wfn.org | "Mamma" Kruger of Cairo Dies in Germany

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

November 2, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

"Mamma" Kruger of Cairo Dies in Germany

Bad Aibling, Germany (ANN)   The Seventh-day Adventist 
Church community lost a remarkable woman in early 
October, when Erna Kruger passed away at the age of 92 in 
Germany.  Kruger spent a significant portion of her life 
serving the Church in Egypt.

"One of God's true heroes of the Middle East has been laid 
to rest," stated Sven Jensen, president of the Middle East 
Union of Seventh-day Adventists.  "She made a loving and 
lasting contribution to the work of the Seventh-day 
Adventist Church."

Kruger, a German nurse, began her work in Egypt in the 
1940s.  As a specialist in physical therapy, 
she accompanied her husband, a doctor, to the Middle 
East and started her work by giving massages in clinics, 
hospitals, and private homes.  

In 1947, the Egyptian government, attracted by the 
character of the educational work of Seventh-day 
Adventists, requested that the Church also help in the 
care of underprivileged children.  An orphanage, the 
Adventist Mercy Home, was established in Cairo in 
response to this request.  This institution became 
the focus of Kruger's ministry in Egypt.

Shortly after the establishment of the Mercy Home, 
Kruger lost both her husband and their infant child.  
Rather than return to her native Germany after the deaths 
of her loved ones, Kruger decided to stay and continue her 
ministry in Egypt.  She mastered the colloquial Egyptian 
Arabic language and could converse in it like the nationals, 
with only a minor accent.

In 1955, Kruger was appointed directress of the Mercy 
Home.  To the children of the orphanage, however, she 
became known simply as "Mamma" Kruger.  She provided 
them with medical assistance and educational training.  
During her tenure in Cairo, she also oversaw the expansion 
of the Mercy Home, as a modern building was constructed 
which doubled the Home's capacity.  Assistants were hired to 
work under Kruger's supervision, and plans were laid for a 
vocational industrial program.  

Many of the Mercy Home graduates, trained under "Mamma" 
Kruger, now serve the Adventist Church both in Egypt and 
abroad, as university professors, pastors, editors, medical 
doctors, and treasurers.  Even after her retirement, Kruger 
continued to encourage her "children."  One of them, a 
professor at Middle East College, stated that her last 
greetings to him were always the same-"Be thou faithful 
unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:20).
	

Kruger directed the Mercy Home up until 1989, at which 
point her age made it necessary for her to return to Aibling, 
Germany.  It was there that she passed away on the 
morning of October 4.  A fax from Kruger to a former Mercy 
Home occupant indicated that up until the last moment of 
her life, she was "expressing her thanks for Jesus' grace, 
salvation, and strength, through which she was able to work 
for the glory of God."