantly! In the following verses, he expresses himself even more specific. Do not be anxious. Do not take any notice of the situation around you, but focus on the Lord! Hand over your burden, give thanks for what you have and do not be bothered about what you do not have.

The fruit of this attitude is 'the peace of God', the shalom of God, a deep peace based on the knowledge that whatever happens, our life is in God's hand.

Rejoice (1) - 'Passed'

When I think back on this month, there is much reason for thankfulness, for rejoicing. Valentine's Day took on a very special colour this year, because the exam to be fully qualified as a professor took place. The previous evening, shortly after midnight, Sára and I had finished the final corrections of the lectures. It was indeed a 'difficult delivery'. Fortunately I had 'expert' help from my sister Heleen, a midwife by profession. She had come with my parents to share in this momentous day. The colloquium with the qualifying “habilitation” commission of the Reformed University of Divinity went very well. The professors asked very good questions, and showed a real interest in the topic! It was followed by a 'happening' in the auditorium, where I had to deliver my “Public Lectures”, to show that I am able to teach at university level. I had the feeling that with this exam there was much more at stake than obtaining a qualification. It was a unique opportunity to underline the relevance of the discipline of missiology in the theological curriculum in Hungarian and Central European seminaries. Students, friends and colleagues from all over the country came. From all over the world I received signs of encouragement. Thank you so much!

During a spontaneously organised celebratory gathering on Sunday evening, there was the opportunity to rejoice with a house full of friends, Church members, colleagues and board members of the Missions Institute, as well as my neighbours. It was a real open fellowship where the love of Christ was present.

Rejoice (2) – Courses

Usually Wednesday is really the highlight of the week. Together with two of my colleagues, Hilda and Dóra, we then go to Papa, a journey of 175 km. On the way, there is plenty of opportunity to talk about current affairs. In this Reformed Seminary we teach two courses this semester. One about 'Missionary spirituality' and another on 'The missional Church in the twenty-first century'. They both prove to be very popular, all together attended by almost thirty students.

Just a glimpse of last weeks class. I had asked the students each to ask five people who call themselves Reformed but never go to Church. It turned out to be quite a new experience for them to break out of their sheltered environment in the seminary. I was not really surprised to hear one of their conclusions, that about 40 to 50% never go to Church because of a great disappointment with the Church or pastor. Often these disappointments date back to Communist times. However, a surprise for us all was the conclusion that 75% of those questioned demonstrated an openness to hear more about the gospel. We wondered, whether the hindrance for many people not to come to church does lie with us as 'Church people' rather than with those hardly attending church?

I was reminded of the crucial importance of training the local churches to grow into open, missionary communities and recalled the women’s conference we had just attended before we went to Papa, at which we gave talks on the importance of open, welcoming small group bible study in the Church. More than fifty women attended this three day conference organized by a colleague of ours, Zita. There was a real desire to learn!

Rejoice (3) - Many applications

In the 1980's, Csaba, born in Rumania, was in prison for eighteen months because he wanted to study theology in Hungary. He was intercepted at the border. Now he is actively involved in prison ministry, besides pasturing a Church. Gabor was not allowed to continue his studies because he was too active in his Church in the work of evangelism among Roma. Elena grew up in Orthodox Russia and studied to be an English teacher. After the 'changes', as a translator for evangelical groups, she came in touch with the gospel for the first time. Now she has been living in Hungary for several years, and is involved in child evangelism. Tiina born in Estonia, has a great desire to look into missiological questions which apply to the context of her country. It is her church’s desire that she teaches missiology at the Lutheran seminary. László has for several years been a pastor somewhere in rural Hungary. He is very concerned about how to reach those who only formally adhere to the Reformed Church. Erzsebet has just been appointed as the missionary instructor in her town. Carlos comes from Brazil and is a missionary in Hungary. Péter has worked for years in Venezuela. Eszter is an artist and has the desire to go into missionary work.

What do these people have in common? Each one of them has a desire to be better equipped for their ministry, how to spread the gospel in a contextual, Biblical and relevant way, in local or global mission. They have all enrolled for the postgraduate diploma in missions. Last Tuesday was a real high point in recent weeks. The whole day there were entrance examinations. It was wonderful to talk to such motivated future students. In the end, we accepted eighteen people, representing seven nationalities and seven denominations.

Will you pray for the final preparations of the program and for these students as they start their course on 17 March? Pray also that the necessary finances will be found to fund their studies. For each student still USD 1,500 is needed. Five of them are already “adopted”.

