Long-time residents of Niverville will know the names of Jake and Irene Isaak. Unfortunately, the couple has left this world—Irene in 2013, and Jake in 2018—but one of their children recently decided to witness for herself the results of her parents’ extensive charitable legacy on the other side of the world.

With an inheritance from her parents’ estate in hand, daughter Dorothy Born and her husband Paul deliberated only briefly on how to spend the money.

A vacation seemed fitting.

“[But] just a regular trip didn’t seem appropriate,” Born says. “The only kind of travel that seemed right would be to go where my parents had been—somewhere they had poured their love and energy into. That’s when we started to check out travel in Europe that would allow us to take some time in Budapest, as well as allow the opportunity to get out to the little town of Bodrog to see the place [my parents] had come to love.”

In Bodrog, a small town two hours west of Budapest, lies a school whose construction her parents passionately fundraised for.

The Isaaks had become aware of this need through their friendship with Henry Toews, the European Regional Director of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). The organization’s goal is to bring private Christian schools to areas around Eastern Europe. The ACSI headquarters is located in Budapest.

On numerous occasions, the Isaaks volunteered as hosts, cooks, maintenance providers, and renovators of the ACSI office building. During those years, they met a young man named László Demeter (Laci), a teacher and volunteer translator. Laci and Jake became fast and life-long friends.

“Laci made a remarkable impact on my dad,” says Born. “Dad [was captivated by] his stories about [life] before and through the fall of communism in Hungary. It was a friendship that lasted 18 years.”

In 2001, the Isaaks were introduced to a whole new need during one of their many volunteer excursions. Four pairs of Bodrog parents were fostering a large group of orphans within their homes.

Combining their resources, these families purchased an antiquated mansion where they lived, along with their kids and foster kids, on one level and created a makeshift school on another. They invited other local children from the community to attend as well.

“Driving down the long driveway to the mansion, Dad saw a foundation and some framing materials that seemed to be in a state of building interruption,” says Born of her father’s visit to the site. Not believing in a missed opportunity, Jake began to hatch a plan to assist these families to complete the dream.

“My father was completely captivated by their vision, commitment, and drive,” Born says. “Upon coming home, he could hardly talk about anything else. I’m sure there are some Niverville residents who will remember hearing about the school project in Bodrog, seeing as Dad was determined to find as many donors as he could to help the new school building become a reality.”

Through an extensive fundraising campaign and the personal sweat equity of Jake and other local volunteers at the Bodrog build site, the dream became a reality. Today, the school provides education and a specialized music program for 150 students from Kindergarten to Grade Eight.

Born’s decision to visit the school almost two decades later required months of research and outreach to people from her parents’ past. One serendipitous breakthrough led to another, including the fact that Laci, her father’s long-time friend, had become the European Regional Director of the ACSI.

“As we were making our plans to go, I felt impressed that I wanted to bring something, not just go to see the place,” Born adds. “As I am a crafter, the idea came to me that I could knit a toque for each student… I recruited a few friends and it didn’t take long and the toques were piling up.”

On June 4, Born and her husband landed in Budapest bearing suitcases filled with 221 homemade toques, an assortment of school supplies, and candy. There was enough to share with other schoolchildren of Budapest as well.

A short stay in Budapest provided the Borns with an opportunity to build their own relationship with Laci and his wife Rita. They toured the ACSI office, getting a firsthand look at the kitchen in which Born’s mother had cooked many a meal, the conference room which her father had been instrumental in building, and the third-floor bedrooms where her parents would have rested after a day’s work was done.

From there, they headed off to Bodrog. Laci, acting as interpreter, provided a tour of the school along with the principal. They were told that the old mansion behind the school now provides room for musical education.

Students of the Bodrog school have become so proficient in their musical talents that they’ve produced at least three albums. The director of music, Born says, plays the double bass, an instrument Jake Isaak played throughout his life as well.

Presenting the suitcase of gifts to principal Marti Dan was a highlight for Born.

“It felt a little like Christmas,” she says. “We left Bodrog overwhelmed by the experience. It was surreal, hardly believing we’d actually been to where my parents had participated in something so much bigger than themselves. I kept thinking over and over how much my parents would love this place they had once been a small part of.”

Other Volunteer Initiatives 

But the school in Bodrog comprises only a fraction of the volunteer initiatives the Isaaks poured themselves into over the years. The couple took on mission projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, the Black Forest Academy in Germany, and travelled numerous places to assist in Mennonite Disaster Services aid projects.

Their big hearts were shared with people close to home as well. Jake was instrumental in bringing a Youth for Christ branch to Niverville to provide a place for young people to safely gather. He delivered welcome baskets to new Niverville residents and canvassed neighbourhoods for Cancer Care.

Irene spent her days volunteering at the MCC store in town and, along with friends, visiting and playing music for lonely residents of the St. Adolphe nursing home.

“I grew up seeing my [parents] involved in church and community efforts,” says Born. “As a child I remember Dad working a lot. Between farming, bidding on electrical jobs, and running a business, he didn’t seem to have much idle time… He was a member of the Gideon organization and chairman of the Niverville Credit Union board for many years.”

As well, Jake had a deep passion for music, singing in the men’s choir at his home church and playing the double bass in different orchestras.

“As a child, I remember my parents taking us to the Lyric Theatre in Assiniboine Park to hear the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra play the William Tell Overture, complete with the Winnipeg Army base firing off cannons at the appropriate times to the music.”

Today, Born lives on a farm in Kleefeld with her husband. They are proud parents to four grown children and ten grandchildren. The trip, she says, brought her parents’ legacy to life for her once again.

“This trip has made me realize how incredible the world is and it is filled with amazing people,” says Born. “[It] confirmed in my thinking something that my parents realized a long time ago: travelling is exciting, there are wonderful places to see, and there is great value in seeing the world and being of service at the same time.”