Kool News of the Karoli - 13

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Kool New of the Károli Newsletter Date

Volume 4, Issue 1 (13)

December 4, 2010.

Email: [email protected]; Blog: www.annemariekool.org; Skype: amkool; Fb: amkool

About beacons and bridges

Roma stir up feelings at highest level of

EU

December has come

round again and the first

words of the Kool News

have been down on paper for weeks, or actually for

months, now. Unfortunately

so far I did not manage to

finish my newsletter.

The past year was a year of

extremes. In May, doors

seemed more and more to

be barred. A few months

later, they opened up as

never before. Thank you for

your concern and prayers.

The Lord is faithful and does

not abandon the work of

his hands.

With much thankfulness, I

am able to inform you

about encouraging

developments in the pastsix months.

No news is good news, as

the saying goes. In my

case, this has been true.

As in March last (when you

received my last Kool

News), I want to share with

you developments here in

Budapest, in Hungary and

also in this part of Europe.

With thankfulness, I can

now see that what was

begun carefully in the past

years is now slowly

beginning to take shape.

With the establishment of

the Institute, we wanted to

be a beacon for Central

and Eastern Europe: a

symbol of hope for

students, clergy and

volunteers in the Church,

for people from different

denominations, from

different countries, a

beacon based on the

Bible, with the core

message to live out your

calling in this post-

Communist society.

(Continued on pg. 3)

The deportation of Roma

from France in the past

weeks not only generated

a remarkable amount ofmedia attention, but also

stirred up feelings at the

highest European levels.

A theme which we have

been concentrating on

intensively in the recent

past is the situation of the

Roma in this region and the

role of the Churches and

Christian organisations in

our part of Europe.

Although this is in 'our part

of Europe', in the

Netherlands too, you are

increasingly oftenconfronted with this group

of people. This is not least

because of the actions of

the French and Italian

authorities. Suddenly it

seems to be a topic of

discussion and to my

surprise, it is even in focus in

the Netherlands. When we

speak about Central and

Eastern Europe, we are

talking about an issue of a

completely different order.

Here it relates to about 10-

12 million people, who

have to live in completely

different circumstances.

Not only recently but

throughout the centuries,

the Roma in Europe have

assumed a very special

position.

Special Interest Articles

Roma stir up feelings at

highest level of EU

Open doors for mission

across frontiers

Intensive week of 'bridgebuilding'

Masters programme with

UNISA almost ready to be

launched!

Highlights

Open doors for

missionsacross frontiers 2

Across the border 4

Cape Town 2010 4

Intensive week of 'bridgebuilding' 5

Prof. Darrel Guder on

missional leadership 6

Masters programme almost

ready to be launched 6

How can I support CIMS? 7

From my letterbox 7

Personal note 8

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.annemariekool.org/







2 TYPE TITLE HERE

1 Rev. László Fazekas,Bishop of the Reformed

Christian Church in

Slovakia

Open Doors for mission across the

border

Slovakia

From Budapest, you are in

Slovakia in an hour. Then

you come across names

such as Bratislava

(Pozsony), Komarno

(Komárom) and Kosice

(Kassa). No, I'm not going

to take you on a tourist trip,

although there is a lot to

see in this country. At the

beginning of the 20th

century, part of Slovakia stillbelonged to Hungary. This is

reflected in the language

in certain regions and also

in the Church. There is a

Reformed Church in

Slovakia, which is in part

Hungarian-speaking. The

theme for the two-day

continuing education

program for pastors from

this Church was mission. I

was asked to give a lecture

about the biblicalfoundation of and the

challenges for mission

nowadays. In total more

than 220 pastors

participated. I was invited

by the new Bishop László

Fazekas, who has put

mission high on the agenda

of his Church.

Besides a lively discussion

about what it means to be

a missional Church as aHungarian-speaking

minority Church in a Slovak-

speaking country. There

was plenty of opportunity

to exchange thoughts with

the pastors about their work

and the challenges which

they are facing. It

appeared that there was a

great need of further study

and training materials and

also a desire to extend

contacts. Being Dutch,

there is of course

something of the salesman

in me, and I was happy to

sell books we published in

CIMS over the years. At a

moment like this, I am glad

that publishing missionary

training materials and

Missiological literature is

one of our key aims.

Orthodox world

Earlier this year, I was able

to report on my visit to

Belarus. The contact there

has been pursued and two

participants attended our

Roma mapping

conference.

I must tell you about a

question by one of them.

He said that he had visited

a Roma family with seven

children. 'Vicar,' said thefather, 'Vicar, I would like to

stop stealing. I know it's

sinful. But how am I then

supposed to get bread for

my children?'