Rejoice (4) – Great progress in expansion project

Tomorrow the first course will be held in the new seminar room. Even although it is not completely finished yet, we are very excited about it, since the project has been going on for almost two year. The interest in the course is overwhelming: more than fifty students from all over the country. Theme: What do people in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe think about faith and religion? Why do they go to church, or not go to church?

“Do not be anxious”

But besides joy, there are great concerns. Two weeks ago, Kati presented me the precise figures, after her four months illness. It was a great disappointment to hear that we have money in the bank only for another two months.

Cause 1: the fall in the exchange rate of the dollar by 25%, which especially affected the expansion project. We urgently need USD 50,000, which we now had to borrow from our operating budget.

Cause 2: a reduction in the donations for the operating budget of last year of 25% - due to the same reason -. In addition we have to cope with a situation that donations pledged (USD 15,000) were not transferred because of the collapse of the stock market.

Will you pray with us for a solution? Should we now close the missions institute, stop the programs, at a point were the interest never was so big?

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' Phil. 4: 6-7

In partnership for gospel of Jesus Christ,

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 82

Budapest

31 January 2003

'My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'

Phil 4:19

Dear Friends and Family,

My 'furlough' in the Netherlands is over. It was good to meet many of you and to be encouraged by your faith, hope and love. Despite everything, the Lord is still at work in the Netherlands, in the Churches, in your families and in your lives. I praise Him for each of you. Thank you for your hospitality and warm welcome. During the five weeks that I was in the Netherlands, I shared meals will at least thirty-two families, attended more than fifteen meetings in some way related to my work, and gave seven talks. In total, I drove about 4,000 km in the Netherlands. I don't even manage that in Hungary! It was a wonderful experience when two days before my departure, a dream became reality. We were able to skate on the Alblas, a small river, in the village where I am born. The skating trip to the windmills of Kinderdijk gave me a huge kick. How pretty the Netherlands can be!

I also recall with much thankfulness the farewell service and the sing-in on 16th January. It was good to be reminded of Ps 77, the text with which I was commissioned almost ten years ago. Did you know it is the Scriptural basis of the well-known song, the title of my doctoral thesis: God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. How true this has proved to be! He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. That is more than enough to live with for today and tomorrow. He does not change!

'Otthonrol haza jottem' - Home again!

And now I’m back home again. In Hungarian there is a nice expression: From home, I come home. This is how it felt. The first few days I was overwhelmed by the mountains of work, which had piled up during my absence. But there were many encouraging reports. I would like to share a few with you.

Vast interest in the postdoctoral program

As you know, in March we hope to start a postdoctoral program in missions, Church development and cross-cultural ministry. During my absence, my colleagues sent out about 140 letters with information about the new programme. In response to this, we received in total more than 160 (!) telephone calls and email messages with requests for more information (including e.g. from Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Switzerland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland and Egypt). In response to a letter sent to fifty-seven pastors in Hungary, within three days we received more than ninety telephone calls. Interest is being shown in various denominations. We have planned to start this first round with a maximum of fifteen students, but we may have to come back to this decision. Registration closes on 15th February. (Information from Hilda Rohn (rohn@pmti.edu.hu)). When you are interested, or know others who are interested, do let us know!

Big drop in exchange rate of dollar

We are really very pleased that after four months of recovering from a serious illness, Kati Kerekes, head of finances and administration, is back at work. At last I again have a good insight into the financial situation. Again I realise that even though a bit of common sense in financial matters goes a long way, it is easy to let something slip. Every man (or woman!) to his trade, we'd better say.

The problem, which became very clearly evident last week and which I had not fully realised, is that due to the sharp drop in the exchange rate of the dollar and the rise of the forint, we are getting 30% less Hungarian forints for every dollar. This means that the budget for the expansion project, which was drawn up in USD just over a year ago, is by far not valid anymore. This is not because the expenses in forint have increased that much, but because far more dollars are needed to make up this sum. In the past, we always drew up budgets in USD because the inflation of the Hungarian forint was so high. But the world has changed a lot.

To give you an idea of the consequences of this:

* The expenses for the expansion project of the seminar room have increased by over 32,000 USD in a year. This sum is needed as soon as possible in order to complete this phase, because this room is to provide accommodation for the new postdoctoral program from 15^th March onward.

