Her application was ready to send, but college student Ruth Siemens didn’t even have money for the three-cent stamp. “Lord,” she prayed, “If you want me to train with Wycliffe Translators, * I ask that today you send money for the stamp!”
The mail arrived, but no money. The last letter came from an elderly woman Ruth had met just once. Out of that envelope fluttered a three-cent stamp.
So began what Ruth expected to be a career as a missionary—a dream she’d held since a girl—which narrowed to Peru while studying Spanish at Biola College.
But that dream shattered in 1945 when, at age twenty, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, leaving her with only one functioning lung. What mission board will accept me now? she thought.
Deeply disappointed but still determined to serve God, Ruth enrolled at Chico State in California to earn a degree in education and English.
She joined IVCF (InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) and attended every training session they offered. Frequently she didn’t have the money to get home afterward, but God always provided.
“It’s not easy to get first-hand experience of God’s love and power, if loans and credit cards are easily available!” she observed.
As Ruth began teaching in San Francisco she met two other teachers with IVCF training. They volunteered with the local chapter and also established a Christian fellowship for teachers which grew into Bible study groups, outreach breakfasts and teas.
Soon such events were being held beyond their district.
In 1954, Ruth happened to meet two missionaries, Don and Nadine Burns, who suggested she apply for a teaching position at the binational school in the city where they served: Lima, Peru!
Ruth didn’t even know such schools existed. She applied and was accepted.
But when she arrived, no one met her at the airport. All she had for contact information was a post office box number. While she wondered what to do next, Don Burns approached.
“How did you know I was coming?” Ruth asked.
“I didn’t!” Don declared. “I just brought another person who’s departing today.”
Once again, God proved to Ruth his presence, love, and power. She made her way to school the next day, confident that God would guide and provide.
Ruth soon met Peruvian teacher, Marta. While the two were getting acquainted, Marta suddenly remarked, “You probably know what’s in the Bible. Would you teach me?”
Marta soon became a believer, and then brought her three teenage sons so they could know Jesus.
Ruth began teaching a Sunday School class of sixth graders (all of whom became Christians) and started a Bible club for high school girls.
In her spare time (!) she audited classes at San Marcos University to improve her Spanish. There she met Maria who agreed to give Ruth Spanish lessons which turned into Bible studies, and Maria put her faith in Christ.
She brought friends and Ruth realized God was guiding her into college student ministry. When she approached the local chapter of IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), they invited her to join their staff–effective immediately–since Ruth didn’t need to raise support; she was already employed.
And it dawned on Ruth, I’m a missionary—just not in the conventional way!
Ruth led campus Bible studies, wrote Bible study materials, and worked with other missionaries to host week-long training conferences. By the time her three-year school contract had ended, numerous students were serving in leadership positions with IFES.
Ruth began to pray about teaching in another Spanish-speaking country and starting a campus ministry there. She applied for a number of positions but heard nothing. Again, funds dwindled and her visa would soon expire.
Then a telegram arrived from a Brazilian school, asking for her decision concerning their job offer. Although she’d briefly met the head administrator, she’d never applied. Brazilians speak Portuguese, and Ruth still felt inadequate in Spanish.
“But when all doors close except one,” she explained, “guidance is clear.”
For eleven years in Brazil, Ruth undertook much the same work among students she’d accomplished in Peru—and experienced more miracles. “It would take a book to tell of all God’s constant provision and protection,” she wrote.
In 1968, Ruth was sent by IFES to Spain and Portugal to pioneer student ministries there—this time as a full-time staff member.
And God continued to bless her efforts. Opportunities there led to large-scale conferences, attended by representatives from fifty-five countries.
She even held secret training sessions in Communist-controlled Poland.
Upon her return to the States in 1975, IFES asked Ruth to participate in missions promotions and training sessions on campuses across the country.
Many students accepted Christ into their lives; Christian students wanted to know how they could find employment overseas to combine “work and witness” as she had. Ruth collected their names and addresses—six hundred of them.
As a result, she established a ministry called Global Opportunities, to find employment abroad for such individuals, and offer them counseling and training.
Making inquiries by mail was laborious, but Ruth and her volunteers persisted. Then, with the introduction of the internet, the task became easier. By 2018, the team was posting 70,000 job openings per day.
Today the network is known as Global Intent.
Missionaries live and work in ninety-one countries, ministering and sharing their faith as God provides opportunity.
And provide he does. Ruth Siemens (1925-2005) would be the first to affirm that.
* An organization that translates the Bible into languages that do not yet have it.
Image credits: http://www.picrylcom; http://www.canva.com; http://www.wikimedia.com; http://www.easy-peasy AI; http://www.canva.com; http://www.dailyverses.net.
SOURCES:
https://intervarsity.org/news/ruth-siemens–in-his-presence
Severance, Diana Lynn. “Tentmaker Training Tentmakers,” Her Story, 388.
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