The meeting in Belarus was

organised by the recently

established Orthodox

Mission Network. In

October, a subsequent

meeting was held in

Bulgaria. There the Institute

was represented by one of

my former students, Nóra

Komlósi-Sümegi, presently

working for Wycliffe Bible

Translators. She emphasised

that the practical

missionary work can be

strengthened through

missiological research and

the publication of

missiological literature. This

turned out to be a key for

many participants in

understanding how

missionary work and the

study of it are related to

one another, what the

importance is of the

academic study of

missions. For the full report,

see:

http://www.annemariekool

.org/search/label/Internati

onal%20Orthodox%20Missio

n%20Network

2 Mrs. Nóra Komlósi-

Sümegi

For updates on the

precarious situation in

Belarus following the recent

elections see my blog,

under the heading

“Belarus”.

'Vicar,' said the

father, 'Vicar, I

would like to stop

stealing. I know

it's sinful. But how

am I then

supposed to getbread for my

children?'



3

On beacons and bridges

(Continued from pg. 1)

This is no easy task. After all,

Communism has left its

mark here; reconciliationwith the past is barely a

topic of discussion.

Recently I read a book by

Rev. Führer, the pastor of

the Nicolai Church in

Leipzig, which was partly

instrumental in the

peaceful revolution in East

German, about his

experiences with the

Communist authorities.

People were convinced

that the faith could be

eradicated. Children and

young people were to be

given an atheistic

education and it would

only be a matter of time

before the churches could

be closed. Instead of

confirmation, there was

youth dedication, and

voluntary work in the

church was replaced by

forced voluntary work, for

example on the land.

Although the situation

varied in the different

countries, there were

comparable experiences

for very many.

It is not every day that it is

the subject of discussion,

but for my work it is a very

important factor for the

situation in which I work.

Roma stir up feelings

(continued from pg. 1)

With the accession of ten

countries in Central and

Eastern Europe to the

European Union, the issue

has frequently been raised

both in Brussels and in the

various countries.

More than ten years ago,

we organised a

conference at the Missions

Institute for and with Roma

experts from Hungary

about the role of the

Churches.

Since the middle of this

year, we have been

responsible for a project

which aims to present the

position of the Roma as a

task for Churches and

Christian organisations.

With a subsidy from Church

in Action, at the end of

August we were able toorganise a two-day

conference with over thirty

delegates from various

organisations in seven

countries in the region. The

goal of the conference

was to map out the

involvement of Churches

and Christian organisations

and to investigate together

what contribution can be

made to improving the

situation of the Roma. For

all those involved, it is clear

that the problem is

complex, that it is not a

Roma problem but a social

problem, and that there is

no easy solution.

It was and is equally clear

that the Churches and

Christian organisations

have a clear Biblical task:

the great commandment

must be guiding, and theRoma themselves should

be involved in every step

that is taken.

As the initial step in the

follow-up, it has been

agreed that the Institute will

provide a knowledge

centre. To start with, it will

record all the experience

that has been gained:

good examples,

organisations which are

active in the work for

Roma, research into special

aspects. By setting up a

centre, a step is being

taken in the direction of

greater sharing of

experience. In practice,

experience is being gained

in different places, new

models are being

developed about which

people in the area often

have no knowledge. The

symbol of the bridge which

was used on the

establishment of the

Institute is extremely

appropriate here too.

For a picture impression of

this conference, please

see:

http://www.annemariekool

.org/2010/09/cims-roma-

mapping-conference.html.

Mária and Claudia, Two

articipants of the Roma

Conference

Dr. Dorottya Nagy joined the

taff as a part-time faculty



4 TYPE TITLE HERE

Across the border

'Across the border' for the work of the Institute means

not only the geographical borders but also the often

strict borders which are erected between the different

Church denominations.

Baptist seminary

Mission and missiology are not the property of one or

another Church or university. This view is shared by of

the leadership of the Baptist seminary in Hungary. They

have asked whether I will give their students lectures

about the meaning of missions nowadays. Thirty-seven

pastors are following the new Masters programme part-

time. In total, I will be teaching them missiology for

three semesters.

These are some of the responses after the first

missiology lecture, at the end of three intensive days of

the course:

'What appealed to me most was that after an

extremely demanding lecture, though one which I

really appreciated, missiology was very refreshing and

stimulating. I was pleased that so many relevant

matters were raised. There was also an open

atmosphere in which we could express our own

opinions and pose our own questions.'

