Nielsen, Andreas (1907–1995)

Andreas Nielsen is known as a pioneer for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Greenland. As a missionary, literature evangelist, and pastor, he served in Denmark, Germany, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland.

Early Years

Andreas Johnsen Nielsen was born on March 15, 1907, in Emmerlev parish in Sønderjylland (Southern Jutland), which at the time was a part of Germany. He was baptized as a child on May 12, 1907, in the Emmerlev church. His parents were Anders Boisen Nielsen and Caroline Cathrine Nielsen (née Matzen). He was the youngest of two siblings. His older brother Søren Hansen Nielsen became a merchant in Viborg, Denmark. Andreas was only seven months old when his father, who was a farmer, died. His mother had to sell the farm during a time of economic depression and only received the equivalent of the price of 1 liter of milk. She had to toil hard with two jobs, sewing for people at night and cleaning the school early in the morning. Andreas learned only German the seven years he attended school in Højer, where the pupils were under strong cultural and political influence appealing for their loyalty to the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1920, when Sønderjylland (Southern Jutland) was reunited with the kingdom of Denmark after Germany was defeated in World War I, Andreas quite naturally became a Danish citizen. After his confirmation in the spring of 1922, he worked a short time as a church boy at Højer Church, where he rang the church bells. He was trained as a blacksmith, learning to shoe horses. It took him four years to complete his training in 1926. His test piece for finishing his apprenticeship was an adjustable spanner, which he kept on his desk.¹

It was difficult to find work in Denmark in a time of high inflation and widespread unemployment. He had to start with a few loose jobs, among them for a master blacksmith in Sønderborg, and then in 1927 for his uncle, master blacksmith Th. Matzen, in Sydslesvig. Eventually Andreas Nielsen got a permanent position as blacksmith at the shipbuilding yard in Flensburg, just across the border in Germany. He received a full salary and retirement benefits by accepting to become a German citizen on April 24, 1928.

Nielsen rented a room in Flensburg in a small guesthouse, where he also took his main meals. Here he met a colporteur of his own age, which turned out to be a Seventh-day Adventist. After a number of conversations, his colporteur friend put him in contact with the Adventist Church in Flensburg, and in February1930 he was baptized in Hamburg barely 23 years old. His mother was not happy for his conversion to Adventism, but he stood firm on his decision. He had to quit his job at the shipbuilding yard because of the Sabbath, and on March 1 he began as a literature evangelist and worked with great energy and zeal in sharing his faith.² He was sent to Hamburg where he in 1930 or 1931 met a centrally located and very influential Adventist leader, Ludwig R. Conradi. He was inspired by Conradi’s enthusiasm for the colporteur work as a means of sharing the Advent message (Conradi himself was a prolific writer and the author of religious publications and books, which were circulated in millions of copies), but didn’t share his skepticism regarding key Adventist doctrines like the Sanctuary Service and his condescending attitude to Ellen G. White and her ministry.

It was building up to a war in Europe, and his family persuaded him to come back to Denmark. He went to Copenhagen, where he continued to work as a literature evangelist. His application for Danish citizenship was denied. Nielsen became a Bible worker for Pastor Axel Varmer and met the young Aase Østergaard, who was an apprentice cook. They were married on December 30, 1942, in the Ebenezer Church and set up home in Høng in the western part of Zealand where Andreas Nielsen worked as an evangelist. It was in the middle of World War II, and Denmark was occupied by the Germans. Being a German citizen, the summons to join the German army came to Nielsen only three months after the wedding. First, he had to participate as “Zeitfreiwilliger” with weekly courses in first aid, orienteering, and shooting exercises. It took another three months before he had to leave.³

In the German Army

Nielsen didn’t want to be a regular combat soldier but hoped to join the medical platoon. When he mentioned the topic, he was told that if he did not obey orders he would be brought before a court-martial. However, a kind officer listened to his request, and he was sent to the barracks in Neumünster in Holstein, where he received training as a medical worker. One of Nielsen’s first concerns was whether he could be excused for service on Sabbath, which seemed hopeless. Sabbaths was scouring and scrubbing days at the barracks. The request was first met with strictness and threats. But when Nielsen insisted, they tried to persuade him to give up his ideas. Eventually two medical officers asked if it was a question of conscience, and when confirmed, he was excused from cleaning work on Sabbath. Instead, he was allowed to sit in the living room and read his Bible.⁴

