by Nancy Campbell...

When I started ABOVE RUBIES in September 1977, I couldn't see 27 years into the future, but here we are today because of God's grace and faithfulness. I started this magazine with a vision burning in my heart to strengthen, encourage and fortify mothers and wives in their high and noble calling. The vision has never changed. It is still the same today and still needed today. In fact, it is needed more than ever. It began in New Zealand and now goes to over 100 countries of the world.

For nearly 27 years, we have trusted God and the generosity of those who have a burden to see family life restored to God's ways, for the finance of this magazine. For all these years God has proved His faithfulness. Many have asked why I don't make ABOVE RUBIES a subscription magazine. Here are the reasons:

Firstly, I do not want to limit the magazine. Right from the beginning I wanted to make the message freely available. If I make ABOVE RUBIES a subscription magazine, those who believe in the message will subscribe to it. My vision is greater than that. I want to get it into the hands of those who don't know they need it, those who are hurting and confused, those who don't understand God's ways for a successful marriage, and those who struggle with the career of motherhood. The only way we can do this is by people ordering multiple copies and sharing them with neighbors, friends and foes - in the church, and out of the church, by putting them in the waiting rooms of doctors, dentists, hairdressers, hospitals and so on.

We have received many letters over the years from women who found the magazine in such places and whose lives and marriages have been restored through reading the magazine.

As we have encouraged folk to do this, ABOVE RUBIES has spread. I only printed 1500 copies of the first issue of Above Rubies. But it increased rapidly. The second issue we printed 5,000 copies!

The third issue we printed 25,000 copies. We were printing 100,000 copies for New Zealand on our third anniversary!

In the early days in New Zealand, it was difficult to go anywhere without seeing a copy of this magazine. I remember going to the dentist, and lo and behold, every waiting patient was reading a copy of ABOVE RUBIES. I remember going to a lonely restroom on the side of the road when traveling, and seeing a copy of ABOVE RUBIES! I remember sitting in a doctor's waiting room and seeing a lady put a copy of ABOVE RUBIES into her bag to take home and read.

How does this work financially? Some folks have a vision to spread the word. I remember a new reader of ABOVE RUBIES in New Zealand ordering one copy of the ABOVE RUBIES magazine. She wrote again asking for six more copies. A week or so later she asked for 20 copies. She still couldn't keep up with the demand and wrote again pleading, "Please send me a whole box of magazines. I have so many people I want to give them to." Sometimes, these people may not have the finances to pay for every magazine they distribute, but they have the vision. Then there are others who, although they want to spread the message, are not in a position to do so, and they support ABOVE RUBIES by sending large donations. My encouragement is: don't just pay for your copy of the magazine. Give liberally to the ministry of ABOVE RUBIES so we can sow the seed of God's truth bountifully across the nation. As we sow bountifully, we will reap a bountiful harvest of strong, godly families who will build the nation.

Secondly, I believe that trusting God for the finance this way has been God's will for me. As the money comes in for a magazine, we go to print immediately. I know that I could never have coped with putting out a monthly magazine and, at the same time, fulfilled my divine calling of motherhood. It would have been hypocrisy. I have always wanted to be real in what I am writing. My vision has been to print four issues a year, although for some years we have only been printing two. With all the mail pouring in and the heart-cry of women across the nation, this keeps us busy enough!

ABOVE RUBIES has always functioned in the home. We have never had official offices, even though we have bases in eight different countries and have printed up to 180,000 magazines for an issue. All who have helped in ABOVE RUBIES have done it in their homes. No one has been paid. Every helper has given their time liberally as a "labour of love", just because they want to bless and encourage mothers and families. All donations go toward the printing and postage of ABOVE RUBIES only.

My heart is full of grateful thanks for everyone who has given sacrificially of their time and effort. I am full of appreciation for our past and current coordinators who give hours of their time to handle the mail in our ABOVE RUBIES bases in Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and Papua New Guinea. I am eternally grateful to Val Stares, who has stood by my side in this ministry for 27 years.
I know that God has a special reward for all our loving and willing helpers over the years. I know this eternal reward will be greater than any earthly reward they could ever receive.

In every country where we have ABOVE RUBIES bases, we are blessed to receive a continual influx of encouraging mail from our thousands of readers.

Although we have never deviated from our vision of strengthening the status of motherhood in the world, God has enlarged our vision to proclaim the message in other ways.