Benson, John Leonard (1884-1973)

It was a journey of hardship, sorrow, joy, and faith that brought John Leonard Benson to the mission field in China from his birthplace in Sweden. This journey gave him many lessons he would apply in his forty-year ministry of bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to those living in mainland China and Hong Kong. The journey began on January 4, 1884, in the town of Vega, Breared Parish, Halland Sweden, when John L. Benson was born, the sixth of seven children, to Elias and Anna Maria Nilsson Bengtsson.

John lived on the family farm in Veinge Parish until the age of six. His mother had died the previous year from pneumonia and his father, himself an invalid, had no choice but to divide the children among relatives, for he could not take care of the farm and the children by himself. John went to live with a newly-married cousin back in Breared Parish. His education consisted of two years of primary school and two years of grade school. He was confirmed at the age of 14, but recollected later that the instruction was just another routine of work with no particular meaning. It was not until after reading a letter informing him of the death of his older brother Birger, who drowned in a drunken brawl, that John had the realization he too would end up like his brother if he did not set himself upon a different path. Immediately after reading this letter he confessed his sins, asked for God's forgiveness, and pledged his life in service of the Lord.

In 1900, at the age of 16, John Benson emigrated to the United States after his older brother Peter sent him a ticket for passage from Liverpool, England, to New York, New York. It was an eventful journey for the younger Benson. While searching for a drink of water at a train station in Denmark, the train left without him. Upon arriving in Liverpool, he boarded the wrong boat and landed in Philadelphia instead of New York. He made his way to New Haven, Connecticut, and after searching that city for two hours, found the rooming house at which his brother was living.

He spent three years living in New Haven. In these years he attended special classes for immigrants and worked for local New Haven merchants. In 1903 he enrolled at Uppsala College, East Orange, New Jersey, graduating in 1909 with a bachelor's degree. Although he enrolled at the Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois, for the following fall, he instead began classes at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, with an eye to completing a master's degree in sociology. It was at the University of Chicago that John L. Benson's interest in foreign mission work was sparked. He had intended to complete his master's degree and begin ministering to those living in America's urban areas. But after becoming a member of the Student Volunteer Movement at the university, through which he was introduced to the study of Chinese culture and history, he began to think about devoting his life to mission work occurring in China. Though he struggled with his decision, in the end he believed he was called to the field in China and freely accepted that it was God's will.

After completing his master's degree in 1913, he returned to Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois, to complete his seminary studies. He was ordained in June 1914, in Sycamore, Illinois, with a call from the China Mission Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America. On July 29, 1914, he married Lillie Starbranch, a New Haven schoolteacher he met in 1910 while serving his home congregation of Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven, Connecticut. In August 1914 they departed for China, along with four other Augustana couples destined for mission work in China. Rev. Benson and his wife arrived at the mission field in Honan Province, China, on September 30, 1914.

In all, the Bensons spent four terms as missionaries in China. Their first term, 1914-1921, was spent in evangelistic work and teaching. The first years were spent in language study in Kikungshan with the Rev. August W. Edwins, Augustana's first missionary to China. After finishing up language training in Hsuchang, Rev. Benson was left in charge of the mission station there. During this time the Bensons encountered many hardships, but always maintained the ability to see the necessity of their work in China. Rev. Benson worked to train Chinese leadership for the eventuality of forming an indigenous church. When a famine developed in 1920, Rev. Benson began his involvement in relief work through his responsibility for distributing funds collected for famine relief. Also during this first term, the Bensons started a family, having three children, Hilda, Ellis, and Paul.

After their furlough in 1922, the Bensons began their second term in China. This term was an abbreviated one due to civil war in China. In January 1927, the family, minus Rev. Benson who had stayed behind in the field, was forced to evacuate the home to which they had fled in Kikungshan and take up residence in Hankow. By April the family was back in United States and settled in New Haven, Connecticut. Rev. Benson was able to join them later that summer.

The family spent 1928-1933 in the United States in the home mission field of Mayville-Brocton-Dunkirk, New York, where Rev. Benson had a pastorate. He served this congregation for five years. Also during this time, a fourth child, David, was born. Rev. Benson and his family were able to return to the China mission field in 1933. They were stationed at Hsuchang, Honan Province, and involved in education work. Rev. Benson was the principal of the Hasselquist School for Boys, and Mrs. Benson was the principal of the Emmy Evald Training School for Girls. In 1934 Rev. Benson was elected president of the Augustana Synod Mission, China. This was an office he would hold until his retirement from the field in 1954. Rev. Benson once again found himself involved with relief work due to the influx of refugees in 1940 from the Sino-Japanese War. In 1941 the family returned to the United States for a furlough and settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Rev. Benson stayed in Minneapolis until 1942 when he returned alone to China. This trip resulted from Rev. Benson contacting the Church Committee for China Relief in New York and volunteering to go to China to handle the distribution of relief funds for a famine that had developed in Honan Province. Augustana's Board of Foreign Missions agreed to pay his salary and travel expenses for this trip. This would begin Rev. Benson's fourth term in China. He served as a relief administrator in 1943-1944. And beginning in 1944, he was involved in establishing Lutheran congregations in Shensi Province; teaching at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Chungking; and later in 1945 after the end of the Sino-Japanese War, upon returning to Honan Province, rebuilding church organizations. His time in Honan was cut short due to illness. He returned to the United States in 1946 for medical treatment and was declared medically fit to return to mission work in 1947.

Rev. and Mrs. Benson's fifth term in China began in the fall of 1947. The first years back were marked by dealing with the effects of the Communist advance across China. In December of that year, the Bensons were not allowed to reenter Hsuchang. It became occupied after their departure for Hankow to retrieve supplies and their belongings. For two years the Bensons worked in various stations in China trying to keep one step ahead of the Communist advance. They lived and worked in Paoki, Sian, Shensi Province; Hankow, Hupeh Province; Hsuchang, Honan Province; Kunming; and Yunnan. In September 1949 they were evacuated to Hong Kong. They would spend the remaining years of their mission work there. Both Rev. and Mrs. Benson taught at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Taofongshan, Hong Kong, and Rev. Benson also worked as the Food and Famine Commissioner.

In forty years of missionary service Rev. Benson, in addition to his work previously mentioned, also spent time as a district superintendent in Hsuchang; secretary of the China Mission; president of the Central Honan Augustana Synod; English Secretary, Lutheran Church of China; and Chairman, China Committee, Lutheran World Federation. He was the founder of the Augustana Lutheran Church of Hong Kong and president of its Lutheran mission.

In the summer of 1954 the Bensons returned to the United States for good. Rev. Benson accepted a call in 1956 as interim pastor at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Uppsala, Minnesota. Upon their retirement in 1958 the Bensons moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and bought and furnished their first home in the United States. Their time together in St. Louis Park would be short-lived. On a trip back to New Haven in 1959, for the 100th Synod of the Augustana Church, Hartford, Connecticut, Mrs. Benson died suddenly at the age of 69. Shortly thereafter Rev. Benson sold their home in St. Louis Park and moved to the Lutheran Retirement Center, Deland, Florida. In 1962 Rev. Benson married Sister Myrtle Anderson, a deaconess and the Administrative Director of the Mount Olivet Lutheran Homes, Minneapolis, Minnesota. They lived in Deland, Florida, until 1968 when due to Rev. Benson's failing health they returned to Minnesota, where he entered the Augustana Nursing Home, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He passed away on March 14, 1973, at the age of 89.