I was born in Germany, the third of six children, and grew up in Frielinghausen, a small village in the Rhineland. My father was of a very old Reformed family who lived near the Dutch border, where there were many other Reformed families. My mother had been born into a Lutheran family near Denmark.

In my earliest years, we lived in the upstairs of the village one-room schoolhouse where my father was principal/teacher of 28 students, grades 1–8. Ours was a family closely knitted together, not only because we lived and went to school in the same building where our father was the educator, but, more importantly, because the Word of the Lord was the center of our lives.

My parents recalled that I was an obedient child. I took to heart my parents’ instruction, particularly that which came from the Scriptures. One verse making quite an impression upon my young mind was Proverbs 30:17: “The eye that mocketh his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out and young eagles shall eat it.” At first not understanding the meaning, I was afraid of any black birds flying about! To my great relief I learned that the verse is not a caution against ravenous fowls, but strong counsel not to take the fifth commandment lightly!

A self-confidence came as I was often praised as “such a good girl.” Again Proverbs spoke: “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). My heart was convicted, and, with repentance, consoled. But the strongest antidote to any pride is the love of God. Daily in our home we heard and learned of our heavenly Father’s love and the redemption from our sin that Christ bought for us with His own blood. Although applying Christ’s work in my life was a long process, God was merciful to this one whom He had chosen before the foundation of the world to be His own in the covenant of grace.

Christian instruction framed our education. Many of the songs we learned planted seeds of truth deeply in my heart. One echoed Hebrews 9:27: “Death hits man hard; it gives him no more time; Prepared or not, he has to go to stand before his judge.” We must be made to know our dreadful situation as sinners to know our desperate need of the Savior! Later, words from a Johann Bach cantata, Jesu Meine Freude (“Jesus My Joy”), resounded in my heart the joy of salvation: The negative—nichts, nichts, nichts—repeated three times emphatically conveyed there is no condemnation for the believer walking in Christ (Rom. 8:1). What happiness to my soul those words give even to this day!

The years of my childhood were in a Germany sinking in post-World War I poverty. Want abounded in our small village, with many lacking adequate food and housing. How very thankful our family was to the Lord as He not only provided for us but also enabled us to help others. At every meal we set an extra plate for someone in need, and often one did join us for our regular fare of soup made from our garden vegetables.

My mother formed a women’s circle to deliver food to families and help care for their children; I recall our keeping a small baby while his mother was in the hospital. Mother also started a Sabbath school in the schoolroom for all the village children. We, too, attended, since the church was quite far away, and only our father walked the distance for worship and the Bible classes he taught.

Germany’s economic problems gave way to political problems. Our family felt impending threats from communism and then the National Socialist Workers Party (Nazis). One day when I was five and a half, I witnessed a communist boasting to my mother, “If we win, we will hang your husband on the nearest tree.” His intention was terrifying. But God kept us in His faithful care, even as my parents continued to teach God’s Word to both adults and children.

When Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933, the tyranny began. No more women’s circles for personal charity; no more private organizations of any sort: the government would now “take care” (take control) of everything. At first, conditions seemed to improve, but soon worsened with war. Devastation was all around. One of my classmates was killed in a bombing. Romans 8:38-39 became a living reality for us. Never were we forsaken.

Following World War II, when it was again possible to correspond with different parts of the world, our uncle Richard in America would send packages of food and clothing. He invited us to visit, offering to be our sponsor. My sister Waltraud and I quickly applied for visas. After years of waiting, on Oct. 2, 1952, we arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on the Grote Baar, a Dutch immigration ship. We planned to stay for a year. We are both still here!

How faithfully has the Lord ordered my steps (Ps. 37:23)! My desire to teach exceptional children was of the Lord, as He fulfilled this desire throughout my life. In 1963, when children handicapped from birth were released from institutions, I became a special education teacher in a Christian school in Iowa where my husband and I lived. What a joy and privilege to witness families joining in the love of God to care for these children, who were not only being prepared for a useful life, but being equipped to live abundantly according to His Word!

Even through valleys of difficulties and disappointments, the Lord’s goodness has been so evident. In 1971, when my husband’s physical condition ended his career, we relocated to a college town in North Carolina. We had no home, no means of support. Unexpectedly, a dilapidated cottage became available and we had a place to live. When we did not have money for the rent, I suggested we use funds set aside for our tithe. My husband would not hear of it—we might not touch what belonged to the Lord! And the Lord undertook for us. The landlady, so pleased to see the cottage now clean and tidy, cancelled a month’s rent.

There came deep disappointment in not receiving a promised teaching post. In the Lord’s providence, I began to tutor one, then two, then three dyslexic boys while also teaching part-time in a preschool. Then, the offer came to teach full-time—but it would have required my leaving those three boys! When I declined the offer, I lost the part-time post, and we needed the income. Once more the Lord undertook for us, this time through the mothers of the boys I was tutoring. They petitioned their school superintendent to place me on staff to work with dyslexic children, and I was offered a position for the second semester.

But there was yet another difficulty. I had promised my parents that I would be in Germany in May for their 50th wedding anniversary. I could not renege on that commitment, nor could I accept the post without advising my intention and simply leave before the end of the school year (though my former principal had counseled me not to mention the early departure). Most importantly, I could not deal so before the Lord! I set the situation before the superintendent—and he accepted my early leave that year. I continued in that school for the next 9 years. What a delight to help these precious children with the important business of learning to read. How they and their parents were encouraged to realize that beneath the reading difficulty lay a strong aptitude for learning.

After my husband passed away, and I remarried and moved to New Jersey, the Lord continued to confirm His appointed role for my life, even in ways far exceeding my expectations. I found out (as I was searching for language materials) that a special education position was open in the nearby Netherlands Reformed school. But I was German, and there was decided Dutch prejudice against Germans because of the war. Nor was I a member of their church. Naturally speaking, there was no chance for me. But as the principal and I talked, it became apparent that we shared the same Reformed faith in vital ways. The fact that his family, as ours, sang psalms after mealtimes was a poignant token. Convinced the Lord had led me to their school, he offered me the position—it seemed a miracle. Later I also learned that I reminded him of his mother—who was German!

Still an obstacle remained, and I laid it before him. Every Tuesday I helped my sister with her nursery school, and I could not abandon that commitment to her and her school. Amazingly, he responded, the schedule did not require my duties on Tuesdays! It was the Lord’s doing, even as I enjoyed teaching in that school for 20 years until I came to Pittsburgh in 2003.

Even to Old Age, I am He

As the Lord has ordered our steps, my sister Waltraud and I both now live in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and are very thankful to be part of the Providence RPC.

Wisely it has been said that perceiving the Lord’s providence is much like reading Hebrew—it must be done in what is backwards to us! So it is, as I look back over the days of my life, I am awed by the Lord’s faithfulness, His working of all things for good. Even more, I know the promise is sure: He will never leave nor forsake His own.

With the words of Psalm 71, I pray that He continue with me in my old age that I may declare His strength to this generation, His power to everyone who is to come.

— Gisela Ruhberg

Gisela Ruhberg and her sister Waltraud (see article, p. 9) are members of the Providence (Pittsburgh, Pa.) RPC. They are retired but are active in many ways, including sharing their testimony with women’s groups.