RUBY WILLIAMS, a Bible instructor associated with Beirut, Lebanon, Evangelistic Center, was conducting a cooking school in connection with the meetings there when I met her and asked for an interview. Here are some or the ensuing questions and answers.
How did you come to dedicate your life to mission service?
"I became a missionary Bible instructor, somewhat like Paul, because of necessity. All through Sunday school I knew that should I ever give my heart to Jesus, I would be a Bible missionary and visit in the homes. The real struggle came between my seventeenth and twenty-third years. The call of the world was so clear and the call of the church was vague and confused. But all through my adolescent years the beauty of Jesus attracted me. The pure joy of knowing Him even a little was enough to show up the vanity of worldly pleasures. Finally, I could refuse no longer, and I gave my life to Him. I received His call to be a Bible missionary. I named only one condition, because I had little confidence in the churches I had been attending and I rejected many of their teachings: I asked that if the God of heaven were really calling me, He would not be angry because I wanted to know the truth for myself before taking the responsibility of teaching it to others; and God in His wonderful providence answered my prayer by bringing me into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Here was truth in Jesus, truth that shone brighter and brighter the more it was studied. The joy of h held me steadily to the Bible instructors' course through the next four years in one of our colleges. In 1943, when the call came from the General Conference to work for women and children in the Middle East Division, and to prepare in wartime to go to Jerusalem, I accepted immediately.
" 'What of marriage?' my friends asked. But into whose hands could I better surrender my life than God's? Should I refuse the call and have the blood of souls upon me? Should I stay home and pray that someone else would go in my place? The General Conference was asking for single women to work for the women and children. Spiritual honesty demanded that I should accept. This was but the consequence of my original surrender."
Would you tell what type of work you have done since you came here seventeen years ago? Have you always been a Bible instructor?
"The call from the General Conference was broad and challenging. My first work was for children, as principal of our Arabic elementary school in Amman, Jordan.
"God seems to have marked me for pioneer work—challenging, demanding work—but since He promises to give wisdom for our needs, the greater the need the greater the blessing will be. We began our school in Amman in a partially completed building. Each Friday we had to take out all the desks from two of the three rooms and replace them with folding chairs. Then we removed the movable doors between two rooms to make a large room for the Sabbath service. New schoolrooms, a church building, and the mission office have been built since then.
"Later I was asked to serve as dean of women at Middle East College and conditions were still rather primitive when I arrived. As dean and matron I had to cope with many problems. The dining room and chapel each occupied one half of the same room, and for Sabbath services we had to move out the tables and bring in chairs for the chapel. Water for baths was also a problem, but somehow we always managed to get enough hot water for all the girls to get a bath on Thursday or Friday, even though it was sometimes so scarce that it had to be rationed and we had to bring it to the dormitory in pails. Now the girls have hot and cold running water all the time; the dining room has its rightful space; and instead of having administration offices, classrooms, and chapel in the same building with the girls' dormitory, there is now a beautiful administration building, thanks to the generous support of the world church."
How did it come about that you are now an evangelistic Bible instructor?
"After a few years I wrote home that life was getting a little too soft with the continual improvements at the college, and that it was time for me to move on. Though I would never have had the courage to do as one pioneer missionary in the Middle East did—ask to be sent to the hardest spot—I do like my work hard enough to give me a few spiritual growing pains and force me to lean on the Lord. Then the call came to do the work of a Bible instructor in the Arabic language! During the years I had been in this division I had become somewhat conditioned to believe it was impossible for a foreigner to work in the Arabic language. At the college I had rationalized in this way to myself in order to put my whole heart into my tasks there. Now the call came somewhat as a shock, and though my faith did not waver, it was hard to bring myself to accept. With the Lord's leading I stepped out in faith."
Do you have a special purpose in living in the the city among the Moslem people instead of making your home in the Adventist community?
"Why do I live in Beirut? For a number of reasons. First, it is nearer my work. I would begrudge the time, effort, and expense of living at the compound. I want that travel time for study. Second, living among the people gives me more opportunities for service, encourages a missionary spirit, aids in the speaking of Arabic, and makes possible my visiting at any time. Third, an Arab proverb says we should choose our neighbors before we choose our house. My being a neighbor is an added appeal to the people."
As you look back, what results and growth may be seen?
