Signs of Life from Hungary Volume XII No. 92
Monthly prayer update on the ministry of the
Protestant Institute for Mission Studies
by Anne-Marie Kool
Budapest, 4 December, 2004
'The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?... Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.' Psalm 27:1, 14
Dear Friends,
This letter was planned to be written at least ten times, finally I manage to spend a few hours to “visit” you and to share some highlights and disappointments of this past year. I was a year with ups and downs. Often I felt stretched to the limit, especially when our financial director resigned unexpectedly in August and I had keep things going till we found a replacement in October. But I feel a great sense of thankfulness and reward when observing students stepping out of their own little world and develop a sense of importance for their churches to be involved in missions. Pastors in remoted areas hunger to be equipped to help their churches grow into missionary congregations. I am also very thankful for the growth in our PMTI team. Thank you so much for your faithful support and prayers!
Recently it has struck me how often the word 'fear' is used. There is fear about the political tensions in Ukraine, which might get out of hand, fear of terrorist attacks, of extremist expressions of Islam. In our personal life too, we may, consciously or subconsciously, be carrying fear, anxiety around with us: fear of illness; of people - how we can fulfil expectations; of the future - will we still have a job next year, how will we manage financially? Does it sound familiar to you? Psalm 27 talks about a different sort of fear: fear, respect for the Lord. In times of uncertainty, in which it seems as if the situation in which we are living may cause us to be seized by fear, we are called upon to fix our eyes on Him. After all, He has this world in His hand, does He not?! This has a liberating effect. Advent time, like Psalm 27, is a reminder to us that we should depend on Him for everything in our lives, and place our trust in Him, the Child of Bethlehem, the Saviour of the world.
How do we deal with minorities?
Even in Hungary, the events around the murder of a famous Dutch cineast Theo van Gogh raised a dust. It is striking how often concerns are expressed in one-sided generalisations: Islam wants to marginalize Christians in the Netherlands; foreigners are not willing to integrate into Dutch society; they only want to take advantage. Perhaps these responses reflect something of the way in which people themselves deal with minorities. This is one of the great issues in Central and Eastern Europe!
Missionary challenge of the first degree
During a seminar for pastors who are working on their doctoral research, the subject of minorities and mission was raised. What does it mean to be a missionary congregation as a small Protestant minority in Poland? How should the Churches in Slovakia (and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe) deal with the gypsy minority? The questions came very close to home when we realised that our society actually consists of a large number of minority groups: those who live in the large suburbs, those in the rural areas, but also the business world, etc. Actually, in the work of missions and evangelism, it is always a matter of a meeting with people who are 'different' from us. But what we all have in common is that we are created by God. It is a question of building bridges, of working to transcend borders. As the Church of Jesus Christ, we can show something of the grace of God to the world in which we are placed.
Some random comments from Hungary ...
Some random remarks from the discussions which stayed with me. Actually they are questions which have occupied us for a long time in the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies.
* Both in Hungary and in the Netherlands there is a growing aggressive, militant secularised conviction. Anything related to God is mocked. It seems as if there is selective tolerance.
* Many Christians in Europe have a deep sense of uncertainty: does our faith have anything to say to our secularised society, to public life? Can our Christian faith cope with a discussion with those of different opinions and a different faith? How can we conduct a dialogue which is a testimony? Is it not much safer to withdraw behind safe walls and to conserve what we have?
* To an increasing extent, we are experiencing that Europe is a mission field, in which we all, pastors and Church members, must learn to put into practice the lessons of global mission - for example, how do you deal with people of another religions, another ethnic or cultural backgrounds. We can also learn a lot from Churches on different continents about what it means to live as a minority in a non-Christian society.
* To what extent are our Church structures a help or a hindrance in being a witnessing presence in our society? To what extent do they provide a platform to strengthen our faith and from which to discuss the issues which come up in conversation with others? To what extent are they attractive to young people who believe in 'something'?
* Whether the minorities in our midst are called Muslims or gypsies, the question is, to what extent should society as a whole adapt and be open to 'the stranger in its midst'? What could be the role of the Churches in this?
Dealing with minorities in practice
Recently I visited a Church just to the south of Budapest, which actually came into being through concern for a minority, for a group of twenty (former) alcoholics! It is, therefore, no surprise that in four years time, this Church has grown to over 130 people. Last year, about twenty young families joined, after a meeting was started for mothers with young children. In the kitchen, I have a chat with his wife. It is something I often hear, 'Actually, we are at the end of our tether! András is so busy with Church work that he hardly has time for his family. It is very difficult to involve church members.'
Training to deal with minorities
Indeed, it often seems very difficult for Church members to accept more responsibility. It is not easy to break through old thought patterns and structures. This made it an extremely impressive occasion at the beginning of November when the first students on the Light for the World course were commissioned with the laying on of hands to take an active role in their Churches in the work of missions and evangelism.
Tina, one of the students on the postdoctoral course, is also confronted with this daily. She told me how in Estonia she struggles to involve the dechurched and the unchurched more in Church life, and to proclaim the Word of God to them in a relevant way. The day before she came to Budapest, she had to bury a mafia boss. She was still broken by the experience. The great question which occupies her is how theological education in her country can be more directed towards mission.
The question of minorities and equipping pastors for this crucial issue is actually central to the work of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. Soon we will again be starting the postgraduate (MTh) course for pastors, aimed at this difficult area. You recently received an information leaflet about this. Please contact Enikő Ferenczy (ferenczy@pmti.edu.hu) if you know someone interested in this program.
Finally
In our efforts to teach and train students to deal with minorities from a missions perspective we are in need of some specific educational and library tools. Audiovisual equipment (videocamera, computer projector etc.) would greatly extend the quality of our education, a licence for access to electronic journals would be of great help our students in their research. One of our partners (OCI) informed us that someone in America is willing to match donations to the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies for such educational tools and library development up to 10,000 USD. The condition is that the gifts towards this match be transferred to the bank account of OCI by 31st December at the latest. This project will greatly help us improve our efforts to teach and train students to become agents of renewal in their churches. Could you help us make the impossible possible?
On 17th December I will leave for a month’s home assignment to the Netherlands. The first two weeks of January I embark on an intensive speaking tour. Please pray for joy and strength in meeting my family and friends in the Netherlands.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Anne- Marie Kool
This is the monthly prayer update of Anne-Marie Kool for friends of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies. She has been seconded by the Reformed Missionary League (RML) in the United Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 1993 to the Reformed Church in Hungary. Since 1995 she has served as the director of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies in Budapest. In 1998 she was appointed as Professor in Missiology at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Papa.
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If you would like to support the ministry of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies (ProTIMS), you may send your tax-deductible gifts to:
1. Overseas Council International - P.O. Box 17368, Indianapolis, IN 46217-0368. Please indicate that this donation is for ProTIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please also add the designation of your donation.
or to:
2. The Reformed Church in America, P.O. Box 19381, Newark, NJ 07195-1938 or, in Canada, to the Regional Synod of Canada, RR #4, Cambridge, Ontario, N1R 5S5. Please include the name of the person, project or program you are supporting.
We greatly appreciate your kind generosity in helping us equip future church leaders for Central and Eastern Europe! The doors are still open!
The Protestant Institute for Mission Studies, Kalvin ter 7.II, P.O. Box 150, 1461 Budapest, Hungary. Tel/fax + 36 1 216 20 54. E-mail: kool@pmti.edu.hu or amkool@axelero.hu.
PLEASE NOTE THAT MY COMPUSERVE ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED!!
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