Local Church Celebrates as Jan Paulsen Baptizes Three Grandchildren

On Saturday (Sabbath) evening, August 3, a beautiful chapter was added to an exceptional life story in the Mjøndalen Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norway. Jan Paulsen, who served as president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from 1999 to 2010, baptized three of his grandchildren in a simple but moving service. Leading the service and sharing the joy were local pastor Reidar Kvinge and his wife, Lynn.

As an early chapter of the story, Jan and Kari Paulsen went to Africa to serve in educational positions, two years in Ghana and four years in Nigeria. Their oldest son, Jan Rune, was born in Ghana. Jan and Kari were both 27 years old when they left Norway and would not return permanently for another 50 years!

Rein, Paulsen’s youngest son, has for many years carried weighty responsibilities in international aid work. He has lived and worked in countries as diverse as Norway, Singapore, the US, South Africa, and Rwanda for World Vision International. While in Rwanda, he met his wife, Aimée, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the second largest country on the African continent.

After the marriage, Rein’s family has lived in Switzerland, Panama, and the Democratic Republic of Congo while Rein worked for the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He has taken on ever weightier responsibilities in international aid work, and the family now lives in Rome, where Rein works as a director for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

The remarkable global and international feel was on display during the baptism in a way rarely seen in Norway. The influence of mother Aimée on the sons’ upbringing was felt and acknowledged, with Aimée sitting in the front row and Rein assisting. Jan Paulsen made no attempt to hide the fact that this was a special occasion for him. Sitting on a chair at the edge of the podium, he addressed himself directly to the three grandsons with a simple retelling of the story of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus.

When the time came for the baptism itself, Jan was assisted into the pool by Jan Reidar (21), the first and oldest to be baptized. He was joined by Hans Olav (19) and Tor Sebastian (14), all three with Norwegian names although they are multicultural and multilingual. Jan Reidar is studying literature at the American University of Rome and this summer had a teaching assignment in Japan. Hans Olav studies psychology at John Cabot University in Rome, and Tor Sebastian will start high school in Rome this fall.

Attendees learned later that evening in Jan’s apartment that mother Aimée prays individually with each of the boys morning and evening. Most touching to all in attendance was the display of affection of the children for each other and, on this occasion, especially for their grandfather, with whom they have stayed in close contact while growing up, even though they live in diverse and remote locations.

Baptisms are special occasions, this time with elements so touching that there was not a dry eye in the audience. It could hardly be otherwise at the sight of the grandfather, after a long life of service, hugging his three grandchildren in the baptismal pool.