After eight weeks of training, he and a small group were on their way to Lübeck, where the troops were gathering and then sent by train to the Eastern front in Russia. The train traveled about six days through Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, and eventually reached Pleskow on the Russian border. After a short stay at the barracks there, they were divided into teams and sent on to different front sections in Russia. Nielsen was sent northeast to the south of the Ladoga Lake. The swampy area was infested with mosquitos, and in the nights they could hear the uninterrupted boom of the drumfire at the nearby front. On arrival at the main dressing area for wounded soldiers, he was asked to help dig out bunkers but was soon sent closer to the frontline. On the way he saw the large cemeteries with the many wooden crosses of fallen soldiers. It was in the little town of Emga he came to serve as a medical worker. The bunker was crammed full of wounded soldiers. “In the night Russian airplanes came over us and threw their bombs, and in the daytime we could be surprised by shells that after a short whine fell while the shrapnel whizzed around us.” Even a few Russian soldiers were treated. “I shall never forget the grateful look a Russian soldier gave me when, after applying a bandage, I shook his hand.” ⁵

One evening when Nielsen had a Bible study with his comrades about the signs of the times and the second coming of Christ, he was told that there was another Adventist in his company. It was a great joy to meet a fellow believer in the lonely hours of war. “How blessed it was to kneel together with this brother and speak with someone who was one in the Spirit and in the Advent hope.” From Emga, Nielsen was moved to the main dressing area in Mikalowski about eight km behind the front. One day the wounded requested him to have a worship service with them, which he happily complied with.⁶

Late in the fall of 1943 the German army began to retreat because of the Russian pressure. It was a long way back, and it took eight months to get out of Russia. Part of the distance Nielsen and his company were lucky to get transportation by train, but hundreds of kilometers they had to march on bad country roads in the freezing cold of winter and in the blazing heat of summer. On one occasion they were ambushed by Russian soldiers; many got wounded and they barely got away alive. Nielsen describes the horrors of the scene and how the surgeons worked day and night to save lives. On many occasions Nielsen had the opportunity to encourage his patients, pray for them, and direct them to Jesus Christ. He also was reminded how he many times was able to gather a small circle for Bible study and prayer. After a short furlough of 21 days, he had to go back to join the army again.⁷ Toward the end of the war, he suffered a broken leg, which became his rescue. After he had been brought to a hospital for treatment, that same night a violent fight with the enemy broke out, one of the worst his old comrades had experienced. When the war was over, Nielsen and two companions walked back to Germany. Nielsen carried a bag filled with empty bags and was about to put it on a tow truck beside him. Suddenly a truck came from behind and hit him in the back. He was thrown into the air but luckily landed on the bags he carried and was unharmed. The walk back was a hard time with starvation and sometimes eating mouldy bread that they found.⁸ He was eventually discharged from military service on June 20, 1945, and was free to return home.⁹

Serving in Denmark and the Faroes

When the war ended in 1945, Nielsen longed to meet his wife Aase, whom he had not seen since he left Denmark. But being a German citizen, he could not just travel to Denmark and was rejected at the Danish border. It took almost another year until he could cross the border on April 8, 1946, and be joined with Aase after three years of separation.^{10 11} The medical check-up went fine, but after a while the after effects of the war began to show. Nielsen went into a deep depression and was hospitalized while Aase was expecting their first child. After treatment and much prayer, Nielsen could again take up his work as a pastor in Nykøbing Falster district. Their son, Anders, was born in 1947. Then followed his service in Bornholm around 1949, when he eventually regained his Danish citizenship and also was ordained. Then followed a term in the Faroe Islands, where his daughter, Elsebeth, was born in 1952.¹²

Nielsen did not have much formal education, although he did have a short stay at Newbold College, and was mostly self-taught.¹³ From childhood he was fluent in German and Danish, and later he learned English by comparing Ellen G. White’s writings word by word in the German translations with the English originals. He read widely and his library was extensive with Ellen G. White, Friedrich W. Krummacher (a German Reformed clergyman), John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, and Skovgaard Petersen (a Danish Lutheran preacher and author) as his favorites. Especially the book, the Great Controversy, came to play a major role in his mission program. He sold or gave it away, wherever there was an opportunity.¹⁴

