2024
Norway was one of the nations with the most Christian missionaries compared to the population and several thousand Norwegian children have lived separately from their family due to their parents' mission calling.
The comic book documentary Abide with me is based on interviews with people who have grown up in the Christian mission's custody. The missionary children's story has not always been in line with the Christian mission's sunshine story and many have experienced that telling about their experiences can be perceived as disloyalty to the Christian mission, parents or God.
Graphic novel of the year 2022, awarded by Oslo Comics Expo
«Looks innocent, but is very powerful … Lene Ask has interviewed former missionary children about how they grew up. The editing has been so subtle that it seems as if Ask has changed their oral narratives to a very small extent. But of course there is a tight composition behind it. The form is reminiscent of the documentary genre for which Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Aleksejivitsj has become a representative. … You must have a heart of stone, to remain untouched by this book »
Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK
"... told with lucidity ... a painful read about one of the ugly shadows of missionary history. … There are very few reasons why a child's upbringing should be overshadowed by the adults no matter their purpose. And this Lene Ask manages to convey in a quiet, brilliant way.
"Her line has seldom been more expressive and never more vivid ... Draws the outline of a forgotten colonial rule of ignored longing and concealed pain and says: This too was the Norwegian missionary movement. This too was Norway. "
Lene Ask
Bjarte Bjørkum
