Magyar Egyház, 1971 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1971-11-01 / 11. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 The Miracle Of Faith: Lorantffy Care Center In Akron Jesus Christ, our Lord, said to his disciples that the Father will grant you whatever you ask of Him in My Name. This biblical truth comes to mind when we think of the birth of the Lorantffy Care Center in Akron. The Hungarian Reformed Christians in Akron, a few months ago decided to bring about a miracle; they decided to build a 100 bed nursing home for the benefit of their ageing Hungarian brethren. THE NEED EXISTS FOR THE LORANTFFY CARE CENTER The decision to build the home resulted from the realization of the need therefor. Our hearts ached, when we thought of our elderly brethren, living the remaining years of their lives among strangers, separated from family and friends. Often they can't even communicate with others, partly because they had not learned English well enough, and partly because they would rather speak the language of their birth, Hungarian. And let’s face it, they could only speak Hungarian on the occasion of visits from friends and family, for their roommates and nurses neither understand nor speak the Hungarian language. Vi e were similarly disappointed to realize, that homes under American ownership and administration, are just as business like and cold blooded as is modern life. Everyone does their job, hut love, heart and soul are not to be found. Just at the time, when the need for assurance, helpfulness and understanding is the greatest, our ageing brethren are left to fend for themselves, alone. We also realized, that our brethren, some 20 to 30 miles removed, cannot obtain the pastoral attention they needed, in part because of distances and in part because of their isolation. These, then, were the reasons whv we decided to build the Lorantffy Care Center. A NEW ROLE FOR THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD After exhaustive discussions and comprehensive soul searching we realized, that the Church has a new role in the world of today. The days, when we could he satisfied to preach, to those who entered our church, or those whom fate had brought in contact with the minister, are over forever. Today when the world brings ever-increasing pressure to remove faith from the hearts of men, prayer from the schools, belief in Christ front every human activity, the Church must mount a tremendous counteroffensive to reach souls of people, wherever they may be found. It is not sufficient to just baptize our children, but we must also guarantee them a Christian education. We can’t achieve these goals within the framework of public and parochial schools, but we can undo the lack of it with a strong Sunday School program and a viable summer Bible School program. The same applies to adults, young marrieds and teenagers alike. Jesus Christ did not wait for people to come to Him with their problems rather, He went to the people to solve their problems. Life, along these lines, has not changed in the last two thousand years. As always, so also today, the widow needs comforting, the sufferer needs hope, the sick needs faith and man needs God. The world takes away our healthy young and gladly lets us take care of the sick, old and the crippled. The Church is the Church of the cross, in the sense that we must work with those, whose cross is particularly heavy, and in the sense that we must carry the cross of others, and that we provide solutions to those, who need it, all within the framework of the cross of Jesus Christ. The new mission of the Church is to carry the cross of Jesus Christ, without reservations. THE THOUGHT BECOMES A PLAN Our Akron Church heard the voice of God, and accepted the challenge, by deciding to build the Lorantffy Care Center. At first the implementation of the plan appeared almost impossible. Once again, however, the scriptures were proved to be correct, we discovered that, that which seems impossible for man is indeed possible for God. One by one, we cleared every hurdle. Our congregation wanted to build the center adjacent to the church. As yet, this plot of ground is not served by either a municipal water or sewer system. Without these services, it is well nigh impossible to build a large scale building, such as we envisioned. At the last moment, however, we were made aware of a new housing development lo be constructed nearby, complete with a central water and sewer system. We, too, will be able to connect to this system. Then came the difficulties and delays, attending the issuance of a building permit for our project. For a while it seemed as though we did not have enough land. With some revisions of the plans we were able to overcome this difficulty. Thereafter we had to solve automobile traffic problems. With the purchase of additional properties, we were able to assure three exits to public roads, where we had but one at the start. These then were our problems front day to day, and week to week. Witli faith, prayer and work we planned and built the
