Ruth Padilla DeBorst
General Secretary, Latin American Theological Fellowship, San Jose, Costa Rica

Born in Colombia and raised in Argentina by an American mother and an Ecuadorian father, Ruth brings a wealth of unique experiences and perspective on cross-cultural missions. Ruth’s compelling life story includes the loss of her first husband while on the mission field. She says, “Life itself, with its inherent pain and joy, has also been a powerful teacher in the hands of a merciful God.”

Ruth serves as the General Secretary of Latin American Theological Fellowship, director of IFES's Spanish-speaking publishing house, Ediciones Certeza Unida, and team leader of Christian Reformed World Mission's work in El Salvador. For many years, she worked with the growing Christian student movements of Latin America under the umbrella of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), of which InterVarsity is a member movement. She has an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Wheaton College Graduate School and is pursuing a doctoral degree at Boston University School of Theology.