Across Continents for Christ

This article draws upon Chigemezi Nnadozie Wogu’s biography of Walter and Frieda Ising, published in the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (ESDA), available at encyclopedia.adventist.org. It was prepared by Dragoslava Santrac, ESDA managing editor.—Editors.

Some people live quietly—until history reveals how remarkable their lives truly were. Walter and Frieda Ising are among them. Their strong commitment to Adventist mission took them across Germany, America, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine. As pioneers they brought the Adventist message to places where the church was barely present, often facing great personal challenges because they believed the gospel was worth any cost.

The Making of Missionaries

Walter Konrad Wilhelm Ising was born on March 30, 1881, in Danzig, Germany. His early years involved separation from his parents and learning to adapt. When he was 8, he and his sister went to the United States to attend a Lutheran school in Missouri. Six years later he returned to Germany with a new sense of how big the world could be.

In the summer of 1903 an Adventist camp meeting and a meaningful conversation with William Spicer changed his life’s direction. Wanting to serve God, Walter was baptized the following year and joined the Mission Seminary in Friedensau. Around the same time someone else was also preparing for a life of mission.

Frieda Schlegel was born on January 29, 1884, in Vohwinkel, Germany, to Swiss Adventist parents. She studied French in Gland, worked as a governess in Leipzig, and then went to Friedensau to train as a nurse. There she met Walter, a dedicated seminarian. Walter proposed to her while the school band played, making it a moment she would never forget. After graduating, Frieda served as a Bible worker, and in August 1907 they married. Their shared calling to mission would soon take them far from Germany.

A Test of Conviction

Late in 1904 Walter’s dedication to keeping the Sabbath brought him into conflict. He was drafted into the kaiser’s Imperial Guard, but refused to serve on the Sabbath. This led to questioning, negotiations, and eventually his arrest. The military was unsure what to do, and after several discussions he was dismissed, not for his beliefs, but officially because of his “feeble feet.” Free from military duty, Walter soon became personal secretary to successful European missionary Ludwig R. Conradi.

Soon after, Walter became secretary of the German Union, helping with Adventist work in Germany, Russia, Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans. He also edited the church paper Zions-Wächter. Although he was young, Walter’s skills and experience made him a leader in the growing European Adventist movement.

In 1908 Conradi started a new mission center in Beirut and needed a strong leader to guide the Adventist work there. Walter, who was only 27, was chosen for the job. He accepted, and he and Frieda and their baby daughter began a journey that would shape their lives.

Into the Heart of the Middle East

In April 1908 the Ising family arrived in Beirut, which was the headquarters of the Levant Union Mission. This area covered a huge region, including the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Persia, northern Africa, and more. Yet the Adventist community was very small. As Walter later said, “Only about 20, including the workers themselves,”[1] formed the fledgling community in Beirut, Haifa, Jaffa, and Jerusalem.

Soon after arriving, Walter and Frieda faced hardship. Both caught typhoid fever. Other Westerners advised them to escape to the hills for safety. While he was weak and unable to work, Walter prayed, asking God to help them “find His people among the inhabitants of this land.”[2] When their strength returned, they went back to Beirut renewed, refocused, and determined.

For the Isings, their mission was not about what was easy, but about following their calling.

Walter started learning Arabic at the Syrian Protestant College and invited students to his home for Bible studies. In 1909 he baptized a group of men, including some from Mesopotamia (now Iraq). This was the beginning of a work that would later grow across the region. He found that many young students from northern Syria and Iraq who had Christian backgrounds were truly interested in the Bible and spiritual topics. Some of them became the first Adventists in the area.

Traveling by Foot, Camel, and Hope

The Middle East required missionaries who could adapt, and Walter fully committed himself to the work with a three-part plan. First, he traveled constantly, building on what earlier workers had started, visiting believers, and exploring new places. The trips were tough. He went by foot, horseback, camel, trading boat, and even some of the first cars in the region. He crossed Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Arabia, always seeking opportunities to share the gospel. In Mosul and Baghdad he met believers, including the well-known Hasso brothers.

Second, since he was not yet familiar with Arab culture and language, he first tried working with German settlers, using contacts from Mrs. Müller, an Adventist nurse in Haifa. Although not many were interested, these connections helped him get through the challenging first months.

Third, and most important, Walter believed that lasting mission work needed local leaders. He could not achieve this completely during his first term, but he laid the foundation. He worked hard to learn Arabic and imagined a church led by people from the local communities. This belief would shape his work in the years to come.

Not everything went as planned. In Lebanon Walter met Elias Zarub, a dedicated worker who wanted to create an independent Middle Eastern church. This was very different from Walter’s focus on unity within the church organization. They could not find common ground, and Zarub later moved to Brazil, where he remained a faithful member.

Still, Walter kept going. For the Isings, their mission was not about what was easy, but about following their calling.

