The Reformation seems to be taking eastern Europe by storm once again, 500 years after the birth of the Reformed church. There is, as I discovered when I visited there recently with a group from the Presbyterian Church in Canada, a passion - almost an urgency - for the gospel.

Daniel Szabo symbolizes that passion. He is a lay leader within the Reformed Church in Hungary, an energetic ambassador for the Reformed faith who literally lives and breathes his faith. When asked about his passion, he said: "When you are in love, you will run 100 kilometers and miss meals for your loved one. You will get up 10 times a night if you have to. That is the way it is working for the Lord. I work 24 hours a day for him. We are here, not to put in time but to work and to be blessed. Our work is feeble because we are sinful. But the Lord's angels walk behind us and fix our mistakes." He speaks of the urgency to spread the gospel throughout Hungary, western Ukraine and Transylvania in Romania.

Bishop Laszlo Horkay, who provides strong leadership within the 100 Reformed congregations in Ukraine's sub-Carpathian region, speaks with the same passion. The collapse of communism in 1990, "without a finger being lifted", launched the beginning of a new era in Ukraine. The battle with the state to return confiscated property continues. Manses, schools, church libraries and four church printing presses were all confiscated after the second world war. Today, 39 former church buildings remain under state ownership despite a promise given 10 years ago that they would be returned.

When Ukraine separated from the USSR in 1991, it resulted in a further economic collapse of the country. The Hungarian communities in western Ukraine, especially, are suffering from high unemployment and precious few job prospects. And yet, the churches are vibrant. "The word of God cannot be shackled," says Bishop Horkay. "God opened a wide gate for mission once religious literature could cross the border into our country without limitation. In 1992, in just one year, we received 49,000 Ukrainian and Russian Bibles from the Netherlands and Scotland. In 1999 we delivered 12,000 Ukrainian Bibles to Odessa using two trucks."

A three-year missionary training programme was started in 1994. So far, 13 students entered the ministry, and five congregations were formed among the Hungarian-speaking gypsies.

In addition to its internal growth, the Reformed Church of sub-Carpathian Ukraine also created a leprosy mission, supporting 18 hospitals for lepers throughout the country.

Forty-five years of communism resulted in a drought of Christian teachers. In 1990, 48 students applied for a three-year religious teachers' course. The following year, 45 applied. Through this process of deliberate lay leadership, there are today qualified teachers of religion in all 100 congregations, providing instruction to 9,000 children.

Bishop Horkay says the greatest need for the church is spiritual renewal "because the church is strong when it has faith in the living, resurrected Christ. We are preparing for the fourth assembly of the Hungarian Reformed World Alliance and we desire closer links with Reformed Hungarians scattered around the world. We would like to train preaching elders so that if a new time of persecution should come, we will not be found unprepared."

The trip to eastern Europe was one of five planned by the Presbyterian Church in Canada over the next year. These mission trips afford Presbyterians the opportunity to visit countries, staff and ministries. One trip to Kenya has just been completed. Others are planned to Japan and Taiwan, to the Holy Land and to Central America.

Keith Knight, Presbyterian Church in Canada