Nielsen, Karen (1896–1990)

By Godfrey K. Sang

Godfrey K. Sang is a historical researcher and writer with an interest in Adventist history. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Eastern Africa Baraton and a number of qualifications from other universities. He is a published author. He is the co-author of the book On the Wings of a Sparrow: How the Seventh-day Adventist Church Came to Western Kenya.

First Published: October 10, 2024

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Karen Nielsen was a Danish missionary nurse and medical trainer who served faithfully in Kenya at the Kendu Mission Hospital for nearly 30 years in continued service in Kenya.

Early Life

Karen was born on April 29, 1896, in Sønder Galten, Framlev district, Århus county, Denmark.¹ She was the first of three children born to Anders Nielsen (b. 1861) and Kirsten Jensen (b. 1869). Her siblings were Dorthea Nielsen (1898-1953) and Niels Balle Nielsen (1899-1968).² Her parents were farmers, and she grew up on a farm.

After he education, she joined the Skodsborg Sanitarium, the premier Adventist medical institution which had opened in 1898 at Skodsborg, 10 miles north of the Danish capital Copenhagen. She worked under the founding director Dr. Carl Ottosen who had established the institution in two buildings that were once owned by the Danish royal family.³ Nielsen became a staff nurse at Skodsborg.

Mission Work

In 1925, Nielsen accepted the call to undertake mission work. The boat carrying Nielsen, the SS Chambourd, arrived in Mombasa, Kenya in December 1925.⁴ She arrived with Carentze Olsen, who had been her colleague at the Skodsborg Sanitarium. Together, they left Denmark on a different ship which dropped them at Marseilles in Southern France to await the ship which was to bring them to Kenya. Also on the same boat was veteran missionary Leonard Lane and his family from England were returning to Kenya after their furlough.⁵ Nielsen and Olsen boarded the ship at Marseilles. When they arrived in Mombasa, they took the train to Kisumu and finally a boat that took them across the lake to Kendu Bay. They then began working at Kendu Mission Hospital.

The newly constructed Kendu Adventist Hospital was barely finished by the time Nielsen arrived. The hospital, founded by Dr. G.A.S. Madgwick, was opened in 1925, the construction having started the previous year.⁶ It was originally named “Kenya Hospital” but changed its name to “Kendu Mission Hospital.” Nielsen arrived to find barely any equipment to run the facility let alone ward beds for the patients.⁷ She took turns with Olsen visiting outlying villages seeing patients and prescribing modern medication. Some patients in critical conditions had to be admitted at the main hospital, which at that time lacked ward beds, and so they had to sleep on grass mattresses on the floor.⁸ Olsen worked at Kendu until 1929, when she moved to Suji Mission in Tanganyika and was replaced by another Danish nurse, Dorothea Nielsen.⁹

Working at Kendu

The Kendu Mission Hospital in the west of Kenya by the Lake Victoria, became the focal point of the Adventist health services and grew rapidly. Nielsen was principally responsible for the nursing work, often in very difficult conditions. She quickly learnt Dholuo, the language of the Luo people, and her language proficiency helped with her work. Writing in the British Advent Messenger, her contemporary Pastor Spencer Maxwell wrote:

Budgets were small in those days. Africans were not yet used to paying for medicines. When there was no money to pay the workers, Sister Karen Nielsen and Carentze Olsen would in turn pack up a few essentials and go off into the villages to dispense medicines and give injections. A solitary African helper was her only bodyguard. Yet neither came to harm. African villages vied with each other for the honour of having the white nurse stay with them. After several weeks she returned with a heavy bag of shillings, and the hospital was able to continue operating until another crisis. Then the other sister went to the villages.¹⁰

In 1928, more nurses joined Kendu including Ruth Raitt and Rye Andersen. They worked under Dr. George Madgwick, the medical director.¹¹ In 1929, Karen’s younger sister Dorthea Nielsen, joined the work at Kendu.¹² Dorthea or “Thea,” as she was popularly known, worked at Kendu until 1947, when she moved to Nyanchwa.¹³

Evangelism Work

Other than her medical work in the hospital and surrounding villages, Nielsen found time to carry out the evangelism work, thanks to her command of the Luo language. She preached to various congregations and taught hygiene subjects in various campmeetings and to special groups. Once, she joined the village people at a gold mine to impart valuable life and spiritual lessons from close interactions with the people.¹⁴ In 1939, Dr. Madgwick left Kendu and was succeeded by Dr. L. Ermshar.¹⁵

Nielsen continued her missionary service at Kendu through the World War II years and after. During the post-war period, Kendu Mission Hospital began training nurses and other medical personnel. Nielsen became one of the educators in the Nursing program.¹⁶ In 1950, she completed her first 25 years of service at Kendu.

