After founding a Baptist church in 1848—the first successful “free church” in Sweden—F.O. Nilsson would be arrested, imprisoned, and banished from his country. Baptists were unpopular not only with the authorities, but also with their neighbors. In 1850, Nilsson and fellow Baptists were gathered in a private home to celebrate communion when, according to Nilsson’s account, a mob broke into the house with “sticks, clubs, guns [and] knives” and then ”kicked and struck” the worshippers before hauling Nilsson away to the district sheriff, who promptly put him in jail. Click here to read the full article about the founding of the Swedish Baptist movement and its influence in America.