God Moves in Mysterious Way [antikvár]

PREFACE Many people have accompanied me for a shorter or longer period of time and contributed to the completion of this study. First of all I think of the many Hungárián people who were willing to share their experiences and to give their view on the past history of their Church. The names of these people, whose confidence and prayer were a stimulus to carry on, are recorded in this book. During my fieldwork in Hungary (1987-1992) I was living in the dormitory of the Reformed Theological Academy in Budapest most of the time. I am indebted to its students and staff for their interest, their patience with my 'dutch' Hungárián, and for their encouragement and help. I had the privilege of frequently enjoying the famous hospitality of Prof Dr Kálmán Tóth and his wife 'Viea néni'. I thank church histórián Prof Dr Sándor Ladányi for providing me with sources in relation to the events of 1948, and in particular to Dr Ferenc Szűcs, Professor of Systematic theology, who was willing to serve on the Committee of examiners. My Hungárián supervisor Prof Dr Tibor Fabiny, church histórián of the Lutheran Theological Faculty, followed my research from the beginning with great interest and provided me with valuable written and oral sources. His support was important all the way. The challenging questions and remarks of church histórián Dr Jenő Szigeti, who was willing to assist in the task of supervision during the illness of Prof Fabiny, provided me with new insights, which were a great help in getting the overall picture. Prof Dr Kálmán Benda, histórián, member of the Hungárián Academy of Sciences and head of the Ráday Archives, introduced me to the history of Hungary as did Prof Dr László Katus, histórián at the Eötveös Lóránt University of Budapest. I would like to thank them for reading and commenting on parts of the manuscript. Special thanks I express to Dr János Bütösi, chairman of the Hungárián Reformed World Federation, who took upon himself the pioneering task of re-introducing the teaching of missions at the Reformed Theological Academy in Debrecen when the opportunity was opened up two years ago. I first met him when I was already well under way in my research work. The completion of this book owes much to his critical remarks and helpful insights into the Interbellum and the events following World War II, based on his own experiences, but foremost to his warm personal encouragement. The same is true of my Dutch supervisor Prof Dr Jan A.B. Jongeneel, who from the beginning showed a great interest in my attempt to recover the Second World perspective in missiology and a willingness to supervise this project, of which the context was at that time not so familiar to him.