Magyar Egyház, 2000 (79. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2000 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7. oldal “WHY ARE YOUR SERMONS SO SOLEMN?” THE ARREST AND INTERROGATION OF REV. HORVATH LEVENTHE An enforced move, a difficult delivery for his wife, arrest and interrogation, release and national liberation. Horvath Leventhe, minister in the Hungarian Reformed Church in Romania, had much to bear in the final months of 1989. He still speaks with emotion of that dramatic December, although there is a hint of a smile now and then, reflecting the liberation now he has. “When I stepped up to the pulpit that first Advent Sunday in my new congregation, I felt that all of the inner stress of the last few months could scarcely be contained any longer. My feeling about what had happened ran high, not so much because of the injustice done to me, but far more because the Name and cause of the Lord was maligned. I knew that I could no longer keep silent, and that I ought not remain silent.” Horvath Leventhe had just come to the congregation of Istihaza, a Romanian village of 266 inhabitants. By order of the Bishop of Cluj he had taken up the shepherd’s staff in this small congregation. “I would rather say, in deference to the authority of the Securitate, the secret police. They needled the bishop so long that he finally stuck me ‘safely’ out of the way in Istihaza. Understand me well; the people in that village needed to hear the Word too, but the reason I was sent there made absolutely no sense at all.” Youth Work The reason the bishop abruptly discontinued the young Rev. Horvath Leventhe’s work in the city of Tirgu Mures, according to friend and foe, had everything to do with his exceptional involvement in youth work. When he was given a position in the city in 1984, he immediately began to organize church youth work. Such initiatives flew in the face of the communistic leaders. “I knew that before I started. What I found more upsetting was the advice from many church leaders to abandon youth work. I couldn’t understand it. The young people existed in a spiritual vacuum and drank the Word in. I don’t know if all the young people came to faith. We do not know the heart. But there was great interest in the desire for the Word. I couldn’t comprehend the attitude of ministers who wanted to keep me from this work. I was still trying to work through this when, in the fall of 1989, I had to move to Istihaza, a congregation with almost no young people.” Nevertheless. Rev. Horvath Leventhe says in retrospect that it was particularly during those days that he experienced the special nearness of the Lord. When his wife gave birth, there were many concerns but everything went well. “My wife lived and we had a new baby, too. The Lord was good.” Tools in God’s Hand The young minister felt amazingly at home in his new congregation. “I began to see with perspicuity that with God you can go anywhere. And if He wanted to use the power of the Securitate to bring me to preach the gospel of free grace to the elderly population of Istihaza, then I should not rebel. The Word came with power to me in those days: ’By me kings reign, and princes decree justice’
