Krisztina Deme Interview:
Cindy: Can you give me some background about yourself, your family?
Krisztina: I was born on Cseppel in Budapest. After I was 5 we moved to Városliget. My father is Catholic but non-practicing. He was born in Budpaest but my mother was born in a village with a Reformed background and attended church. She did this mostly because she would be looked down on by others in the village if she didn’t go to church, so it didn’t have real meaning for her. After her secondary education, she moved to Budapest where she met my father. They got married in a Reformed Church in 1985 during the Socialist government time. I was born in 1986 and was baptised in the Reformed church as a baby but my parents never spoke to me of God. They taught me a little prayer that I said at bedtime, but otherwise we never spoke of God or prayed. When I was in the 4th grade in elementary school, one of my schoolmates invited me to a kind of Sunday school that met during the week at her church. So I went and I loved it and my parents said that it was fine that I go. I just went but I didn’t really understand the doctrines. I just learned the Bible stories and felt that everybody loved me there. It felt really great. I didn’t know much about how to connect with God, but it was something that I really wanted-to connect with God. After that, when I was twelve, I decide to go to church. My teacher said that those who believe go to church. So I went to church. I went by myself. I thought it was kind of boring and then I found out about the Sunday School that met for children that I could go to instead of church. So I went to that and made a new friend and then I went to confirmation classes. My teacher recommended that I go to a new school that was a Reformed School. So went to Lonyai Reformed High School. I chose friends at this school that were also believers.
Cindy: How do your parents respond to you being a Christian?
Krisztina: They respond with frustration. Because my friends go to Christian conferences and other things that I go to with them. I always want to know more about God and my parents don’t understand why I want to go to all of these things. They want to know why I’m not just content going to church on Sunday. Why do I need to go to youth group and to camps. They complain that I am never home.
Cindy: Do you still go to the same church as when you were younger?
Krisztina: Yes. Now I teach Sunday School.
Cindy: Tell me about your going to KRE.
Krisztina: I would like to be a religious teacher. I don’t have enough points to graduate. I need to improve my English proficiency level. I have been at KRE for three years. My degree will be in History. I hope to be a highschool history teacher.
Cindy: How did you get connected with Anne-Marie?
Krisztina: I have friends in the theology department and they recommended that I get in touch with her, because now I am studying Dutch.
Cindy: Do you have plans to take any of Anne-Marie’s courses?
Krisztina: I don’t know her courses, but Anne-Marie has told me that I could take a course from the Mission Institute. Now I’m in my third year and I need to write my thesis and I want to do something on Dutch history. So I’m meeting with Anne-Marie to discuss ideas for my thesis. I think I will do my thesis on the Hungarian-Dutch Reformed connection during the World War. I hope to finish my thesis in this next semester.
Cindy: What are your hopes in using Dutch in the future?
Krisztina: Well, I’m not completely fluent in Dutch. I hope to improve in that and I would like to go to the Netherlands to teach and to study there maybe for one or two years.
Cindy: Do you live at home or in the dormitory?
Krisztina: No, I live at home. I feel I must live at home to bring my Christian witness there. It must start there-it’s my mission field now. But, unfortunately I am so busy that I don’t have very much time for my family, so that causes some conflict. My mother would like to go hiking with me and spend more time with me. At least in the summertime we take a two week holiday with my family. I have a sister and she is a Christian as well. She came to Sunday School with me and became a Christian too. But my parents don’t have any desire to be Christians. They don’t talk about these things. They never express an interest in what we believe. They just accept whatever anyone wants to believe. You can chose to believe whatever you want. Just take what’s nice from each religion.
Then in February, my grandmother died, my father’s mother. He reacted with no emotion. The church we go to has a mausoleum and our pastor said that my father could bury my grandmother there. So after that, my father has been coming with me to church every Sunday. So since February my whole family has been going to church services on Sunday and my mother is even going to services during the week. So now my mother has many questions about religion and about the church. So I have hope for my family.
Cindy: What is the best way to advertise our courses?
Krisztina: Speak with Ferency Zoli. Have him send a message to all the KRE students about our courses. I know that he is a believer and I think he would want to help you advertise in this way.
