Calvin Synod Herald, 2007 (108. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2007-05-01 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 9 to keep their powerful faith. And may their love not perish. Going home, the sky was bright and the sun was shining. “Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Jenő Lako, 3rd year student 11 and 25 February 2007 We arrived early to the valley of Eszteny, so we had time until the service. I was to preach in Eszteny. I searched for the curator, who took me to the parsonage. People were gathering slowly; and it was smoky inside because somebody was trying to warm up the room a bit. The people kept asking me if I had heard something about a new pastor coming there. I didn’t know anything; but I saw the desire to have a pastor in people’s eyes, so that they could have regular Sunday services. I preached from Luke 8:19-21, where Jesus says that his mother and brothers are those people who hear and obey God’s message. On the service were seven men and eight women. I was again in Eszteny on February 25 when there were more people this time - nine men and nine women. There we had the Lord’s Supper too, but with only eight of the women, because one woman is Catholic. She still came to the service. The text was from 1 Kings 21:1-3. Before the service I had a nice talk with a man who arrived earlier. His family lives in Hungary so soon he will go there too. He hasn’t any reason to stay in this village; and the circumstances are better in Hungary. There were again questions about the new pastor. The curator said that the new priest will come to check the parsonage and to visit the four villages. After the service, the curator invited me for a cup of coffee. We had the usual discussion about how many Reformed Hungarians had been in the villages until so many of them went away to other countries, engaged in mixed marriages. But he still hopes that the new pastor will stay for long, and will take care of the remaining Hungarians. Lajos Raksi, 3rd year student TRAC - Homeless Mission Reports 6 February 2007 With God’s help, we started again with the homeless-mission after a long holiday. In January, we couldn’t do anything because of the exams. On February 6, Attila Lorincz and I went shopping. Attila helps me every time. We brought 14 packages with food to the homeless people. We also visited the Lezsan family and brought them food and clothes too. The old woman cried; she’s ill with headaches and night after night can’t sleep because of the pain. The old man thanked us for the packages. He’s fine, thanks be to God; but he’s worried because of his wife. We tried to console them; they don’t give up. They believe that God takes care of them. After this, we went up to the garage where Laci lives together with children. The older child, a 4-year-old, was very happy to see us, and he asked when they could go to the service. He had been waiting for it with much anticipation. The younger child is only 5 months old. He’s healthy. Fortunately, he survived the cold days and didn’t get sick. Their mother hopes she will make peace with the children’s father (she didn’t say what was the problem between the two), so she could go to him. The man has a house. We prayed for the children, for God’s help, to be able to survive in these circumstances. They thanked us for the food and promised to come to the service. On the way to the Kuti family we met with a homeless man we hadn’t seen before. We invited him to the service. He said he would come. The Kuti family waited for us happily. The man couldn’t come to the service. He’s working until 8 o’clock in the evening. We looked at the small “house” where they live. It must be repaired weekly. There are problems with the roof. They want to build a sort of a bathroom with a shower. They use many little things to make as comfortable a home as possible. These people surprise me every time I visit. I’ve never heard them say an ugly word to each other. They are clean. The man is always shaved. They never give up. They say God is helping them, and that’s why then don’t get depressed, don’t cry: “If God helps a man, it would be a sin not to work hard, just cry all day long because of the situation we have. We owe God everyday - work and prayers.” Then we went to Pavel who built a small cottage near the cemetery. He invited two homeless men into his shack, to help them as he can. He told us happily that every morning he wakes up he says “Our Lord.” Erika went back to her husband. Pavel goes there only to visit. We prayed together with Pavel. He prayed saying thanks for your great help. We also visited Sanyi, who wasn’t at home. An old woman was there. She lived in Torda, and came here not long ago. She wants to make peace with her daughter, but the daughter doesn’t want to hear about her mother. So the old woman has to live on the streets. In Torda, after the husband died, the daughter sold the house and came to Kolozsvár. It’s very sad that people would put their own mother on the streets. The woman hopes God will help her and the situation will change. While we were speaking, Sanyi came. He asked us how we passed the exams, and aren’t we ill - like a worried grandfather. We also brought food to Maty as to Sanyi, István, Janos, and two more homeless people. They started to come to the service right before Christmas. They sleep in another place every night, so it’s quite difficult to find them. Peter lives alone in a basement. He’s a very nice Hungarian Reformed man. His son sold the family house and sent his father away. We also visited Mrs. Remenyik. She was very happy to see us and thanked us for the package. She prays every evening for us to be blessed in our work. What really touched my heart was the hope of these people. Maybe they will never have a decent home again, but they hope and believe for better days, a better life.
