What do you think when you hear the word “partnership?” It’s a word with different meanings and connotations for different people. It could bring to mind business dealings or the support and love of a spouse or friend, but the most important characteristic of “partnership” is the fact that it is a relationship. In the last days of April, a group of Americans from Ferry Memorial Reformed Church in Montague, Michigan demonstrated what “partnership” means for them as they traveled Hungary to meet with two of their sister churches and develop some new relationships along the way.
For several years, this church community has maintained “prayer partnerships” with two congregations from the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) and took an opportunity this year to bring members of the church to visit these partner congregations. A prayer partnership seems simple on paper, but in order to maintain a healthy connection over such a long distance, both communities must be dedicated to staying in contact. Ferry Memorial and its partners in Sellye and Makád share prayers with each other via email at least once every two weeks. The pastors then share the joys and concerns of their sister churches during worship. In this way, the relationship goes beyond just the church leaders, but is truly felt in the community of believers.
The American group came to Hungary for 11 days to learn about the Hungarian culture, experience the way the RCH is present in society and most importantly connect on a face-to-face level with their partner churches in Sellye and Makád. The trip started in Budapest where the group was able to meet Richard and Carolyn Otterness, missionaries from the Reformed Church in America (RCA), and visit the Synod office of the RCH. Both meetings gave a broad overview of the situation in Hungary and some information about the ministries that the group would be visiting. At this time in the national office of the RCH, it was possible to see one perspective of partnership: an international cooperation and unity between the RCA and the RCH.
The first part of the journey started with a trip to Pécs, where the travelers were shown the most amazing sides of Hungarian hospitality. Several families from the Garden City Reformed Church in Pécs welcomed the group to stay in their homes for the three days of their visit. In these moments, Americans and Hungarians came together over food, fellowship and Google translate to learn more about each other and the places they call home; relationships were formed and a new facet of partnership was realized.
During the worship service on Sunday, April 27th, the Rev. Dick Klaver and Rev. Zoltán Csaba Nagy created another connection, announcing their intention to begin a new overseas prayer partnership between the two congregations and deepen the relationship between the two churches.
In addition to worshiping with the congregation in Pécs, the Ferry Memorial group was able to travel to Sellye to meet with one of its already established partner churches. The members of the community graciously welcomed them into their congregation house, where a painting of Ferry Memorial, a gift to the church in Sellye from a congregation member in Michigan, hangs in the hall as a tangible sign of the two churches’ continued relationship together.
After spending a few days in Pécs, the group headed back to Budapest by way of the drug rehabilitation center in Ráckeresztúr and the reformed congregation in Szigetszentmiklós. At the rehab center, two workers who personally completed the program and now work as mentors in the house led the group through the mission and purpose of the center. The painful side of relationships is apparent in this place. Many addicts come from broken homes, where they never found support or love from those closest to them. Conversely at the church in Szigetszentmiklós, the Ferry Memorial group learned of the ways the local congregation is reaching out to those in their community with addiction problems and the blessings that have come from that outreach.
The second loop of the trip started in Göncruszka in the northeastern part of the country. Here, they met the pastor and chief elder of the town’s reformed congregation and learned about the ways in which the congregation is serving as an active member in its community. Rev. Levente Sohajda explained the congregation’s biggest and most unique project, a bee house where they press and produce several variations of honey. Group members learned about the work as different jars of honey were passed around to sample. It was clear that the project played a huge part in the life of the church, but the leaders highlighted its role in bringing young and old together and creating more than just community for the congregation, but a sense of family.
After a short visit to the congregation's primary school, the group travelled a few minutes down the road to Vilmány to see a Roma community house. They received a special opportunity to speak with Cistibiscan Roma coordinator, Rev. Anita Barnóczki, who led a frank, informative discussion about Roma culture and the difficulties people and villages are now facing in eastern Hungary. Members of the Ferry group were deeply appreciative of the opportunity to learn more about a social context that is so far removed from their situation in the United States.
Following this, the group made its way to Debrecen with a short stop in Tokaj. The highlight was a meeting with reverends Daniel Püski and Barbara Arany of the university chaplaincy at the University of Debrecen. Here, the group saw another product of partnership in action. The pastors described their new multi-site church-planting project that has become a reality due to the relationship between the RCH and RCA. Through cooperation and communication, the university chaplaincy now has a unique opportunity to plant new congregations on the University’s two other campus locations.
After returning to Budapest, the group was able to meet Rev. Enikő Lakatos, the previous pastor of their partner church in Makád and current pastor of the Szilágyi Dezső Square reformed congregation in Budapest. Much like in Pécs, the Ferry Memorial group and members of the Budapest congregation expressed their intention of starting a fresh prayer partnership between the two churches.
And finally as the journey came to a close, the group spent their last full day in the small town of Makád with the congregation of their longtime prayer partner. They were able to worship together with members of the reformed community, and although the previous pastor who started the partnership has left, the new pastor, Rev. Ferenc Halassy, was eager to continue the dialogue, support and relationship with the church from Michigan.
It may be hard to visualize the connection between people living in completely different contexts a world apart, but the impact of these relationships was apparent during these short 11 days. Fourteen Americans were welcomed into the homes and lives of their brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that would not have been possible without the groundwork established through a very simple partnership and a dedication to being in prayerful relationship with one another, no matter the distance.
Amy Lester
Photos: Sue Moulds