Shared by Peter Pap
It has been a very hard few days for us. Just after writing my last email to you I went home. On the way home my really close friend’s (Laszlo Kalderal) son, 15 years old Benjamin called me asking me to hurry up home as they are outside our house and trying to restrain a woman from hurting herself, she is on some sort of drugs or drunk. When we arrived I found Laszlo holding from the back a quite big and strong woman, who was shouting and screaming, wanting to run out onto the road. I asked them what was going on, they said they noticed her wanting to commit suicide and was zigzagging on the road trying to be hit by the cars, but they all missed her just a few inches. Then Laszlo run to her, grabbed her off the road and tried to keep her until the police arrived. So the police arrived within a few minutes, got hold of the lady and handcuffed her and we all thought it was getting OK. But about a minute later Laszlo lean on his son’s shoulder and just simple said “my heart” and collapsed and died. We have tried to bring him back with the help of a policeman, prayed for him while someone else called the ambulance. They rushed him to the hospital straight away, but they could not save him. So he was officially died in about an hour. I had no real faith to raise him up (though attempted when no one looked and I was left alone with the body).
This somehow heroic but tragic death left his wife and 8 children behind. They now live with us and we are trying to digest the trauma. This is a Hungarian Romany-gipsy family with very deep and genuine faith in the Lord – in a country where they don’t speak the language… with no money left and the father was the absolute drive and initiator in the family. A very humble, fatherly figure. He was truly great man, very warm hearted, always a giver. He grew up as an orphan, became a criminal, then powerfully converted to Jesus. During the last year we became best friends, spending most days or evenings together, so losing him is a strangely sad pain for me too, even though I am so sure about his salvation. The wife, Krisztina is still in pieces, trying to understand that some things we can not understand. The children are aged 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 18, 20 and 22 (plus an 18 years old fiancee of one of the sons).
Will you please pray for this family. Their future is quite uncertain, but we have a great support structure in the church and they are already very much in it and with us. Probably prayer covering is the best support I can ask for. I don’t usually write about these request, but this situation is quite overpowering. We all of a sudden lost a great friend, left with tons of new responsibilities and inherited a family of 10… God’s grace needs to manifest amongst us.