L I BYA
The Vanished Mission Field
Alta, Kendal, Vaugh, Clinton, and Roy Cornell. Circa 1955.
M
uhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi, simply known as King Idris, was born in the country now called Libya sometime around 1890. Heir to leadership of a powerful Muslim Sufi order, he formed an alliance with the British during World War II to end the Italian occupation of North Africa. In 1951, he became Libya’s first and only king and would prove to be an exceptionally gracious monarch to Seventh-day Adventists. In February 1955, Adventist physician Roy S. Cornell arrived in Libya to offer his much-needed skills as chief surgeon at the government hospital in Benghazi. Prior to his arrival, the Adventist
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presence in Libya had been virtually nonexistent, with only a few literature evangelists selling publications in the Italian colony in the late 1920s. Cornell, however, aimed to establish a Seventh-day Adventist presence in Libya through the means of a health ministry. Shortly after his arrival, he began supervising the renovation of a war-damaged hotel building to serve as an Adventist hospital. The versatile physician drew up papers, transacted fiscal deals, forged political connections, purchased equipment, and arranged for a staff—all while serving as a surgeon and advisor to the Libyan government on medical matters.
The modest Adventist hospital was formally opened on May 21, 1956, with a capacity for between 25 and 30 patients. Articles appeared in the Adventist Review heralding the achievement with titles such as “The Right Arm of the Gospel in Libya.” Tragically, a year later, Dr. Cornell contracted acute paralytic poliomyelitis, which left him completely paralyzed and unable to continue directing the project that he had pioneered. The medical facility was operated by the Nile Union Mission until it came under the direct control of the Middle East Division (MED) at the end of 1958. That, itself, was a miracle, for even during the reign of King Idris, the
