George Nathanael Anderson (August 8, 1883 – October 8, 1958) was an American Lutheran pastor and missionary to Tanganyika. Anderson studied at Bethany College in

Lindsborg, Kansas Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,776. Lindsborg is known for its large Swedish, other Nordic and Scandinavian Americans ( Nordic- Scandinavian), and German ...

, and the Augustana Theological Seminary before being ordained by the

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (previously the Augustana Lutheran Synod and also Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America) was a Lutheran church ...

in 1912. He held a succession of posts in the American Mid West before volunteering for missionary service. Anderson was sent to the British colony of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

in 1924 to review the situation there. As a former German colony the territory had hosted missions of the

German Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 8.6 million people. The Member Churches of this org ...

but these were expelled in 1917 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Anderson reported favourably and a formal Augustana Church mission was sent in 1926, with Anderson at its head. Anderson oversaw the expansion of the church's role in the territory and in 1944 was appointed President and director of its General Administrative Committee, becoming responsible for the church's entire operation in Tanganyika. He retired in 1956 and died in the United States two years later.

Early life

George Nathanael Anderson was born on August 8, 1883, in

Morganville, Kansas Morganville is a city in Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 180. History Morganville was founded in 1870. It was named for its founder, Ebenezer Morgan. The first store in Morganville op ...

. He graduated from Bethany College in

, in 1909. He later graduated from the Augustana Theological Seminary; studied at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and the Union Theological Seminary and was awarded a doctorate. Anderson was ordained as a pastor in 1912 and found work preaching in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

with the

. At one point he was at the First Lutheran Church in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, where he ministered to a congregation of over 1,500 people. In 1919 he was amongst a group of people praying at a church meeting for a new bible school to train Lutheran missionaries. Amongst the attendees was Annette Elmquist, who had attended a non-Lutheran bible school and was keen for the church to have its own. Soon afterwards Elmquist and Anderson were married.

Tanganyika

The Lutheran church had been active in missionary work in

before the

, however the largely German missionaries were expelled by British forces in 1917. The Augustana Church was asked to take over the abandoned missions by the

and in Summer 1924 Anderson with his wife and three sons (LeRoy. Paul and Marcus) visited the colony. Anderson reported good potential in the area and a formal mission was dispatched by the church in 1926, with Anderson being appointed a missionary by the church's Board of Foreign Missions. After some deliberation (he would have to leave behind his family, including daughter Dorothy who was then ill with tuberculosis) Anderson agreed and returned to Tanganyika on January 6, 1926, with fellow missionaries Herbert S Magney and Ludwig Melander. Anderson initially spent his time teaching new pastors at the mission's seminary in

Marangu Marangu is a town located in Kilimanjaro Region. it is divided into Marangu East and Marangu west each with its own village, its one of the famous places in Tanzania recognized as one of the main gate for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. it is also ...

but reported to the church that there was a good appetite for the Lutheran faith in Iramba and it was decided to establish a mission there. Anderson was appointed head of the mission and led four American missionaries and one from Leipzig (who held Russian citizenship and so was permitted entry by the British authorities). Anderson's speciality was in evangelism and the study of the Iramba language, into which he translated the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

and various hymns, liturgies and catechisms . Anderson's wife and children joined him at Iramba from 1927 and remained with him until his retirement in 1956, though Annette would sometimes reside in the United States with some of the children to ensure their education. One son, Marcus, died in Iramba of Malaria. They had seven surviving children of which four sons became pastors, including one who was a missionary in Tanganyika. One of Anderson's daughters married a missionary and served for her entire life at a mission in Iramba. Anderson occasionally returned to the United States on leave and during these periods worked to generate support for the African missions. During one such visit he helped to found the Lutheran Bible Institute. From 1944 he was appointed president and director of the General Administrative Committee of the Augustana Lutheran Church (which until 1944 was known as the General Committee of Former German Missions). In this role, which he held until 1952, he was responsible for liaising with the Tanganyikan government. One key task was to negotiate with the colony's government over the ownership of land and property formerly held by the German Lutheran Church. During Anderson's time in Africa the Lutheran missions expanded to encompass a number of churches and dispensaries, a hospital at Kiomboi and leper centres at Mkalama and Iambi. He described the effect of listening to a congregation of 2,000 singing Luther's hymn "

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between ...

": "I never heard it sung with more spirit; the effect was almost overwhelming". Anderson retired in 1956 and was invited to remain in Tanganyika by the local church but chose to return to the United States. He died on October 8, 1958, in Minneapolis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, George Nathanael 1883 births 1953 deaths People from Clay County, Kansas Bethany College (Kansas) alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni University of Minnesota alumni 20th-century American Lutheran clergy Lutheran missionaries in Tanzania Translators of the Bible into Bantu languages 20th-century American translators Missionary linguists