September 25, 2007
Dear Friends in Jesus,
Aldas Bekeseeg! We send our greetings from Budapest.
We would like to share with you something of the ecumenical spirit with which we cooperate with other churches.
We attended a ground breaking worship service and celebration in Hidas, Hungary. Hidas is located 220 kilometers south of Budapest. If you know Hungary well, it is easier to refer to Hidas by its distance from Pecs. Hidas is 30 kilometers north of Pecs. Hidas is a small town with a population of less than 2,000. About 500 of them belong to the Reformed Church in Hidas. Sunday attendance is over 250.
Most of the members are descendants of refugees from Romania who speak only Hungarian. You may wonder why they lived in Romania but speak only Hungarian.
Hungarian history started with the Christianization of the country by King Stephen about 1,000 years ago. This aligned the Hungarian people with the Catholic lands of Western and Central Europe. But Hungarians were different from other Europeans, racially, ethnically, and linguistically.
During 1,000 years of Hungarian history, foreign countries attacked, invaded, and colonized the country for almost over 400 years—Mongolians, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Germany (Hitler), and the Soviet Union. The worst part was that Hungary was on the losing side in two world wars.
The Treaty of Trianon in 1920 after World War I punished Hungary by reducing its geographical area by 67.2 percent and the population under its control by 57.8 percent. Since then, lots of Hungarian-speaking refugees from the areas that Hungary lost at the Treaty of Trianon have returned to present Hungary, a country only a third the size than it once was. (Thanks to the Rev. James M. Phillips, a former missionary and professor of church history at San Francisco Theological Seminary, for providing the Hungarian history.)
The Danubian Synod of the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH) has had a mission covenant relationship with Kyung-Buk Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) since 1998. When Korean Presbyterian friends heard that Hidas did not have a place to worship on Sundays, they were reminded of the mission work of PC(USA) missionaries 120 years ago in Korea. So they decided to collect offerings for the building of the church in Hidas.
Ten Korean delegates attended the groundbreaking service and celebration in Hidas, bringing their offerings for the church building at the end of May. Not only the church members but the whole village of Hidas turned out to join the groundbreaking events with joy, laughter, singing, dancing, and exchanging fellowship in the love of our Lord Jesus.
This was made possible thanks to the ecumenical spirit and contributions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church of Hungary, and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea. Our loving Lord creates a bond of love among believers which reaches across continents, beyond race and color.
The event reminds us the Bible verse from the Romans, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8 – NIV).
The work of construction is going well with the helping hands of almost one hundred volunteers. It will be finished in a year, and you will be invited to the dedication service, and our Hidas Christian friends will not have to go out to the park for their Sunday worship services anymore.
We appreciate your prayers and support for the mission in Hungary.
God bless you!
In Jesus’ love,
Stephen and Kaeja
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 180 |
