52nd Day - August 29th: Dabas - Pastor with a Heart for Children

I had to hurry with breakfast today on Monday, the start of my second week in Hungary. I woke up a little late and Pastor Eszter had announced her visit at 9 o'clock. She had been traveling for a total of 5 weeks, 4 of which she spent in Germany, where she also held services at the partner church. Communication was very easy because she spoke German very well. She has been working in Dabas for 8 years and has achieved a lot. She reported that she is responsible for around 300 members of the rural small town of Dabas and two other smaller places, where services are also held.

I noticed the playground on the church grounds in the evening, and there were also numerous child chairs and toys in the community center. When she came to Dabas, the area in front of the church was more like a mud desert. She asked the mayor for financial support for an attractive redesign and received it after applying for the redesign. She also received support for her idea of ​​establishing a crèche under the responsibility of the Ev. Church community. Because there was no longer enough space on the kindergarten grounds right opposite the community center, she set up a playground for children next to the church with the support of the municipality, where the children can come and play every day.

Because she had been away from Dabas for a total of 5 weeks, she was warmly welcomed by the children's group and their supervisors in the morning, and we had to interrupt our conversation for half an hour. Once a week, she creates a kind of religious instruction with biblical stories and content for the children. There are also some family services in the church, which are of course more lively than the classic services that take place every Sunday. She has provided a place next to the church for the young people of the community to play football. Her parsonage is currently being extensively renovated with state support, so she has to temporarily live with her family in alternative accommodation nearby.

The second big surprise in Dabas is the small museum in the community center for the Hungarian writer Geza Gyoni, who was born in the parsonage of Dabas in 1884 and wrote numerous peace poems during World War I, which are now also taught in Hungarian schools. In his honor, Pastor Eszter had a small museum built in the community center and a memorial place in the courtyard, because the 'soldier of peace' - as Gyoni himself called himself - belongs to the history of the Ev. Church community of Dabas.

In the course of the morning, we also looked at the church and the crèche. It is impressive what she has achieved and created in the short time in the community. Afterwards, I also showed some photos and videos of my work and religious instruction in the Diesdorf-Dähre-Osterwohle area. We talked a bit about current topics in Germany at her home and then it was time to say goodbye, because my destination for the day was the district town of Kecskemet and I also wanted to talk to the pastor there.

The approximately 50 km long route led over hardly frequented country roads. It was a great pleasure to drive the route, especially because there were no mountains, hills or inclines at all. When I arrived in the city, I quickly found the Ev. Church and met the pastor. He reported that he will retire in a few days and his successor will come on September 1st, which is why the community center is being completely renovated, but is not yet finished and therefore there is no overnight accommodation. He had been working as a pastor in this community for 34 years and now it is time to say goodbye. Perhaps that was also the reason why our conversation and tour ended after 10 minutes. I found a rather unattractive campsite on the outskirts of the city and was the only overnight guest, but I could tolerate that for one night.