'In the previous lecture, I was abruptly shaken out of my

apathy. I had no idea at all o f the processes which go

on in world missions, which are of course very important

in order to find our own ro le and task in missions. We

really need these lectures, which along side many

basic theological subjects really shine a light on the

practical goals.'

'During the lecture last time, I learned a great deal, and

I was again strengthened in my calling. I t was verygood that you asked a lot of questions and that the

lecture was interactive. No one fell asleep. I am looking

forward to the next lecture.'

Dutch department

And across borders can also mean working somewhere

else within the university. The Dutch department at the

Károli University asked me this year to give lectures

about Churches and Church life in the Netherlands. This

is a compulsory subject for these students. And for me it

is the 'duty' to cross the border for a moment and to

become better acquainted with a number of

important developments. A course like this also

provides opportunities not only to tell students about

structures and programmes, but primarily to convey the

meaning of God's Word in this time and to have them

think in more detail about their own si tuation.

By now, the lectures have taken place. My part was

mainly in the preparation, the introduction and the

rounding off of the whole. For the lectures themselves, I

was able to call on an experienced visiting lecturer

from the Netherlands, Drs H. Juffer from Rhenen. In the

evaluation, the (fourth year) students remarked that

they had never before heard anything about Dutch

Church life and also had never had a lecturer who

gave such thorough lectures, with so much interest for

his students.

Read more:

http://www.annemariekool.org/2010/11/een-week-

budapest-drs-juffer-rhenen.html.

Cape Town 2010Attending a conference with 4,000 people is something special in itself. Attending a conference by the Lausanne movement,

which organised a world conference for the first time in twenty-one years, is unforgettable. What particularly comes to mind are

the many spontaneous meetings, people whom you have known for a long time and whom you have not seen in years, andpeople whom you speak to for the first time. Unforgettable was the address by a young woman of eighteen who came from

North Korea and now lives in South Korea. She recounted the story of her father: at first holding an important position as the right-

hand man of the leader, then falling into disgrace and being interned. Subsequently he fled to China and later returned to his

country to bear witness and to proclaim God's word. He was again imprisoned and subsequently executed. His daughter spoke,

full of conviction, about her calling to continue his work after her education in South Korea. It made me reflect again about the

question of the extent to which I am willing to bear the cost of following the Lord Jesus.

Something else not readily forgotten was the address by Chris Wright, who held a mirror up to us there in Cape Town, but at the

same time to all Christians, and confronted us with the idols of our time: power, pride, popularity, success, riches and our

preoccupation with quantifiable results. This is in contrast to the Biblical command, which is described in very many places in

both the Old and New Testaments and was demonstrated by Jesus: the command of humility, integrity and simplicity. All the

talks and preparatory materials can be found at: www.lausanne.org.



5

Intensive

week of

'bridgebuilding'

learn from one another.

On the last day of this

conference, there was a

symposium about the

developments and futureof theological education in

Central and Eastern Europe

in the light of Edinburgh

2010. This year, in many

ways attention is being

paid to this special

centenary event. This year,

a handbook was also

published about

theological education

worldwide, in which I wrote

an article together with

some colleagues abouttheological education in

our region. This article

formed part of the basis for

the conference, which we

organised together with the

theology faculty. From

various points of departure

and especially from various

denominations,

consideration was given to

the issues facing

theological education,

especially in Hungary andHungarian-speaking parts

of the surrounding

countries. Obviously this

included secularisation and

post-Communism, with a ll

the related issues. In my

contribution, I was able in

particular to point out the

importance of cooperation

and the harmonisation of

the teaching programme

with the social challenges

of today and how we dealwith this from a Biblical-

theological and

missiological perspective.

On the establishment of the

Institute, the image of a

bridge was used. The

bridge across the Danube,

which links the two parts of

Budapest, is a model for

the function which the

Institute wants to fulfil.

Building bridges in the

region was something also

undertaken in some three

conferences in the last

week of November.

Women and missions

It began with a three-day

meeting of women from


who are active in various

aspects of missions. Those

among you who have

been following my work for

a long time will know that

the history of missions was

and is an important part of

the work. In this history,

women have often played

an important role. The

women who took part in

the meeting are also of

great importance for the

work in the Church and in

teaching. Although they

came from different

countries, different

Churches and educational

establishments, the focus

was on a collective task

and calling: being a

Christian, a woman, active

in missions in a post-

Communist world. At very

many different moments, it

was again shown how

deeply the Communist

period affected the life of a

number of those involved

and the Church. Freedom

to express your faith, to

proclaim it and to instruct

people are now taken for

granted.

We were able to invite

them thanks to a gift by the

World Council of Churches.

