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.

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