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Special Interest Articles
Roma stir up feelings at
highest level of EU
Open doors for mission
across frontiers
Intensive week of 'bridge
building' About beacons and bridges
December has come
round again and the first
Masters programme with
UNISA almost ready to be words of the Kool News
launched! 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.
Highlights
Open doors for
Roma stir up feelings at highest level of
missionsacross frontiers 2
EU
Across the border 4
The deportation of Roma
Cape Town 2010 4 from France in the past
weeks not only generated
Intensive week of 'bridge a remarkable amount of
building' 5 media attention, but also
stirred up feelings at the
Prof. Darrel Guder on highest European levels.
missional leadership 6 the French and Italian
A theme which we have
Masters programme almost been concentrating on
ready to be launched 6 intensively in the recent
past is the situation of the
How can I support CIMS? 7 Roma in this region and the
role of the Churches and
From my letterbox 7
Christian organisations in
Personal note 8 our part of Europe.
With much thankfulness, I
am able to inform you
about encouraging
developments in the past
six 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
Although this is in 'our part
of Europe', in the
Netherlands too, you are
increasingly often
confronted with this group
of people. This is not least
because of the actions of
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.
Volume 4, Issue 1 (13)
December 4, 2010.
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)
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.
 2 TYPE TITLE HERE
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
1 Rev. László Fazekas, (Komárom) and Kosice
Bishop of the Reformed (Kassa). No, I'm not going
Christian Church in to take you on a tourist trip,
Slovakia although there is a lot to
see in this country. At the
beginning of the 20th
century, part of Slovakia still
belonged 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 biblical
foundation of and the
challenges for mission
nowadays. In total more
than 220 pastors
'Vicar,' said the participated. I was invited
by the new Bishop László
father, 'Vicar, I Fazekas, who has put
would like to stop mission high on the agenda
stealing. I know of his Church.
it's sinful. But how
Besides a lively discussion
am I then about what it means to be
supposed to get a missional Church as a
bread for my Hungarian-speaking
minority Church in a Slovak-
children?' 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
missiological literature. This
also a desire to extend
turned out to be a key for
contacts. Being Dutch,
many participants in
there is of course
understanding how
something of the salesman
missionary work and the
in me, and I was happy to
study of it are related to
sell books we published in
one another, what the
CIMS over the years. At a
importance is of the
moment like this, I am glad
academic study of
that publishing missionary
missions. For the full report,
training materials and
see:
Missiological literature is
http://www.annemariekool
one of our key aims.
.org/search/label/Internati
onal%20Orthodox%20Missio
Orthodox world
n%20Network
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
2 Mrs. Nóra Komlósi-
question by one of them.
He said that he had visited Sümegi
a Roma family with seven
children. 'Vicar,' said the For updates on the
father, 'Vicar, I would like to precarious situation in
stop stealing. I know it's Belarus following the recent
sinful. But how am I then elections see my blog,
supposed to get bread for under the heading
“Belarus”.
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
 3

On beacons and bridges

3 Mária and Claudia, Two
participants of the Roma
Conference
More than ten years ago, good examples,
(Continued from pg. 1)
we organised a organisations which are
conference at the Missions active in the work for
This is no easy task. After all,
Institute for and with Roma Roma, research into special
Communism has left its
experts from Hungary aspects. By setting up a
mark here; reconciliation
about the role of the centre, a step is being
with the past is barely a
Churches. taken in the direction of
topic of discussion.
greater sharing of
Since the middle of this experience. In practice,
Recently I read a book by
year, we have been experience is being gained
Rev. Führer, the pastor of
responsible for a project in different places, new
the Nicolai Church in
which aims to present the models are being
Leipzig, which was partly
position of the Roma as a developed about which
instrumental in the
task for Churches and people in the area often
peaceful revolution in East
Christian organisations. have no knowledge. The
German, about his
experiences with the symbol of the bridge which
With a subsidy from Church
Communist authorities. was used on the
in Action, at the end of
establishment of the
August we were able to
People were convinced Institute is extremely
organise a two-day appropriate here too.
that the faith could be
conference with over thirty
eradicated. Children and
delegates from various For a picture impression of
young people were to be
organisations in seven this conference, please
given an atheistic
countries in the region. The see:
education and it would
goal of the conference
only be a matter of time
was to map out the http://www.annemariekool
before the churches could
involvement of Churches .org/2010/09/cims-roma-
be closed. Instead of
and Christian organisations mapping-conference.html.
confirmation, there was
and to investigate together
youth dedication, and
what contribution can be
voluntary work in the
made to improving the
church was replaced by
situation of the Roma. For
forced voluntary work, for
all those involved, it is clear
example on the land.
that the problem is
Although the situation
complex, that it is not a
varied in the different
Roma problem but a social
countries, there were
problem, and that there is
comparable experiences
no easy solution.
for very many.

