Angéla Papp
Cindy: Please, tell me about yourself.
Angéla: I’m currently studying English language and litterature at Károli Gáspár Reformed University and would like to become an English teacher/translator in the future. My mother is Polish and my father is Hungarian, I have three younger brothers. My parents became (charismatic) Christians when I was little, for my mother it wasn’t an easy decision due to her strict Catholic family background. We had to change congregations several times because of the many conflicts between various charismatic denominations. I got baptized at the age of 18 when I was sure of my faith. I’ve been married for almost one year. My father-in-law is a Pentecostal pastor, my husband and I are very active in the Hungarian Ellel movement. I have experience living and studying abroad, in the UK.
Cindy: Why did you chose this university and courses offered by CIMS?
Angéla: I chose the reformed university since most of its teachers have a living faith in God, I’m also very thankful there is such a thing as CIMS. The Institute’s courses are addressed to both Christians and non-Christians and aren’t only strictly academic but also help young people find or deepen their faith.
Cindy: What courses did you like best, what other topics do you think should be included?
Angéla: I enjoyed the Veritas Forum course very much. It was good to have Christians and non-believers discuss topics related to faith. I would suggest the nowadays popular topic of evolution vs. creation, the problem of global warming and how we Christians should address it, I would be also interested in a course on how communism affected Hungarian families’ lives. To my mind, CIMS courses should get more publicity and be advertised better. I keep encouraging my friends to attend as many of them as possible, so they can at last learn something truly Christian.
Cindy: What are your hopes for the future of your church and country?
Angéla: I hope we will be able keep training new ministers, maybe build a new church building for our congregation. My father-in-law is hoping that one day our whole village will be saved. The sociopolitical situation in Hungary is very depressing. I’m worried about the impact communism had on Hungarian mentality, the rampant alcoholism and materialism. I hope there will be more and more big, strong families, that will set an example of how people should live.
Ágnes Koszter
Cindy: Tell me a few words about yourself.
Ágnes: I have a very nice family but my parents never went church. As a child I was looking for a meaning in my life, something more than just material stability. After the transition in 1990, I started reading religious books and came to faith. At first, it was pretty difficult for my parents to accept the fact that me and my sister became Christians, but they got used to it. Now they approve of how our faith changed our „messed-up” lives for the better. When I was 20, I went to the UK to study English, then I worked in Israel for one year and on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for 3 years. At present I’m studying English language and litterature at Károli Gáspár Reformed University.
Cindy: What made you chose this particular university and participate in courses offered by CIMS?
Ágnes: I definitely wanted to study at a „religious” university. I especially enjoyed the CIMS courses, because I had a chance to listen to how real-life people speak about their experiences. The coursework was very much practice-oriented. After the course I heard some of my friends state: ˝ What a shame, we chose the wrong major…we should have chosen to major in theology instead...so we can study in this Institute.˝
I think such courses should be advertised, so that more people can take part in them. Perhaps Anne-Marie could speak to Christian teachers from other faculties to make sure they know what courses are on offer at CIMS.
Cindy: What hopes for the future do you have?
Ágnes: I’d like to graduate and find a job where I won’t have to do much talking, because I’m a rather quiet person. I hope my church will become more open and start new ministries, especially for children and teenagers. My boyfriend and I are involved in this kind of church work. In my country many people are depressed and lack living faith. Fortunately, I can see a gradual change in mentality among the members of my church. There are more and more families with 3, 4 or sometimes even 6,7 children. I think it’s a good sign, it means people started believing that, no matter what happens, God will provide for them and their children.
Annamária Gyurkovics
Annamária from the Baptist Theological Academy in Budapest is grateful for having had Anne-Marie Kool as her thesis supervisor, she explains why:
● At first I was very unsure of myself, nervous about having to co-operate with „professor Kool”, someone much more educated and experienced than me. However, I knew God had led me to her and already after our first meeting I realized, that Anne-Marie is not only a scholar but also, or maybe – first of all a devout Christian.
● I’m sure God guided both of us as we decided that my thesis would be on the Dalit caste in India. I was stunned when I got to know, that Anne-Marie had been hoping one day someone would finally do research on this topic. To me the subject was completely knew, but from the beginning I was convinced that it was the right choice.
● I’m thankful for Anne-Marie’s „strictness” and how she made me do my very best when I was working on my thesis. In the end she also did her best: read it word by word and corrected every single mistake. Such work in itself can serve as a precious testimony.
● Last but not least I’m sincerely thankful for Anne-Marie’s prayers, I realized their power on the day of my thesis defense. Despite the stress, I could feel God’s presence to the extent that it will remain an unforgotten experience for the rest of my life. As I wrote in the preface to my thesis, if God wills, one day I will go and live among the Dalits and spend my life ministering to them.
I would like to express my gratitude to Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem for letting me learn under their precious professor, Anne-Marie Kool. I do hope God will use the gifts He bestowed on her to teach and nourish many other students.