* Besides this, at least another 13,000 USD is needed for the expansion of the library with new study desks. At present, we have five only study places for the students. There is one computer available for them (which to make matters worse crashed completely last month). At the end of March, a minimum of fifteen students will regularly be using the library. Please pray for a solution to this situation.

* Besides this, another 57,000 USD is needed for the furnishing, computers, shelves etc. We have already received part of this, but the vast majority is still lacking.

And as if this were not enough, last week it also became clear that last year the donations from abroad for the running costs had decreased by 40% - to a great extend due to the same problem as mentioned earlier). We had to draw on 60,000 USD of our reserves, even though it was possible to reduce the expenses by 10%. A reserve is left of only three months to cover running costs. No wonder that this week I received an e-mail from Kati: Top Priority Issue! Money is running out.

A third challenge which we recognise is that the students who are going to be following the postdoctoral program will only be able to pay at most one third of the tuition costs. Fortunately we perceive a great willingness to support on the part of the Hungarian Churches. But additional grants are needed!

* A sum of 1,500 USD per student per annum is needed. Please pray that we will find fifteen Churches, organisations or persons who are willing to adopt a student.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform…

On the one hand there is an overwhelming interest in training and education; on the other hand, we face these tremendous financial needs. Two weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone from an international missionary organisation. He was of Indian descent, grew up in South Africa and had worked as a missionary in Albania for ten years. Now he was responsible for the training of new missionary workers in Central and Eastern Europe. He was with a colleague of Brazilian descent, who had also grown up in South Africa. Their request was: We would like to ask the Missions Institute for help in the training of our missionary workers. The international director of another organisation had made the same request a few days previously. In Hungary, there would be sufficient capable people available to give instruction. This is not the problem. An increase in the teaching staff would be a consequence, which would have significant financial implications.

Last week, the financial, administrative and PR staff decided to hold a prayer meeting every day for this untenable situation. Will you pray with us?

'"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit", says the Lord Almighty.' (Zec 4:6)

Praise and Prayer…

* …for the many responses we have received, which show that there is a great need for this new program

* … that the right people will apply, who will benefit from the program

* …that the obstacles will disappear! For many, the tuition fees are a great obstacle (even although they are heavily subsidised). Please pray that we will find Churches, organisations and persons who are prepared to adopt a student.

* …for the admissions interviews to be held during the last two weeks of February.

* …for the lecturers and tutors, please pray for their preparations.

* … that the seminar room will be ready on time, and that it will be possible to undertake the extension of the library in the very near future.

* …that the Lord 'will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'

“The examination”

Only two weeks to go. Then I have to undergo the examination - of my qualifying thesis for the “professors degree”. The exam will take place on Friday 14th February in the Reformed Theological University of Debrecen, from ten to eleven o'clock. After that, I have to deliver two public lectures at eleven and twelve o'clock. Please pray for peace and concentration during the preparations in the coming two weeks. Pray above all that Gods Name may be glorified and that it may serve the cause of the extension of His Kingdom.

Thank you for your continued concern and prayer.

Blessings and Peace,

Partnering with you for the sake of the Gospel

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 81

Zeist/Budapest, 13th December 2002

'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life' (Jn 8:12).

'You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden' (Mt 5:14).

Dear Friends and Family,

Receive warm advent and Christmas greetings from my temporary home in Zeist, a comfortable garden house on Vondellaan (no. 10, tel. 06-15406127), particularly comfortable since I got a new stove yesterday. I am grateful for this quiet, centrally located spot, close to my two sisters and their families, and near to my sending Church in Houten, in the centre of the country.

About 'more fever' and rest

In these days of advent, we focus on the promised Messiah, Who came to bring perfect peace, shalom, on earth. He is the Healer, the One who gives purpose to relationships, the Light of the world, who calls His disciples, His Church, to follow in His footsteps and not to put that Light under a bushel, but to let it shine clearly. But in our world, which is characterised by 'more fever': buy more, own more, relax more, work more, enjoy more etc., it is a great challenge for all who follow Jesus to keep Him at the centre of our attention and not to loose sight of the relationship with Him and others.

I pray that we will all have the courage over the Christmas period to include Sabbath times in our daily routine, so that we can focus our attention on the One needed.

“Rest rust”?

Recent months, and in particular recent weeks, were again particularly hectic (I can hear some of you saying, Will things ever be any different with Anne-Marie?). Our financial and administrative coordinator Kati Kerekes is still recovering from a serious operation, which means that matters she would normally deal with, such as responsibility for the building project, financial and legal matters and the restructuring of the Missions Institute, fall to me.