"At least two of the children who started with me in Amman, Jordan, have completed their secondary education and are now teachers in that same school. When I was there only one of the teachers associated with me had more than eight grades of education. A number of my former students are attending Middle East College at the present time.
"Many of the students who were with me in Middle East College are now teachers in the college. The present dean of women is a product of Middle East College.
"The Bible instructor now in Iran and the Arab Bible instructor in the East Mediterranean Union prepared for their work while I was at the college. I have not seen the former since she left college some nine years ago, but I hear excellent reports of her work. The other, Miss Nawal Abdul-Masseh, is in Baghdad, Iraq. I want to tell you about her because we work in the same union and language and we see more of each other; but I will do that later.
"Here in the Center in Beirut after two years we have a company meeting on Sabbaths, and we hope soon to be organized into a church. At least half of this company are new Adventists and newly interested people, the fruits of evangelism in Beirut." (Since this interview the church was organized on October 14, 1961.)
Would you tell me more about these cooking classes and how they began?
"I began teaching cooking at the college. At first, I well remember, the girls did not even care to finish the food. Their tastes are very different from ours, and they are not inclined to try new dishes. But after studying their foods
and tastes I learned to pick out vegetarian foods that were acceptable. I also learned never to ask them whether they liked a new food or recipe. They would always say Yes, being too polite to say otherwise. But I would watch to see which foods went the fastest, then I knew which was best liked. Because so many in the East observe Lent, the women use many vegetarian foods; but they seem to think that oil takes the place of meat. Thus they need special protein dishes."
How did you come to demonstrate some European dishes?
"When I started the food class, expecting to use only Eastern recipes, the women asked for Western recipes. All over the world there are those who are progressive and who want to learn new things, just as our Western sisters would be delighted if one of our Eastern sisters gave demonstrations of her vegetarian foods."
How were you able to get a few men to attend the classes?
"To have the classes in the afternoon was best for young mothers, but to have them just before the evening meeting was far better for general attendance, especially because I encourage the men to attend the class. It is the husband who sets the pace in the home; when the man wants to follow health principles, the woman begins to learn in earnest."
Would you tell me about Miss Abdul-Masseh?
"Nawal became an Adventist under severe opposition from her family. She even had to call in the police to verify her right to freedom of religion. Her wealthy father swore she should never have another penny from him. She used to clean her brothers' and sisters' shoes to get offerings for Sabbath school. One Friday night she was awakened and impressed to flee to some
Moslem neighbors to avoid a crisis with her father, who was planning to demand that she should work that Sabbath.
"Convinced that the Lord was leading her, she came to Middle East College, and with the help of her church, she prepared to work her way through. When her brother came to visit her and found her working in the home of the president, he was so embarrassed that he complained to his father about his sister doing the work of a servant. Distressed that his daughter should be doing what he considered menial work, the father sent money to the son for him to give to Nawal.
"Nawal's constant problem was her poor health. At school and after graduation it plagued her. Often she would leave her bed to give Bible studies. Many thought her sickness was only imagined. But later her pains increased and she developed a fever. The doctor in the Baghdad hospital said to me, 'Imagination cannot produce a fever. There is infection somewhere.' Although her work often brought her to our Baghdad Dar es Salaam Hospital, none of our good doctors there could solve her problem. Finally, at their recommendation, she was sent to our sanitarium in Denmark. There they found the cause. She had an infection of the connective tissue, which caused pain all over her body. Since it was of many years' standing, it would take a long time for her to recover. She returned to her work with great joy, her symptoms were decreasing, and she could resume her beloved Bible work.
"Everyone knows that the Middle East Division is a difficult field, and the first few years severely tested Nawal's faith. There were no baptisms. Baptisms of four or five at a time are like forty or fifty in some other field. But God again signally blessed Nawal. Her father, who had refused her even a penny, paid for a car for her to use in her work. She calls it the Lord's car. How delighted she now is to drive her faithful little Volkswagen those long distances in Baghdad where she had so often walked with painful steps. She was never happier in her work, and she asks our prayers that she may make more contacts."
Miss Williams closed the interview by saying with great earnestness: Bible instructors are so greatly needed. My greatest desire is that our young people may have a taste of winning others to Jesus. Once they have tasted that joy they will be driven into some form of evangelism and remain faithful through all its joys and sorrows. There is no sacrifice. God but asks us to empty our cup of its dross and froth and He fills it with bliss and blessings running over."
