Hungary: March 16
Sunday, March 16
A shower and a good night’s sleep are the best way to turn travelers into human beings. Everyone is in great spirits this morning as were greeted by an overcast sky and temperatures in the mid 50s. There is a possibility of rain apparently.
When the group finally met Dr. Mayle told us we’d have to walk to the church because we hadn’t been given our tram passes. Although the church is within walking distance, it’s not exactly across the street. It’s about a 25 minute brisk walk that left some folks wishing for a cab ride. But we made it ok and even posed for a photo in front of the Nazarene Church.
At the church we had breakfast of chocolate swirl bread, regular rolls, blueberry jam, butter and honey, hot cocoa, tea or Nescafe. Very generous from a community that probably can’t afford it, yet has shared so much with us already.
After breakfast the girls practiced the song they were going to use in the service and then it was time for Sunday School. The sanctuary chairs were put in a circle and the pastor talked about what prayer is and is not. He reminded us that what some call prayer is usually a listing of everything we’d like for God to do for us in the next 24 hours, please and thank you. Instead the Christian’s life of prayer should be based upon and open and mutual dialogue which stems from a relationship with the One who created us and wants our daily fellowship. Graciously they provided English translation for us, which probably doubled te length of the session but, as we’re already finding out, our hosts’ generosity and patience is remarkable. The church was built two years ago is drawing some of the community now. About 16 people, in addition to us, attended Sunday School.
The morning service started at 11:00am and more joined us for the worship experience. Our group sang in the service and the pastor preached on “Who do You Say I Am?” a great reminder that, although Jesus was welcomed by the crowds upon entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, by the time Holy Week ended no one seem to know who He was or cared to have to do anything with Him at His greatest hour of need. “Who do you say He is today? Someone you only approach in the best of times, or someone who is with you in all circumstances? How far are you willing to go for Him? When times got rough, Peter checked out and denied Jesus. What would we do in similar circumstances?” Definitely an inspiring message, greatly helped by an apt translation; again this added a bit of length to the service but our hosts didn’t seem to mind.
Dr. Paul Mayle brought greetings to the congregation from MVNU and the girls sang right before the message. The pastor’s daughter, Retka, sang a solo prior to the offering and although we couldn’t understand a word she sang, the emotion and worship of her message was well evident. She also has a beautiful voice.
After church tables were brought into the sanctuary and lunch was served. Again, generosity and service were more than evident. We were served chicken noodle soup accompanied by cooked carrots and parsnips, followed by baked chicken served with a couscous, peas and carrot salad, mashed potatoes and some kind of a green bell pepper and dill salad.
Everything was delicious and, those of us fighting sleep during the previous hour – yeah, jet lag isn’t all gone yet – perked up for this wonderful meal. The food was outstanding and it showed the love and sacrifice the church folks to put up such a feast. The drinks were white grape Slice, Coke and another local white grape juice, plus mineral water. There was also Nescafe, tea and assorted cakes for dessert. Hungarian culture is very proud of its cuisine and they want to make sure you taste everything. Twice. Or three times. No one has been shy to show gratefulness for the food and I suspect a few of us will have to start some kind of a diet soon once we return home.
From the church we walked about ½ hour back through the center of Debrecen, saw the Great Cathedral where a brief Hungarian independence was declared on March 15 1848 by Lajos Kossuth before it was trampled by the Russians lss than a year later. However, they are still proud of the fact that for 8 weeks they were free. The Treaty of Trianon in 1920 caused major damage to the Hungarian homeland by stripping it of nearly 70% of their total land mass and donating to others such as the former Yugoslavia, former Czechoslovakia, Romania and what is now Slovakia. A statue to Kossuth stands in front of the Great Cathedral, adorned with flowers left there to commemorate March 15.
We took our first tram ride to the church this afternoon. As with all major European cities, Debrecen has a fast and inexpensive system that takes you on a major loop of the city center. We also have to take a bus to the church. Dinner was an open faced buttered salami or bologna sandwich with tomato and cucumber and topped with shredded cheese. It was really good. They also brought out lunch leftovers, including the mashed potatoes and baked chicken. Same drinks as before.
We helped clean up and then took the train back to the pension where we had a brief team meeting followed by two rousing rounds of a game where w had to identify famous people either by using words to describe them or having to mime them out. Everyone is in a great mood and tomorrow we get to go to the wok site as well as to the school where will work with kids 10-15 years old, mostly in conversational English..
Tomorrow we meet at 8am again, take the tram and bus to the church and go from there.
