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[[File:Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (1840 - 1910).jpg|thumb|200 px|Portrait of Lars Olsen Skrefsrud]]

'''Lars Olsen Skrefsrud''' (4 February 1840 – 11 December 1910) was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/lars-skrefsrud-norways-famous-missionary-11630694.html|title= Lars Skrefsrud, Norway's Famous Missionary|publisher= Christianity.com|author= Dan Graves|access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>

==Biography==
Skrefsrud came from the parish of [[Fåberg]] situated north of [[Lillehammer]] in [[Oppland]], [[Norway]]. As a young man he was imprisoned for three years, and during his incarceration started to both read the Bible and study languages. Upon his release, he studied at the missionary school of [[Johannes Gossner|Johannes Evangelista Goßner]] in [[Berlin]], where he was prepared for his mission.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://snl.no/Lars_Olsen_Skrefsrud|title= Lars Olsen Skrefsrud|publisher= Store norske leksikon|access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>

In 1863, he left for India. Together with [[Hans Peter Boerresen|Hans Peter Børresen]] he is regarded as the founder of the [[Norwegian Santal Mission]] (''Den norske Santalmisjon'') (from 2001 a part of Normisjon). Skrefsrud learned the language of the [[Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Sanskrit]]. He published a songbook in the [[Santali language]] with Christian texts for local melodies and later a grammar for the Santal people. In 1881–83, he traveled to Denmark and Norway to gain support for the mission. In 1882, he was ordained by Bishop [[Carl Peter Parelius Essendrop]] in Kristiania (now Oslo).<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.normisjon.no/|title= Om Normisjon |publisher= Normisjon |access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url = https://wmpl.org/skrefsrud/ |title= Skrefsrud|publisher= World Mission Prayer League |author= Charles Lindquist
|date= January 1, 2005 |access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>

Skrefsrud died during 1910 in the village of Benagaria in [[Jharkhand]], India. He was followed at the mission by the missionary, linguist and folklorist [[Paul Olaf Bodding]]. The mission he established in India has grown to a church with over 150,000 members in the Indian states of [[Jharkhand]], [[Bihar]], [[West Bengal]] and [[Assam]]. In the 1950s it became an independent institution - The [[Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church]] (NELC).<ref>{{cite web|url = https://snl.no/Hans_Peter_B%C3%B8rresen |title= Hans Peter Børresen
|publisher= Store norske leksikon |access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url = https://snl.no/Den_norske_Santalmisjon |title= Den norske Santalmisjon|publisher= Store norske leksikon|access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url = https://nbl.snl.no/Lars_Skrefsrud|title= Lars Skrefsrud|publisher= Norsk biografisk leksikon |author= Vidar L. Haanes|access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/northern-evangelical-lutheran-church|title= Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
|publisher=Lutheran World Federation |access-date= February 1, 2018}}</ref>
{{Lutheranism}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Related reading==
*Ivar Saeter (1935) ''Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, der Gründer der Santalmission'' (Stuttgart : Evang. Missionsverlag)

==External links==
*[http://www.normisjon.no/om-oss/kontakt-oss Normisjon website]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Lars Olsen Skrefsrud}}
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{{commons category|Lars Olsen Skrefsrud}}
{{Protestant missions to India}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrefsrud, Lars Olsen}}
[[Category:1840 births]]
[[Category:1910 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lillehammer]]
[[Category:Norwegian clergy]]
[[Category:Norwegian Lutheran missionaries]]
[[Category:Linguists from Norway]]
[[Category:Lutheran missionaries in India]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]
[[Category:Norwegian expatriates in India]]
[[Category:19th-century Lutherans]]

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud - Revision history

imported>Monkbot at 18:42, 18 January 2021