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Seeds of Hope, Hate, and Change

Edwin and Ruth Stegenga Luidens, still in their early twenties, set sail in October 1944 from Philadelphia for mission work in the Middle East. While World War II raged in Europe, they hopscotched from Lisbon to Gibraltar, Cairo, Haifa, Baghdad and Basrah, contending with fickle occupation authorities and uncertain travel plans.

Over the next dozen years, they lived through the end of the British Empire; the dawn of the atomic age; the rise of Arab nationalism; the establishment of Indian, Pakistani, Egyptian and Iraqi independence; the carving of Israel out of Palestine; and the Suez Canal crisis.

Through it all, they faithfully shared their Christian message of hope and love, finding new modes of evangelical outreach as technology and the exploitation of oil transformed the world around them. And they raised a family. Seeds of Hope, Hate, and Change brings their world to full flower.