For the second year running, the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) will be meeting in Budapest, Hungary this summer. Dr. Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries says CPAC and Hungary are a good fit.
"There is an enormously strong sense of national identity," he relays. "I didn't know until my recent visit -- Hungary's over 1,000 years old, so Hungarians have a strong sense of who they are and where they come from."
He says their history with communist oppression has left Hungarians with a deep love and appreciation for freedom. They have it in their political lives, and they want it in their personal lives.
"I think the Hungarian people are extremely open to the gospel in this sense," Pritchard submits. "They have learned after all those years of communist domination that the government isn't going to answer their deepest problems."
The country's conservative culture is a reflection of its president, Viktor Orbán, who has a "Hungary first" attitude toward immigration, criminal justice, and the economy and is staunchly pro-marriage and pro-life.
"He's a strong conservative," says Pritchard. "He's a strong leader." As a result, the evangelical Christians he knows in Hungary "are strongly in support of Mr. Orbán, because he's a defender of what we in America call traditional values."
Last year, President Orbán gave the keynote speech at CPAC, and organizers have invited him to do so again at this year's event in May.
