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Event included reenactment of first open-air meeting
On April 26, 1924, Colonel Franz Rothstein, Captain Paula Koch, and Lt. Lajos Moldován arrived from Germany, stepped outside the Budapest main train station, unfurled The Salvation Army flag and there on the spot held an open-air meeting, officially commencing the Army’s work in Hungary.
Exactly 90 years later, The Salvation Army in Hungary held a reenactment of that historic event, played by Captain Ádám Macher, Captain Enikő Vecsey, and Lt. Zoltán Benedek. A united brass band of Hungarian Salvationists provided musical accompaniment and Captain Győző Cséki proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the crowd.
Later, just a few blocks from the train station, at the Józsefváros Corps, a service of celebration honored the past 90 years. Various historic photographs acknowledged that even during 40 years of communism, when the Army could not legally undertake ministry, faithful Salvation Army officers still gathered secretly to encourage one another and pray for the day when the Army flag would again fly freely in Hungary.
In a solemn ceremony the band played “Nearer My God To Thee” while the names of 45 Hungarian Salvation Army officers who have all been promoted to Glory were read. The congregation was challenged to likewise offer themselves in obedience to God’s call to full-time service as Salvation Army officers. After the message, Captain Ádám Macher appealed first to those who had yet to experience salvation and then secondly to those who knew the Lord and would now offer themselves for greater acts of service in the name of Jesus Christ through The Salvation Army.
Regional officer, Major Andrew Morgan reported, “We celebrate a 90 year history in Hungary, and we now look forward—encouraged today by the commitment we see among our Salvationist comrades. I believe the Lord has great things yet to accomplish through The Salvation Army in Hungary!”
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