CEEAMS

After the meeting with the

women, there followed a

conference of the Central

and Eastern European

Association of Mission

Studies. This is a division of

the worldwide association

(IAMS), which held its

annual conference in

Hungary in 2008. A still

relatively young network of

people who are active in

theological education and

in missiology. The

participants, from Russia,

Georgia, Bulgaria,

Romania, Serbia, Poland,

Hungary and the Czech

Republic, sat around the

table to discuss together

the state of affairs of

theological education, the

role of missions in this

education and the

possibilities for joint

research. There was also

discussion about the

periodical Acta

Missiologiae and the

possibilities for further

development of the

periodical. Here again it

became apparent that

there are indeed bridges to

be built between the

different denominations,

that Church walls fall away

if the focus is not people's

opinions but on Christ and

God's mission. And then it is

shown that Orthodox,

Roman Catholic, Protestant

and Evangelical Christians

can get on together and

Marika: Spa as a symbol of

e feeling of 'being

ppreciated'



6 TYPE TITLE HERE

Prof. Darrell L. Guder on missional

leadershipAt the invitation of the

Missions Institute, last Friday

Dr Darrell L. Guder held an

open lecture. He proposed

that 'missional leadership in

a changing Europe will

centre upon the biblical

formation of a gathered

community that knows, or is

beginning to understand,

that it exists in response to

God's action and for God's

mission. It will take up thegreat tradition of biblical

formation in the Reformed

tradition, which is

symbolised by Calvin's

weekly expositions of the

Bible, which were ultimately

published as his

commentaries, and by the

detailed small type sections

of Barth's Church

Dogmatics, in which he

exhaustively investigates

the Biblical sources in order to develop the doctrinal

interpretation which will

"equip the saints for the

work of ministry". Barth

develops his missional

ecclesiology around the

three Spirit-empowered

movements of Gathering,

Upbuilding and Sending. It

is the responsibility of those

whose gifts qualify them to

serve the Church in

leadership functions that

they guide the community

to understand that it isgathered by God's Spirit for

God's saving purposes.

They will then participate in

the upbuilding of the

community, which

happens in every

dimension of the

community's life but which

is centred upon worship

through Word and

Sacrament. That process of

upbuilding within the

gathered Church mustlead into the sending of the

Church as witnesses into

the world. The disciple

Church is gathered and

upbuilt in order to be the

apostolic Church, sent into

the world every week as

witnesses, neighbours, light,

salt, yeast - Christ's letters to

the world.'

At the end, an Orthodox

missiologist from the

University of Iash, Romania,

sighed, 'These are very

important principles for us in

the Orthodox Church too! I

would like to learn more

about this.'

“

6 Prof. Dr. Darrell L.

Guder, Missioloog

aan het Princeton

Theological Seminary

Masters programme almost ready to be launched

Many times in my newsletter, I have wri tten about the preparation of the Masters programme, which we want to start up together

with the University of South Africa. The preparations are in full swing, it was usually said. The pace has slackened a bit in the past six

months for various reasons. The agreement of mainly legal matters between the universities there and here turned out to be a tricky

process. The different managerial cultures and also the different rhythms of the universities (summer there, winter here and vice

versa) have meant that there has been a considerable delay. In recent days, the message came that the officially signed

documents from Pretoria are on their way to Budapest. The last step will then be the approval by the Ministry of Education in

Hungary. In the coming months, the emphasis will be on the further preparation of the programme. In the past years, various people

have indicated that they are interested. In this programme, too, we wish to focus mainly people from Central and Eastern Europe.

Are you interested? Let us know ([email protected]) ! As soon as it is available we will send you more information on the program, and on

how to register!







7How can I support CIMS? -- Scholarship

fund

8 Students at a pizza party in my

home

From my letterboxAt the end of May, Wybe

Bijlsma, a member of the

Board of Governors of

Redeemer University

College in Canada, visited

our university.

He writes: “This is what I

have observed many times:

young Christians who want

to serve God but whose

mind has been inundated

with a humanistic mentality,

so they do not have a way

of evaluating life from a

Christian perspective.

Getting young people to

attend church is not good

enough.

We must find ways of

captivating their hearts and

minds fully for the Lord's

service and instilling in

them a Spirit-filled

imagination and a will

eagerly devoted to making

our Lord's Kingdom of

shalom become more

visible in this world.

Anne-Marie, how can we

fire up young Hungarians to

become socially

and culturally more

relevant for multi-faceted

Kingdom service? I'd like to

think along with you in this

regard.

We need to mentor many

talented young people

who are willing to foster a

robust Kingdom vision for

the nations in many of their

peers.

