Paying The Ultimate Price

Paying The Ultimate Price

Medical school didn’t prepare him for this.

PAUL CARLSON was born in 1928, and from the time he was a boy he wanted to be a physician. He followed his dream, and after graduating from the Stanford University Medical School, he went into private practice.

Learning of the need for short-term missionaries, Dr. Paul and his wife, Lois, went to the Belgian Congo in 1961 to help with relief work. This experience led to a career commitment to medical missions in 1963. Dr. Carlson was assigned by the Evangelical Covenant Church to a hospital in the town of Wasolo in the Belgian Congo province of Ubangi.

In 1964 Communist rebel soldiers calling themselves Simbas infiltrated this area of the Congo, seizing Stanleyville (now Kisangani), the country’s second largest city.

At the 1964 church conference in the Congo, Dr. Carlson led a Communion service in which he said, “We do not know what will happen in 1964—and in 1965—until we meet together again. We do not know if we will have to suffer and die during this year because we are Christians. But it does not matter. Our job is to follow Jesus. . . . My friends, if today you are not willing to suffer for Jesus, do not partake of the elements. . . . To follow Jesus means to be willing to suffer for him.”

When Paul and Lois learned that the rebels were coming toward Wasolo, Paul took Lois and their two children to safety in the nearby Central African Republic and returned to Wasolo alone, staying in touch by radio. On September 9 he reported a disturbance in the town and said, “I must leave this evening.”

The next report Lois heard was that Paul and three Catholic priests, friends of his, were captured and the hospital burned. Then in a short letter dated September 24, Paul wrote, “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.”

The last message was a scrap of paper dated October 21, 1964. He wrote, “I know I’m ready to meet my Lord, but my thoughts for you make this more difficult. I trust that I might be a witness for Christ. . . .”

Five days later the Simba radio announced that a mercenary named Major Carlson had been captured and would be brought to Stanleyville for trial. “Major” Carlson was held prisoner in a hotel and became the rebels’ most publicized captive. Daily he was marched out for a mock execution but was beaten instead.

In late November Carlson was moved into another hotel with other American captives. As they talked together, Paul told them, “I can’t think about the future. I can just live one day at a time and trust the Lord for that day.”

After four days together, the roar of airplanes awakened the prisoners. “Outside! Outside!’ a Simba screamed as he ran through the halls.

Once outside they looked up to see Belgian paratroopers descending from the sky. Carlson was among about 250 white hostages herded toward the city square and ordered to sit down. The sound of machine guns was everywhere. Suddenly the Simbas began firing into the crowd of hostages. Carlson and some others ran for a nearby house, where they had to climb over a masonry wall to reach the porch. Carlson motioned for another missionary to go over the wall first. The other missionary dove over and reached back his hand for Carlson. Five shots rang out and Paul Carlson fell dead in the street. Later that missionary said, “By letting me go first, Paul died that I might live.”

His grave marker reads, “Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

Reflection

If you had been at the Communion service led by Paul Carlson when he asked only those willing to suffer for Christ to partake of the elements, would you have been a participant? It’s not a question to be taken lightly. But when we consider Christ’s sufferings, we see the pattern he set for those who follow him.

But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Romans 8:17