Ruth Orr, ‘perhaps the greatest missionary of our day,’ dies at 75

Christians around the world are remembering the role that Maudie Ruth Orr played in their spiritual lives.

Orr, a member of the Church Street Church of Christ in Lewisburg, Tenn., a homemaker and a longtime teacher in the World Bible School correspondence ministry, died Nov. 4 at her home in Lewisburg. She was 75.

A prolific WBS teacher, she shared Jesus with thousands of people around the world and made dozens of mission trips to meet her students — in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and other parts of the globe.

Ruth Orr on one of her many mission trips to Africa. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

“She was perhaps the greatest missionary of our day,” said Ron Pottberg, vice president of international church relations for WBS. “I had the privilege of working and traveling with her many, many times and she was a mother in the faith to me.”

“Hundreds of our best preachers in Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, the Philippines and other countries were her WBS students,” Pottberg said. After their baptisms, her students “were trained in our Bible schools and colleges and are now serving the churches in their respective countries because of this great Christian woman.”

A funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Church Street Church of Christ with burial to follow in the Temple Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Church St. Church of Christ African Missions, 305 W. Church St., Lewisburg, TN 37091; World Bible School, P.O. Box 2169, Cedar Park, TX 78630; and Ruth Orr Community School in Takoradi, Ghana, 1272 Yell Rd., Lewisburg, TN 37091.

See Orr’s obituary.