Besides this, there were also structural problems in organising the library, which required a lot of extra attention. Fortunately former missionary workers Angelika and Andras Jo held their ground in the difficult work of classifying the collection. Again you realise that the pioneering work of establishing a missionary library, with a unique collection of books - for Hungary and for Central and Eastern Europe - brings with it problems in a class of their own. The world of the Hungarian university library is suddenly confronted with a completely new discipline, and is there then the willingness to adapt the system? Fortunately the bumps have been ironed out. Even Ma Kool offered a much appreciated helping hand in the reorganisation - she came a week before I went on furlough to help me 'fasten off the loose ends'.

Update: today I saw the result of the fantastic work of the last weeks in the library. Great progress was made. But problems continue: since the middle of december two of the three library computers fail to work. We now have enough capable workers to continue the timeconsuming cataloguing work, but they have to work in shifts with only one functioning computer. You can imagine what happens when students are looking for literature. Pray for a quick solution, the more since the postgraduate program is to start soon which requires an accessable, catalogued library!

Missiological Research Fellowship

During the last week of November, the Missiological Research Fellowship was again held. What began about three years ago to assist a handful of doctoral students who write theses about missiological subjects for the University of Utrecht has now grown to become a multi-faceted, international, interdenominational group of about forty participants, the majority actively involved in missiological research. During three days doctoral students in missiology, recent MTh, and PhD graduates lectured about their subjects of research. It was very informative to hear about 'Factors in the rise of the (Protestant) foreign mission movement in Central-Eastern Europe', 'The Hungarian reception of the Dutch missiologist Johannes Hoekendijk', 'Taboos in the Central European Church'. Various studies dealt with the life and work of Hungarian missiologists at the beginning and middle of the last century. Extremely interesting was the lecture about the Romanian immigrant Churches in Spain by a Spanish pastor who is studying in Prague. It was surprising to see the cross links and the continually recurring thread: the regularly recurring conflicts with Church structures by those who were actively involved in the work of missions and evangelism. Because many of the members of the Research Fellowship are (or will be) involved in missiological teaching, for the first time there was a special lecture focusing on how to go about. It was an eye-opener for us all to hear from a Polish professor of missiology that from Poland alone there are already about 3,000 Catholic missionaries active worldwide!

A high light of the week was the establishment of the Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies (CEAMS), an interdenominational platform for (future) missiologists. The aim in brief is to help one another in the area of the study of specific missiological questions which are related to the 'post-Communist' context of Central and Eastern Europe, and the exchange of experiences in missiological education, which in many places is still in its infancy. We received responses from all over the world. The reception was attended by the general secretary of the International Association for Mission Studies, the Dane Birger Nygaard.

Building project: good news and bad news

One thing became clear during the conference. The capacity of the present lecture room and the library has become completely inadequate. We have definitely grown out of our shoes. There is a pressing need for more extensive accommodation for courses and meetings and adequate study places for graduate students in the library in order to make good progress in their work possible.

The good news is that considerable progress is being made on the new seminar room on the third floor. It looks as if the deadline of 1st March 2003 will be met. We are grateful for the gifts received recently.

The bad news is, however, that a considerable sum is needed to complete the project. It is the case that there has been an increase in the estimated costs, partly due to the fall in the exchange rate of the dollar with regard to the forint of 20%! Also some gifts initially pledged have not been received, and even though we received a substantial gift for equipping the library, this can only be used when we reach that phase. To a lesser degree, it is a question of extra expenses which have not been estimated. At least 50.000 USD is needed!!! In the next Signs a more detailed update.

Postgraduate program in mission launched!’

We are grateful that everything has been arranged so that the postdoctoral program in missions, missionary Church development and cross-cultural ministry can start at the end of March 2003. Many serious candidates have already applied (more information available from Hilda Rohn, rohn@pmti.edu.hu). The deadline for application is February 15.

Update: in the middle of December we sent out about 60 letters to responsible people in the Church. Within three days 90 (ninety) people asked for more information! It confirms our sense that there is a great need for teaching and training in missions.

But the completion of the building project is also of great importance for this course! Please pray for a speedy completion. May we call on you for help in this by means of a Christmas gift?

