In 1972 two of our young students, Paul Hicks and Jean Macintosh (later to become Jean Hicks) travelled by road from Oxford to Romania. At twenty and nineteen respectively Paul and Jean’s main objective was to deliver theological books to Romanian Baptist pastor Josef Ton who like them had been at Oxford. They also took, although in a slightly more clandestine fashion a stash of much needed Romanian Bibles.
Their mission, I’m glad to say was a complete sucess and while it wasn’t until 1990, after the fall of the Ceausescu regime, that the couple would return to Romania, when they did they lapped up the opportunity to rekindle and revive friendships made almost two decades earlier.
By chance, although some will no doubt question my choice of the word chance, Jean, on the outbound flight, found herself sitting next to a Romanian lady called Noemi Soos, who like Josef Ton was also a Pastor and who had been attending an ecumenical conference in Bath.
As they chatted Noemi told Jean all about the Hungarian Reformed Church she worked at in a little village called Stejeris. And it was from that serendipitous encounter that Moortown Baptist Church’s relationship with Romania came about.
Fired on their return by the Hick’s enthusiasm MBC set up MRS G (The Moortown Romania Support Group) which over the years has seen many two way visits between Romania and Leeds. But not only that, now, almost fifty five years since Paul and Jean’s inititial “book run” MBC also supports a number of Romanian churches by (among other things) raising funds through craft sales, helping pay Pastor’s salaries, donating money for children from poorer families to attend Christian schools and by sending book grants for Christian university students.
One of the ongoing ventures we’ve mentioned above is the home and away visits we enjoy, and last Sunday (April 12th) we were not only delighted to welcome back to Leeds Romanian pastors Zsuzsi and Andor Ferko, and for their first visit to the UK two of their friends Kata and Lori but to be present when for the first time in a long while they met up again with Paul and Jean.
Having studied in the UK during their ministry training Zsuzsi, who believe it or not is Noemi’s daughter told a packed church that both she and Andor thought of Leeds as their second home. Together they sang and Zsuzsi delivered a powerful message that just as Jesus, after his resurrection had addressed Mary Magdeline by her name, so too he calls us as individuals, by name.
Since they flew in last Wednesday our visitors have so far visited Howarth, London, “down town Leeds” as Lori calls it, Whitby and York.
It really has been a joy to welcome them and catch up with all their news.
