Introducing the Kovacses

Attila and Helen Kovacs serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK. They have three boys. Attila is Hungarian and Helen is British.
They have been members of Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1998 and members of Grace Church Thame since 1999.

 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Personal History:

During their first year of membership with Wycliffe they took a year of linguistic training with Wycliffe at the UK Centre in Buckinghamshire. Following that they went to Ghana for a short-term internship. In Ghana they were seconded to the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), Wycliffe’s local partner organisation. During their time in Ghana they both worked in the GILLBT Centre in Tamale, Northern Ghana, where they were involved in Literacy Administration. They also worked closely with the Gonja language group who had an ongoing literacy and development programme. On their return from Ghana they spent 6 months in the UK for further training before taking up an assignment with Wycliffe Hungary.

They started their assignment in Hungary in 2002 and in 2003 Attila was appointed Director. Helen worked as the Personnel Coordinator. Over the 7 years they worked in Hungary, they saw the organisation mature and develop. It is now a well-established missionary sending organisation with a good reputation amongst all the Hungarian Christian denominations. Wycliffe Hungary currently has several members on the field, as well as others in the application process.

At Easter 2009 they moved back to the UK to begin the next phase of their Wycliffe ministry.

What’s next?

Attila – We are moving into a new assignment for a team working in Europe, Asia and Africa. I’ll be working with the human resources team and Helen will be in administration.

Helen – In the area we’re moving to there is a lot of need and a lot of opposition. It’s a strategic area of the world for mission. A lot of advances are being made, especially in the use of technology. You can put the Bible on a mobile phone and it gets through barriers in amazing ways to people who are open to hear. We might be sitting here in the UK, but the area that we’re working for and the people that we’re supporting are involved in frontline mission.

Attila – It’s a unique region: most of the time when we talk about languages in Wycliffe we mean small languages. But in this area there are languages which have several mi

llion speakers: large languages without adequate Scripture. In terms of the number of languages which still need work to begin, there are no more than 150 to 200, but those languages are big languages.
What has had the greatest impact on you and what motivates you to keep going?

Attila – What drives me is the passion for seeing God’s word available in as many languages as possible. I learnt through my own experience: I can read the Bible in English, listen to sermons in English, read theology in English, but it’s nothing like when I read the Bible in my language, in Hungarian.

Helen – God’s given us gifts in administration and organisation, and we want to use those gifts to release others who have different gifts to do what they do really well. I am happy not be at the front somewhere, but to be beavering away in the background and making someone else’s job easier.

Attila – It is truly teamwork. I’m not a Bible translator, but in a way, I am a Bible translator, because I’m contributing to the task. Some translators translate the Bible, some write reports, some write articles and interviews. The question is not what you do; the question is, ‘Are you willing to be involved in God’s mission?’
What would you like people to pray for you?

Helen – We’d appreciate prayer for more financial and prayer supporters; for us as we learn our new roles and get to know new team members; and for our family, especially for our boys, that they will continue to grow in faith. The new role means that Attila will be away from the family a lot more than he was before, which obviously affects the family.

Although they work in UK offices, Attila and Helen’s work is helping the Bible to reach people who have never heard God’s word before. It requires prayer and financial support. To support their work, visit the website at www.wycliffe.org.uk/memberfundraisingdd or contact the UK headquarters

The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose... We work together as partners who belong to God.