Faith in the Shadow of World Conflict

By 1913 the mission in Egypt was reorganized, and Walter became superintendent of the work in lower Egypt. Soon he undertook a yearlong journey to Iraq to organize the growing group of believers there. During this period Frieda and their daughter went to London, where she studied midwifery.

Then world events changed everything.

In 1914, when World War I began, Frieda cared for wounded English soldiers. Meanwhile, Walter, who was living in British-controlled Egypt, was arrested as an enemy national. He spent five years in a concentration camp on the island of Malta, where both food and water were hard to find. Even so, he stayed the official president of the Syrian-Egyptian Mission, with George Keough taking over his duties during that time.

Meanwhile, Frieda returned to Friedensau and worked as a midwife. When the war ended, she waited anxiously for Walter to be released. In 1919, after more than five years apart, the family was finally reunited. They had faced hardship, but they had also been protected, and their work was not yet over.

Leadership in Europe and Strengthening a Global Church

After the war Walter taught for a short time at Friedensau, and then spent six months as Home Missionary and Sabbath School director in the West German Union. In 1920 he became secretary of the European Division. The family moved first to Denmark, spending two years there, and then to Switzerland, where they stayed for six years. During this period Walter continued to check on the work in the Middle East.

During one visit Walter met again with a group of 120 men from As-Salt in Transjordan. Before the war they had shown interest in joining the Adventist Church if they could get educational support. At first Walter turned down their request, feeling that true conversion should come before membership. But after the war he was assured of their genuine desire to follow the gospel, and “saw the moment opportune for the operation of an outpost on the periphery of the desert under supervision of a national pastor.”[3] This was the church’s first effort to start a mission deep in the desert regions of the Middle East.

Walter’s years in Europe helped him think more strategically, and strengthened his belief that mission work should be led by local people and be sensitive to culture. These ideas would guide his next major period in the Middle East.

Return to the Middle East

In December 1928 the Isings returned to the Middle East. Walter became director of the Arabic Union Mission, and spent seven more years building up the work there. This time he focused on training and supporting local workers.

Walter believed that missionaries in the Middle East needed to understand not just doctrine, but also the local culture, history, and way of thinking.

He organized a major meeting for workers, bringing together missionaries and local pastors for two weeks of training, discussion, and planning. Reports from those who had studied at the School of Oriental Studies in Cairo were especially helpful, leading to talks about better preparation for ministry in Muslim communities.

In 1930, while in Palestine, Walter saw the first baptism in the region, a result of the mission’s work. Five years later he held another workers’ meeting, this time focusing on a deeper understanding of Islam. The group formed a study team to research how to share the gospel in ways that made sense to Muslims. Each person was encouraged to read two important books on Islam within a year.

Walter believed that missionaries in the Middle East needed to understand not just doctrine but also the local culture, history, and way of thinking. His work helped create a more thoughtful, respectful, and informed Adventist presence in the region.

During these busy years of mission work, Walter and Frieda also experienced a personal joy. After waiting 20 years, they welcomed their son, Konrad, who was born in the Middle East.

A Life Still Poured Out

In 1937 the Isings moved back to Europe. Walter became secretary of the Central European Division, and the following year he was invited to the General Conference as associate secretary, working with the Sabbath School Department. The family settled in Takoma Park, Maryland, and built a home on Sycamore Avenue.

From 1946 to 1950 Walter worked as a field secretary for the General Conference. One important job during this time was helping about 250 displaced people who came to the United States after World War II. He stayed active on many committees until he retired in 1950.

Frieda also continued to serve others. She took part in Dorcas work, loved gardening, and helped with many community projects. She was recognized by the Horticultural Club of Takoma Park and received a plaque from the Red Cross for her humanitarian work. She also stayed active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

Walter died on September 23, 1950. Sixteen years later, on July 11, 1966, Frieda also passed away. Though their lives ended, their legacy continued in the churches they founded, the leaders they trained, the books Walter wrote, and the many lives they touched through their dedication.

Enduring Legacy

Walter and Frieda Ising showed the sacrificial and visionary spirit of early Adventist missionaries. Their pioneering work helped start the Adventist Church in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Palestine, and Lebanon. Walter supported local leadership long before it became common practice. His books, especially Among the Arabs in Bible Lands, showed both his understanding of mission work and his deep respect for the people he served. Their lives encourage us to trust God more deeply and to be willing to go wherever He leads, whether far away or close to home, trusting that He still has people to reach everywhere.

[1] Walter K. Ising, “Palestine,” Review and Herald, Aug. 6, 1908, p. 17.

[2] David Trim, “Where the People Are,” Ministry, January 2016, p. 9.

[3] Baldur E. Pfeiffer, The European Seventh-day Adventist Mission in the Middle East, 1879–1939 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1978), p. 81.