In 1921 David and Svea
Flood, a young Swedish missionary couple, felt God calling them with their two
year old son to the Belgian Congo. There they teamed with another missionary
couple from Scandinavia, Joel and Bertha Ericsson. David and Svea believed God
called them to minister to the remote village of N’dolera. However, the village
chieftain would not allow them to enter the village. He feared that Christian
missionaries would offend their local gods. They built a small hut outside
the village and told the gospel to everyone they met.
After a year, the
only one that listened to the gospel message was a young delivery boy who the
chief allowed to sell them eggs and chickens twice a week. That year Svea,
although sick with malaria, gave birth to a baby girl they named Eina. Svea
died only seventeen days after Eina’s birth. David buried his young wife
on a mountainside in Congo. He was overcome with waves of grief. His grief
turned to bitterness. His faith shaken, David left the mission field and
returned to Sweden. He gave his newborn baby girl to Joel and Bertha, but the
Ericsson’s both contracted a mysterious illness and died only eight months
later. An American missionary couple adopted Eina and moved with her back to
the United States. They renamed their little girl Agnes.
Aggie’s adoptive parents
loved their daughter and settled in South Dakota where they pastored a local
church. Agnes graduated from North Central Bible college in Minneapolis where
she met and married Dewey Hurst. They dedicated their lives to Christian
ministry and raised two children in a loving home. Agnes and Dewey served many
years and God blessed them with a fruitful ministry. Dewy became president
of a Christian college near Seattle. There were many families of Scandinavian
descent in their community. Aggie found a Christian missions publication in her
mail written in Swedish. Although she couldn’t read the flyer, she noticed a
picture of a small white cross that marked a gravesite in a remote area. On the
cross was inscribed the name Svea Flood. She recognized the name on the
cross. Aggie drove to the college to meet with a professor she knew who spoke
Swedish. She begged him, “Please tell me what the flyer says.”
Here is an excerpt from the
biography – “Aggie, The Inspiring Story of a Girl Without a Country”: The
instructor summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had come to
N’dolera long ago , the birth of a white baby, the death of the young mother, the
one little African boy who had been led to Christ and how, after the whites had
all left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build
a school in the village. The article said that gradually he won all his
students to Christ, the children led their parents to Christ and even the chief
had become a Christian. Today, there were six hundred Christian believers in
that one village, all because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood.
On their twenty fifth
wedding anniversary, the college where Dewey served presented Dewey and Aggie
with a trip to Sweden. Aggie made plans to see her biological father. After
Aggie had been born, David Flood left Africa, returned to Sweden, remarried and
fathered four children. Aggie visited with her half brothers and her half
sister and they emotionally bonded as long lost siblings. They told Aggie
that their father had recently suffered a severe stroke. They warned her that
even after fifty years, he was still bitter over the death of his young wife in
Africa. David Flood had turned his back on God and whenever anyone
mentioned the name of God, he flew into a rage. He had turned to alcohol and
lived a life of despair.
Undaunted, Aggie found the
squalid apartment where her father lived. She entered his bedroom strewn with
empty liquor bottles and approached the bed where he lay suffering from the
effects of his recent stroke. “Papa,”
she said softly. David turned toward his daughter and began to cry. “Eina,
I never meant to give you away,” he said.
“It’s all right, Papa,” she
reassured him. “God has taken good care of me.” David instantly stiffened at
the mention of God. He said, “God forgot about all of us. I’m living
in despair because of Him.” He turned away from her, facing the wall.
She stroked his face and
continued. “Papa, I need to tell you a true story. You didn’t go to Africa in
vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The one little boy you led to Christ grew up and
started a school in N’dolera. He taught the children there about Jesus Christ
and they taught their parents about the gospel. Even the chief accepted
Jesus Christ. Today because of the one little seed you planted, there over six
hundred Christians who serve the Lord because you were faithful to follow God’s
call for your life. Papa, Jesus never hated you. Jesus always loved you.”
The old man faced his
daughter, looking into her eyes filled with tears of love. His face began to
soften as they reunited as father and daughter. By the end of the afternoon, he
had reclaimed the faith he had forsaken decades before. They spent the next
precious days bonding and encouraging each other before Ages and Dewey had to
return to the states. Just a few weeks later, David passed into eternity.
Five years later, Dewey and
Agnes attended a Pentecostal conference in England. The speaker was the
superintendent of the national church of Zaire, formerly known as the Belgian
Congo. He spoke eloquently of the explosive growth of Christianity in Zaire where
110,000 people had recently been baptized for Christ. Aggie felt compelled to
approach the speaker after his speech, “Do you know anything about David and
Svea Flood? I’m their biological daughter. They were missionaries in the
Belgian Congo in 1921.” He responded in French through a translator. “Yes
Madam. Svea Flood led me to Christ. I was the little boy who brought
your mother food twice a week before you were born. I think I was the only one
who believed their stories about the Bible. I remember her little girl
named Eina and I’ve often wondered what became of her. I placed flowers on
your mother’s grave not long ago. I thank God that because of her
sacrifice thousands of people in Zaire have come to Christ.”
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment