# Vivienne Stacey

Vivienne Stacey (1928–2010) was the principal and overseer United Bible Training Centre (UBTC) in Gujranwala, India, from 1957 to 1982, working as a missionary with the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship (now International Service Fellowship or Interserve). Stacey is the author of over 15 books and 60 articles on subjects such as women in Pakistan and the history of Christianity in Pakistan, including several in the Urdu language. Stacey pioneered Christian missionary work to Muslim women living in Pakistan.

## Family background

Stacey's father came from a large family of eight in London. Born in 1894, her father trained as a cabinet maker at a young age, limiting his basic schooling. When he was turned down for military service for England in World War I, he took night classes to improve his education and to become an accountant. This eventually led to a position first with a city firm of accountants, and later the administrative staff of Imperial College London. Stacey's mother was from Wales, married her father in 1927, and gave birth to her the following year. In matters of religion, her father was a lapsed Anglican and mother had ceased to be Presbyterian. Thus Stacey was raised under the moral standards of these two denominations but without church attendance or involvement.

## Schooling

Growing up, Stacey's contact with her father was somewhat restricted because his accounting job required him to live in the city while his wife and children lived a distance away. She enrolled in the Church of England Primary School where she received some teachings of Christian values held by the Church of England at that time. With the outbreak of World War II, as a child of 11 she was forced to move to mid-Wales with her mother and brother to escape the threat of German bombing attacks, while her father remained in London to continue work and assist with the many fires that would break out because of the bombings. At fifteen, Stacey moved back to a suburb of London, where she studied English, Latin, French, and history. Growing older, she began to become uninterested in going to the school chapels but still enjoyed churches for their architecture. At seventeen, in 1945, Stacey attended University College London, taking part in the English program provided there. University College, London was known for being "godless", being strongly influenced by rationalist and communist ideas, and lacking a chapel for students to use.

## Introduction to Christianity

In the English department at University College, London, Stacey befriended a woman by the name of Barbara who was a Christian. Barbara would meet with friends at a neighboring college that had a chapel at lunchtime to attend prayer meetings. After inquiring about her friends' disappearances, Stacey decided that she would attend the meetings, not to partake in the prayer but to observe what took place. Stacey later said that she was astonished at the sincerity of the group but did not understand it. Feeling uneasy about her current stance as a human being without a type of faith, she converted to Christianity, claiming she had a vision of an encounter with Jesus Christ; the date was February 1946. The next day she began to attend prayer meetings. This was the Christian Union of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship (IVF). In 1947 IVF became one of the ten founding members of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). Following her baptism, both Stacey's mother and father began attending church and became believers as well.

## Working abroad

Stacey began taking evening classes at London Bible College and started learning New Testament Greek. Her intelligence and eagerness to learn and expand her knowledge soon gained her an admirable reputation as well as invitations to churches in nearby towns to preach to the congregations. After acquiring a more formal biblical education, she joined the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship (BMMF, now Interserve), desiring to participate in a missionary outreach to Muslim women. Stacey was appointed to teach Pakistani Christian women and train them to preach among Muslims at the United Bible Training Centre (UBTC) in Gujranwala. After a year of preparation and the study of the local language, Urdu, Stacey began her post at the UBTC in 1957 where she soon became principal of the center, taking on the responsibilities of administration-building programs, as well as teaching for the next 25 years.

## Writings

Stacey was determined to write books in the Urdu language to aid Christian women in their interaction with Muslim women. But before this was possible, she made it a requirement of herself to write in her own language, to her own people, before she attempted a cross-cultural text. After having several booklets and two books published by the BMMF, Stacey started writing for the Masihi Isha'at Khan (MIK), or Christian Publishing House, in Lahore, Pakistan, at a time when the press did not have even two hundred titles in the local language, Urdu. She sought to write and have books published for the Christian church in Pakistan, with the contents varying from helping people relate to Muslims, attempting to cross cultural barriers, dealing with spiritual warfare, as well as various Biblical studies. Some of Stacey's articles subsequently appeared in about twenty languages including Korean, Kannada, Urdu, Dutch and English.

## Retirement

In 1993, Stacey retired from Interserve but continued her writing, itinerant teaching, and training leaders for Christian ministry among Muslims. Nevertheless, these activities were pursued at a slower pace while she poured more of her time into writing. In the week of 19–25 September 2010, Stacey died, leaving behind a legacy of progress in Christian and Muslim relations, specifically relating to women.