Bethlen Évkönyv, 1993-1996 (Ligonier)
Dr. Eva M. Fabian: Blessings through the Bethlen Home
The Bethlen Home is a “city built on the hill” spreading its light not only on the picturesque and historic Ligonier Valley but also on all of us Hungarian Reformed Christians in the United States. The privilege of sharing the service of the Bethlen Home, even in a minute way, greatly enriched the life and ministry of the late New Covenant United Church of Christ. It is time to count our blessings. 1. Thanks for the opportunity to serve. The high quality Christian service of the Bethlen Home inspired our congregation to lend a hand. When we found out that some residents did not have any relatives to visit them, or those they had did not care, we adopted first ten, later fifteen “grandparents.” Twice a year, in the Advent and Lenten seasons, we visited our adopted loves ones. To build loving and caring relationships, among other presents, we surprised them with handmade gifts, like laprobes, pillows, baked goods to give also a part of ourselves to them. After prayer, meditation, and sing-along, a person-to-person encounter followed. We listened, talked, laughed, cried, hugged, and strived on the warm response of their eager hearts. The Lord must have built a kind of surrogate family relationship among us. Some residents framed the pictures of our children and bragged about them as their own grandkids. 2. Thanks for the hand-on Christian education in diakonia. When parents took their children along, the kids keenly absorbed every aspect of our interaction with the residents. When the McKeesport School District needed volunteers for the local Kane Hospital, out of the two thousand students seven volunteered. Three out of those seven were our own children. They ministered to their adopted elderly persons for years. You can read about them in the UCC press. 49 BLESSING THROUGH THE BETHLEN HOME
