death_date death_place religion birth_place image_size nationality birth_date image article_title name occupation
6 september 2008 mombasa , kenya pentecostal kvinesdal , norway 150px norwegian 15 november 1938 aril edvardsen.jpg aril edvardsen
 aril edvardsen evangelist , missionary
aril edvardsen

aril snorre edvardsen -lrb- 15 november 1938 -- 6 september 2008 -rrb- was a norwegian evangelical preacher and missionary .
in his youth edvardsen was active in local politics for the workers ' youth league , the youth wing of the norwegian labour party , and also performed in a country music band .
he claimed to have been born again in 1956 , an experience which led him to redirect his life towards evangelical work .
then , in 1960 , he experienced what he described as a calling , instructing him to start worldwide evangelising through the use of native missionaries .
in 1965 he founded the organisation `` troens bevis '' , an organisation that would grow to support around 1000 native missionaries around the world .
the organisation today includes a multi-media venture , with daily television broadcasts reaching as many as 200 different nations .
in 2007 aril edvardsen 's son rune took over leadership of `` troens bevis '' .
edvardsen married his classmate kari when he was 17 years old .
it was allegedly while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to the couple 's first daughter that edvardsen went along with a friend to the meeting where his conversion happened .
he died 6 september 2008 , in mombasa , kenya , where he was vacationing with his wife after a missionary campaign in zanzibar , tanzania .
according to friends he had experienced cardiac problems in a period before his death .
edvardsen 's funeral on 15 september 2008 was attended by some 1,500 -- 2,000 people , including the norwegian minister of fisheries and coastal affairs , helga pedersen .
