Calvin Synod Herald, 2003 (104. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2003-11-01 / 11-12. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 “The Price of Warmth is Smoke” TRAC Mission Report On March 23, 2003, the theological students from the Transylvania university went on a mission trip to one of the valleys (Kendilona, Ikoboka, Koblos) and to Fuzesmente. They left at 7:00 in the morning after asking for God’s blessings on their preaching and on the medical service they would be providing. After checking in at the parish in Feketelak, they left Kiss Albert in Cege and Gáspár Etele, fifth-year student, and Dr. Bakos, in Pulyon. Many patients gathered in Pulyon to see Dr. Bakos, but unfortunately, the mission did not go smoothly. The congregation was able to heat only one small room with an old ceramic stove. The patients who were waiting to see the doctor had to wait in the same room where she was consulting with other patients. Twenty-eight parishioners attend the worship service and 39 patients saw the doctor. Besides the routine checkup, the doctor measured blood fat, blood sugar levels, and did EKG measurements. The former Mayor, Bojté, had such thick skin on his hand that the doctor could not stab it with the needle in order to collect a blood sample. During the examinations, which lasted six hours, Dr. Bakos breathed in too much smoke in the smoky, unvented room. She suffered for two days from carbon monoxide poisoning that caused her to have a terrible headache and nausea. Thank God, she has recovered and is now doing fine. In Cege, the congregation questioned Kiss Albert, third-year theology student about the reasons why they were not getting medical care. He explained to them that in Cege, there is a doctor’s office and a doctor too. The goal of the TRAC mission is to reach those places where there is no doctor, not even in the surrounding villages. The villagers in Cege suffered not from lack of a doctor, but more because of the lack of free medicine. As it is now, they spend half of their pensions on medicine. The students could only tell them that they would let their sponsors know about the needs of the congregation, but they could not promise anything. At this occasion, church members gratefully took communion, even if it was two weeks after Lentil Sunday. In Cege, Kiss Albert took the communion to some parishioners who were too ill to attend services. In Pulyon, 24 people attended the worship service, and in Szentegyed, nine people attended. In these villages, everything happened as usual. It was almost 8:00 in the evening when the students arrived back to Kolozsvár. TRAC is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to offering assistance to the Hungarian Reformed congregations in Transylvania, Romania, in rebuilding their churches, homes, families and lives. For more information about TRAC or specific mission projects, contact Transylvania Reformed Assistance Committee, 7535 Cherry Ave., Jenison, MI 49438. TRAC Office e-mail: bjw@sibd.org, or visit the TRAC website at http:// www.sibd.org/trac/. This article is an edited version of the April 6,2003 TRAC Mission Report prepared by Barticel Krisztián,theology student. Hungarian Youth Camp The Hungarian Reformed Church Youth Camp was held July 27 -August 2,2003 at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center campgrounds near Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. This year, 42 young people attended and they were joined by some 23 adult counselors, many of them young adults who had enjoyed the camp in the past and continue to return as trained counselors, including two married couples who met at the camp. In addition, a number of visitors, both former campers and members of the Hungarian Reformed trans-local church, came to the camp the last days to j oin in the Friday evening bonfire and the candlelight procession to the Evening Closing Worship Service and Holy Communion in the Hungarian Reformed tradition. As in the past, we had a theme for the camp this year - “www.ready/return. Jesus,” with the central scriptural theme being Matthew24:43-44, being ready for the return of the Son of Man, Jesus our Savior. Our speaker on Monday, Rev. Zoltán S. Sutto of Davison, Michigan (a former Camp Director himself) spoke about “Gathering Essentials” for the preparation. On Tuesday Rev. Joseph Vásárhelyi of Passaic addressed the theme of “Be Alert.” On Wednesday Rev. Stephan Török (President of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America) spoke on the topic of “Peace, Peace... But there is no peace.” On Thursday Kip Crumrine, who heads a very active Youth Ministry in Ligonier Pennsylvania spoke about “Keeping Busy” in anticipation of Christ’s coming. On Friday Sandy Crumrine, Kip’s full partner both in marriage and common ministry, shared the good news that “The King is Coming!” Each morning’s presentation was preceded by worship and singing of hymns of praise, and followed by lively discussion of the day’s topic. In the afternoon there were four Bible Study groups, with the topics being “Revelation Time Line,” led by Kathy Smith from the Fairport Harbor Congregation (who has been a mainstay at the camp for some 18 years!), “The Olivet Discourse” led by Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi, Bishop of the Calvin Synod, “What the Bible says about the Anti-Christ,” led by Rev. Joseph Vásárhelyi and “Discerning the times,” led by Frank Király, a very active member of the Trenton Congregation and longtime counselor at the Camp. Our campers are divided into groups, and each group attends each of the Bible Study sessions on a different day. In the afternoon we hold workshops on various topics: “Hungarian Cooking” was again led by Les Torok (from Ohio), where the campers learned to make “Hungarian Gulás,” “Palacsinta” and “Káposztás tészta” amongst other things. Gabe Csapó (from Trenton, NJ) again taught howto make a “crack” a “Hungarian whip,” traditionally used by the “Hungarian Cowboys” of the plains. Kathy Smith led the workshop on “Influence of the media” as relates to the subtle (and not so subtle) destruction and distortion of values in the electronic media our young people are subjected to every day. Our afternoons also have “Team Challenges,” a time of both (continued on page 6)