There may be a cloud of

despondency hanging

over Hungary, but God's

people must not sit down

and lament by "the rivers of

Babylon," but ought to

ignite their Spirit-filled

imagination to s tir up the

new life in Christ in the

young people of Hungary

and neighbouring

countries.

This touched me deeply

and resonated with my

own thinking.

CIMS is still fully dependent

on outside funding.

There is a great demand for

good education in the

changing contexts of

Central and Eastern

Europe, which is the key to

transformational

leadership.

However, in the countries of


the financial situation

causes severe limitations to

students to participate in

relevant programs.

We are extremely thankful

for the donations for the

scholarship fund. Thanks to

significant donations from

the Netherlands we are

able to offer some

scholarships to people who

cannot afford to pay the

tuition fee of the MTh and

PhD programs themselves.

However, there is still a

need for five more

scholarships (of 5000 USD

per year for the MTh

programme).

For the continuing

education of pastors an

additional amount of 130

USD per pastor per week is

needed.

We are planning 6conferences for 15 pastors

each, in total 90 x 13 USD.

Are you willing to adopt a

student and invest in the life

of those who can be

iinstruments in God’s hand

to transfor their churches

into missional communities?

For more information on

these projects do not

hesitate to contact us.

Did you already

take a look at

my blog on

www.annemari

kool.org?



8 TYPE TITLE HERE

If you would like to support the ministry of the Central and Eastern European Institute for

Mission Studies of the Karoli Gaspar Reformed University (KRE) you may send your tax-

deductible gifts to:

The Magi, PO 43, Byron Center, MI 49315

We are pleased to inform you that we are able to process online donations (for U.S.

residents). Please visit www.themagigifts and click on the “donate NOW” link. If you

have any questions please call Susan Zuidema, Director by phone at 616-272-4209 or

by email at [email protected] .

Please make out your gift to The Magi and indicate on a separate note that this

donation is for the KRE/CIMS, otherwise we will not receive your contribution. Please do

not write our name on the check itself.

The Karoli Gaspar Reformed University / CIMS,

Kalvin ter 7.II,, P.O. Box 73, , 1461 Budapest, Hungary.

Tel. +36 1 216 20 54/106.

E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected].

Personal note

A few months ago I wrote that the crisis had not left Hungary untouched. There is a sort

of general deep depression and apathy perceptible in the country, which seems to

lame everyone, and which leads to an atmosphere of blaming one another, of

jealousy, of extreme individualism. What is going on in society does not leave the

Church and university untouched. We have had to cancel conference after

conference because of the small attendance, due to financial reasons. I even had to

cancel a number of trips abroad in order to deal with some immediate issues, like

Nehemiah praying and working on the construction of the walls.

Despite everything, there were constantly signs of hope and encouragement. At the

end of June, the senate of the university took a positive decision regarding the MTh

programme, which we have been working on for a long time.

From the end of August, one invitation after another rushed in. Doors opened up again.

If I have counted correctly, this year I have taken part in at least sixteen conferences,

five of which I also jointly led, given ten lectures and met at least seven hundred people

(apart from the Cape Town conference, of course!) This is besides giving lectures for

forty-five students. But more important than these statistics is the openness which I met

everywhere, the desire to know more about missions.

It was also very encouraging to see that at a number of conferences former studentswere playing a leading role. God's work goes on! On the other hand, it is sad to hear

that the positions of colleagues, who have been lecturers in missiology for years, have

been cut. Doors open and doors close. Give thanks and pray for the staff of the Mission

Institute: Dorottya, Mónika and Gabi, and for volunteers Cindy, Mineke an d Ica.

I am thankful that I am getting on really well. I have not felt so well in years. Every week I

go to acqua fitness ! And I am also very thankful for the home group that meets at my

place each week. We support one another in joy and sorry.

This newsletter has been about building bridges, about crossing frontiers. In this, we can

follow in the footsteps of the Child of Bethlehem, who opened ways for us, constructed

the bridge been God and mankind, the Immanuel and God with us. I sincerely pray

that you will all have a blessed Christmas time.

Anne-Marie Kool

Upcomingevents16 December - 13 January – Home assignment in the

Netherlands. I hope to see many

of you!

28 December: Birthday in Sion

Church, Houten (4 - 8 pm)

2 January: 10 am Scots

International Church, Rotterdam

8 January: Theme day about

Church contacts – Houten

9 January: 9.30 am Reformed

Church Houten

12 January: 7.30 pm Mission

evening Oud-Alblas

http://www.themagigifts/







http://www.themagigifts/

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Kool News of the Karoli - 13