Hult, Ralph D.

Ralph Daniel Hult was born July 9, 1888, in Kearney, Nebraska. He first thought of becoming a missionary as an eighteen-year-old student at Luther College. He was so affected by what he heard about the need for missionaries in the Sudan region that his primary goal in life became to pursue mission work there. On June 14, 1917, the Synod voted to establish a mission in the Sudan and authorized the Board of Missions to call Ralph D. Hult as its missionary. He left on November 13, 1919, arrived at the port of Forcados in the Niger Delta on January 3, 1920, and then began the journey inland to the town of Ibi, but was informed that all areas of the Northeren Nigeria region of the Sudan were closed to Christian missions.

All hope for an Augustana Synod mission in the Sudan was lost March 26, 1922, when Pastor Hult received a telegram from Dr. Gustaf A. Brandelle, president of the Augustana Synod, telling him to go to Tanganyika to work in an orphaned mission field. Pastor and Mrs. Hult arrived in Moshi, Tanganyika, on December 10, 1922 and worked there until 1926 when they went on furlough.

Pastor Hult stated that he would not return to Tanganyika until he received a definite answer from the board on whether or not the Synod wanted to establish a mission station in the Sudan. At the 1929 synodical meeting, it was reported by the Board of Foreign Missions that the decision had been made to focus efforts solely in Tanganyika in the Iramba field, and to discontinue the service of Pastor Hult. He spent the next twelve years working in home mission fields through the Synod's Iowa Conference.

When World War II broke out Augustana once again assumed responsibility for the Leipzig, Bethel, and Berlin missions. Pastor Hult was asked if he would work in Tanganyika. He left March 20, 1941, on board the S.S. Zamzam. On April 17, 1941, the Zamzam was shelled by a German raider and subsequently sunk. By June 30, 1941, Pastor Hult was back in the United States. He was able to leave again for Africa in June 1942 and arrived in August 1942. After arriving in Tanganyika, Pastor Hult worked tirelessly for several months, but became seriously ill with malaria and heart failure complications soon followed. He died on March 18, 1943, and was buried in Dar-es-Salaam the same day.

From the description of Ralph D. Hult Papers 1914-1952; 1917-1928. (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Library). WorldCat record id: 50406241