Magyar Egyház, 1989 (63. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1989-07-01 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9. oldal “Gifts of Love” is the largest single production and distribution project among the tens of thousands of programs undertaken by the American Bible Society during its 173- year history. All of the Scriptures have been requested by various church groups of Eastern Europe, some of which are the partners of denominations in the United States, and include Baptists, Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventists, and Russian, Georgian and Ukrainian Orthodox. Some, such as Baptist World Alliance, have previously supported Scripture distribution programs. The requests from the Soviet Union include Bibles in Russian, Armenian, Georgian, Estonian, Latvian and Ukrainian. Scriptures which “Gifts of Love” will help provide are in 16 of the languages of the Eastern bloc region. From Czechoslovakia come pleas for 25,000 Slovak Bibles and 160,000 Czech Bibles and New Testaments. Paper and binding materials are needed in Romania to produce 12,000 Jubilee Bibles after the first run of 6,000 attracted such high public attention that it was sold out within weeks of publication. Other countries asking for Scriptures through the Bible Societies are Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Even while Bible Society officials were sorting out details of the campaign additional requests for Bibles amounting to 3756,000 were received. During 1988, ABS and its UBS-partner Bible Societies helped supply more than 598,000 Bibles, Testaments, commentaries, hymnals, Braille Scriptures and Bible printing paper to the Soviet Union alone. “In fact,” says Dr. Hans Florin, the UBS regional secretary for the Europe-Middle East Region, “last year alone more Scriptures went into the Soviet Union than in all the years since the revolution of 1917.” Dr. Florin made it clear that while all of those Scriptures were provided by UBS, which numbers the American Bible Society among its members, virtually all import permissions stipulated that UBS should be the supplier. UBS representatives were present at last year’s distribution of Bibles by the churches in Russia. They reported that Bibles are distributed by churches free of charge to those who cannot afford them, and that thank offerings are received from those who can. This conforms with the philosophy of the American Bible Society from its founding in 1816. More than 500 churches in the Soviet Union were returned to use in 1988 and the demand for Bibles among Christian believers is running into the millions. There are thought to be some 60 million Christian believers in the USSR and at best only 3-4 million Bibles. Dr. Cirilo Rigos, general secretary of the United Bible Societies, observes, “It may be hard for us to comprehend all the changes now going on in the Soviet bloc, but one thing we do know — the door is open for Scriptures to Christians in Eastern Europe. We must not miss the opportunity. “This is rather unusual,” Dr. Rigos adds. "The authorities have moved faster than we have!” Dr. Rigos noted that the Bible Societies are being challenged beyond their present resources but — referring to the “Gifts of Love” appeal — he recalled that the apostle Paul urged Christians in Corinth who were blessed materially to give to their needy brothers and sisters in Judea. DR. ZOLTÁN D. SZUCS - NEW BISHOP OF THE CALVIN SYNOD The Rt. Rev. Dr. Zoltán Daniel Szűcs was born on October 29, 1935, in Ipolypásztó, Bars-Hont Megye (presently Czechoslovakia). His father, twice deported, was a Pastor of The Hungarian Reformed Church for 43 years and died with his boots on June 20, 1968. He is the second son of four children. His older brother Árpád is the chief restorator of the Móra Ferenc Museum, Szeged, Hungary and one of Hungary’s leading painters. Presently he is heading the restoration of the Feszti Körkép. His sister Marta is the Chief Administrator of the largest water district of Hungary, in Szeged. His younger brother Attila is the head of the Neurological and Psychiatric Hospital of Kecskemét, Hungary. His mother Irén Varga is a presbyter and organist of The Reformed Church in Szeged, Hungary. The family was kicked out of Czechoslovakia with a 100-lb. allowance in November of 1948. Zoltán was wounded at the end of the Second World War, in 1945 by the schrapnel of hand grenade. His middle school education was in Hódmezővásárhely at the Bethlen Gábor Gimnasium. In 1954 he graduated, Summa Cum Laude, from The Reformed Coll, and P.S.A. A.G. of Pápa, Hungary. In September 1955 he entered The Reformed Theological Seminary of Budapest, Hungary, where his studies were interrupted by the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Because of his participation and wounds, he was forced to leave the country in December of 1956. In 1957 he was working as Counselor of Refugee children, for the World Council of Churches at Steinbach, Austria. During the ’57/’58 academic year he continued his theological studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. In 1958, August 8, he immigrated to the United States and worked as construction and assembly line worker of Chrysler Corporation at Newark, Delaware, studying English, American History and American Civilization in the meantime. From September of 1959 to June 1962 he continued his studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, from where he received both his B.D. and his Masters degrees in Theology. During this time he was working as Student Assistant at First and Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware and as supply pastor of the
