45th day - August 22nd: Tata - Super Start in Hungary

Once again, the 'Wetteronline' app is not accurate. This morning (Monday) it was supposed to rain. However, the sky was cloudy but not a single drop fell. So I started cycling and said goodbye to Slovakia on the Danube Bridge, crossing over to Hungary, my fourth country of the trip. In Hungary, the Catholic Church is the largest with about 40%, followed by the Reformed-Calvinist Church with 11%, and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church with only 2%, as I found out in my pre-planning. Mostly, I want to visit Protestant communities over the next two weeks.

The first destination was the tourist town of Tata. On the Hungarian side of Komarno, I got free country and cycling maps of Hungary from the tourist office. Tata is only 20km away. I arrived in the city in the afternoon. First, I visited the historical castle in the center and then I went to the outskirts where the Evangelical church is located. I found the church, but not the parsonage. I made a phone call in broken English and Matyas, the pastor, replied in good German and said he would be there in 10 minutes. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by his willingness. He and his wife opened the small Evangelical town church in Tata.

He has been working in Tata since 1988. The church is still quite young and was built in 1926. If I remember correctly, there are about 180 members in the congregation. The service is held every Sunday, with about 40-50 members attending. A very good average, I immediately thought. Much better than with us. There is also a children's service and a small children's camp in the summer. For years, there has been a Bible study every Thursday. Working with young people is difficult because they often have other interests. During the corona time, Matyas organized video devotions. For the big historical Reformation anniversary in 2017, a member donated a new baptismal font. Once again, this shows that the Evangelical Lutheran faith in Hungary is numerically small, but very important to the church members. We talked for a while longer and both invited me to stay overnight at their private home and continue our conversation. I gladly agreed. Firstly, because Matyas could help me with further planning of church visits, and secondly, because heavy rain was expected for the rest of the day.

When I arrived at their place, I was allowed to take a shower first, and then we talked for a long time about the church situation and challenges in Hungary and in our country. The conversation about the Hungarian language was interesting. The connection to the Finnish language, as I had in my head, is completely overrated, even a 'myth', because there are more similarities with the Mongolian language. A little later, I also showed pictures and videos of my work, and we quickly warmed up to the many topics we discussed. The next morning, Matyas wanted to show me the neighboring city of Tatabanya. I was very grateful for the warm hospitality and openness because it was raining outside without stopping. Super start, I thought, for my first day in Hungary, and went to sleep contentedly.