Edin Cornelius Kristoffersen Alfsen (Chinese: 安理生, 15 April 1896 – 1 August 1966)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''.

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...

. was a Norwegian-American

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

missionary affiliated with the Norwegian Mission Alliance. He was also a founder of the Norwegian Tibet Mission. Born in

Skogn Skogn is a village in Levanger Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on the eastern shore of the Trondheimsfjorden, about southwest of the town of Levanger. The European route E06 highway runs through the village ...

to Kristoffer Alfsen and Brita Jonsdatter Hodlekje Alfsen, he was employed at ''Det norske diakonhjem'' and was later enrolled at the

Moody Bible Institute Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have identified it as ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He journeyed to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1922 and became affiliated with the Norwegian Mission Alliance in

Zhangjiakou Zhangjiakou (), also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southwest ...

(张家口),

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

Longmen Longmen () may refer to: *Longmen (mythology), The Dragon Gate in Chinese mythology, located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain *Longmen Grottoes, collection of Buddhist cave art in Luoyang *Longmen Mountains, mountain r ...

(龙门) and

Zhicheng Zhicheng () is a town in Yidu County-level city, Yichang Prefecture-level city, Hubei Province, China. It is situated on the right (southern) shore of the Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the ...

for fourteen years. In 1925, Edin Cornelius Alfsen married Zoe Eathel Oakes in China. Alfsen established the Norwegian Tibet Mission during 1938 and formed a mission station at Dajianlu (打箭炉) for six years until 1944. Alfsen worked at the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

in the United States from 1945 to 1958. He also made public speaking appearances describing his experience in Tibet. He made a trip to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

via

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, and later that year, to Batu Gajak in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, where he established an independent mission named the ''South East Asia Bible Fellowship''. He became a U.S. citizen in 1956.''Minnesota, Federal Naturalization Records, 1880–1920'' Alfsen died on 1 August 1966 in

Kasson, Minnesota Kasson ( ) is a city in Dodge County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,851 at the 2020 census. The city is located west of Rochester along U.S. Highway 14 and is one of the endpoints of Minnesota State Highway 57. The Da ...

Literature

* Edin Cornelius Alfsen: ''My Call to Tibet'', Horten, 1943 *''Norwegian Mission Lexicon'', Volume 1, sp. 43.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfsen, Edin Cornelius 1896 births 1966 deaths People from Levanger Norwegian expatriates in China Norwegian emigrants to the United States Norwegian Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in China People from Rochester, Minnesota 20th-century Lutherans