Pioneer Work in Greenland

The highpoint of Nielsen’s ministry was his work in Greenland, the world’s largest island. In 1953, when Greenland ceased to be a Danish colony and religious liberty was introduced, he was called by the Northern European Division to open the Adventist work in this new field.¹⁵ The population at the time was about 22,000 Inuit and 16,000 Scandinavians, most of who were from Denmark. Except for the capital Nuuk, people lived in small towns and settlements along the western coast primarily and could only be accessed by boat in most places. Nielsen arrived in Godhavn (Qeqertarsuaq) in June 1953 with a load of message-filled literature, including hundreds of Den store Strid (Great Controversy), Sundhed og Livslykke (Home and Health), Vejen til Kristus (Steps to Christ), storybooks for children, and a good supply of Tidernes Tegn (Signs of the Times) and Sundhedsbladet (Good Health)–all in the Danish language. Also, he had brought 4,000 copies of the tract Ardlorit (Look Up) printed in Greenlandic and the first publication in this tongue.¹⁶

Having great faith in Adventist literature and good experience in door-to-door work as a literature evangelist, this became Nielsen’s primary method of reaching the people of Greenland. In the winter he was limited to working in Nuuk, but in the summer he traveled with the steamer Julius Thomsen on the west coast visiting the towns and settlements from Julianehåb (Qaqortoq) in the south to Thule (Qaanaaq) in the north. In his first letter back to his conference president in Copenhagen, dated July 8, 1953, he writes:

I have now practically finished the distribution of the Greenlandic tract here in Holsteinsborg (Sisimiut). It is a town with about one thousand inhabitants…. I have now been in this place one and a half weeks and have spent forty-two hours in visiting in the homes. During this time I have sold and delivered literature to the value of 800 kroner. When we remember that only a few are able to read Danish, I am astonished at the result. Last Thursday I held my first public meeting with an attendance of about two hundred fifty.¹⁷

This was just the beginning. He would have many similar experiences when he traveled along the coastal towns with his books and later with secondhand clothes from the Dorcas Society in Nuuk. The books and magazines prepared the way, his visitation in the homes endeared him to many people, and in the evening he gathered people for public meetings often opening with the topic of hope in the second coming of Christ. His daughter, Elsebeth, remembers how he traveled with a large pack: tent, sleeping bag, a filled backpack, in addition to the books and other evangelistic materials. In some places he could book a room in the hotel or stay in a school or with a family. But often he had to put up his tent. There were occasions when he had to defend himself from the Greenland sledge dogs, and it was not safe to stay out in the open.¹⁸

In the beginning opposition was strong. Rumors had it that he belonged to a cult and was a false prophet. Therefore, people were reluctant to let him into their homes. Once when he was sitting with a Greenlandic family and they listened to the radio, he felt that the people in the home suddenly looked rather strangely at him. Afterwards they told him that they had just been warned by the speaker against him and the message he preached.¹⁹ On another occasion, when traveling in southern Greenland, he stayed in a barrack and was sitting close to the window studying. Suddenly he heard a voice calling at the door. He rose and opened the door, but there was no one. Just then the window was smashed, and he thought it was a stone, but didn’t find it. Years later he was shown what kind of “stone” it was. There was a clear mark from a bullet in the wall.²⁰

The dean of the Lutheran State Church in Nuuk was sending letters and messages around warning people against Nielsen and his fellow worker Ernst Hansen from Denmark, who had joined him the second summer.²¹ The warnings worked at the beginning, and many people would not open their doors for them. But as the local catechists got to read the literature and saw that it was harmless and biblical, they also were willing to serve as translators at the meetings, even opening their churches; the attitude among people began to change, and they made many friends. The opposition, it was told, also made Nielsen the most well-known person in Greenland next to Hans Egede,²² who had brought Christianity to this vast community. Especially when Nielsen also brought with him clothing for the poor in the small settlements, he was welcomed with open arms. “Helping hands are always present at the quay to hand the sacks and bundles to the place of distribution, and rumors that the ‘good hands of Dorcas’ had reached the colony soon spread to all the homes.”²³ His first convert was Amon Bertelsen in Holsteinborg (Sisimiut), who had already received Adventist literature from fishermen from the Faroe Islands and were beginning to keep the Sabbath.²⁴

