Bethlen Almanac 1997 (Ligonier)
The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America
Our theme this year was Am I truly a Christian? It is important for a young person to realize whether he or she is really a Christian or is just going through some religious motion, whenever the parents are taking him or her to a church. The topics of our daily presentations were all selected to guide our youth toward a real and dedicated faithful, Christian life. Our lecture dealt with the question What Does Commitment Mean? We learned that commitment means a sacrificial self-giving for others. Commitment is different from contribution. A very impressive example made the difference clearer. In the example of a breakfast of eggs and bacon, the hen contributes the egg; the pig has to die to give the bacon. It does not cost much for the hen to lay an egg, but it costs the pig its life to give the bacon. When one is committed to Christ, he or she needs to give up the selfish, sinful life, and live a blessed, obedient life. The next lecture was about the Importance of Prayer in the life of a Christian. In this presentation we have seen how Jesus Himself gave the example of praying to the Father. Jesus also gave us the model prayer in the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer is the live connection of a Christian with the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, God. On the fourth day the title of the lecture was Being Young and a Christian. Some young people feel that they are considered weird if they live by Christian principles. There is a pressure on our youth to live, speak, act like the non-Christian friends, society, and world in general. We learned that one does not have to act weird, and he still can have a faithful Christian witness to the world. Our last day’s lecture was a summary of the ones before, with the addition of the need to share our Christian faith with others. Its title was Sharing Your Faith with Others. Young people have to use their opportunities to share their faith with others, just as everyone else does. Our lectures were followed by small group discussions dealing with some questions raised by the lecturer. The groups then reported back about their answers to those questions. In the afternoon and evenings we had workshops, such as The Influence of Rock and Roll, Whip Making, Hungarian Culture, Hungarian Cooking, etc. We also had time for sports, activities, hiking, or swimming. Surely, there were little incidents, some tensions among the campers at times, but the overall experience was very good. I thank God for the increase in the number of campers. We had over 20 people more in the camp this year than in the year before. We had just over 100 participants. Praise God for that. 28
