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Monganga Paul: The Congo Ministry and Martyrdom of Paul Carlson, M.D.
Here is the electrifying story of Christian heroism that caught the world’s imagination – the story of the California surgeon who took his family into the steaming Congo, only to be gunned down by rebel Simbas, the “lion men.” The horror of Dr. Paul’s death on a side street in Stanleyville, as rescuers raced toward him, evoked shocked reactions all over the world. The full impact of that event is described in this book by Lois Carlson, Dr. Paul’s wife and helpmate who shared his years of preparation and struggle. Mrs. Carlson traces with moving simplicity and directness the story of the man as he grew and developed. Beginning with his boyhood in California, she tells of the direction of his life, and of the long years of schooling and preparation. Then she describes the struggle for both the Carlsons with the temptation to settle for the comforts of a wealthy suburban medical practice. The Carlsons turned their backs on that life and took their young children with them into the Congo, where they waged a new kind of struggle – to build a life founded not on material comfort but on service to hundreds of thousands in desperate need of the medical and spiritual ministry that the Carlsons conducted. The sights and sounds of daily life in the forgotten corner of the Ubangi plateau – Wasolo - spring from these pages, as do the tales of the real bonds of love that grew between the Carlsons and their African brethren. Finally, in the closing pages of this book, the reader will come to grasp the extraordinary moral force of the quiet heroism of Paul Carlson. In his final days, as thousands about him were losing their balance, he kept an inspiring calm. He went on serving in the jail cells of Stanleyville as he had in the steaming jungles of the Congo – as a witness for Christ, living his faith, and inspiring millions by his example.
199 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 15, 2017
Lately I've been thinking that the more "low church" streams within Christianity have impoverished ourselves by not reading and learning about the sorts of people in our collective history to which the Catholic Church usually refers as "saints." But that thought may have come in part because it's been such a long time since I've read a good missionary biography, I forgot about them. This book was a great, inspiring, reintroduction to the genre--even though (or maybe because) it highlighted so starkly the feebleness of my own faith and the ease of my own circumstances.
July 22, 2013
It was really unique--not what I expected. Rather than a bunch of do-gooder language persuading me to go to Africa and serve the poor, this is a really beautiful and honest depiction of a man and his work. Yes, at times I cynically questioned the stalwart faith of Paul and his wife, but just because I don't live at that level of faith doesn't mean theirs was any less real. And I appreciated the honesty about frustrations experienced before, after and during the family's time in Congo.
May 5, 2020
This is one of those books that I will never forget. Whether you are a Christian or not, anyone would respect and draw inspiration from this great man. Paul Carlson was a dedicated surgeon with a good medical practice in California. Then he felt the call to go be a missionary in the African Congo. He paid the ultimate price for his service. He was murdered by rebels. Thankfully he was able to get his family out just prior to his demise. People there begged him to leave to safety, but he just couldn't leave the people that needed his services so much.
He didn't think he'd be mistreated being a doctor. In September, Dr. Paul was arrested, then tortured physically and mentally. He was sent 300 miles south to Stanleyville where he became a pawn of the Simba rebels. They repeatedly sentenced him to death as an American spy, sparing him whenever they thought they were about to win concessions from the Belgian and American governments, which opposed their activities. Carlson’s worried family spent their days listening to shortwave radio, praying for word of his safety.
I put this great man on scale with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German evangelical pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, who kept his faith and ministered to others during WWII despite Nazi threats. Bonhoeffer was murdered by the Nazis at the end of the war.
Men like these make me feel so humble and they inspire me. Beautiful examples of Agape love.
He didn't think he'd be mistreated being a doctor. In September, Dr. Paul was arrested, then tortured physically and mentally. He was sent 300 miles south to Stanleyville where he became a pawn of the Simba rebels. They repeatedly sentenced him to death as an American spy, sparing him whenever they thought they were about to win concessions from the Belgian and American governments, which opposed their activities. Carlson’s worried family spent their days listening to shortwave radio, praying for word of his safety.
I put this great man on scale with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German evangelical pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, who kept his faith and ministered to others during WWII despite Nazi threats. Bonhoeffer was murdered by the Nazis at the end of the war.
Men like these make me feel so humble and they inspire me. Beautiful examples of Agape love.
October 5, 2017
What induces people to leave a life of affluence for a life of trials and deprivation? Is it easy to do what God’s wants us to do?
It’s too short book to answer those questions nor does she try. She just tells how they answered those questions in their life. They knew it would be a long time till they get to the mission field, but they didn’t foresee the temptations that could come between them and God’s will.
The majority of the book is about his early career and ministry. Then the last part covers the well-known events that ended their ministry in the Congo.
Despite the title being “Monganga Paul”, it doesn’t really read like a biography of Paul Carlson. His story is there, but it is almost secondary. It really is the story of the whole family as told from the wife’s perspective. I’m not sure there was any other way for it to be told. It doesn’t seem that Dr. Carlson kept journals. He wrote letters and sermons so there are some direct quotes.
I was disappointed on one point. For a missionary biography, the Gospel was strangely absent. Belief in Christ was mentioned, but that was about all. No message of Salvation was ever clearly shared.
It’s too short book to answer those questions nor does she try. She just tells how they answered those questions in their life. They knew it would be a long time till they get to the mission field, but they didn’t foresee the temptations that could come between them and God’s will.