The first many months Nielsen had to live and work on his own with his family still in Denmark. In 1954 a pastor’s house was built in Godthåb (Nuuk). Public meetings were in the beginning held in their private home, called the “mission station.” The sitting room became the meeting hall. The carpet was rolled to one side, folding chairs were put up, and the room was closely crammed with Greenlanders. The first baptism was performed in the washing room downstairs after the walls had been painted white and flowers and lights decorated the place.²⁵ It was Nielsen’s desire to build a children’s home in Nuuk, but the local authorities wouldn’t agree, because the Adventist Church was a free church. Instead, a physiotherapy clinic was approved.²⁶ The Skodsborg clinic was built in 1958, and a church building seating 84 people was added the same year.^{27 28}

The new facilities greatly improved the mission possibilities for the church. Dorcas activities, programs for Sunday school children, public meetings, goodwill from the clinic, and a church home for the few members in Greenland. In 1959 Nielsen got on Greenland Radio and had the privilege of sharing the message of the Adventist Church and its world-wide mission activities in a 20-minutes broadcast. Also, a major part of The Great Controversy was translated into Greenlandic and sold with enthusiasm all over the country.²⁹ The Nielsen family stayed until 1963, when it was decided to go back to Denmark. There were then 12 members in the church and many friends and contacts.³⁰

Later Years and Legacy

From 1963-1977 Nielsen served as pastor in the following districts in the East Denmark Conference: Næstved, Haslev, Vordingborg (1963-1966), Hillerød and Frederiksværk (1966-1971), Nykøbing Falster (1971-1974), and Næstved (1974-1977). He took a second term in Greenland (1978 to 1979) and ended his services to the church in Viborg (1980-1982) in the West-Denmark Conference. ³¹

Through the years Andreas Nielsen had built many good contacts in Greenland. After he left and went back to Denmark, he would travel back yearly to Nuuk and the other major towns in the Harvest Ingathering campaign. He was welcomed everywhere, and the humanitarian dimension of his work was much appreciated. A personal thank you letter in 1979 written by the chairman of the national board, Jonathan Motzfeldt, confirms this.³²

Nielsen felt a close community with fellow Christians and preachers. He did not pass by any bishop, priest, or pastor in sharing biblical truth. Christ was central in his preaching, and on this foundation he reached out to other Christians without weakening his Adventist position.³³ His understanding of the cross-border and prejudice-breaking consequences of Christ’s community was expressed in his farewell sermon on Jesus’ intercessory prayer in John 17 in Viborg on June 26, 1982, where five ministers from other Christian denominations were present.³⁴

His favorite quote from Ellen G. White was: “The moment the sinner believes in Christ, he stands in the sight of God uncondemned, for the righteousness of Christ is his, Christ’s perfect obedience is imputed to him.” ³⁵ This quote was often repeated, and with emphasis on “uncondemned.”

As a witness and tribute to Andreas Nielsen’s dedicated work for the Greenland mission, his daughter, Elsebeth Butenko, has followed in the steps of her father and the last three years (2021-2023) visited the world’s largest island from home to home for four to five months at a time with the books Steps to Christ, the Great Controversy, and a book for children–all in Danish and Greenlandic.

Sources

Butenko, Elsebeth, “Min Far” (My Father), unpublished manuscript, e-mail to Sven H. Jensen, June 2, 2023.

Madsen, Jens, Funeral speech for Andreas Nielsen on January 17, 1995. Copy from Historical Archives of the Seventh-day Adventists, Denmark (HASDA), sent by mail to Sven H. Jensen April 27, 2023.

Muderspach, H. “The Adventist Message in Greenland.” Northern Light, September 1953.

Nielsen, Anders E. “NOTAT, Andreas Johnsen Nielsen in piam memoriam.” Unpublished paper to Sven H. Jensen, November 2023.

Nielsen, Anders E. “Pastor Andreas Nielsen in Piam Memoriam.” (Commemorative Words), at Andreas Nielsen’s funeral, January 17, 1995. Unpublished manuscript to Sven H. Jensen, March 2023.

Nielsen, Andreas. “Afskedsprædiken.” (Farewell sermon), Adventnyt, December 1982.

