Open Doors in Hungarian Schools

By: Alicia Jones

In 2012 the country of Hungary passed a new law requiring all schools to choose a non-profit organization to manage their school. Prior to this law, local governments ran the schools, but ineffectively. Since the enactment of that law, 72 schools and institutes have chosen Love۰Help۰Teach’s Hungarian partner, Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid) as their managing organization. This new relationship for the 22 kindergartens, 25 primary schools, 14 specialized schools, 9 secondary schools, 1 art institute and 1 institute of education is making a significant impact on the schools as well as entire communities.

HBAid is given financial support for their “adopted” schools by the government, but they are given the freedom to delegate these funds. HBAid is also responsible for the religious curriculum of the schools. The leader of the effort within HBAid, Szabó Csaba, with his team has developed a Bible curriculum that is available as one of the religious class options and has been a huge success in the past year. All students in Hungary are required to enroll in religious education, but generally this is denominational catechisms and has lacked true depth and life. Baptists in Hungary are hoping to change this by making learning about God and His Word exciting and meaningful to the students’ lives.

HBAid has invited Love۰Help۰Teach and Baptists on Mission to join them in this effort. The schools in Eastern Hungary are opening the door to North Carolina Baptist teams to provide one-week  English/Bible Summer Camps for their students. This summer three teams from North Carolina will be hosting English/Bible Camps in two primary schools and one kindergarten.  As kindergartens are open to regular visits year-round for Bible lessons, Love۰Help۰Teach is excited about being involved in more kindergartens. As God opens these doors pray for God to work in these communities to communicate His love and message to the people of Hungary.