I turned 32 this year. Both Agnes and I were brought up in Baptist families in Hungary. This background had its advantages and disadvantages at the time but retrospectively we think the former far outweighed the latter. I was the second child in the family and had four sisters and three brothers. We lived in Fót, a small town just outside Budapest. Agi is from Kondoros which is in the south-eastern part of Hungary.
We went to the local Baptist church. With a membership of around 70, it was a relatively small congregation, with a characteristic combination of small town values and a fairly conservative Baptist setting. In this church I was baptised at the age of 14. I was blessed to have a youth pastor who constantly challenged us by his personal example to gain a deeper understanding of God and the Bible and to apply this in our everyday lives.
My previous experience:
After high school I trained as a nurse at college. In 1999, the last year of my studies I felt a strong attraction towards ministry, mainly by the influence of the life and example of my aforementioned youth pastor. However, I haven’t gone straight to seminary but decided to do national service - which was compulsory back then. In those days there were two options: you either joined the army and did the military training or you worked for a charity agency. Joining the army provided an excellent opportunity to witness in a non-Christian environment and proved to be a useful experience. In 2000 I started my training at the Baptist seminary in Budapest. Beside classes we had placements in churches each year, where we were involved in youth work, visiting the sick and preaching. More recently, I worked as a care assistant in Newark, Nottinghamshire whilst studying part-time at IBTS in Prague.
Why we have come to Bristo Baptist and what we would like to be involved in:
Margaret (died 1093), mother of King David I of Scotland, was of Hungarian origin and a friend of mine in Newark suggested that upon arrival in Edinburgh I should reclaim the throne for Hungary. On a more serious note, I got to know the work of Bristo Baptist Church through Jim Purves whom I met in Prague. Agnes and I felt drawn to Bristo because of the conscious effort people make here to understand what God is calling them to in His Kingdom. We want to be fellow seekers of this vision, by fellowship, study and participation. If I was asked to mention one area of church work I am especially interested in, it would be the ministry towards the elderly. This attraction comes mainly from a sermon I heard in April 1999 in my church, based on Leviticus 19: 32. I believe it is very important to uphold this divine instruction, with the full weight of authority of the Lord behind it, to treat the aged population with respect and dignity. I need not speak about how timely this ancient legislation is in our society.
Hobbies:
Both Agi and I like to walk in the countryside, to marvel about the beauty of the created world. In addition to that, football is a long-standing passion of mine. Here in Scotland many will remember the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden Park between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. That night a magnificent display from Ferenc Puskás secured the fifth European title for the Spanish side. Puskás was also the leader of the Magical Magyars, feared all over the world in the early fifties. Along with many Hungarians I still wait for the resurrection of those glory days.
David Nemeshegyi
