Lars Gren: My father, he was of the mind that if you come into a country and you are adopting that country, then you speak that language to the best of your ability. You don't go back to your mother tongue. Of course, Norwegian would be considered my mother tongue. So they of course spoke to me and translated and all, but there was no communication between my brother and sister.

Lisa Barry: That was the voice of Lars Gren, who happens to be Elisabeth Elliot's husband. All this week he's been telling us about his upbringing in Norway by his grandparents. He lived with them for five years and at age 10 was sent off alone on a ship to America to be with his parents.

As we begin today's program, consider what it must have been like for a 10-year-old to be on a ship with no family to watch over him. Imagine a 10-year-old boy in the States, and he only knows how to speak Norwegian. Few of us will ever encounter such experiences, but even so it's a delight to be able to hear the story from Lars himself. So now, put your other cares aside and think back on your own childhood as we begin this Wednesday edition of Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, continuing a conversation with my husband, Lars Gren.

You've been telling us stories about your growing up in Norway under the tutelage of your grandparents. Your parents were not there. Your brother and sister were not there. So just review quickly, for those who haven't heard the story up to this point, how it was that you ended up in Norway and your mother and father were back in New York.

Lars Gren: I was born in America. The family as a whole traveled to Norway, and my parents, who had a restaurant business in the States, had decided to sell out in the States and return to Norway and live permanently there. Since I have a sister who is a little bit older than I am, she traveled to the States with my parents. But it was a bit much for my mother to take care of the two of us, plus cook in the restaurant and do the work that she had to do with my father in running the business. So that was the reason why I stayed with my grandparents. Their intention, of course, was to move back to Norway. And then World War 2 broke out.

Elisabeth Elliot: So there was no transportation for you to get back to the States, nor for them to come over and get you.

Lars Gren: Well, not for them to come over. I could have gone across with one of the transports, but by that time, of course the North Atlantic was mined and they had the German U-Boats there. It wasn't exactly a sweet cruise to take.

Elisabeth Elliot: So you had the privilege of growing up with very godly grandparents. What was it that your grandfather taught you about singing?

Lars Gren: I think you're referring to what he wrote in a little songbook that I had found in the church. When no one claimed it, he gave it to me. In it, he put down, "Lars, sing"-"Det letter livets tunga gang"-which means, "Sing. It lifts life's heavy burdens." Which may be a rather "heavy" message to give to a kid in a songbook, but then when you consider the heaviness of Norwegian art and life and humor and climate and all of that, I guess it was pretty natural. But I've always looked at that and thought about it. I think it was a marvelous thing.

The other thing that he said to me was "Les Bibelen tor der har du livets svar," which means, "Read the Bible, because there is the answer to life" or something like that. A little bit difficult to get the exact wording on it.

Those are two of the things that stand out in my mind, and I've thought about it often. I think it had an influence always on my life, no matter where I was. He was the one who gave me the foundation of life and ethics and belief. There was never a question as to, "Is God real? Is Jesus real?" Life revolved around church.

Elisabeth Elliot: And didn't you tell me that he one time literally did what Jesus said we are to do? Somebody struck him on one side of the face and he did what?

Lars Gren: Well, yes. He turned the other side and did say to the man, "Well, do you want to hit the other side?", which the man did not do. So he stopped at one slap. But he was that type of a person. He lived out the Christian life.

People now would probably say he was strict and all of that. There wasn't anything like going to a movie. My buddy Bjarne, every Saturday night his parents would take him to the movie and they'd always invite me. I'd sit on the curbstone and I'd run in and ask if I go to the movie. Their simple answer was, "No, you can't go."

Elisabeth Elliot: So the day came when your grandfather, as he had been preparing you for this day, he had made it perfectly clear to you that someday you were going to have to go back to the States and live with your parents and your brother and sister, whom you did not know. So when that day came, what happened?

Lars Gren: Well, we went down to the dock. At that time, the ship was called Stavangerfjord." I think it went out of commission in the mid-50's. It was an awful ship to sail the ocean on, because it rolled so bad. The ships back then, they didn't have stabilizers.

Anyway, we went down and I recall the time of going on board and Mor and Far standing at the dock. I didn't have anyone to go with me, as such. There was a lady who was also going to America, and she knew Far and Mor and knew me. She was to kind of keep an eye on me.

Elisabeth Elliot: You were how old?