Finally: 'furlough'

You will not be surprised to know that after such an intensive period, I am looking forward to a time of rest to 'recharge my battery' again and to visit family and to strengthen the bonds of friendship. In a period of furlough like this, it is also good to strengthen the contacts with my sending Churches. But to be honest, there is also another side to this. As I have to be back in Hungary by mid January because of the preparation of lectures for the coming semester, I can only come for half of the official time of “furlough”: five weeks instead of ten. This period covers what is known as the deputation weeks, talks about the work given to highly diverse groups around the country. This requires a lot of preparation. And of course, a period of “furlough” like this is also an important opportunity to strengthen all sorts of partner relationships with the missions institute. This takes time too!

Update: in the end it turned out that my time of “furlough” was even more busy than my usual schedule in Hungary. Not only the many talks contributed to it, but also the persisiting problems with my laptop computer were a great hindring factor in preparation.

In addition to this, I heard the day before yesterday that the defence of my qualifying thesis will take place on 14th February next in Debrecen. As you know, I expected this already in November. I still have to prepare two lectures for this, on subjects set in advance.

A personal note

In my qualifying thesis, I paid a lot of attention to missions as a matter of relationships, and linked with this, the concepts of Sabbath and shalom. If there is one thing to which I have paid much too little attention recently, it is precisely these matters! As they say in Hungarian, 'Vizet predikal es bor iszik' (You preach water and you drink wine), in other words, 'Practice what you preach!'

Thanks and prayer

* May I ask you to pray for wisdom in filling in my 'furlough', so that despite everything, it can be an 'unhurried' time of ‘recharging my battery’? (Update: I missed your prayers, but due to many technical problems and a computer crash I could not send this Signs of Life)

* Give thanks and pray for the staff of the PMTI. They have been wonderfully dedicated in recent months. It was great to share the burden with a team like this.

* Please pray also for the countries which today in Copenhagen are to be officially admitted to the European Union. New doors for cooperation are opening up. What does this mean for missions in Europe and cooperation and exchange between Churches in the area of missions and evangelism?

I wish you all a blessed holiday period. I am snuggling down again in front of my stove with my feet up. This seems to me to be a good start!

Thank you for your continued concern and prayer.

Yours in Christ, our Saviour,

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 79 and 80

'Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.'

Ezekiel 47:12

Budapest,

8th November 2002

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend of the Reformed Gazdagret Church at the beginning of October was in many respects a sort of oasis. With more than fifty participants - over a third of the whole Church - it was a good opportunity to get to know one another better, to pray together, to share the fellowship of the saints in love and care for one another, and together to reflect on what it means to be a missionary Church. One song that was sung a lot was based on this verse from Ezekiel 47. Bear fruit! But what does this mean today?

Witnesses in the market place!

If you are concentrating on a certain task, then there is a great danger that your world will become smaller and smaller. For a short time, this may not be so bad, but as the Church of Jesus Christ, as followers of Him, we are called to live out the Good News in word and deed in our families, at our work (our 'market place') and in society. What does this mean in a society, which in so many respects is in a stage of transition?

Being witnesses in politics...?!

At the end of September when - a year after moving house - I finally informed the town hall of my change of address, to my great surprise an election card was pressed into my hand. I was suddenly confronted with the weighty question of what it now means for me as a Christian in Hungary to make a political decision. For months, this had been a subject of great debate among my friends, but as an 'outsider', I was not obliged to take sides. Now suddenly I was!

I have asked one of my colleagues, Mrs Veronika Hafenscher, in this Signs of Life to give an impression of what is going on at the moment in Hungarian society, with an eye to the key phrase in almost all news broadcasts, az EU csatlakozás, accession to the European Union, but also with regard to the present political situation. Parliamentary elections took place in April, which produced an almost fifty-fifty result for left and right. At the end of October, they were followed by municipal council elections. The result is a tense situation.

Political controversies are causing sharp divisions among Christians

Veronika tells: “since the political changes of 1989-1990, there have never been such sharp political controversies as now, and they are severely testing the Christians in Hungary and unfortunately are often resulting in sharp divisions. Consequently, many questions have arisen: Is it permissible for Christians to be involved in politics? Is it at all possible for Christians to play an active role in political life? Under the ‘old’ system, this was not even an issue, because Christians were an undesirable element in politics and social life. This is why the confrontation with moral questions of faith of this kind represents a completely new situation. We are in the middle of a learning process, but the problem is that by the time we have learned what it means to bear political responsibility in a way that is pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ, it may already be too late to put it into practice. I believe we have a very great task to pray about these questions, so that we will gain insight into what we should do. I believe that there are many questions we cannot solve, but we can certainly be a ‘sign of Life‘ in society and in political life. We should demonstrate an attitude, a method of working, which brings something new, which is motivated by love for the good of society, so that the whole world can see...” (John 17)

Towards Europe???

