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

Hungarian Baptist Aid was founded in 1996 by Sandor Szenczy, a Baptist pastor who continues to serve as president, according to Ferenc Tisch, director of international operations for the organization. Prior to that, Tisch said, Hungarians sought mainly to aid only countries that shared its socialist form of government.

According to him, Hungarian Baptist Aid has helped Hungarians understand the importance of helping all people. HBA has been among the first organizations on the ground-and one of the last to leave-in several recent disasters, including the killer earthquake that leveled Bam, Iran, Dec. 26, 2003, one year to the day before South Asia's tsunami.

“People think of us as ‘those crazy Hungarians,' ” Tisch said. “We were still in Iran after other relief organizations had left.”

Tisch hopes Hungarian Baptist Aid 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.

That doesn't sound crazy at all.

Associated Baptist Press

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