Daktar: Diplomat in Bangladesh

by Viggo Olsen

The classic missionary story of Dr. Viggo Olsen continues to thrill readers with its blend of excitement, insight, and inspiration.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Christian, History, Bangladesh, Asia, Christianity

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Nakhati Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young person, I hated to read and never did. Then I got involved in a Word of Life Club, and they required this book for reading. I loved reading about this story of a Doctor ministering to the Bengali people.

This book was the first book I read and enjoyed. Dr. Olsen opened my eyes to the joy of reading and the call to minister to others. This book so challenged me that I felt the need to visit the beautiful land of Bangladesh. So in 1988, I saw the work of ABWE and even the hospital where Dr. Olsen worked. Regrettably, he was not there at that time. Those days began a call on my own life.

This book tells a story and explains how God opens doors when he calls one to go and serve.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was around 14, and God used it in my life to realize the need for missionaries in other countries.

[Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an easy read, but well worth it!

[Rachel L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting autobiography of a medical missionary. Watching Dr. Olsen travel from agnostic to Christian to missionary was encouraging.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall
Must Read
This is a great book that explains a man’s journey in finding God, a profession, and a way to help those in need.

Review
This book did a great job explaining how Viggo Olsen found God and not you should find God. He was a man with many questions and doubts. He started off trying to disprove God’s existence but ending up proving to himself God’s existence. His story of becoming a surgeon was interesting because of how much work it took. Also, he took upon himself to read medical journals to learn new techniques and new disease.
His time as a doctor treating patients in West Pakistan which later became Bangladesh was very interesting because he had brough his family along and had to deal with people who didn’t want him there. Yet through his faith in God, help from family and friends, the locals he was able to provide medical care to all those who needed it. This book even though is old still provides an example of what can been done though the power of love and faith.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating, especially how Vic detailed his extensive research trying to back up his agnosticism. Then all the history of how East Pakistan became Bangladesh was horrifying, but the work of the little mission hospital expanded dramatically in the country's hour of need.

[Abraham Lewik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Missionary indeed, he does not seem to remember the name of non-Christians and my expectations of an earthly examination of the Birth of Bangladesh were scuttled. Every page carries Christianity. From the very beginning people are thinking about Dr. Olsen or that non-Hindu, non-Bahai, non-Jewish, non-Islamic, non-Aboriginal (so on so forth) god. Jotting notes from the Skeptics Annotated Bible is fun but the thrill of defacement is temporary. Credit where it is due, he helped more than Mr. Trump, so to has every medical professional with MSF.

My enthusiasm was curbed after Chapter 1. Before Chapter 8, contempt overwhelmed me. On the cover page, his name is bigger than Bangladesh. My god is other people, and every page of this book dismisses, or degrades, or diminishes or damages my faith.

I wanted a lived experience of the Birth of Bangladesh from someone who remembered the names of locals who risked torture and murder and rape of themselves and their families. This is not it. That lack of personal connection is the Warning Sign in the 1st chapter. Read that chapter only, heed the signs, and imagine the rest at your leisure.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a a read. It was written in a very dry, terse style.. Why I persevered was because each and everything that the author describes in his experiences is deliberately included to show God's hand working each step of the way through his journey. Also, it reminds me to pray. Every person in this account took prayer seriously, expecting to receive an answer to their request. That part was very convicting to me.

[Kenzie Regualos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daktar: Diplomat in Bangladesh by Viggo Olsen is an autobiography about a medical doctor, his family and their pathway in becoming oversees missionaries in a country in desperate need of medical attention, East Pakistan. Viggo Olsen started out right away knowing that he wanted to be involved in someone in the medical field. He determined early on that he wanted to study medicine, and the last thing he wanted to do was become a surgeon. He and his wife, Jean were strong atheists, but Jeans parents challenge them, to try to prove them wrong. So after intensive study in trying to prove there was no god, the Olsen's found Christ and reverted their lived completely to serve him. Their spiritual transformation was unexpected and nothing what anyone would ever think of the family. In their mission to serve God, they started to see the signs that he wanted them to serve oversees, completely out of their comfort zone! And more than that, He wanted Viggo to become a surgeon, the exact thing he did NOT want to be! The story tell of how the Olsen's, and other members of their church established a Christian hospital in a Muslim ruled nation, and the struggles they faced, and their profession of faith and the impact they had on East Pakistan. Oh and by the way their time there involved attacks on them from first India, and then West Pakistan so... Interesting. This book has a rather slow start, so I would not recommend this book to someone who is look for action to be there throughout the entire book, it does have it's dry spells. This book will take a while to get through so don't read it and expect to be done in a week or two. I will tell you though that the message of this story, to listen and trust in the All Mighty God, and know that everything He does for your life is for your better good. This book will make you seriously consider where you are in your faith and it will lay on your heart a need to change. I personally didn't like this book at first, but the after effects it had on me changed my mind. I finished that book changed, and that is what makes this book so unique, you can't say that every single book you have read has made you reconsider your life and you've set it down a changed person. But I can say that about this book and I encourage you to read it and be able to experience the same magical unexplainable sensation of finding a new faith in God,the Father.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was slow in the beginning but overall a compelling story of a missionary's choice to serve overseas while paralleling an important historical time in Bangladesh's history.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dr Olsen's story helped me become a surgeon but I remember thinking he was quite enamored with himself so it is a considerably less appealing story than it should be.

[Emiline Thumpkin Pumpkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true story of a missionary doctor in Bangladesh during the guerrilla wars which divided Pakistan.