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 Born in June of 1926, Dr. Howard Nelson was raised on a farm in Pine County, Minnesota. In August of 1947 he married the late Virginia Kasten, a faithful Christian lady. At the age of twenty six he heard the gospel and gladly received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He surrendered to preach and moved his wife and children to Owattonna, Minnesota to attend Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in 1957. After one year of schooling he moved to Springfield, Missouri where he enrolled in Baptist Bible College. Upon graduation in 1961, he moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to serve as the music director for a new church that was being established under the leadership Rev. Doug Kasten. (That church was named Southside Baptist Church, and it was re-named Wyldewood Baptist Church in 1978 when we moved in to our new facilities west of Oshkosh.) After about a year and a half in Oshkosh, he was called to pastor the Southside Baptist Church in LaCrosse, Wisconsin where he served for twenty months.
In June of 1965 he was asked to return to Oshkosh to become the pastor of Southside Baptist Church. He led the church for twenty two blessed years and oversaw the development of many ministries. Many surrendered to the ministry under his leadership, and he was given an Honorary Doctorate from Louisiana Baptist University in recognition of his years of service. God blessed Howard and Virginia with five daughters and one son. They played an important role in his ministry, and they are all serving the Lord in some capacity yet today. In February of 1988, Pastor Nelson resigned after over 22 years of faithful pastoring. He began the ministry of Scandinavians for Christ, a mission outreach dedicated to getting gospel literature to the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Virginia Nelson died of pancreatic cancer in January of 1991, but Brother Nelson continued to serve the Lord in the field of missions. In December of 1992, Pastor Nelson re-married another wonderful Christian lady, Diana Kostreva of Crivitz, Wisconsin. They have worked together as a team to further the cause of Christ. |
