The Roma Ministry of the Diaconia of the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH), held a conference and a professional day for the first time for all who are involved in Roma ministry throughout the Carpathian Basin. The event on November 15th was attended by pastors, professionals, colleagues, and co-workers.
For the fourth time, the Department for Social Inclusion of the Diaconia of the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) organised a professional development day with the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA).
Three thousand prisoners of Roma origin were executed at the Auschwitz Gypsy camp on the 2 of August 1944. On this day, the Roma of Europe commemorate the Holocaust, the porajmos as they call it, or in the Lovari dialect, the pharrajimos, the destruction.
Since 2017, HEKS (the Swiss Church Aid) has supported efforts to make elementary schools maintained by the Hungarian Reformed Church more inclusive. Today, more than a dozen institutions carry out development aimed at inclusion, and their spring network meeting was hosted by the headquarters of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA). More than fifty employees from eleven schools participated in the all-day workshop on May 22.
“The common goal of our Christianity is for Roma and non-Roma Hungarians to live in peace and love with each other,” said Bishop Zoltán Balog on the ‘We Belong Together — Roma Integration Day’. During the event, the participants reviewed the results of the social inclusion program and shared their aspirations in round table discussions.
Between March 19 and March 22, almost fifty people came together at Berekfürdő to share knowledge and participate in accredited training on contextual theology within the Roma Ministry of the Diaconia of Reformed Church in Hungary.
We come across the concepts of assimilation and integration on a daily basis, but few people understand the meaning of the word inclusion. The term, which is primarily used in education, means ‘I will get to know your characteristics, and you will get to know mine, and this is how we form a community,’ explains Krisztina Naszádi, the coordinator of the Inclusive Education Program of the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) and the Reformed Church in Hungary. We asked the specialist about the background and practice of inclusive education.
This September will be the second anniversary of the opening of TejjelMézzel (which translates as ‘With Milk and Honey’), a Reformed restaurant in Göncruszka maintained by the local reformed congregation. Interview with Rev. Levente Sohajda.
Eszter Dani was appointed as head of the Synod’s Mission Office in 2012, and she played a pivotal role in strengthening the national Reformed Roma ministry. Rev. Dani, who is also a pastor in Solymár, has been senior advisor of the Mission Service since 1 January this year.
Since September, a new team of mentors has been accompanying the institutional development of schools participating in the HEKS-funded inclusion program of RCH. The initiative is part or the strategic cooperation with the Swiss Protestant Church Aid in the Ministry among Roma.
Interview with Józsefné Tóth about the disadvantage-compensating and status-management significance of the so-called “Complex Instruction Program” (CIP).
The delegation of the István Wáli Reformed Roma Special College visited Italy, together with representatives from other similar institutions. The joint trip marked the tenth anniversary of the Network. Participants also had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis.
It is heartening to see that our church has diverse and hopeful programmes in the area of youth ministry, but we seldom talk about the ways we can provide examples to younger generations with our personal lives. Report about the annual conference of the National Reformed Roma Ministry.
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Christian Roma Colleges Network, a large delegation travelled to Rome to represent the organisation, where Pope Francis received the Hungarian Church leaders and the Roma Students.
Reformed pastors and community workers of congregations who implement Roma projects supported by the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) exchanged their experiences at a two-day interactive workshop in Budapest.
Mrs. Ferenc Gondi, host of the Morning Star After-School, an institution for Roma children in Kecskemét, is a real angel in everyday life. The National Roma Ministry of RCH recognized her ministry granting her the 2021 Reformed Roma Pedagogical Assistant of the Year Award.
The Roma Ministry of RCH and the reformed congregation in Kecskemét held a joint event to honor the Roma victims of the Holocaust in the courtyard of the Hajnalcsillag (Morning Star) Roma Afterchool.
The National Reformed Roma Ministry organised a seminar on Reconciliation among Nations from 6 to 8 August. During the event, which focused on the mutual reconciliation of Roma and non-Roma, lectures, dramas and small group discussions paved to way for participants to journey together from recognition of pain to mutual forgiveness.
In 2021, the third four-year support period of HEKS (Swiss Protestant Church Aid Organization) and the Hungarian Reformed Inter-Church Agreement began. In the framework of the cooperation the Swiss organization supports the mission among Roma and disadvantaged.
A limited number of colleges were able to get together at the service for the Protection of the Theotokos Greek Catholic Church on 19 April 2021. Zoltán Balog, Ministerial President of the RCH Synod, preached the Word.