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Dr.
Ruth Ruibal Biography
 Born
in a Christian home, Ruth found the Lord
at an early age and felt called to the
mission field at the age of 7. She graduated
from Columbia University with a B.S. degree
and later a with a Master's in Public
Health. After graduation she went to Cali,
Colombia, South America, where she taught
in the state university's master program
and worked in research. At the same time,
she began a small prayer group made up
of those who came to know the Lord through
her testimony.
In 1973 she worked as a short term consultant
for the Pan American Health Organization/World
Health Organization. It was then that
she met Julio Ruibal, the "Apostle
of the Andes" as the secular press
called him, when he held the largest crusades
known in Colombia with up to 100,000 people
attending. Some months later Julio asked
Ruth to join him in establishing a local
church in La Paz, Bolivia. That church,
Ekklesia, established in 1974, now claims
12,000 members and has daughter churches
in every state in the country, as well
as television and radio stations.
In 1976 Julio and Ruth were married and
spent their first year studying in the
graduate program at Multnomah School of
the Bible in Portland, Oregon. At the
same time, they were greatly encouraged
and helped by the ministry of Bible Temple.
The Lord Blessed them with two girls,
Abigail and Sarah.
In 1978 the Lord led the Ruibals to Cali,
Colombia, where they established another
local church, Ekklesia Christian Colombian
Center. It is a local church which has
a children's school and college (Universidad
Cristiana Lationamericana) both with a
bibliocentric curriculum in Spanish which
they pioneered. Ekklesia also has a small
clinic, radio, and the first Christian
television station in Colombia. The Ruibals
have written books, texts, and materials
for pastors and college courses. In recognition
of their labor, Julio and Ruth were granted
honorary doctorates -- Ruth received hers
in Humanities and later in Health.
Since 1991 the Ruibals dedicated themselves
to the life and message of unity among
churches. This message showed clear results
in 1995 as the churches in Cali began
to meet together for all night prayer
meetings in a large stadium filling with
with 45,000 to 55,000 believers. It was
then that Julio started receiving threats
against his life and was finally killed
in December, giving his life as a martyr
for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result
of Julio's death there was a dramatic
awakening in the church which caused an
even greater breakdown of denominational
barriers. Pastors from churches throughout
Cali came together pledging to unite as
one body to see the plan of God come forth
in the city and to stand against the powers
of darkness. One and a half years after
the united church began holding all night
prayer meetings in the stadium, all the
drug lords of the Cali cartel had either
been captured, killed, or had turned themselves
in to the authorities. This unity has
been recognized even by governmental leaders
who have seen that the church has the
answer for the social chaos and general
breakdown of society.
In spite of continued threats against
their lives, Ruth and her daughters (20
and 19 years of age) have remained based
in Cali where they are active in ministry,
Ruth as founder and pastor in Ekklesia.
She has served on the Directors' Board
of the Pastors' Association in Cali and
is presently on the Advisory Board and
is a leader in the Pastors' Association
of the southwest Region of Colombia. She
is also president of the Julio C. Ruibal
foundation (a world-wide evangelistic
ministry) in Largo, Florida. In 1997 she
was elected as a member of the Executive
Directory Board of COICOM the Iberoamerican
Confederation of Christian Communicators.
Ruth has continued proclaiming the sovereignty
of God and teaching on unity as an indispensable
expression of the Kingdom of God. With
her dynamic testimony, she has preached
and taught groups of pastors, and ministered
in leadership conferences and churches
in Colombia and other South American countries
as well as in the USA. Ruth has been interviewed
on numerous radio and television programs
including the 700 Club.
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