“Mr. Armstrong mentioned the Institute of Cultural Affairs he wants to start. What would that involve?” This question was asked by a student of Ambassador College during a 1979 Forum.

As Chairman of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, Herbert W. Armstrong would often provide updates via such assemblies, answering questions from students and faculty.

His general consul was guest speaker at this particular forum, and as such he replied to the question on the chairman’s behalf: “It’s a very important area. Matter of fact, we had made a lot of progress in that area in 1974 when we visited Jordan. And King Hussein and his advisers, particularly the Jordanian ambassador to Washington, Mr. Abdullah Salah, wanted us to help to promote in Jordan, at the University of Jordan, an Institute for Arab Cultural Affairs that would be open for people from all over the Arab countries.

“The idea being to better understand how the Arab nations and the Islamic faith have affected the development of cultures everywhere, and what problems there are today in the interfacing of the Islamic culture which, of course, is prominent throughout the world, which not too many people are aware of. For example, its deep penetration in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, including the entire land mass between the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It goes all the way down into Indonesia, Micronesia, for example.

“And all of this is something that more people should be aware of, not in the very narrow, shall we say, clerical manner, but in the broader cultural manner. We are making plans to go ahead and become a part of the University of Jordan. And then, you may recall, the Arabs had a conference in Rabat a few months late. Actually, we were there in the summer, and I think the Rabat conference took place in the fall of 1974.

“And at that time, the Arab nations threw their weight to the Palestinians in their effort to have a state of their own between Israel and Jordan, the so-called West Bank of the Jordan, which meant that if we went forward with the project and did so with the University of Jordan, we would be in the wrong place at the wrong time for such a project. It would not accomplish what either the king would have had in mind or what Mr. Armstrong would have in mind

“So we just simply put it on the back burner. It’s still a question that needs to be resolved, and now with Tunis being the area that looks like the future home of pan-Arab affairs, we’re going to revive that project. And with the help of the Japanese government, we will get this project moving” (Worldwide News, May 21, 1979).

As evidence of this commitment just days later at around noon on June 6, Tunisian Prime Minister Hedi Nouria received Mr. Armstrong at the palace Kasbah in Tunis. Traveling with the unofficial ambassador for peace was senior member of the Japanese Diet, Tokuo Yamashita.

The June 11, 1979 Pastor General’s Report recounted that the trio “discussed at length a proposed project of triangular cooperation between the government and people of Tunisia, the United States and Japan in the domain of nutrition. The meeting was also attended by the minister of planning as well as the chief of staff of the cabinet of the prime minister.”

Tunisia is the smallest country in North Africa, featuring the aquatic beauty and water access of the Mediterranean to the north, Algeria to the west and Libya at its east.

This demography and geography necessitates a good understanding of agricultural principles not only to feed Tunisia’s citizens but also to ensure the nation’s enduring survival. Its agricultural dominance in North Africa even hails back to the Roman Empire, when its territory was known as the “bread basket” of the resurrected European power.

“Mr. Armstrong explained the Church’s long interest in improving nutritional values everywhere, including various agricultural projects and studies that had been carried on for many years under the auspices of Ambassador College in Texas” (ibid).

This commitment spanned the Atlantic when in 1960 an extensive farm program was sown and grown at the college’s campus in Bricket Wood, England, until its closure in 1974.

Prior to this trip to North Africa, the former head of Ambassador College’s agricultural program met with Mr. Armstrong for discussion of “current developments” in this vital field of study.

On that June evening in 1979, as Mr. Armstrong visited Tunisia, a dinner was held in honor of this ambassador for peace, attended by the country’s ministers of foreign affairs, justice, culture, planning and social welfare, in addition to the ambassadors from Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Romania, Italy and Japan.

Key focus was placed upon the humanitarian activities of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation in concert with world governments and their joint programs. The foundation’s spiritual, human, physical and financial resources were highlighted as it was announced that it would cooperate with Tunisia’s National Institute of Nutrition for prospective joint endeavors.

“Mr. Armstrong, in speaking for some 30 minutes, explained the purpose of the Church and the great commission. He announced that world peace would be established in the World Tomorrow with the government of God under the laws of God” (ibid).

Today, in the tradition of Mr. Armstrong’s long-time dedication to agricultural development and enhanced nutrition, Gerald Flurry, as founder and chancellor of Herbert W. Armstrong College, oversees an agricultural and food services program which provides students not only job experience, but an informed understanding of health, diet and nutrition from the Creator’s perspective. Soon all will understand in the soon coming utopian World Tomorrow.

“Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all” (Jeremiah 31:12).