In November 1953, Nielsen’s sister and fellow missionary in Kenya, Thea Nielsen, died following a tragic road accident while in Denmark on furlough.¹⁷ Upon receiving the news of her sister’s death, Nielsen returned to Denmark, ending 29 years of continuous missionary service at Kendu. Her brother, Niels Nielsen, had moved from Ethiopia to work as the secretary-treasurer at the West African Union Mission.¹⁸

Retirement

Karen Nielsen last worked at the West Nordic Union Conference until her retirement in 1968.¹⁹ She remained in Denmark through much of that time but maintained close contact with the veteran missionaries in East Africa. In 1965, she travelled to England to attend the ministerial jubilee of Spencer Maxwell, who was the East Africa Union’s superintendent (1928-1942) during the time she was active as a missionary.²⁰ She maintained close contact with the Maxwells.

Death and Legacy

Karen Nielsen passed away on January 23, 1990. She was laid to rest at the Solbjerg Park Cemetery, Frederiksberg, Denmark.²¹ She is remembered for her exceptional contribution as a pioneering missionary nurse, dividing her time between the treatment rooms of Kendu Mission and visiting patients in outlying villages. She also expanded the medical ministry through training of nurses, some of whom still remember her for the meticulous timekeeping, attention to detail, and great professionalism. She braved the difficulties of the pioneering days with total dedication, never finding time to start a family.

Nielsen’s impact extended far beyond her medical expertise. She was a beacon of hope and compassion in the communities she served. Her tireless efforts in the nascent Adventist church in Africa, not only brought medical care to those in need but also inspired and mentored future generations of nurses. Today, Kendu Adventist Hospital trains hundreds of medical staff and continues the legacy of medical ministry pioneered by Karen Nielsen.

Sources

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6R-8F5H accessed May 29, 2024

Clifford, F. G. “The Passing of Miss Nielsen.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, December 1, 1953.

Knight, N. H. “Missionary News.” The Missionary Worker, December 11, 1925.

Maxwell, Spencer G. “Lest We Forget.” British Advent Messenger, March 14, 1969.

Nielsen, Karen. “Searching for Gold, Progress in Kenya.” The Advent Survey, June 1, 1940.

Robinson, Virgil E. Third Angel Over Africa. Unpublished manuscript held at the Pieter Wessels Library, Helderberg College, Somerset West, South Africa.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Second revised edition. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. S.v. “Skodsborg Sanitarium.”

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Teversham, Peggy. “Ministerial Jubilee.” British Advent Messenger, August 27, 1965.

Notes

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6R-8F5H accessed May 29, 2024↩
Denmark census records from: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS21-BFR8?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQL6R-ZZCB&action=view.↩
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Skodsborg Sanitarium.”↩
N. H. Knight, “Missionary News,” The Missionary Worker, December 11, 1925, 7.↩
Ibid.↩
Virgil Robinson, Third Angel Over Africa (unpublished manuscript held at the Pieter Wessels Library, Helderberg College, Somerset West, South Africa), 111.↩
Peggy Teversham, “Ministerial Jubilee,” British Advent Messenger, August 27, 1965, 3.↩
Ibid.↩
Robinson, Third Angel Over Africa, 125.↩
Spencer G. Maxwell, “Lest We Forget,” British Advent Messenger, March 14, 1969, 6.↩
“Southern Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1928), 155.↩
“Southern Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1930), 214.↩
“Southern Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1947), 162.↩
Karen Nielsen, “Searching for Gold, Progress in Kenya,” The Advent Survey, June 1, 1940, 7.↩
Robinson, Third Angel Over Africa, 134.↩
“Southern Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1941), 167.↩
F. G. Clifford, “The Passing of Miss Nielsen,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, December 1, 1953, 8.↩
“West African Union Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1956), 133.↩
“Southern Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1968), 189.↩
Peggy Teversham, “Ministerial Jubilee,” British Advent Messenger, August 27, 1965, 2-3.↩
BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com: 2012), Burial at Solbjerg Park Cemetery, Frederiksberg, Frederiksberg, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark.↩