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“Seeking Conviviality” | Rev. Szilárd Szabó

Posted in: Faith in Action, Featured

Rev. Szilárd Szabó, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary Northern Diocese © LWF/Juho Kuva

“Seeking Conviviality,” a 2011-2013 Department for Mission and Development program, looks to develop holistic diaconal responses to poverty in Europe. Meet Rev. Szilárd Szabó, a member of the core group.

Name | Rev. Szilárd Szabó

Country | Hungary

LWF Member Church | The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary

What kind of diaconal work are you doing?

I am a pastor, social worker and trainer in a small town called Dombóvár, which is situated in the southwestern part of Hungary.

Our congregation is involved in different types of diaconal work:

  • volunteers doing social work on the streets (providing warm meals during the winter months)
  • a rest home that takes care of 75 elderly people, with 45 full-time workers;
  • social work with professional staff: home-care services, medical assistance, social networking
  • trainings: our institute has strong cooperation with different types of training schools, institutes and colleges

What challenges you in your work? What motivates you? How does your faith link to your diaconal engagement?

Let me answer with verses from Luke 14 (12-14):

“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

I am trying to understand and to learn the meaning of these verses. The most important–I believe–is to live according to them. These worlds are the base of my everyday work and ministry.

First “Seeking Conviviality” Workshop

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