B u d a p e s t – Hungarian Baptists have a good name throughout the country. That is due above all to the work of its relief agency: “Hungarian Baptist Aid” (HBAid). Dr. Kalman Meszaros (Budapest) President of this 12.000-member Union, pointed this out at European Baptist Federation (EBF) Council sessions in Budapest on 27 September. “Wherever problems arise – the Baptists are the first ones there ready to help.” This assessment is heard repeatedly in Hungarian mass media. Alongside an emergency team which is on location 24 hours after a natural catastrophe anywhere on earth, the relief agency includes numerous service divisions. In the name of the European Union it organises feeding programmes for the poor in the country. The agency maintains shelters and counselling centres for alcohol- and drug-addicts as well as for the victims of domestic violence. It also has a shelter for the victims of human trafficking who have been forced against their will into prostitution in other countries. They are then freed and now hope to be reintegrated into Hungarian society. The newest project consists of a mobile theatre in which handicapped and non-handicapped actors describe jointly the fate of the handicapped.

Dr. Ákos Bukovszky (Budapest), the person responsible for international contacts in the Baptist Union, noted an additional unusual development among Hungarian Baptists: They have their own phone network operated co-operatively with a secular telephone company. The network is called “Baptifon”. For a fee of eight euros per month, 10.000 Baptists are able to call each other and talk for as long as they like without additional costs. Bukovszky reports that this offering has clearly strengthened the feeling of togetherness among Baptists.

The Baptist Union has grown since the downfall of communism. In 1989 it was reported to have approximately 10.500 members – now it is 12.000. That is a growth of 15%. Missions

advisor Janos Papp attributed the growth above all to the 80 new church plants in recent years. Yet a few aged congregations have needed to close their doors. Baptists have a congregation or mission station in 350 of Hungary’s 3.200 cities and villages.

Representatives of Hungary’s Baptist Union described ecumenical cooperation as good. They point for example to a large evangelistic campaign called “City Mission” held during mid-September in Budapest. It was organised by the Catholic church. At 50 central locations and in churches, evangelistic events were held each day for a week. Besides the Catholics, Protestant churches including the Baptists were involved. The positive atmosphere is attributed to Archbishop Peter Erdö, who has been in his position for four years. Since that time, Catholics have integrated a number of evangelical mission projects into their work.