Page 5 - Good News September 2018 paper

ack in 1921, a missionary however, was exhausting, and
couple named David and
BSvea Flood went with their
two-year-old son from Sweden to
the heart of Africa - to what was
then called the Belgian Congo.
They met up with another young
Scandinavian couple, the Erick-
sons, and the four of them sought
God for direction. In those days
of much tenderness and devotion
and sacrifice, they felt led of the
Lord to set out from the main
Mission Station and take the
Gospel to a remote area. This was
a huge step of faith.
At the village of N'dolera they
were rebuffed by the chief, who
would not let them enter his town
for fear of alienating the local
gods. The two couples opted to
go half a mile up the slope and
build their own mud huts.
They prayed for a spiritual break-
through, but there was none. The
only contact with the villagers
was a young boy, who was
allowed to sell them chickens and
eggs twice a week. Svea Flood, a
tiny woman of only four feet eight
inches tall, decided that if this
was the only African she could
talk to, she would try to lead the
boy to Jesus. And in fact, she
succeeded. But there were no
other encouragements.
Meanwhile, malaria continued to
strike one member of the little
band after another. In time the
Ericksons decided they had had
enough suffering and left to
return to the central Mission
Station. David and Svea Flood
remained near N'dolera to go on
alone.
Then, of all things, Svea found
herself pregnant in the middle of
the primitive wilderness. When
the time came for her to give
birth, the village chief softened
enough to allow a midwife to help
her. A little girl was born whom
they named Aina. The delivery,
Svea Flood was already weak
from bouts of malaria. The birth
process was a heavy blow to her
stamina. She lasted only another
seventeen days.
Inside David Flood, something
snapped in that moment. He dug a
crude grave, buried his twenty-
seven-year-old wife, and then
took his children back down the
mountain to the Mission Station.
Giving his newborn daughter to
the Ericksons, he snarled, “I'm
going back to Sweden. I've lost
my wife, and I obviously can't take
care of this baby. God has ruined
my life.” With that, he headed for
the port, rejecting not only his
calling, but God Himself.
Within eight months both the
Ericksons were stricken with a
mysterious malady and died
within days of each other. The
baby was then turned over to
some American missionaries,
who adjusted her Swedish name
to “Aggie” and eventually
brought her back to the United gious magazine appeared in her article said that gradually he won
States at age three. mailbox. She had no idea who had all his students to Christ… the
sent it, and of course she couldn't children led their parents to
This family loved the little girl and read the words. But as she turned Christ… even the chief had
were afraid that if they tried to the pages, all of a sudden a photo become a Christian. Now there
return to Africa, some legal stopped her cold. There in a were six hundred Christian belie-
obstacle might separate her from primitive setting was a grave with vers in that one village… All
them. So they decided to stay in a white cross - and on the cross because of the sacrifice of David
their home country and switch were the words SVEA FLOOD. and Svea Flood!
from missionary work to pastoral
ministry. And that is how Aggie Aggie jumped in her car and went For the Hursts' twenty-fifth wed-
grew up in South Dakota. As a straight for a college faculty ding anniversary, the College
young woman, she attended member who, she knew, could presented them with a gift of a
North Central Bible College in translate the article. “What does vacation to Sweden. There Aggie
Minneapolis. There she met and this say?” She demanded. sought to find her real father.
married a young man named
Dewey Hurst. The instructor summarized the An old man now, David Flood had
story: It was about missionaries remarried, fathered four more
Years passed. The Hursts who had come to N'dolera long children, and generally dissi-
enjoyed a fruitful Ministry. Aggie ago… the birth of a white baby… pated his life with alcohol. He had
gave birth first to a daughter, then the death of a young mother… the recently suffered a stroke. Still
a son. In time her husband one little African boy who had bitter, he had one rule in his
became president of a Christian been led to Christ… and how, family: “Never mention the Name
College in the Seattle area, and after the whites had all left, the of God - because God took
Aggie was intrigued to find so boy had grown up and finally everything from me!” After an
much Scandinavian heritage persuaded the chief to let him emotional reunion with her half
there. One day a Swedish reli- build a school in the village. The Continued on p. 6
Continued on p. 6