Otto Torvik

Otto Torvik (12 June 1901 – 8 April 1988) was a Norwegian missionary in Xinjiang and in India. He founded the Norwegian Missionary Muhammad Mission (Den Norske Muhammedanermisjon) in 1940. Today, the name is changed to Christian Muslim Mission (Kristen Muslimmisjon). ^[1]

Biography

Otto Torvik was born at Romsdal in Bolsøy parish just east of Molde, Norway. His father, Ingebrigt Taraldsen from Torvik in Romsdal, was a farmer and lay preacher. His mother was sick when Torvik was born, and she prayed that his son would to be used in the service of God.^[1] He attended Rauma Folkehøgskole in Molde, where Torvik first heard of the overseas missions. The missionary call grew in him and he continued to study at Fjellhaug Internasjonale Høgskole in Oslo which was run by the Norwegian Lutheran China Mission Association. Torvik was awarded with a Master of theology by Augsburg Seminary (now Augsburg University) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also studied at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut and was ordained in 1946.^[2]

In 1931, Torvik traveled to Chinese Turkistan to see if it was possible to start with a Christian mission there. In 1940 he founded the Norwegian Missionary Muhammad Mission (now Kristen Muslimmisjon). Torvik was a central role at the Mission serving as Secretary General between 1958 and 1966. Eight years later in 1948, Torvik traveled to India as a pioneer missionary. He built a mission station at Sajinipara in West Bengal which was the mission's first field mission in India.^[3]

Personal life

Otto Torvik was married to Helene Wiebe (1908-1979), the descendant of Dutch and German immigrants, whom he met in Kyrgyzstan. In his later years, he and his family resided in Norway. He died during 1988. Both he and his wife were buried at Grorud kirkegård in Oslo.^[4]

Authorship

1939 - Guds medarbeidere (published by Misjonskurset på Fjellhaug. new edition in 1986)
1939 - Mellom Muhammedanere (Bergen. new edition 1946)
1940 and 1942 - Abdulla Jan (Bergen)
1945 - Bak Himalaya (Bergen)
1961 - Muhammedanermisjon (Oslo)
1967 - Blant muhammedanere i India (Stavanger)
1971 - Frelse og ansvar (prekensamling) (Stavanger)
1981 - Helene fra Kirgisistan (Oslo)
Article in Misjonshuset i Bergen (by A. Tangeraas, Oslo, 1945 p. 300-314)
A series of articles in the magazine Lys over land

References

^ ^a ^b Nils Dybdal-Holthe. "Otto Torvik". Kristen Muslimmisjon. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ "OM Fjellhaug Internasjonale Høgskole". Fjellhaug Internasjonale Høgskole. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ Hans-Jørgen Wallin Weihe. "Kristen Muslimmisjon". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ "Otto Torvik". lokalhistoriewiki. Retrieved January 1, 2019.

External links

Kristen Muslimmisjon (KMM) website

v t e Norwegian missionaries in China
Norwegian mission societies	Norwegian Lutheran Mission Norwegian Missionary Society The Pentecostal Foreign Mission of Norway Norwegian Mission Alliance Christian Muslim Mission
Norwegian missionaries	Thorstein Himle Anna Sofie Jakobsen Bernt Berntsen Marie Monsen Olav Espegren Parley Gulbrandsen Edin Cornelius Alfsen Otto Torvik Sverre Holth Asbjørn Aavik Helga Jensine Waabenø Arnulf Solvoll

v t e Protestant missions to China
Background	Protestantism in China Protestantism in Sichuan Chinese history Missions timeline Christianity in China Nestorians Jesuits Protestant missions in China 1807–1953
People	David Howard Adeney Mary Ann Aldersey Roland Allen Thomas J. Arnold Gladys Aylward Joseph Beech John Birch William Jones Boone Pearl S. Buck John Burdon Thomas Cochrane Hunter Corbett Jonathan Goforth Frederick Graves Karl Gützlaff Francis Hanson Laura Askew Haygood Elizabeth G. K. Hewat Jennie V. Hughes Robert A. Jaffray Carl C. Jeremiassen Griffith John Walter Judd James Legge Eric Liddell Robert Samuel Maclay Lottie Moon Robert Morrison George Moule Gideon Nye David Paton Karl Ludvig Reichelt Timothy Richard Issachar Jacox Roberts Charles Scott Cambridge Seven George Smith Vincent John Stanton John and Betty Stam John Leighton Stuart Elwood Gardner Tewksbury Hudson Taylor Thomas Torrance William C. White (more missionaries)
Missionary agencies	American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions American Methodist Episcopal Mission Canadian Methodist Mission China Inland Mission Church Mission Society London Missionary Society National Christian Council US Presbyterian Mission Protestant Episcopal Church Mission List of Protestant missionary societies in China (1807–1953)
Colleges and universities	United Board University of Shanghai Cheeloo University Ginling College University of Nanking Soochow University Yenching University St. John's University Hangchow University Fukien Christian University Lingnan University College of Yale-in-China Huachung University West China Union University Peking Union Medical College Methodist Episcopal Church Hwa Nan College English Presbyterian Mission Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Reformed Church in the United States
Impact	Bible translations into Chinese Medical missions in China Manchurian revival Chinese Christian colleges Chinese hymnody Chinese Roman Type Minnan Roman Type Foochow Roman Type Anti-footbinding Anti-opium
Pivotal events	Taiping Rebellion First Opium War Second Opium War Unequal treaty Yangzhou riot Tianjin Massacre Kucheng Massacre Boxer Crisis 1911 Revolution Chinese Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War People's Republic
Publications	The Chinese Repository Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal The Christian Occupation of China Journal of the West China Border Research Society The West China Missionary News

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National	United States
Artists	KulturNav