It was and is equally clear

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.
that the Churches and
Christian organisations
have a clear Biblical task:
the great commandment
must be guiding, and the
Roma 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:

4 Dr. Dorottya Nagy joined the

staff as a part-time faculty
 4 TYPE TITLE HERE

Across the border

'Across the border' for the work of the Institute means
'During the lecture last time, I learned a great deal, and
not only the geographical borders but also the often
I was again strengthened in my calling. It was very
strict borders which are erected between the different
good that you asked a lot of questions and that the
Church denominations.
lecture was interactive. No one fell asleep. I am looking
forward to the next lecture.'
Baptist seminary

Dutch department
Mission and missiology are not the property of one or
another Church or university. This view is shared by of
And across borders can also mean working somewhere
the leadership of the Baptist seminary in Hungary. They
else within the university. The Dutch department at the
have asked whether I will give their students lectures
Károli University asked me this year to give lectures
about the meaning of missions nowadays. Thirty-seven
about Churches and Church life in the Netherlands. This
pastors are following the new Masters programme part-
is a compulsory subject for these students. And for me it
time. In total, I will be teaching them missiology for
is the 'duty' to cross the border for a moment and to
three semesters.
become better acquainted with a number of
important developments. A course like this also
These are some of the responses after the first
provides opportunities not only to tell students about
missiology lecture, at the end of three intensive days of
structures and programmes, but primarily to convey the
the course:
meaning of God's Word in this time and to have them
'What appealed to me most was that after an think in more detail about their own situation.
extremely demanding lecture, though one which I
By now, the lectures have taken place. My part was
really appreciated, missiology was very refreshing and
mainly in the preparation, the introduction and the
stimulating. I was pleased that so many relevant
rounding off of the whole. For the lectures themselves, I
matters were raised. There was also an open
was able to call on an experienced visiting lecturer
atmosphere in which we could express our own
from the Netherlands, Drs H. Juffer from Rhenen. In the
opinions and pose our own questions.'
evaluation, the (fourth year) students remarked that
'In the previous lecture, I was abruptly shaken out of my they had never before heard anything about Dutch
apathy. I had no idea at all of the processes which go Church life and also had never had a lecturer who
on in world missions, which are of course very important gave such thorough lectures, with so much interest for
in order to find our own role and task in missions. We his students.
really need these lectures, which along side many
Read more:
basic theological subjects really shine a light on the
http://www.annemariekool.org/2010/11/een-week-
practical goals.'
budapest-drs-juffer-rhenen.html.

Cape Town 2010

Attending 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, and
people 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 hi s
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 t he
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 Marika: Spa as a symbol of
the feeling of 'being
appreciated'
Intensive
week of
'bridge
building'
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
Central and Eastern Europe
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
5
number of those involved learn from one another.
and the Church. Freedom
On the last day of this
to express your faith, to
proclaim it and to instruct conference, there was a
people are now taken for symposium about the
granted. developments and future
of theological education in
We were able to invite
them thanks to a gift by the
Central and Eastern Europe
in the light of Edinburgh
World Council of Churches. 2010. This year, in many
ways attention is being
CEEAMS paid to this special
centenary event. This year,
After the meeting with the
a handbook was also
women, there followed a
published about
conference of the Central
theological education
and Eastern European
worldwide, in which I wrote
Association of Mission
an article together with
Studies. This is a division of
some colleagues about
the worldwide association
theological education in
(IAMS), which held its
our region. This article
annual conference in
formed part of the basis for
Hungary in 2008. A still
the conference, which we
relatively young network of
organised together with the
people who are active in
theology faculty. From
theological education and
various points of departure
in missiology. The
and especially from various
participants, from Russia,
denominations,
Georgia, Bulgaria,
consideration was given to
Romania, Serbia, Poland,
the issues facing
Hungary and the Czech
theological education,
Republic, sat around the
especially in Hungary and
table to discuss together
Hungarian-speaking parts
the state of affairs of
of the surrounding
theological education, the
countries. Obviously this
role of missions in this
included secularisation and
education and the
post-Communism, with all
possibilities for joint
the related issues. In my
research. There was also
contribution, I was able in
discussion about the
particular to point out the
periodical Acta
importance of cooperation
Missiologiae and the
and the harmonisation of
possibilities for further
the teaching programme
development of the
with the social challenges
periodical. Here again it
of today and how we deal
became apparent that
with this from a Biblical-
there are indeed bridges to
theological and
be built between the
missiological perspective.
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
 6 TYPE TITLE HERE

Prof. Darrell L. Guder on missional

leadership
At 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 the
great 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 is
gathered 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 must
lead 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
6 Prof. Dr. Darrell L.
about this.' Guder, Missioloog
aan het Princeton
Theological Seminary
7 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 written 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 Educati on 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 (cims@kre.hu) ! As soon as it is available we will send you more information on the program, and on
how to register!
How can I support CIMS? -- Scholarship 7

fund
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
Central and Eastern Europe
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
student and invest in the life
scholarships to people who
of those who can be
cannot afford to pay the
iinstruments in God’s hand
tuition fee of the MTh and
to transfor their churches
PhD programs themselves.
into missional communities?
However, there is still a
For more information on
need for five more
these projects do not
scholarships (of 5000 USD
hesitate to contact us.
per year for the MTh
programme).
Did you already
For the continuing
education of pastors an take a look at
additional amount of 130
USD per pastor per week is
my blog on
needed.
www.annemarie
We are planning 6
conferences for 15 pastors
kool.org?
each, in total 90 x 13 USD.
Are you willing to adopt a

From my letterbox
At the end of May, Wybe
Bijlsma, a member of the
Board of Governors of
Redeemer University
College in Canada, visited
our university.
8 Students at a pizza party in my He writes: “This is what I
home 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 stir 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.
 8 TYPE TITLE HERE
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

Upcoming
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

events
Nehemiah praying and working on the construction of the walls.

16 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
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 students
were 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 and 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
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 themagigifts@yahoo.com .

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: amkool@kre.hu or amkool@t-online.hu.