Nielsen, Andreas. “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains.” Northern Light, December 1954.

Nielsen Andreas. “Mine Oplevelser under Krigen.” (My Experiences During the War), Advent-Ungdom, No. 8, 1946.

Nielsen, Andreas. “Physiotherapy Clinic in Greenland.” Northern Light, April 1959.

Nielsen, Andreas, “The Kind Hands of Dorcas,” Northern Light, January 1960.

Pedersen, John. “Greenland, Our Direct Responsibility.” Was It Worth the Effort? eds. Børge and Hans Jørgen Schantz (Denmark: Dansk Bogforlag, 1999).

Rudge, E.B. “Greenland Entered!” Northern Light, July 1953.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Review and Herald Publishing, 1966. S.v. “Greenland”.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1963. https://adventistyearbook.org/.

Tarr, A.F. “Greenland.” Northern Light, February 1956.

White, Ellen G. ARH, Vol 73, November 10, 1896.

Notes

1. Elsebeth Butenko, daughter of Andreas Nielsen, in an e-mail to Sven H. Jensen June 2, 2023.↩

2. Ibid.; Anders E. Nielsen, son of Andreas Nielsen, “Pastor Andreas Nielsen in Piam Memoriam” (Commemorative Words) at Andreas Nielsen’s funeral January 17, 1995. Unpublished manuscript, sent by e-mail to Sven H. Jensen, March 2023. Anders E. Nielsen, NOTAT, Andreas Johnsen Nielsen in piam memoriam, Unpublished paper, sent by e-mail to Sven H. Jensen November 2023.↩

3. Elsebeth Butenko and Anders E. Nielsen↩

4. Andreas Nielsen, ”Mine Oplevelser under Krigen,” (My Experiences during the War), Advent-Ungdom, No. 8, 1946, 10.↩

5. Ibid.↩

6. Ibid.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Butenko.↩

9. Anders E. Nielsen, NOTAT, 14.↩

10. Ibid.↩

11. During the years of separation Andreas and Aase kept in contact by letters, of which 119 (over 400 handwritten pages) are in the custody of their son, Anders Eyvind Nielsen. The field post (F.P.) letters had the following sender indication: Soldier Andreas Nielsen. F.P. nr. 39348. His letters written in Danish were censured so as not to reveal the exact place, where he was serving, and certain lines or sections were crossed out. However, the content apart from a husband’s tender feelings for his wife was full of religious encouragement and spiritual care as he related some of his personal experiences at the front.↩

12. Butenko.↩

13. Ibid.↩

14. Anders E. Nielsen, Pastor Andreas Nielsen in Piam Memoriam, 2.↩

15. John Pedersen, Greenland, Our Direct Responsibility?” Was it Worth the Effort? eds. Børge and Hans Jørgen Schantz (Denmark: Dansk Bogforlag), 1999), 65.↩

16. E.B. Rudge, “Greenland Entered!”, Northern Light, July 1953, 12.↩

17. H. Muderspach, “The Adventist Message In Greenland,” Northern Light, September, 1953, 1.↩

18. Butenko↩

19. Ibid.↩

20. Pedersen, 66-67.↩

21. Andreas Nielsen, “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” Northern Light, December 1954, 1.↩

22. A.F. Tarr, “Greenland,” Northern Light, February 1956, 11.↩

23. Andreas Nielsen, “The Kind Hands of Dorcas,” Northern Light, January 1960, 3.↩

24. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1966), s.v. “Greenland”.↩

25. Butenko.↩

26. Ibid.↩

27. Pedersen, 65.↩

28. Andreas Nielsen, “Physiotherapy Clinic in Greenland,” Northern Light, April, 1959, 1.↩

29. Ibid.↩

30. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook 1963, 170.↩

31. Butenko.↩

32. Anders E. Nielsen, 2.↩

33. Jens Madsen, Funeral Speech for Andreas Nielsen on January 17, 1995, 3. Copy from Historical Archives of Seventh-day Adventists, Denmark (HASDA) sent by mail to Sven H. Jensen April 27, 2023.↩

34. Andreas Nielsen, ”Afskedsprædiken” (Farewell sermon) Adventnyt, December 1982, 8-9.↩

35. Ellen G. White, ARH, vol 73, November 10, 1896, 717.↩