Investigating the Bible: Belief rekindled

By DAVID CARLSON PASTOR

In 1921, Swedish missionaries David and his wife Svea Flood traveled to a region called N’dolera, deep within Africa. Jim Cymbala told their story in his book, “Fresh Power.” The local chief rejected them, afraid of his gods. The young couple built a hut nearby and could only contact a little boy, who sold them chickens and eggs each week. Svea, through love and the gospel, led the boy to trust in Jesus. They were blessed with a little girl they named Aina. Soon afterward, Svea sickened with malaria. Being weak from childbirth, she died 17 days later. Her devastated husband buried Svea with bitter, angry tears. He left the village with baby Aina, gave her to other missionaries to raise, and returned to Sweden, saying, “God has ruined my life!” In the New Testament, a disciple also rejected his belief.

Thomas, one of the twelve, faithfully followed Jesus. He witnessed many miracles, even the dead raised. However, the death of Jesus pierced his soul. The resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples when Thomas was absent and they excitedly told him, “… ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’” (John 20:25, English Standard Version used throughout). The New Testament is silent on why Thomas so quickly abandoned hope.

He needed a miracle. It came soon. “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and “… said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 21:26-28). Thomas has been labeled “Doubting Thomas.” It is more accurate to call him “Believing Thomas.”

David Flood also needed a miracle. In time, it came. Little Aina’s first adoptive parents soon died, and she was adopted by another mission family who brought her to the United States. They changed her first name to Aggie and raised her in South Dakota. She attended a Bible College in Minneapolis, married, and her husband became the president of a Christian college in Seattle. One day, a Swedish language religious magazine mysteriously showed up in her mailbox. As she flipped through the pages, a photo stunned her. On a jungle hillside was a white cross etched with the name, SVEA FLOOD, her mother! Aggie raced to the campus and had a faculty member translate. The story told of a missionary couple in N’dolera long ago, who were blessed with a baby. Svea led one young African boy to faith in Christ before she died. The boy grew up, built a school in the village, and through his work, the entire village of more than 600 people now believed in Jesus. All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood.

For their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the college gifted Aggie and her husband a trip to Sweden. Aggie searched out her biological father. David Flood had remarried, fathered four more children, wasted his life often drunk, and he had recently suffered a stroke. Her half-siblings, warned Aggie, “Don’t mention ‘God.’ It enrages him.” She found him in a dingy apartment, liquor bottles strewn about, and said, “Papa?” He turned and cried, “Aina! I never meant to give you away!” She said, “It’s all right, Papa,” hugging him. “God took care of me.” He tensed and pulled back. “God forgot all of us!” Through the afternoon Aggie told her father of the conversion of the entire village because of their sacrifice. After several hours, his belief rekindled. Aggie returned to the States, and in a few weeks, David Flood died, finally at peace with God.

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) lives in Oregon and is a graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).