Lars Gren: I was ten.

Elisabeth Elliot: Can you imagine? Can I imagine, as a grandmother, what it must have been like for your grandmother and grandfather, to put this ten-year-old child, who certainly was the apple of their eye, on this boat and say good-bye?

Lars Gren: Yes. I often wish I could have a replay of that particular day and the thoughts and what was said, because I don't remember very much. In one way, they had prepared me so well for leaving and I knew I would see them again, because they were planning to come over the following April. This was in August. They were coming in April of '47. So in a sense, I guess it was an adventure of seeing something that I had never seen before, and that was coupled with the knowledge that they would be coming. Because to me, they were mother and father. That was all that I knew. It was difficult.

But then of course, on board ship, I was in a cabin with three other men. I did not travel first-class. It was steerage. So we had four in a cabin. But by the time we went out to sea, I was all over the ship. I was down in the machinery and up on the bridge and got to know the sailors more. So in a way, it was an adventure and a grand time, from that standpoint. But it was sad. It was a difficult parting, and difficulty in the years ahead.

Elisabeth Elliot: So when you got to the dock in New York, there were four people who were total strangers to you-Mother, Father, brother and sister.

Lars Gren: Yes. Of course, I knew I had a sister, and my brother was born later. So there was no knowledge of that, other than he was there.

Elisabeth Elliot: And your brother and sister did not speak a word of Norwegian.

Lars Gren: No. And I didn't speak any English. And the rule of the house was always speaking English. Mother and Dad-when I'm referring to Mother and Dad, of course it's my biological mother and dad. They spoke English all the time. My father, he was of the mind that if you come into a country and you adopt that country, then you speak that language to the best of your ability. You don't go back to your mother tongue. Of course, Norwegian would be considered my mother tongue. So they of course spoke to me and translated and all, but there was no communication between my brother and sister.

About all I can remember from that meeting on the pier was the ride out. Of course, they had an automobile, and with all these cars, and this long island, which seemed so different from Kristiansand, Norway.

Elisabeth Elliot: Had you been in an automobile before?

Lars Gren: Yes, because my uncle over there, Uncle Håkon, he was a truck driver. Of course, I had been in the German vehicles and all. So I actually don't remember being in a real automobile.

Elisabeth Elliot: A car.

Lars Gren: I mean, trucks and military vehicles, I'd been in.

Elisabeth Elliot: So when you got to the States, of course you had to go to school. You didn't know a word of English. So how did you do? There was no such thing as bilingual education in those days.

Lars Gren: No. I did real well at writing my name on the paper when we took a test, but that was all I did. I just turned in blank papers and got zeroes.

Elisabeth Elliot: For how long?

Lars Gren: About three months. It took me three months to pick up the language and then fit in on the schoolwork and all. The way I started reading was to read the billboards and the signs. One of the proudest moments that I had was when I realized that Norway was evidently huge exporters of refrigerators, because the one that we had was N-O-R-G-E, which of course spells "Norge," the name of the country. It took me a long time to realize that that refrigerator did not come from Norway.

Elisabeth Elliot: It's pronounced "Norj" in America.

Lars Gren: Over here. But well, there are a lot of things that are spelled similarly, but not pronounced the same.

Elisabeth Elliot: Yes. I've been talking with my husband, Lars Gren. Tomorrow I'm going to have him tell you some more stories about his life after he got back here to the United States.

Lisa Barry: What harrowing times those must have been. But then again, that era seems so far removed from the world today. I hope as you've been listening you've thought about your own childhood and how different things were. Have you considered writing down your experiences? I think it's fascinating to hear my grandmother tell how much things used to cost and how much a person's wage was for their labor. Jot down stories and then pass them on, even if the events don't seem that long ago to you. I think you'll feel good about reminiscing yourself. The icing on the cake is that you have something to pass on.

I'd also like to encourage you to support this program financially. We depend on God to raise up people just like you who like what you hear and want others to have that same opportunity. There are so many people who have just stumbled on Gateway To Joy and have had their lives changed as a result. I want you to know that your gifts do make a difference. Every one, large and small, is an investment in lives. So would you consider a financial gift today? Thanks for considering that.

Here's the address you can write to in order to send support or to purchase any of our resources for this series: Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Our Internet ministry address is gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

There's more to come tomorrow, so be sure and join us then for another Gateway To Joy.