Calvin Synod Herald, 2006 (107. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2006-05-01 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 7 In 1997, Rev. Toth became an American citizen, and in 1999, he married Brigitta. They have two children: Emese (age 3) and Peter (age 2). Brigitta is also a naturalized American citizen. THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH OF LORAIN, OHIO (Uaiifd Chinch of Qmst; Calling All ‘56ers October 2006 will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. We would like to take this opportunity to include stories about this historic event in the Calvin Synod Herald. If you were there or if you learned about it from your family members who were in Hungary at the time, please send us short stories, photographs, or even poetry about the 1956 Revolution. If we receive enough submissions, we would like include some in every issue of the Lapja throughout 2006. Please send all submissions to CSChurchNews@aol.com. TRAC UPDATE REPORT Dear Christian Friends: Through the course of the present season, the Transylvania Reformed Assistance Committee (TRAC) program for working with the students in the Reformed Seminary at Kolozsvár (Cluj) in Romania, has been going well. Setup in a well-organized fashion, each of the nearly 200 students take part each year in one of the four service activities sponsored by TRAC: hospital visits, social aid to the elderly and needy, ministry to the homeless, and ministry in the villages. In all of these, there are two distinct benefits. The first is, the aid that is given to those in need. The consequences of Communism have been great in Romanian society, and have continued, especially among the poor, including many Hungarians, who have become a neglected and at times suppressed minority in a land which was once their own. These fit well into the category that Jesus spoke of as the poor that are with us always, and by His example teaches us to serve. And that leads to the second benefit, the opportunity this provides the seminary students, who will one day lead the churches, to gain experience in approaching and making acquaintance with the most needy in their land, while accompanying this with teaching and witnessing to the wonder of the grace of God. Besides this, there are two other institutions with which we have been working: 1) One is the Christian school being built in the village of Felor. Around Felor is a group of about twelve churches, which determined some years ago that, if the Reformed faith is to continue among them, they must reactivate the Christian school system that was traditionally part of their culture until Communism took their schools from them. Being ethnic Hungarian, they obtained a promise from the Hungarian government of financial support for this cause, and in 2003 they began to erect their building, only to have the promised support suspended by a newly elected government. Since then, TRAC, with the help of several generous contributors, has helped in supplying the support needed for them to continue building; and this summer a group of workers will go over both to help them in this work, and encourage them in this covenant goal. 2) On this visit the same group will stop for a while at the Emmaus House, a home established by the Reformed church in the village of Bogata. Their purpose has been to provide a Christian upbringing for several dozen orphaned and abandoned children in their area. Several members of this group have been there before; and once this has been seen, these children are not easily forgotten. We can only be thankful to God that He has blessed these various programs richly, and thank Him for the opportunity to participate in these various projects of benevolence. In turn, all contributions to assist in this work will be greatly appreciated. Rev. Bernard J. Woudenberg Transylvania Reformed Assistance Committee 6970 Bauer Road • Hudsonville, Michigan 49426 Phone: 616-667-1940 /Email Address: traclajsibd.org Rev. Peter Toth and Family
