Calvin Synod Herald, 2006 (107. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2006-11-01 / 11-12. szám
12 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD I knew you, while you were in Iraq Do not temp the Lord, your God, we read in the scripture. Nobody wants to stand in front of killing bullets or be in life threatening situations, except the soldier. This young man András, who was in front of me on Memorial Day gives a humble explanation about his limping. “I was a soldier in Iraq, and I was wounded.” He added, my wife is also a soldier, and we have 2 children. He speaks very good Hungarian and described his life story this way: I was bom in Kolozsvár, and my family left Erdély when I was 9 years old. We came to America, and after my schooling, I became a soldier. I was sent to Iraq. When my time was up, I returned to the civil life, and now I’m tuning pianos. This is how he came to our Church to tune our 5 pianos. He looks pale and when I asked him, what happened in Iraq, he stopped for a minute and answered; “I remember four Dear Friends, Sunday, September 17, was a magnificent day! My beautiful wife and I had the privilege to attend the dedication ceremony of the 1848/1956 Memorial Monument of Hungarian Freedom in Oakwood Park of South Lorain. Several organizations and individuals donated, the driving force of the project was Mr. John Peters, President of the American Hungarian Council of Lorain County, Ohio. Also attended and delivered the National Anthem of the USA Ms. Melanie Murphy, Miss Ohio 2006, who is the granddaughter of 56ers herself. A reception followed in the Social Hall of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain, Ohio. Rev. Zoltán Kelemen West Side Hungarian Reformed Church Cleveland, Ohio Rev. Zoltán and Gabriella Kelemen at the 1848-1956 Memorial Dedication in Lorain, Ohio times when I escaped from being killed. As a heavy duty truck driver, he was often exposed to field mines. They were traveling carrying some tanks, when the truck in front of them exploded, he remembers entering into a dark smoke, and he could not see. In the meantime from the sides, bullets were flying around him. He jumped out of the truck, and landed on the sand bank of the road, hurting his leg, and feeling excruciating pain. Bullets were still coming toward him, so he started to dig a hole in the sand and escaped. András and Rt. Rev. Vásárhelyi in front of a newly tuned piano in Passaic, NJ The second time, he escaped, when mortals attacked them in pitch dark, because of their lights. The third time, he was on a fire base, close to a metal junk yard, the place was bombed, and he escaped by covering himself with metal a few feet away. Since he was carrying heavy duty machinery, he was responsible for securing the tanks to the truck with chains. One time, he was under the tank to adjust the chain, when another operator did not know this and started to move the tank that almost crushed him. The screaming of another soldier saved his life, for the fourth time. He remembers, that at the beginning, mostly the Latinos, painted white crosses on their tanks, which became the main target, and based on these, the war was called for a while a “crusade.” András wondered, why his life was spared, while many of his friends, whom he thinks were just as good as him, died. I said we have to remember, that God keeps us alive until he has plans for us. András and his wife have two children 5 and 3 years old, and now in civil life, he tunes pianos. When he finished tuning all five of the Church’s pianos, he pointed at one and said this piano is good for teaching children. My answer was I think this is one of the reasons why God kept your life to tune pianos, so we can teach the children to sing praises to God. Let all Church’s tune up our pianos and start or continue teaching our children to pray, to sing praises to God so everyone will know our familiar hymn - “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Rt. Rev. József Vásárhelyi
