Paul Carlson received his M.D. degree from George Washington University in 1956. He settled down to a potentially lucrative practice in Redondo Beach, California, and was persuaded to spend six months on a mission trip to the Christian Medical and Dental Society in Congo. The experience moved this young doctor and within two years of his return to southern California, he told a friend “I’m going back. I can’t stand doing hernias and hemorrhoids any more.”
Bringing his young family to Congo in 1963, Dr Carlson traded his practice for missionary pay at less than one-quarter his previous income. They settled in a remote town named Wasolo, in the northern part of the country, with a people-group called the Ubangi. There, Paul served an understaffed hospital and his family lived in a house with a grass roof which had bugs and snakes falling from the ceiling.
Dr. Carlson served an 80-bed hospital with a constituency of 100,000 people. The family had a dense rain forest in their back yard with crocodiles that occasionally wandered into their yard, and they had to walk a half mile to get fresh water.
For the next year, Dr. Carlson and his young family lived the missionary life. He was devoted to his patients and was anxious to spread the Word of God to those under his charge. At times, he also played the role of plumber, mechanic, or handyman for those in need. The natives called him “Monganga Paulo” (i.e. “My Doctor Paul”).
In 1964, the political climate in Congo worsened. Having recently been given their independence from Belgium, roving gangs, unrestrained by the new government, began to wreak havoc on the countryside. Dr Carlson sent his family to a place of safety but returned to Wasolo to minister to his patients, gambling that the gangs would not harm a doctor.
Unfortunately, Paul calculated wrong. In the month of September, in the middle of surgery, armed gunmen broke into the hospital and executed the two nurses assisting him. Capturing him, he was moved 300 miles north to the city of Stanleyville where he was beaten numerous times and made into a political pawn along with other foreign prisoners to try to extract concessions from the American and Belgian governments. During his imprisonment, survivors told of his self-sacrificial care in ministering to others. He was constantly threatened with execution and came to anticipate his own death, writing:
“For me to live and die is gain – this becomes more real
each day. I’ve had beatings and known
what it means not to know the future for tomorrow. Where I go from here I know not, only that it
will be with Him. If by God’s grace I
live, which I doubt, it will be to His glory…I can only realize when I see such
difficulties as we have seen that we need to work harder for our Lord. I’m praying that through this we might see
revival in our churches in the Ubangi, in the hearts of all of us, and our Congolese
brothers too.”
On November 24th, 1964, combined American and Belgian forces launched a rescue mission. In the confusion, the rebels herded all the prisoners into a city street and began spraying them with machine gun fire. Some prisoners, including Dr. Carlson, ran to a wall. Paul helped another missionary over it before attempting to scale it himself. As he tried to climb over the wall, he was hit with gunfire and died instantly. Within moments, Belgian troops arrived and secured the scene. A picture of the clean-cut missionary taken minutes after his death was circulated around the world as emblematic of the massacre that took place. In subsequent weeks, his picture graced the covers of both Time and Life magazines and became testimonies to the world of a man faithful to his calling.
Today, a medical foundation formed in Carlson’s name supports the mission hospital where he worked, along with other projects in the Wasolo region. Congolese Christians remember him fondly, and visit his grave often. His simple ministry of obedience and healing shine a light to many considering entering the Mission field.
In the New Testament he carried with him, Carlson has written the date and a single word the day before he died. The word: Peace.
https://www.paulcarlson.org/about-us/paulcarlson/
https://kingdomharbor.com/2019/04/18/martyrdom-of-paul-carlson-covenant-missionary/
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