“An increasingly tense issue is that of accession to the European Union. In the past year on many occasions and in many places, we have declared that we do not need to join Europe, because we already belong to Europe. The fact that we have been separated from it for the last fifty years and that our nation has been broken is a historical tragedy, but it does not mean that we are not Europeans. To join the EU, de facto we must submit an application, we must fulfil criteria, and we must lobby a great deal. This is why we are a bit frustrated. How we see it is that Hungary will actually remain what it has been throughout the centuries, that are the defence fortress of the West, and it is in precisely this role that our country has been destroyed, impoverished, reduced and later separated from Europe. We are a small nation, but with a rich European culture and our roots are in Christianity. In our Churches, we are praying and striving for the people of Christ to arise again from these roots, and for a new sort of moral, political and social atmosphere to be a 'sign', determining that the country will be built up again and will develop and in this way will really become 'European'. We are certain that there is much for us to do in this area as disciples of Christ today.

'As one of the older members of staff at the Missions Institute, I am convinced that the Missions Institute fits in well in the Hungarian reality of today. Our colleagues know the social concerns and problems, and this is why they are trying to address the questions of Church members about missions in theological education and training work. We are together seeking the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ through His Word and Spirit with regard to these questions.'

An important footnote can be added to this. Precisely because many official representatives of the Churches and many ministers have not kept their party-political preferences to themselves - instead of giving an indication of which principles are important for Christians to keep in mind - it has sometimes become very problematic to be a missionary Church apart from party-politics. People of both the political left and the political right fall under the mandate of Christ to the Churches: to be witnesses to Him in word and deed among all people. Pray that the Spirit of reconciliation and love will bridge the gaps.

Setting to work again with great fervour

Veronika continues: “Coming closer to home, a few remarks about life at the Missions Institute. At the beginning of September, we started up again. We are very thankful, because our staff are full of enthusiasm and vision and really want to get to work. Every week, we have staff meetings in which we try to solve problems together, and in which we pray a lot, and intercede for many people, in which we study God's Word together, but in which we also have a lot of fun, and are really pleased that we can set to work again together.'

Praise and prayer

1. 'It is a great joy for us that Anne-Marie has finished her qualifying thesis, which not only turned into a 'weighty' book (of a mere 180 pages, AMK), but also contains a lot of interesting material and a new perspective, which in our changing world points to the work of God here, and also to the place of man in God's world. These new aspects of mission, which we have to learn, will also be important for the missionary workers of the future. I am convinced that this thesis, just like the first one, will become a text book.” (As you know, Veronika helped with the correction of my thesis, and she knows it better than anyone else. Pray for funds to publish the thesis in Hungarian and English, which many have requested already. Another footnote: at the moment it is not yet known when the defence of my thesis will take place. I think it will be at the end of January or in February, AMK).

2. “Teaching courses missiology has begun again in the seminaries. One of the most important tasks of the Missions Institute is to equip people for missions and evangelism, so that our Churches will not neglect this important task.'

3. “In the last Signs of Life, we spoke of the expansion project. We are thankful for the gifts from partner Churches and friends of the Missions Institute, which we received in September and October. We are almost there! This is heart-warming! In October, this project was started up again, which is very important in order for us to start the postgraduate course in missions and Church advancement next year. (Footnote: we would ask those who are interested to make this known to us already, rohn@pmti.edu.hu.)

In conclusion

In recent months, we have suffered a lot from illnesses. Our financial and administrative coordinator, Katalin Kerekes, had to undergo a serious emergency operation in mid- September because of a perforated appendix. For a time, her condition was very critical, but fortunately she is getting better. Veronika was recently told that in the near future, she must undergo two eye operations. She is suffering from a rare eye condition. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and for healing.

In mid October, I was briefly out of action myself because of back problems. One morning, there was just no way I could get up. Normally you would then telephone your doctor, but I did not have one, because in the fifteen years that I have been here, I had not previously needed one. It was heart-warming how much help I received from all sides. Miraculously, I was up and running again within a week, just in time to receive the delegation from my home congregation in the Netherlands, the Reformed Sion congregation in Houten, and just in time to spend a few days with friends on an autumn tour of Austria, and to enjoy the many sparkling streams lined by magnificent trees, a reminder of Ezekiel 47.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

with thanks for your concern, support and prayers.

Anne-Marie Kool