The Evangelical Alliance Mission

(TEAM)

   The Evangelical Alliance Mission, one of the early independent faith missions, was founded in 1890 as the Scandinavian Alliance Mission of North America. it grew out of the ministry of Fredrik Franson (1852-1908), who was born and raised in Sweden. A capable student, he became fluent in several languages prior to his migrating at the age of 17. He became a farmer in Nebraska. During a period of illness, he began the search for salvation that led him to the Baptist Church, in which he was baptized at the age of 20. Several years later, having become interested in evangelism, he moved to Chicago and joined Dwight L. Moody's church.

   in 1875, Franson set out as an evangelist among the Swedes of Minnesota. He then spent several years in Utah before returning to Nebraska in 1880. The next year, he was ordained by the Evangelical Free Church. He then worked in Europe for the rest of the decade. Responding to the call of Hudson Taylor for people to go to China, Franson developed a plan to form missionary sending agencies in different European countries. By 1890, he had founded six such agencies, including the Danish Mission Confederation, the Swiss Alliance Mission, the Finnish Alliance Mission, and the Swedish Alliance Mission, which continue to the present.

   Back in the United States in 1890, Franson held an initial Bible and missionary course for individuals who were desirous of missionary service. This course occasioned the formation of the Scandinavian Alliance Mission. Hundreds of missionaries were sent out to Asia, Africa, and South America. Impressed by the work of Hudson Taylor and George Müller, Franson built the alliance on similar principles of faith in God's support for the work.

   Franson died in 1908, but the work he started has continued, and as the new century began, TEAM supported more than 800 active missionaries scattered in some 22 different countries.

   Further reading:

   ■ Vernon Mortenson, God Made It Grow: The History of T.E.A.M. (Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, 1994)

   ■ Edvard P. Torjesen, Fredrick Franson: A Model for Worldwide Evangelism (South Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, 1983)

   ■ David B. Woodward, Aflame for God: Biography of Frederick Franson, Founder of the Evangelical Alliance Mission (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966).