Calvin Synod Herald, 1991 (91. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1991-07-01 / 4. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA CALVIN SYNOD HERALD every Hungarian Christian to feel that he or she is not alone, because we are sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ and we help to carry each others burden. Q. Taking in Consideration your experiences with Radio Free Europe, what type of radio or television programs will be helpful in Hungary? A. In the past 25 years we preached the Gospel on the radio program of Free Europe. We tried to make the message as accurate as possible for the Hungarians all over Eastern Europe. We received many beautiful letters from the listeners and those who visited the homeland came back with greetings and well wishers on behalf of the listeners. The radio and television program is extremly useful. Reaches every part of the country, even places where there are no Christian communities or churches. A whole generation grew up without the knowledge of the Gospel or any Biblical knowledge whatsoever. It is indeed extremely important to use all the technological developments to spread religious education. According to the statistics of Free Europe over 1 million people were listening to a Sunday sermon. We believe that this meeting will be a major event in your life being face to face with all those who knew only your voice. That Small Cape Cod by Margaret Fekete Csóványos As I look back to my early youth. And remember my little home. Surrounded by meadows and walking paths Where Id happily stroll and roam, I recall the flowered pastures green Where our “Danny" horse would graze, And “Betsy" our gentle Guernsey cow In the summer sun would laze. I think of the rose covered stonewall fence Around my happy home. A Cape Cod house with shutters green, Having no spiral dome. Gone are those meadows of my youth, The stonewall fence no longer there, On the narrow paths where my feet have tread A highway is the thoroughfare. As / glance back to my early youth, I praise Almighty God,For the memories I shall always have About that small Cape Cod. I MRS. LORRAINE N. BÜTÖSI | The obituary facts are simple enough: she was born as Lorraine Frieda Louise Nickel, the third child of Fred Nickel and Katherine Gauss of Peru, Illinois on April 17, 1923, and passed away at Ligonier, Pennsylvania on April 16, 1991. It is, however, somewhat unusual that passing away one day before her 68th birthday, she died on the same day as her father did and at the same age as her father and sister had (67). “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die" (Eccl. 3:1-2). Returning from a 14 day stay in the hospital and struggling with heart problems, diabetics and other oilments, her desire to be with the Lord grew stronger and stronger. It was granted to her without long days of disability. But the most amazing fact lies not in the circumstances of her death, but rather in the depth of her life and ministry. In her childhood a car ran over her and the doctors gave her up, nevertheless after several weeks in coma, she miraculously regained her consciousness. The marks of this accident remained in her body and soul as well. Her right ankle was permanently damaged, but her life was graciously claimed by the Lord. After completing her education, she heard the call at a camp meeting to go to Japan and heal the wounds of Hiroshima. On August 15, 1946 she sailed to Japan with the United States Army commissioned to study the post-war religious situation in Japan. This she did with a sense of being a missionary: sharing the Gospel with the Japanese people in preaching, teaching and living among them. Even her house burned down and she could hardly escape. As one of the first Americans who met the victims of the atom bomb survivors, this experience burned into her very soul just as the kimono burned into the flesh of the atom bomb survivors. She could not be silent about it. When she returned to the USA in 1948 and became the vice-president of a Japanese congregation, she often spoke about her experience far and wide in the Chicago area. This is how she met her future husband who served in Hammond, Indiana at that time. They married on August 16, 1953 when a Hungarian, a Japanese, and an “American” minister officiated at the marriage ceremony. From there on, Lorraine became the spouse, life-mate, secretary, co-worker, assistant pastor, a “helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18), “far more precious than jewels”(Prov. 31:10), “joint heir of the grace of life” (I.Pet 3:7). When they served in McKeesport, PA and he worked on his Ph.D. degree, she was the typist of innumerable papers; even the birth of their first daughter meant only a maternity leave. When they moved to South Norwalk, CT and then to Bridgeport, CT, and he became the secretary, president and bishop of the Calvin Synod — in addition to heavy local, national and international involvements — she did any and all kind of assistance to make her husband's workload more bearable: a gracious hostess in the parsonage called “The Bütösi Hotel”, a hardly paid Synod secretary, and always ready unpaid registrar at Synod meetings, and — of course — the mother of two children. Yes, she gave herself unreservedly to the ministry of religious and civic causes, and “in between" she had time to read, work, and study. Her Hungarian „adaptation” was perticularly remarkable. Although she never mastered the language, her heart was changed from uneasiness to fervent love for Hungarian culinary art and cultural values. Out of her Hungarian china and embroidery treasures, she prepared several exhibits, and organized a Hungarian Embroidery Circle in Bridgeport which is still in operation... Perhaps this appreciation of the “Hungarian ethos” cultivated in her the desire to move to Ligonier after retirement in 1989. In the Bethlen Home she was perfectly at home... The rest, the beautiful surroundings restored her health somewhat, although the physical pains were always present, but she seldom complained. The Lord blessed her with the Holy Spirit's gift of patience and long-suffering (Gal. 5:23). In fact. He granted her the fulfilment of her heart's three recent desires: a "last" visit to Hungary in 1990, the birth of the first grandchild on February 1, 1991, Her funeral took place in Ligonier, PA on April 23, 1991 with the services of Bethlen Home Superintendent, Paul Kovács in the Bethlen Chapel and Calvin Synof Bishop, Zoltán D. Szűcs in Valley Cemetery. She is survived by her husband of 37 years; John Bütösi, two daughters: Mrs. Ann Elizabeth Balias of Norwalk, CT and Mrs. Sarah Joan Shishko of Bridgeport, CT, one brother: Robert F. Nickel of Milwaukee, WI, one grandson: Matthew John Balias, and several nieces and nephews. * * * Dr. John Bütösi and family through our Calvin Herald greatfully expresses most sincere thanks for the multitude of condolences sent at the time of sorrowful bereavement. “God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly What He hath given; They live on earth, in thought and deed, as truly as in Heaven." (J. G. Whittier)
