Collection 440 Oral History Interviews with Inge Rydland

Collection

Identifier: CN 440

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Oral history interviews with Inge Herman Rydland in which he describes his family's Lutheran evangelistic work in Norway; his own call to become a missionary; his and his wife's departure to Ethiopia as workers of the Swedish Evangelical Mission in 1977; his work in Ethiopia as a teacher and as a community development work. Other topics discussed include: the work of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Meaken Yesus; church state relations; effect of the Ethiopian political situation on the church; observations on the Ethiopian famine of the 1980;, relations between missions and the national church; medical care in the country; and comparions between American and Norwegian missionaries. The time period covered by the interviews is1954 to1991.

Inge Rydland was interviewed by Paul Ericksen in 1991 at the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College.

Dates

Created: 1991

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Full Name: Inge Herman Rydland

Birth Date: October 14, 1950, in Toten, Norway Family:

Parents: Father was a missionary with the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, mother was a homemaker who in later life became a concert singer

Siblings: Two brothers (both older) and three sisters (all younger)

Marital Status: Married Signe Persson, who had growth up as a child of missionaries in Ethiopia

Children: Four - Camilla (1973), Jonas (1976), Magdalena (1978), and Christina (1985)

Conversion: At the age of 14

Education:

Graduated from secondary school in Bergen, Norway

Missionary School of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, did not graduate

Malmo Technical Institute, Sweden, majored in mechanical engineering, B.SC.

Wheaton College Graduate School, intercultural studies; MA in Communications, 1991

Northern Illinois University, Ph.D. in Education, 1993

Career:

Consultant for Westinghouse in Sweden, helping to build nuclear reactors

1976-1977 Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM) Youth Secretary in W. Skaane, Sweden and language study in England

February, 1977 Went to Ethiopia with his wife and family as a worker with the Swedish Evangelical Mission, a Lutheran institution

1977-1983 Served as technical advisor and teacher at Negjo Technical School in Negjo, Ethiopia

1983-1985 Development coordinator at the Lutheran Synod Center in Bodji, Ethiopia

1985-1989 Coordinator of SEM's nationwide projects, based in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia

1989-1993 In the United States for education at Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University

1993-1996 Program director and deputy resident representative for Norwegian Church Aid development projects in Ethiopia, based in Addis Adaba

1996- Left Ethiopia to take a position as senior advisor to the Director General of NORAD, the Norwegian agency for international development

Extent

6 Audio Tapes

285 Minutes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Accruals and Additions

The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Inge H. Rydland in February and March 1991.

Accession: 91-17, 91-21, 91-25

April 9, 1997

Robert Shuster

M. Bergstedt