‘Heaven Will Be Fuller Because of Aileen’

Seventy years ago, the Lord called Aileen Coleman from Australia to become His ambassador in the Middle East. Courageously defying cultural norms in a male-dominated culture, she and Dr. Eleanor Soltau founded the Annoor Sanatorium for Chest Diseases, a missionary hospital that saves lives from tuberculosis while preparing the way for the Gospel to be heard. Aileen’s father back in Australia had wanted her to become a teacher, but she followed the bigger plans of her Heavenly Father, moving thousands of miles away to a different continent to become a missionary nurse in Mafraq, Jordan. There she dedicated her life to one of the world’s most challenging mission fields—the nomadic, tent-dwelling Bedouin tribes east of the Jordan River, who trace their lineage to Abraham’s son Ishmael. Aileen felt called by Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep: “It is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14).

When Aileen and Eleanor founded the tuberculosis hospital in 1965, they began sharing the hope of the Gospel with patients who were hospitalized for lengthy treatments. As they worked to save lives from TB, God gave them favor to share the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ. 

Aileen spent the last 70 years of her life serving in the Middle East, until she died July 9, just weeks before her 95th birthday.

Because of the limitations of preaching the Gospel in places like Jordan, only Heaven knows the full fruit of her ministry. “In many circles, our ministry might not be considered a success story,” she once said. “But in obedience to the Father, we have sought that one lost sheep.” Aileen was blessed to see the Gospel take root in the hearts of several patients, as well as some of the orphans she helped raise.

“Heaven will be fuller because of Aileen,” Franklin Graham said at her 89th birthday party in 2019. He described her as “a tough-as-nails missionary” who never shied away from the challenges of serving as a Christian woman in a culture dominated by men. 

Aileen was the youngest of seven children of an accountant in Bundaberg, on the northeast coast of Australia. While she was completing her training as a nurse, a classmate dared her to go to a tent revival. Not only did she go, but she surrendered her life to Christ that night and eventually attended Bible college. Then while researching a paper on mission work in the Muslim world, she met a doctor who asked her to pray for more Christian obstetric nurses to go to the Middle East. 

The Lord used Aileen to answer her own prayer, as she was called to hospitals in what is now the United Arab Emirates (then a British colony), and in Bethlehem, which then was part of Jordan. That’s where she met Eleanor, began to specialize in TB treatment, and earned a master’s degree in Arabic—an expressive language she adored.

The two women moved to Mafraq, a strategic crossroads for reaching the Bedouin tribes on the edge of the Syrian desert. When they arrived, they had only $50 between them. They devoted themselves to praying for God’s providence, and they were able to open a “preaching hospital” with 14 beds. In 1973, they built a new 60-bed facility.

Aileen and Eleanor embraced the Bedouin culture without sacrificing Biblical truths, and they were welcomed when they went out of their way to visit families who lived in black goat-hair tents.

Aileen was inspired by the hospitality of the Bedouins. Once she visited a mother of five who had been treated at the Mafraq hospital. Though the family had little food, the mother insisted on giving eggs to her guests. Aileen tried to politely decline the gift for the sake of the family, but the woman insisted, saying she had no other way of showing her appreciation for Aileen’s kindness and demonstration of faith. 

Another TB patient came to the hospital because that’s where her cousin had learned about Jesus.  The patient wanted to hear about Aileen’s faith for herself. 

As an Australian citizen and part of the British Commonwealth, Aileen received the “Order of Australia” and the title “Dame Aileen Coleman” from Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. 

She also won the respect of the Jordanian palace, even receiving awards from King Hussein and King Abdullah for her service.  

When a house fire took the life of Eleanor 28 years ago, Aileen continued to lead the Mafraq ministry. 

The Bedouins called Aileen “Raisa,” which means leader, and is sometimes interpreted as “Angel of the Desert.” One friend told her in Arabic: “The Bedouin swear by your life. ‘Raisa did this. Raisa did that.’” Aileen’s response was typically humble: “I just want you to understand how much God loves you.” ©2025 BGEA 

The Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version. 

Tom Layton is print editor for Samaritan’s Purse.