Calvin Synod Herald, 2004 (105. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-05-01 / 5-6. szám
8 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD the growth or decline of hundreds of American churches in various settings. From the experiences of those churches, the author extracts a list of facts, attitudes, and orientations, which lead to the growth of the growing churches, and another set of facts, attitudes, and orientations, which lead to the decline of the declining churches. I found it astonishingly appropriate for our churches, in spite of the fact that none of our churches was part of the official study. If your church is not growing, you can see what the causes of that are. You can also see what kind of changes you would need to make to reverse the decline of the church. I wish this book would be mandatory for all ministerial candidates in our Synod, and a prerequisite for all lay leaders as well. Please check out both of these materials and use them to the benefit of our churches and to the Glory of God. Rev. István Nyeste Trac Update The last few months have been very busy for the Transylvania Reformed Assistance Committee (TRAC). It must be understood that TRAC is a needs/support driven organization. That is to say, it was organized with the dual purpose of helping the Hungarian Reformed people in Transylvania recover from Communism, and encouraging them to maintain their historical Reformed faith. Through the years we have sought out responsible and discerning individuals who can inform us as to the needs of their people. We then make these needs known to those who are sympathetic to this cause; and whatever support we are able to raise in this way, we send over to them. We then see through reports, pictures and visits, that these funds are used for the cause for which they were given. Working as we do through the Reformed Theological Seminary and the voluntary help of its students, this has proven to be increasingly efficient and effective in touching the lives of some of the neediest people ofthat troubled land. New School Building in Felor Needs Help Last summer, while in Transylvania, we had the opportunity to visit the town of Felor, where they were just beginning to build a new school. The Hungarian government, in concern for the Hungarian minority in Romania, had promised support for the building of a Hungarian language Christian school there; and they were just beginning to lay the foundation. By fall the walls were up, and they were just ready to put on the roof, when the Hungarian government changed and withdrew further funding, leaving all of their efforts exposed to and threatened by the coming winter weather. We were notified of this and were able to find a sympathetic individual willing to supply the money needed to finish the attic floor and erect a covering over the work that had been done, with the hope of their being able to find additional support to continue the work in the spring. Christmas Gifts for the Children For the last few years, the members of the Georgetown Protestant Reformed church have been sending Christmas gifts to the children in a Christian School in the village of Válaszút. This year, three couples from the church volunteered to go to Romania personally and bring these gifts. For them, there was a sense of satisfaction in seeing children, who see little of such special favors, open their packages, put on the new caps and scarves, try out the small toys, and taste their own packages of candy. Bringing Food and the Gospel Even more significant, however, were the visits made, at the suggestion of the school administration, to the families of some of their poorest students. Many of them lived far back in the hills off roads that became impassible; requiring them to get out and walk extended distances. One mother was found boiling a bit of pork suet, for which she had worked all morning, into a soup to feed herself, her daughter and the daughter’s little child. It was all that they had. There was no fuel and no food to keep them through the coming winter so that, with tears in her eyes, the daughter pleaded with them to take her child because she did not have the means to feed him. And that was not the worst. As they went on, they met people living in deplorable conditions, beyond imagination. They stopped and visited with each family. They left them with food and, where necessary, bought a supply of wood to heat their homes through the winter. And above all, they assured them of our Christian concern for them and of the fact that they came in the name of Jesus Christ and His atoning blood. Orphanage in Bogota From there, they went to the Emmaus House, an orphanage in the village of Bogota. It was started by a Reformed pastor and his wife after learning of several Hungarian children in a nearby state orphanage where the care was poor and they received no spiritual upbringing. In many ways the orphanage they started has become the focus of their lives and of the congregations they serve. Our representatives also brought gifts to these children from a friend in Canada, and additional support for the needs of the orphanage. Once again, it was their privilege to witness the joy of those who have so little in earthly goods. Their gratitude was expressed in a special way when the children sang for them. They were touched by the beauty of the moment as they listened to the old Genevan psalms in a strange language but with tunes they could remember well from their own past.