The majority of the book is about his early career and ministry. Then the last part covers the well-known events that ended their ministry in the Congo.
Despite the title being “Monganga Paul”, it doesn’t really read like a biography of Paul Carlson. His story is there, but it is almost secondary. It really is the story of the whole family as told from the wife’s perspective. I’m not sure there was any other way for it to be told. It doesn’t seem that Dr. Carlson kept journals. He wrote letters and sermons so there are some direct quotes.
I was disappointed on one point. For a missionary biography, the Gospel was strangely absent. Belief in Christ was mentioned, but that was about all. No message of Salvation was ever clearly shared.
December 9, 2025
An amazing story of an amazing person...thank you Lois...it sure was a pleasure meeting you and knowing that Dr. Paul was you dearly beloved husband.
Anyone wanting to go on missions’ ministry or even if you don’t…you will love this story and the way Lois tells it, she is amazing too!
Anyone wanting to go on missions’ ministry or even if you don’t…you will love this story and the way Lois tells it, she is amazing too!
December 14, 2022
It appears that this book was written by Dr. Paul Carlson's widow about a year after his death in 1964. She is still grieving, and I wondered about the objectivity of the portrayal. It's hard to understand why God would allow a young doctor, so badly needed in this place and time, to be killed. Another book I am reading had this to say about martyrs:
"Just as beauty and charity stand as witnesses to the Gospel, so martyrdom has traditionally been the seed of the church. In the early church, the willingness to suffer, even to the point of laying down one’s life, for Christ was seen as the most powerful testimony to the truth of Christ. Today’s churches will not be equipped if we do not keep this in mind and live lives prepared to suffer severe hardship, even death, for our faith. Rarely do American Christians think of the martyrs of church history, those who gave their lives in witness to the faith. Stories of brave men and women who suffered physical torment and death rather than betray Christ don’t fit easily into the upbeat vibe in many American churches. But these are our people, too, and they have important lessons for us—lessons that we desperately need to hear. They embody heroic faith, and a love of Christ so profound they were willing to give their own lives.". Ron Dreher in "The Benedictine Option"
Dr. Carlson could have escaped with his life if he had chosen to leave the Congo with the rest of his family during this time of political instability and danger. But he was devoted to the people he was called to serve. The impact of his life and death on the people in this remote region is attested by the governor of Ubangi province who stated, "the people of the Ubangi sorrow because of the terrible and unmerited death of him who had given himself devotedly for them in caring for their physical needs as a doctor. . . .However, if this is able to be of comfort to you, I am able to assure you that the sacrifice of your husband will not have been in vain. In fact, the grave where he rests in a village of our Province will remain always as a reminder to us that in the midst of the hatred and violence that troubled our Congo, a man willingly gave himself to die (to make the supreme sacrifice) for an ideal of peace, love and brotherhood among men."
Good book. The book has been on the family bookshelf since I was a child. My mom knew some of the missionaries who worked with Dr. Carlson. I retrieved the book from her things after she died last year. Glad I finally read the book. Good picture of medical missionary life in a remote area. Sadly, if anything, the Congo has regressed since this book was written. The town with the nearest airport to the Carlson's village was Bumba (168 miles away). Wikipedia currently describes Bumba as a city of over 100,000 inhabitants without electricity or running water.
"Just as beauty and charity stand as witnesses to the Gospel, so martyrdom has traditionally been the seed of the church. In the early church, the willingness to suffer, even to the point of laying down one’s life, for Christ was seen as the most powerful testimony to the truth of Christ. Today’s churches will not be equipped if we do not keep this in mind and live lives prepared to suffer severe hardship, even death, for our faith. Rarely do American Christians think of the martyrs of church history, those who gave their lives in witness to the faith. Stories of brave men and women who suffered physical torment and death rather than betray Christ don’t fit easily into the upbeat vibe in many American churches. But these are our people, too, and they have important lessons for us—lessons that we desperately need to hear. They embody heroic faith, and a love of Christ so profound they were willing to give their own lives.". Ron Dreher in "The Benedictine Option"
Dr. Carlson could have escaped with his life if he had chosen to leave the Congo with the rest of his family during this time of political instability and danger. But he was devoted to the people he was called to serve. The impact of his life and death on the people in this remote region is attested by the governor of Ubangi province who stated, "the people of the Ubangi sorrow because of the terrible and unmerited death of him who had given himself devotedly for them in caring for their physical needs as a doctor. . . .However, if this is able to be of comfort to you, I am able to assure you that the sacrifice of your husband will not have been in vain. In fact, the grave where he rests in a village of our Province will remain always as a reminder to us that in the midst of the hatred and violence that troubled our Congo, a man willingly gave himself to die (to make the supreme sacrifice) for an ideal of peace, love and brotherhood among men."
Good book. The book has been on the family bookshelf since I was a child. My mom knew some of the missionaries who worked with Dr. Carlson. I retrieved the book from her things after she died last year. Glad I finally read the book. Good picture of medical missionary life in a remote area. Sadly, if anything, the Congo has regressed since this book was written. The town with the nearest airport to the Carlson's village was Bumba (168 miles away). Wikipedia currently describes Bumba as a city of over 100,000 inhabitants without electricity or running water.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews