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Herbert Panmure Ribton was a physician and the first known Adventist missionary to enter the Muslim areas of the world. His dedicated and impressive service was very short, and in the end, he paid the ultimate price.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries Died/Imprisoned for Faith
One approach for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to connect with the leadership and people of Saudi Arabia has been through the promotion of temperance, an area where the Adventists and Muslims have much in common. The International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism was set up in 1952, with King Saud Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia as one of five honorary world presidents. As the first worker to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Wadie Farag, assistant temperance director of the Middle East Division, succeeded in getting an interview with King Saud in his palace in Riyadh. Visits were later made to the King by W. A. Scharffenberg (executive secretary of the International Temperance Association of Seventh-day Adventists), and again in 1962 by Scharffenberg and Anees Haddad (temperance director of the Middle East Division). This was later followed by other initiatives and collaborative programs.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Saudi Arabia Country (Based on SDA membership)
Børge Schantz’s denominational service included pastoral work, church administration, teaching, and lecturing at colleges and universities. He set up a global center for Islamic Studies and taught Adventist-Muslim relations. He wrote books and articles that had worldwide readership.
The plan of entering Sudan to establish the Adventist message took place as early as the 1892 General Conference meetings when Church leaders voted to send a missionary there. However, Sudan remained an unentered territory for Adventism for many years. The first Adventist missionaries were allowed to enter Sudan in 1953, and the first indigenous Sudanese was baptized in 1961.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Sudan Country (Based on SDA membership)
The Sultanate of Oman is an independent monarchy on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Oman Country (Based on SDA membership)
Diran Tcharakian was a poet, artist, author, university professor, and convinced atheist before he became a Seventh-day Adventist minister and modern-day Paul in Turkey’s Ottoman Empire. Following in the steps of Adventist pioneers Theodore Anthony and Zadour Baharian, he became known as “the new apostle” to the interior of Asia Minor, where in the end he sacrificed his life for the Adventist cause.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Biography Educators Missionaries Died/Imprisoned for Faith
Tobias Tobiassen became an Adventist in his 40s when he began his preaching ministry. He was one of the most successful Seventh-day Adventist preachers in Denmark and Norway of his time, and later also added administrative responsibilities to his service for the church. Many were led to the Savior through his ministry.
V. E. Toppenberg was an Adventist missionary who worked 43 years in the countries of Tanganyika, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Eritrea.
Trans-European Division Denmark Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries
The first mention of a Seventh-day Adventist living in UAE was in 1975 when Mrs. Darlene Pickle held a series of health cooking classes in Dubai, where she lived. She also conducted a weekly Story Hour for the neighborhood children with help from her own five children.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission United Arab Emirates Country (Based on SDA membership)
As an evangelist, Bible teacher, administrator, and editor, Axel Varmer played a key role in leading people to Christ, training young people, and building up the Seventh-day Adventist church in Denmark. His book, I Skyggen af Store Begivenheder (In the Shadow of Great Events), was widely sold during the World War II years and was instrumental in preparing the way for evangelism in many communities. In his later years he served the church at division level and as a missionary in Africa.
The Adventist mission work in Iran was officially organized as the Iran Mission and was part of the Central European Division in 1935 with headquarters located in Tehran. The Iran operated as a mission until 1957 when it was changed to Iran Section under the Middle East Division. Since 2017 the country of Iran is under the administration of the West Asia Field of the Middle East and North Africa Union.
Middle East and North Africa Union Mission Church Administrative Unit
The West Nordic Union Conference was a former church organizational unit in the Northern European Division covering the territory of Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Norway, and comprising the East Denmark, East Norway, North Norway, West Denmark, and West Norway conferences.
Ruby Williams was a Bible worker, principal, dean of women, director of community service, and assistant in over 20 evangelistic series throughout her 32 years of uninterrupted service in the Middle East.
Tigran H. Zakarian was an early convert who became a colporteur and itinerant preacher for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East. He was instrumental in leading others to Christ and his end time church for 15 years before circumstances forced him to leave his homeland.