On 23rd September, 2023 two of our scholarship holders, received invitation from the believers of Bakonyszentiván community, to attend the expiation prayer day there.
The aim of this invitation is to get the chance to meet Christians from other cultures, different from Europe, to know how Christians live in those cultures and the difficulties that they might have.
Two scholarship holders attended the event, prayed together with the locals, expressed and reflected on their lives in their home countries as Christians.
Sosheel is one of our active students who used to attend most of our programmes. He is from Pakistan and he is studying Theology.
„Living as a minority is an everyday challenge” Sosheel said. In his testimony, Sosheel was open and shared details about his family and how he raised ina religious family. He even said that „facing discrimination is an ongoing challenge in every walk of life whether it is educational institutions, work places or markets. Christians in Pakistan have to struggle a lot to hold good leadership positions”. When he came to Hungary he felt protected: „There is freedom of speech and freedom to practice my religion. I have witnessed a practice of equality, where everyone is equal, have equal rights and have a sense of security. […] I feel so blessed to be here as it was challenging for me to continue my studies due to lack of opportunities, the political and religious situation in my home country”. This scholarship helped Sosheel „to get top notch education and live to inspire others”.
Sosheel ended his testimony with thanking this opportunity: „I would like to thank his excellency Mr. Tristan Azbej, the government of Hungary, Hungary Helps Agency, SCYP program, universities in Hungary, the Christian churches of Hungary and their faithful congregation for extending your hands to help out your fellow Christians to come out from their miseries, to get top notch education and live to inspire others.”
Ibrahem is one of our committed students, he is from Syria and he is studying Commerce and Marketing.
He started his testimony with highlighting that „Christians in that region were always subject to persecution”. Ibrahim and his testimony were a very uplifting experience for the community in Bakonyszentiván, he has a very high level of openness, thus he shared details about his life in his home country as a minority during the war. „Christians were forced to leave their villages or will be killed during Ottoman Empire” he said. He told that his family was forced to move from town to town several times and the only way to remain Christian was to pay penalty or to convert.
At the end Ibrahem mentioned the importance of this scholarship for the persecuted Christians and said, “I would like to mention something about the existence of the Scholarship Programme for Persecuted Christians, it is a second opportunity for the Christian student to pursue his education and gain knowledge in Hungarian universities so that he can return again to his country and develop his society and rebuild his country hoping to live in a better situation in the future”.
Sosheel and Ibrahem were happy to attend such an event and to reflect their experience in their home countries and here in Hungary as scholarship holders. They appreciate how hospitable this community was in Bakonyszentiván.
We would like to thank two of our bravest and most reliable students for being there and speaking out their deepest thoughts. Hoping to see you playing a significant role in your home country spreading out this gained experience.
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