Victorious Women

When in Paris, I always try to make time to go to the Louvre, this amazing art museum that holds so many important works. Except for the queues, the only downside is that there never seems to be enough time to see it all. Last time I was there, I took a moment to really admire the quite powerful statue of Nike from Samothrace.

The goddess of victory stands on a ship’s bow, her wings streched out behind her, her dress moving in the wind. Perhaps she is pointing out the direction to victory – but we cannot know, as what is left of the statue from the hellenistic period is only her body. We can not see her facial expression, but her posture is one of success, forward movement, power and pride. Nike almost looks alive, radiating hope, strength and beauty.

I took this photo of Nike the last time I saw her. The statue is from around year 200-190 B.C. and is one of the few original statues found from the hellenistic period.

As the world is becoming more polarized by the minute, and the news tell us about lost lives and people fleeing their birth countries, I wonder if there is any victory to be had anymore. And what kind of victory should one be looking for? Perhaps, the victory we need is to find our way back to seeing each other as human beings, the majority of us simply wanting to lead a life where we can take care of our families, live freely and be surrounded by love, as unrealistic as it may be…

I don´t know if Nike was ever one to help with the kind of victory that does not entail subduing others, but the most sustainable victory is most probably the one where all parties get something but not everything.

Nike also makes me think about women through the ages and how they have struggled, often having to succumb to men’s ideas on how to rule the world. Women have struggled to keep their families together, provide good homes for their children while trying to make for a better future. Women have compromised in many ways and become used to put others needs before their own.

Choices for life
Olga and Dagny were interesting in that way. In my mind, they had a bit of both. They grew up in a time when women did not have much agency of their own, but Olga and Dagny took it anyway. They did it in order to serve their God the only way they could envisage. Olga, who refused to stay on the small island outside of Stockholm, to live a predictable life as a fisherman’s wife and small scale farmer. Dagny, who left her bourgoise environment to endure countless obstacles and sorrows but also many rewards in China. Both of them decided that their promise to God was as valid as that made by any man. They decided that they had the strength to win the war of souls in a distant land, and they went for it. And at the same time, they put their lives in the service of others – helping out with teaching and nursing as well as spreading God’s word. They were not there for their own pleasure, but to help those they thought needed it the most.

Counting counts
I don’t know if they ever thought in terms of victory, but they did count how many souls they saved. In order to get friends of the mission back home to support them with donations, they wrote articles in the mission paper relaying how many had been baptized, and how many came to their different sermons. They described how many children attended the schools they set up at the mission stations and how many addicts they saved at the opium asylums, many of which also became Christians.

In Sinims Land, 1904, the Swedish Mission in China counts 9 stations, 40 workers – 14 men and 26 women. 7 of these are married. They have 20 Chinese helpers and 234 persons in the congregation. The number of schoolchildren amounts to 61.

In this report, we can read that Robert and Dagny worked in Hancheng in 1904. Together with other missionaries, they have held sermons, made housecalls, organised christian activities in tents, run schools and an opium asylum. They sent out Chinese members of the congregation to spread the word in the northen part of the district, which was very successful. In some places, they could preach to large crowds. They sold or gave away many books and some souls were reported to have been saved. During a general meeting in the summer, they baptized 12 persons and by the end of the year they had 25 people as registered members of their congregation.

Influencers of their time
For the missionaries it was crucial to describe how they were succeeding with their work. They wrote home to tell many stories about what happened in China, not only because it was interesting to read about, but because this made the friends of the mission at home get to know them and want to donate money to them. Without these donations, they were left stranded. Therefore, it is also interesting to see the tables of donations in the mission paper.

Many donations were made during mass in different churches around Sweden. The money was then distributed in accordance with the needs expressed from the different missionary stations. Some donors wanted their money to go to certain things, like in the above table from 1906, where donations 457, 471 and 493 are to keep native evangelists in Robert’s district. That would mean less of a burden for Robert and Dagny to pay for these persons. Without the reports from the missionaries at the stations, there would be less incentive for people in Sweden to donate money. Had the mission been set up in any other way, I am not sure there would be as much material to read from my relatives’ time in China.

The ardous work did pay off. In a small pamphlet by the fellow missionary Nathanael Högman, one can read about the difference from the meager beginnings until the year 1920. “During the first year the mission had 2 993 SEK to work with. In 1920, that sum was 350 000 SEK.”

That was not bad – today that would be 6,65 MSEK. This money supported the 53 active missionaries as well as the four missionaries working from Sweden. It was used to keep the 12 mission stations and 97 outstations running. The mission also had 116 native helpers and ran 31 schools. In all, the congregation counted 2 335 members in 1921.

Nathanel Högman is quite surprised himself. He writes: “Surely, those who were with us from the start never anticipated such a development. From the beginning, this mission has been supported only by voluntary gifts and there has not been any organisational support or such. The once very brave dream of a Swedish mission in China has been realised.”

A deck of cards that I brought home from China in 1983. Such wonderful drawings of Chinese warriors.

What is victory?
What is accomplishment? Did my relatives think in those terms when they set out on their mission to China in the 19th Century? I think they migh have been pleased with their work, seeing how many became Christians and how many they helped with different ailments and not least with education. But, I don’t think they ever felt they were done. That was never in the cards. A missionary can never rest. In that way, they did ressemble Nike. Wherever there was a soul to win, they would fight for it, and just like goddess Nike, they would never give up.

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What about you? What is victory to you?
And is there a work of art that inspires you?