1926 - Daniel Nelson

February 8, 1926

Xinyang, Henan

Daniel Nelson.

Daniel Nelson was born in the Norwegian town of Søndhorland, near Bergen, on April 10, 1853. Four years after marrying Anna in 1878, the Nelsons migrated to America, where they bought and operated a successful farm in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Their life was a hardworking yet peaceful one. They loved Jesus Christ and raised their four children in the fear of the Lord.

Many missionaries to China throughout history went through an elaborate and lengthy process to discern the call of God. Daniel Nelson, on the other hand, said that while he was laying shingles on the roof of his house in 1889,

“the call of God came upon him to become a missionary to China. He got up, threw down his hammer, climbed down the ladder and told his wife his experience of the unmistakable call of God to become a missionary to China. Anna, the winsome wife of the shingler, answered, ‘I’ll go where you want me to go.’ Thus began the romantic career of the pioneer, Daniel Nelson, one of the outstanding missionaries of his generation.”[1]

The call to China was simple, but the process of getting there was anything but. His son later recalled the response his father received when he told people of his missionary call:

“The pastor told him he was foolish and advised him to return to his farm. He was reminded of his responsibility to his family. He was reminded that there were enough heathens in America not to mention far-away China. He was reminded that he lacked educational training. He was reminded that he was not an ordained man. He was reminded that there was no Church which had called him. He was reminded that there was no organization which would undertake to support him. He was reminded of a hundred and one difficulties. His friends thought he was unbalanced. His relatives thought he was a fool. Neighbours thought he was crazy. At best he was branded an impractical and radical idealist. Nobody encouraged him. The future looked black indeed.”[2]

Nelson applied to a missionary organization only to be turned down. Countless reasons for him not to go were placed in the way, but Nelson was sure of his call from God, and refused to lose heart. Deciding to obey God at all costs, the Nelson family sold their farm and all their worldly possessions and booked passage on a ship to China. When church and mission leaders saw that the Nelsons were determined to go with or without their blessings, they let Daniel attend the Augsburg Seminary from 1889-90, after which they were appointed to work with the Lutheran United Mission, the missionary arm of The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.

After tearful farewells, Daniel and Anna Nelson and their four children set sail for China, arriving at Shanghai in November 1890. At first the Nelsons thought they would work in Shanghai, but they quickly saw that the city was a ‘missionary nest,’ whereas vast regions of China’s interior remained without any gospel witness at all. Nelson telegraphed his fellow Lutheran missionary Sigvald Netland, who had settled at Wuhan in Hubei Province just a month before. Nelson asked him if he needed help, to which Netland replied, “Come and bring stoves.” The Nelsons purchased provisions and set out on the 600-mile (972 km) trip from Shanghai up the Yangtze River to Wuhan.

Life was difficult for the new missionaries. They succeeded in renting a small one-room mud house in Wuchang, across the river from Wuhan. In this room a fifth child, whom they named John, was born to the Nelsons. The summers were terribly hot, with their humble home filled with mosquitoes, while in winter sub-zero winds howled through the cracks in the roof and walls. Deep sorrow soon came to the Nelsons. Not long after their arrival, Sigvald Netland died of cholera and his wife Oline Netland also passed away. The Nelsons then lost their 14-year-old daughter, Nora. A few months later they also lost their infant daughter. This was the darkest moment, when all the forces of hell seemed to be attacking them. Daniel’s wife Anna was

“sick with cholera and all the children had dysentery. Hundreds of Chinese succumbed to the cholera epidemic and their dead bodies lay unclaimed in the baking sun…. For six whole summers Mr. & Mrs. Nelson and their children endured the intense heat of the Oriental climate. It was only a miracle that they did not lose more of their loved ones.”[3]

After six years of travelling and preaching with few times of rest, Nelson suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. The Lutheran United Mission sent the exhausted missionary back to America for eight months in the hope he would recover, but funds were not available to send the whole family, so Anna had to remain in Wuhan with the children for the eight months. Nelson returned to China with improved health and threw himself into the work with fresh zeal and enthusiasm. He fixed his sights on southern Henan Province, but “his enthusiasm and zeal again overtaxed his strength, and he suffered another breakdown.”[4] This time funds were found for the whole Nelson family to return to America. They arrived at Portland, Oregon, in 1899, thus missing the Boxer persecution of the following year.

The Nelsons again returned to China in 1902, and continued to minister in Henan Province for many years. From 1911-17 Daniel Nelson served as the Superintendent of the American Lutheran Mission, a startling achievement considering he had been mocked and rejected when he first applied to become a missionary. Nelson had laboured for the Lord for 36 years when he was killed in his own home at Xinyang, Henan, on February 8, 1926. A large group of bandits had laid siege to Xinyang for a month. Government troops stoutly defended the city, but

“one evening during a fierce encounter a bullet came through a barricaded window of the Nelson dwelling. It struck the pioneer above the temple and he passed away three hours later without regaining consciousness. For 36 long years he had given unreservedly of his strength and talent for the Chinese people—now he was killed by those he had come to serve.”[5]

Because of the fighting, Nelson’s funeral could not be held for a month after his death. Their son Bert, who had seen his bride die of illness soon after their wedding, rushed from his station in Luoshan to comfort his grieving mother. When the funeral was finally able to take place the overwhelming response from the local people showed the measure of respect Nelson had gained. Hundreds of Chinese followed the casket as the procession slowly wound its way to the cemetery. Anna was calm and brave. When asked how she felt, she answered, “I can only thank God for giving us so many happy years of friendship together.”[6]

Daniel Nelson, through his faith in the call of God, shunned all the discouragement of men and became an outstanding missionary to China. His son Bert, who had been just two-years-old when the Nelsons first arrived in China, was himself martyred in Henan Province in 1932. Apart from families massacred together, Daniel and Bert Nelson are probably the only father-and-son missionary martyrs in the history of Chinese Christianity. In a book written by Daniel Nelson Jr., the dedication page says,

“Dedicated to Mother

Whose Husband was Killed in China after Thirty-Six Years of Missionary Service,

and Whose Son was Martyred in China in 1932.”[7]

1. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 4.
2. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 4-5.
3. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 7.
4. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 8.
5. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 21.
6. Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists, 21.
7. See Nelson, The Apostle to the Chinese Communists.