Transcarpathia, Ukraine

The Hungarian Reformed Church that Luke Society director Dr. Pavlo (Pal) Oroszi attends was established in 1549, just after the Reformation spread eastward into modern-day Ukraine's Transcarpathian Mountains. So it shouldn't be surprising that the last century of turmoil--merely a chapter in the church's history--would fail to diminish the spirit or fervor of its people.

Seemingly with every war or treaty in the 20th Century, the Transcarpathia region passed into the hands of a different ruler. Once part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, it came under Czechoslovakian control before being ceded to Poland. Germany overran the area during WWII and the Soviets took control after the war, making it part of Ukraine. Dr. Pal Oroszi, director of the Transcarpathian Luke Society jokes that he was born in the Austrian-Hungarian empire, attended school in Czechoslovakia and has spent his adult life in Ukraine--all without leaving his hometown village of Munkacs.

Through each of the changes, the Hungarian Reformed Church remained vital, even in the face of heavy-handed communist persecution. The Soviet government confiscated church property, whisked pastors away to Siberian prisons, criminalized evangelism and deported young men to different regions of the Union.

"More than 30 percent never came home," Pal said. "There's no family that didn't lose somebody during that time. We suffered two Great Wars [WWI and WWII], and we didn't lose as many people during those wars as we did during deportation." The number of Hungarian Reformed pastors in the Ukraine dwindled from 104 in 1944 to only four by 1970. Pal's father was one of the remaining four, shepherding eight different congregations and traveling up to 200 km to preach or conduct funerals. Many people disassociated themselves from the church in order to get better jobs or education, but a core group of believers persevered and prayed fervently for deliverance.

Still, the fall of the Soviet regime was a mixed blessing to the region. Religious freedom was restored, but the economy quickly crumbled. Munkacs had become a strategic location for the Soviet regime, and large military institutions brought in thousands of jobs and people. As the cold war ended, military factories pulled out leaving 70% of the town's population, particularly the large Gypsy community, without jobs.

With their newfound freedom, Christians began to realize that God was calling them to meet the many needs of the people--making sure the elderly had heat in their homes, working with orphans, bringing food to the poor, teaching people to read and write and helping people deal with alcoholism.

One of the greatest needs of the people is affordable medical care. Medicine and health care, which had been subsidized by the government, are now completely out of the reach of people struggling to find food and shelter. Even if people could come up with the money for treatment, many hospitals don't have the necessary equipment.

"If somebody needs a surgery, for example," said Pal, "they come to the hospital, and the surgeon will give him a huge list--a scalpel, gloves, medicine. He'll go and buy all the necessary equipment if he has any money. Then he comes back to the surgeon, and they can begin to talk about the surgery."

Pal and a few of his colleagues wanted to minister to the many medical needs of his people. In 1993 they held the first meeting of the Society of Christian Doctors of Transcarpathia to discuss what they could do to help churches solve medical problems.

"We were afraid that nobody would show up for that meeting," said Pal. "For 50 years under Communist rule, Christians couldn't get higher education, especially to become doctors or teachers."

Pal himself had been forced to leave Ukraine for Estonia to be able to attend medical school, so he was pleasantly surprised when 30 physicians attended the first meeting. They began visiting the sick and establishing small pharmacies in their own congregations. But it was difficult to diagnose and treat people without the necessary equipment and even more difficult to send them to the government establishments.

All of us were working in government clinics and hospitals," he said. "We did not like the way the work was set up in those clinics. For example, if a patient would finally come from some remote area to the doctor, first he had to wait in line for a couple of hours. If the patient actually got to the doctor and the doctor examined him and assigned some blood tests or ultrasound tests, the patient can't take the tests on the same day. He had to travel back home or stay in the town because the laboratory was only open for a few hours in the morning. And then the results wouldn't be ready until the following day."

In 1995, the group of doctors began dreaming of a Christian clinic that would be different from the existing facilities in organization and attitude. They wanted patients to feel the love of Christ upon entering the clinic and know that they were truly valued by all of the staff.

"A visitor to our country told me that they didn't see many people actually smiling," Pal said. "That would describe the medical community as well. You don't see people smiling in those establishments either. Everybody just mechanically does their job."

They also wanted to make sure their clinic was a place for healing not only the body, but the soul as well. They wanted to be free to share their faith with patients and send them home with Christian literature.

When Pal discovered the Luke Society in 1997, he saw a way to make their dream a reality. With the help of Partnership Management Team members Dale and Mary Andringa plus supporting churches in Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands, the newly formed Luke Society of Transcarpathia began renovating an old building in Munkacs. The building belongs to the church and had been returned after the government confiscated it 50 years ago. Work was completed this year, and the clinic opened its doors to the community.

The new clinic has two examination rooms, an ultrasound room, a GI procedure room, an OB/Gyn exam room, a lab and an office. Donors from around the world have supplied a colonoscope, an endoscope, ultrasound and lab equipment, an x-ray unit and a mammogram, as well as computers and a reliable supply of water.

As an oncologist, Pal splits his time between the government hospital where his services are badly needed and the new clinic. Two other Christian physicians, Dr. Irina Vittenberher and Dr. Laszlo Vacko, have left their government practices to work at the clinic full-time.

The clinic is now serving basic medical needs that were previously being ignored. Every day 20 people are dying of tuberculosis in the Ukraine. More are dying of cancer that could be treated if diagnosed earlier. And with very few endoscopes in the country, very little stomach surgery is done. With modern equipment and dedicated staff, the clinic in Munkacs is attacking these problems head on.

For 50 years the church was paralyzed by Communist oppression. But the sleeping giant has awakened, reaching out to the hurting and lost. The Luke Society is playing a part in the holistic ministry of Transcarpathia's Christians, and the fruit of their love is evident. New congregations are springing up in the cities built by the Communists where no church had previously existed. Other congregations that had been destroyed are being rebuilt. Gypsy communities which had been marginalized by society are coming to know the Lord. And hope for this life and the next is being restored through God's faithful remnant in the Ukraine.