My Jimmy Carter Encounter

Hearing that former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of one hundred, I recalled one of my favorite memories of an encounter with Carter in 1996. Living with my family in Budapest, Hungary at that time, I was the newly elected chair of Habitat for Humanity Hungary (HFHH). It was just months before Carter’s arrival as part of a blitz build of ten houses.

It was a particularly challenging time. HFHH was going through reorganization after disassociating from an individual who had started Habitat in Hungary but failed to follow Habitat principles. Habitat cut ties with him. This created a need to set up a new legal nonprofit entity, no straightforward process in a country still trying to overcome its bureaucratic past and its mistrust of Western based organizations. In addition, there was a need to select families, prepare the site for ten homes, secure building materials utilizing corporate donations as much as possible, raise the needed funds, publicize the event and get ready to receive Carter and the 500 volunteers who would be joining him for the week-long build.

We were under pressure. We had to operate with full assurance that our nonprofit would be officially approved in record time. I had lived in Hungary for 13 years and knew that paperwork could stall for months on someone’s desk as it moved up an endless chain of permission granters. Employing a well-connected lawyer and the prospect of the loss of face if President Carter and five hundred volunteers arrived without approval were assets in facing a bureaucratic government.

All the pieces came together in a “just-in-time” miracle. The project site was in Vac, Hungary, a small city of over 30,000 on eastern bank of the Danube, twenty miles north of Budapest. Volunteers from twenty-three countries joined us. The only thing left undone was the approval of a meeting place large enough to accommodate the families, volunteers, officials and press for the final celebration and dedication program scheduled for the final evening.

The Catholic cathedral in Vac was the only place big enough to accommodate the volunteers and the community. This required the approval of the bishop over that church. Along with two Habitat board members, I approached the bishop to ask if he would allow us to bring people from around the world into the cathedral to ask God’s blessing on these families and new homes. We informed him that Jimmy Carter would be the speaker and that we would like to invite him to offer a prayer of blessing. The bishop delayed responding, making it clear that he wanted President Carter to make this request personally.

We expected Carter would agree so that we could finally ensure the use of the cathedral. Instead, Carter asked us to report to the bishop that he was busy building a home for one of the families and he could not stop for a private meeting. However, he would be pleased if the bishop could grant this request.

We returned to the bishop with this message. His disappointment was obvious. He asked if the President could meet with him if he visited the building site. We passed this message on to Carter, who told us not to worry about it. We were to announce the meeting at the cathedral and inform the bishop that Carter would be happy to share the platform with him.

We printed a program and released the information to the press. We heard nothing from the bishop. President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, set the pace with all homes finished by Friday afternoon. We presented the new homeowners with a door key and a Bible. Then we moved the celebration to the cathedral.

Carter met the bishop on the platform, shook his hand and thanked him for hosting us. During his speech, Carter shared personal highlights from his week. In the early evening, after work, Carter took a walk along the bank of the Danube River. One evening he met a small group of fishermen and inquired about the fishing. With news reports of his work project on TV, radio, and pictures in the newspapers, plus with his entourage of bodyguards, these fishermen knew they had an audience with Jimmy Carter. Questions followed:

“Does the President like to fish?”

“Very much, but I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like.”

“Would it be all right if we give you some fish for your dinner?”

“I’d love that, but I am staying in the student dorm and have no way to prepare them or cook them.”

“What if we prepare them and bring them for your lunch?”

“That would be nice, but I eat sandwiches with the other volunteers. How would it look to them if I were served a special meal while they ate sandwiches?”

Every option presented a dilemma. Finally, one fisherman suggested, “What if you came to our home and we cooked dinner for you?” (It no doubt seemed absurd to think that a former U.S. President would consent to visit his humble home.)

“Rosalynn and I would be delighted to come.”

The next evening an entourage made their way to a small peasant home in Vac. Carter’s new friends, dressed in their holiday best, stood in line with family members to greet the President.

The table had been set with colorful porcelain. Beautifully embroidered pillows decorated the chairs. But the table was only set for two.

“Beautiful,” said Carter. “But where are you sitting?”

“Dear sir,” responded the host, “we are simple people who are honored by your visit. It would not be fitting for us to sit with you.”

“If you can’t sit with me, then I can’t dine with you,” Carter insisted.

Chairs were immediately found and, with bodyguards looking on, the President and his wife enjoyed a wonderful meal with families who would have a future story to tell.

Carter finished by remarking that he had enjoyed Hungarian hospitality at its finest, and that he hoped these new homes would be equally open to inviting and serving other guests. He then turned and asked the bishop if he would come and pray a blessing for these new homeowners, their families, and their homes. A red-faced bishop got up and did what Carter had asked. A President who had found no time to visit him had found time to befriend a group of simple fishermen, praising them for their open home and hospitality. The message could not have been lost on the bishop.

Carter claimed a personal relationship with one whose birth we just celebrated, one who was a friend of simple fishermen and those without social stature, often to the chagrin of the religious leaders of his time. As Carter meets his role model he will be invited to enjoy the banquet feast in heaven. I’m sure he will again enjoy great hospitality.

Mark Bonham