MAKING
A MARK AROUND
Text: Acts
20:23-24
I. Early Life
A. Paul Carlson was born in Culver City, California, in 1928 to Christian parents.
B. He attended UCLA for a semester before joining the US Navy. After his discharge from the Navy, Paul enrolled at North Park College in Chicago for his premed studies.
C. While he was in college he met a nurse named Lois, his future wife. After their engagement in 1949 he moved back to California to study Medicine at Stanford.
D. Eight years later with a wife, two children, and his M. D. he began his residency. During this Paul’s commitment to missions began to disappear. He went through some spiritual struggles, even to the point of doubting the existence of a Triune God.
II. Early Ministry
A. Paul’s commitment to missions was reawakened in 1961 when he received a letter from the Christian Medical Society. The letter explained the urgent need for medical doctors in the Congo. What caught Paul’s attention was that it was a request for short-term help.
B. Paul accepted the invitation with the plan of helping in the Congo for four months. In June of 1961, Paul left Lois and the children in Michigan and flew to the Congo for four months of service.
C. Paul arrived in a very tense political situation. Congo had been granted independence from Belgium in 1960. There was severe civil disorder and chaos. All Belgians were expelled and foreigners were mistrusted.
III. Ministry and Martyrdom
A. Paul served for five months in the Ubangi Province. The need for medical doctors was great and he had many opportunities to give the gospel each day.
B. When Paul returned from Congo he was a new person with a new commitment. However, moving his entire family to the Congo would not be an easy task. After his return he worked in a financially successful practice. This made his decision difficult, but he knew what God wanted him to do.
C. In the summer of 1963 the Carlsons arrived in the Congo serving under their own denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church. They were assigned to Wasolo, a remote mission station in the Ubangi Province.
D. By the beginning of their second year, the political situation became unstable. By August 1964 the Simba rebels were threatening the government defenses in Ubangi. Not wanting to take unnecessary risks, Paul escorted Lois and the children across the border to the Central African Republic.
E. After returning to the mission station alone, Paul became very busy treating combat casualties as well as his normal cases. He crossed the border on Sunday to visit his family and promised to visit again on Wednesday, but the visit never took place.
F. The Simbas captured Paul before he could escape. The Simbas mentally and physically tortured him for three months. The Simbas started referring to Carlson as Major Carlson. They claimed he was a spy and they were going to put him on trial. He was tried and was facing execution.
G. On November 24, 1964, Belgian paratroopers and an assortment of mercenaries had landed in the city of Stanleyville to rescue the missionaries. Paul, along with other prisoners attempted to flee, but he was shot and killed in the streets during an exchange of gunfire between paratroopers and the rebels. In total thirty protestant missionaries and two hundred Catholic missionaries were slain by the Simbas. It was the bloodiest martyrdom of Christian missionaries since the Boxer Rebellion.