Evangéliumi Hírnök, 1999 (91. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-10-01 / 10. szám
8. oldal 1999. október A TRIBUTE Molnár Balazs was born in Tiszagyulahaza, Hungary on October 7,1916. He was the third of four sons born to John and Julianna Molnár. They were of the Roman Catholic faith, but later among the first Baptist families in that town. In 1926, during a time when many European peoples were emigrating to Canada, John Molnár chose to make the trip to try his fortune there. He eventually reached southern Saskatchewan where he was hired to work for a farmer near Kipling. By the following year, he was able to arrange for the rest of the family to make the trip. Julianna and their four sons crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the SS Montnaim, landing in Montreal, Canada on July 25, 1927. A few days later, the family was reunited in Saskatchewan. They settled on a farm near Langbank, about 20 miles east of Kipling. That fall, “Balazs” and a cousin who had also just come from Hungary went to a one-room school about four miles from home. They WALKED!!! and they walked back home in the afternoon!! ! In winter months, they rode in a homemade sleigh pulled by Molly, their favorite horse. English was the only language permitted in the school or outside on the playground. The newcomers were teased mercilessly because they could not understand what the other children were saying. “Balazs” recalls the wonderful teacher in that school. Even though she was responsible for teaching all grades, she took time to work one-on-one with him, helping him to master the new language and the new sounds, especially the “th” words. (In later years, he would say that God worked through her to help equip him for bilingual ministry.) It was hard for people in that area to pronounce his name so they began to call him “Bill”. As he became more fluent in English, he was able to be an interpreter. Farmers and businessmen took Bill with them to translate in connection with the sale of property. There were other Hungarian Baptist families in the Kipling-Kennedy area, and they had established a Hungarian Baptist church (now Calvary Baptist Church). The Molnár family joined that congregation and, for some time, traveled the twenty miles by horse-drawn wagon to attend Sunday services. During his early teen years, Bill began to have difficulty walking. Finally, a doctor at the sanatorium in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan diagnosed tuberculosis in his left hip. Bill remained in the sanatorium for twenty-five months, with his hip in a cast, causing the joint to fuse. Teachers were available there so he could continue with his education. He was able to return home in 1932, and help his father with work on the farm. During those mid-teen years, he made a profession of his faith in Christ, and, along with two other young men, Fred Baker and Andrew Daku, was baptized by the Reverend William Tatter. It was an outdoor service at a nearby lake. By his twentieth birthday, Bill was already planning to acquire land and farm on his own. It was not to be. He was beginning to sense that God had other plans for his life. About that same time, the Reverend George Balia came from Toronto, Ontario and preached at their church. One day, he visited the Molnár farm and went out to the field where Bill was working. He persuaded him to consider seriously God’s call to ministry. So it came to pass that, in the early fall of 1938, Bill left home with a wicker basket containing all his belongings and one hundred dollars — all the money the family could provide. He purchased a train ticket and was on his way to Toronto. Rev. Balia met him in Toronto and introduced him to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Werle. Their home became his “home away from home” while he lived in Toronto. Bill enrolled at Toronto Bible College. In addition to his classes, he did janitorial work at the college four hours each day. He was paid 25 cents an hour. Later, he continued his studies at McMaster Divinity School in Hamilton. Early in that time, another name was assigned to him. He had handed in a paper with his name at the top: “Bill Molnár”. The professor returned it to him and said, “Mr. Molnár, for academic purposes, you should use ‘William’. “ (At a later date, that new name became a problem because, legally on paper, “William” did not exist.) During his college years, “William” was active in several areas in Ontario: in the Hungarian Baptist churches in Toronto and Welland, and as a student pastor in New Canadian Baptist Missions in Hamilton and Brantford. McMaster Divinity School granted “William” Molnár his diploma, class of 1944, in May ofthat year. He accepted the call to become the pastor of The First Hungarian Baptist Church in Toronto. In June, he married Joyce Field at the Brantford Mission where they first met. On November 24, 1944, he was ordained as a Baptist minister in the Hungarian Baptist Church in Toronto. In January 1949, the family moved to the United states and “Pastor Bill” began eighteen years of ministry at the Hungarian Baptist Church (now Silliman Memorial) in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Other years were spent in West Haven, CT as pastor of First Baptist Church, in Palm Bay, FL as Administrator of Bethesda Baptist Retirement Home, and in New York City as pastor of the Hungarian Baptist Church. He retired from there in October of 1979. During all those years in Ministry, he also participated in the work of the Hungarian Baptist Convention, serving on various committees, and as General Secretary as well as several terms as President. He has stood behind the pulpit and preached in almost every church within the Convention. Retirement brought many changes. The first years were spent in Connecticut with opportunities to serve as an interim pastor. Then, in 1984, Bill and Joyce moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where they became members of Trinity Baptist Church. One more move, in 1994, brought them to Cary, a suburb of Raleigh. They continued to attend Trinity each Sunday morning. About one mile from their new home, they passed some land and saw a sign which read “The Future Site of Westwood Baptist Church.” On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in February of 1996, they attended the ground-breaking service. They watched the construction, brick upon brick. By November, one wing of the building was ready for occupancy. Bill and Joyce attended the dedication service on November 24, 1996. They realized driving the distance to
