Born: August 9, 1946, Békés, Hungary.
Williams moved to Britain after her marriage in 1969. However, her love of hymns began many years before (the incident with her Bible, below, reminds us of Zechariah 3:2’s brand plucked out of the fire
):
In 1956, while Russian troops were fighting the uprising in Budapest, capital of Hungary, I was safe about a hundred miles away in a stately home turned into a sanatorium for children with heart complaints.
While laid low with [influenza] for about a week during that long autumn—we could not return home because of the fighting—I spent some happy days going through my Hungarian hymn book comprising about 620 hymns, marking all the ones I knew or thought I knew. I still have that hymn book today, complete with all the markings. While busy doing this, one of the girls stuffed my Bible in the stove—fortunately, the fire had gone out and I was able to dust off the ashes. I still use that Bible today.
My interest in hymns grew even more after I had come to faith at the age of 15. I find that, apart from the tremendous encouragement, comfort and joy that hymns with a good Biblical content give, they also act rather like vitamins—helping you build God’s Word into your life. Also, I have experienced again and again, with amazement, how God’s Spirit does bring them to mind, just the right one at the right time. What a heritage—and what a blessing!
Anna Williams, 2008