The case in summary Sveinung Enstad from Norway started boarding school in Ethiopia in 1981, where he lived with other missionary children. The school was 320 kilometers from his parents’ house, and Sveinung only saw them 3-4 times a year. Sveinung and his older brother Kjetil knew each other at school, but found out about it from their parents. The parents, Bjørn and Svanhild, had a close connection to the Norwegian Lutheran Missionary Association (NLM) and knew it as a calling to travel to Ethiopia. As adults, several missionary children have told about experiences of neglect. Sveinung and Kjetil were lucky to have a woman they called Aunt Ågot at the boarding school, who functioned as a sort of reserve mother. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. It is the first day of school for a fair-haired boy from Norway, autumn 1981. Sveinung is happy, but he is also excited. He has good reasons for that. He will live at a boarding school together with other children of missionaries. The school is located in the capital Addis Ababa, about 320 kilometers from his parents’ house in the town of Yirga Alem. Sveinung gets off to a good start, but there are many impressions. When the seven-year-old goes to bed on the first night, he has a lot to tell. But the parents cannot hear him. They are not there. Three young roommates at the gate of the boarding school in Yirga Alem. From left Sveinung Enstad, Ole Harald Neergård and Kjetil Enstad. Photo: private A sad matter In the 1950s, the Norwegian Lutheran Missionary Association (NLM) established boarding schools for missionary children around the world. They were often far away from where the parents lived and worked. It was not unusual for the children to see their parents only 3-4 times a year. Adult missionary children now tell about trauma from their time as missionary children, and criticize NLM for refusing to take responsibility on several occasions. Sveinung Enstad attended boarding school for just over six months from the age of seven. Memories are few, but when his own son started school in autumn 2010, Sveinung had a bad association. His body remembers a matter that his brain had forgotten. Sveinung saw himself in the zone when he started school. Photo: Jørgen Leangen / news Sveinung’s son Vemund on the first day of school in Trondheim in 2010. – He was so like me! It was so bad to think about what it would have been like to see each other only a few times a year, Father Sveinung says. Back in 1981, Sveinung’s parents offered him a day trip from the boarding school he attended. Despite missing them, he was still not lonely, because older brother Kjetil went there too. The brothers had each other, but that didn’t always help the homesickness. Their mother said that Kjetil in particular knew a lot about the missing parents. Especially in the evenings and nights. But it wasn’t just the brothers who thought a lot about their parents. Mother and father Enstad also longed for the boys. They quickly understood that the distance to the school would be as difficult as the road was long. Being two was a consolation. The brothers were often dressed in the same kind of clothing. Photo: private Mother and father’s calling Although it was NLM that decided how the Enstad family would live and work in Ethiopia, it was the parents’ own choice to go there. Or was it? Father Bjørn and mother Svanhild had a connection to one of the leaders in the Missions Association. When the organization asked them to travel, it was difficult to say no. With God as the foundation in life, they knew it as a calling. As a task from God himself. The people in the Missions Association took Jesus’ words about the mission command seriously. It was he who in the scriptures encouraged them to go out and tell all peoples about Christian faith and life. This is how it happened that a passage in the Bible became more important than the bond between the missionaries and their children. The Enstad family with father Bjørn, stepbrother Gisle, Sveinung, older brother Kjetil, and stepsister Frøydis on mother Svanhild’s lap. Photo: private Ofra in the name of Jesus As the missionary children have grown up, more have come forward and told about experiences of neglect. In Øystein Stene’s podcast “Missionærbarna”, some of them share stories about how they were physically and mentally abused. Siblings Anne Marit Naustvik and brother Jarle Naustvik share their story in the series. They offered at a boarding school in Nairobi, Kenya. They only saw their parents 2–3 times a year. – We had little contact with adults, and among the children it was the strongest who had his right, says elder sister Anne Marit. Together with a third person, the siblings have started the association “Sendt bort”. Their goal is to gather the missionary children into a strong voice. – We want a constructive dialogue with the Missions Association around a fair reparation, says Jarle Naustvik. You can hear the story of Missionary children Anne Marit and Jarle Naustvik tell about life as missionary children in Kompass on news P2. NLM created the system that kept children and parents from each other. Nevertheless, the organization has on several occasions refused to take responsibility for the missionary children’s sense of neglect. It has increased many missionary children’s feeling that NLM thought it was okay that they were sacrificed for the mission. Gunnar Bråthen is currently general secretary of the Missions Association. In an interview with news, he is humble when he acknowledges that missionary children have not been met in a good enough way by the organization he hires. – The separation from the parents has been traumatic for many, confirms Gunnar Bråthen in NLM. – The responsibility for family and children must come before the missionary call, says Gunnar Bråthen about what they emphasize today. Photo: Tom Balgaard / news About the criticism of the Norwegian Lutheran Missionary Association In 2009, NLM took the initiative to investigate the living conditions of missionary children, which resulted in the IRIS report. The survey shows that a solid minority did not fare well at all. It was also revealed that 14% of those questioned had experienced sexual abuse. In recent years, the Missionary Association has on several occasions regretted that they have caused trauma to missionary children. In the summer of 2023, they asked the parents for a reason. NLM now admits that their system made it difficult for parents to choose otherwise. Nevertheless, the missionary children do not feel cared for by the Missions Association. Self-willed parents In autumn 1981, the Enstad family had been in Ethiopia for 3 years. Father Bjørn worked as a doctor for the mission. Mother Svanhild ruled the home, and had just given birth to their fourth child. They enjoyed the tasks and friends in the mission, but Father Bjørn’s expertise was in demand. Repeatedly he was ordered to travel to other places, far from his family, and could be gone for a long time. It took a toll on the family that they weren’t allowed to be in the team. They had a strong sense that the Missions Association thought the mission was more important than the family. Mother and father Enstad believed, on the contrary, that the family was more important than the missionary work. They made an unusual choice and left Ethiopia in the spring of 1982. But it was something more than the stubborn parents that made it go well with Sveinung and Kjetil, despite the time at the boarding school. Father Bjørn preferred that the family should be in a team. Photo: private Bad luck at the boarding school Even though the days at the boarding school consisted of learning and playing with veins, homesickness constantly hung over the boys. Week after week without contact with parents was a fact. Phone not found. – The system was not designed for the children to have a safe and good upbringing, says Sveinung Enstad. – It’s just luck that I wasn’t traumatised, he claims. The reason? Among other things, a woman they called Aunt Ågot. She was a housewife at the boarding school at this time. – We experienced Ågot Beisland as a generous and warm person, says Sveinung. During their entire stay at the boarding school, the brothers had access to this person who functioned as a sort of reserve mother. If it hadn’t been for her, the emotional scars could have quickly become large for the Enstad brothers. Both Sveinung, brother Kjetil and the parents remember “Aunt Ågot” as a product of mood and care. Photo: Jørgen Leangen / news Ågot was a person who made it safe to be a schoolchild at the boarding school in Yirga Alem in Ethiopia. The parents of the children in the case are aware that news mentions the subject.
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Sveinung was a missionary child in Ethiopia – thinks he was lucky not to have been traumatized – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
