Love in Action
Report from Hungary
Master's Loving Aid Reaches
a Desperate Village
By the Hungarian News Group (Originally in Hungarian)
On January 14, 2006, Hungarian initiates saw a news report on a Budapest TV station describing the plight of a desperately needy village called Alsoszentmarton near their country’s border with Croatia. The report stated that life had suddenly come to a halt for residents of the village as the chilly winter set in, temperatures sometimes reached –20oC and they were left without food and heating supplies. Being concerned about the villagers’ condition, the initiates spoke the next day with the manager of the local Catholic charity, Father Lanko Jozsef, and agreed that the best way to help was to directly deliver food to Alsoszentmarton’s 250 needy families.
Thus the sisters and brothers spent 342,000 Hungarian forint (approximately US$1,650) on 250 portions of wheat flour, rice, sugar, pasta, margarine, sunflower oil, kidney beans, split peas, peanuts, raisins and other items, which totalled almost two tons of food, and also bought textured soy cubes for the charity’s kitchen staff to cook for the villagers.
Then, on Saturday January 21, the initiates travelled to the village in two loaded minivans where they met Father Lanko at the local Catholic church and unloaded the food into the sacristy of the church building. Soon several smiling village boys happily joined in the unloading effort, and afterwards the initiates left to buy more provisions as the boys spread the good news about the relief supplies to the other villagers, and with their help Father Lanko distributed all the food.
Next the initiates purchased salt, biscuits, farfel (pellet-shaped noodles) and approximately half a ton of potatoes in the nearby town of Siklos. And upon returning to Alsoszentmarton, the brothers and sisters saw a long line of people in front of the church, with many happily carrying bags of food out of the churchyard. Then when the locals saw the minivan parked in front of the building, they immediately surrounded the vehicle, and the initiates promptly distributed everything inside to as many people as possible in just a few minutes.
The needy villagers were truly happy, humble and grateful to receive
Master’s loving aid and the initiates also felt the elevating joy
of giving wholeheartedly to their compatriots. Then as the food distribution
came to an end, they said goodbye to Father Lanko and the smiling village
people, and happily headed back to Budapest. Thank You, Master, for this
uplifting and wonderful experience!
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