January 9
A Tale of Two Women
Noelene Johnsson and Mrs. Rajamma Sharalaya
I Sr Te Te Ts
WANE star 300 ass
The influence of two remarkable
women, Ruby Gill Nelson and Susan
Abraham Moser, is keenly felt today
in Jullundur, in northern India.
Ruby Gill Nelson was born in Colo-
rado, U.S.A. and at the age of 10 was
baptized into the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. After attending
Walla Walla Valley Academy, Ruby
trained as a nurse at the Portland
Sanitarium School of Nursing, from
which she graduated in 1926. The
following vear she married Philip S.
Nelson and joined him in departmen-
tal and pastoral work.
Later he completed the medical
course at Loma linda and set up
practice in Seattle, Washington, with
his brother Reuben in 1936. The
Nelsons enjoved Seattle, but when in
1958 the General Conference invited
them to serve in the Southern Asia
Division, they sold the practice and
sailed for India.
While stationed in Delhi, Dr. Nel-
son hoped and planned for an Advent-
ist hospital in that capital city. Their
home was a haven for mission workers
traveling through Delhi. Some
suspected that the Nelsons were run-
ning a hotel. so many guests did they
care for in their home each week.
After a vear helping out in the
hospital at Ranchi, the Nelsons were
motoring to Delhi by India’s main
east-west highway. They were about
to leave on furlough and were eagerly
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anticipating a brief visit with Ruby's
father, W. W. Gill, and sister. Mrs. O.
I. Fields. in Nyasaland, Africa. Above
all, they looked forward to a reunion
with their sons, Martin and Sydney,
and their families back in the United
States.
About four hundred miles from New
Delhi a tire blew out, and it was
necessary for Dr. Nelson to leave Ruby
with the car while he went the
twenty-five miles into Allahabad
(AHL-la-ha-BAHD) to replace it.
Ruby was not afraid to stay by the
road. There was a village nearby
where she knew the people would
enjoy a vigit from her and where she
was sure to find someone in need of her
loving attention. As evening drew on,
the village headman invited her to
stay, but knowing Dr. Nelson would
soon return, she declined and returned
to wait in the car. But before her
husband could return she was brutally
murdered and robbed.
The Indian government was greatly
distressed by this incident and with an
all-out effort successfully appre-
hended and sentenced the culprits.
This tragic loss of a devoted wife.
mother, and friend was keenly felt in
Southern Asia. The Seventh-day
Adventist Church in India should
have a suitable memorial to such a
dedicated and completely selfless lite,
it was thought. Therefore. in 1965 a
hospital was opened in Jullundur,
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