Hungarian Baptists among relief leaders

From staff reports

Americans might not think of Hungarians as being in the forefront of international relief efforts, but a relatively young organization is a pace setter in worldwide disaster relief.

Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBA) was founded in 1996 by Sandor Szenczy, a Baptist pastor who continues to serve as president, said Ferenc Tisch, director of international operations for the organization. Prior to that, Tisch said, Hungarians sought mainly to aid other socialist countries. HBA has helped Hungarians understand the importance of helping all people, he said.

HBA has been among the first organizations on the ground in several recent disasters - and one of the last to leave. "People think of us as 'those crazy Hungarians,'" Tisch said. "We were still in Iraq after other relief organizations had left."

Tisch hopes HBA will be able to follow the same pattern of relief in Sri Lanka that proved helpful in Iran. Initial relief there was followed by long-term development efforts, medical projects, and the establishment of orphanages, he said.

Which doesn't sound crazy at all.