Elisabeth Elliot: Surrender is a humiliating thing, even when it is surrender that brings life and peace. The Savior continues to call lovingly to older men and older women, though they have resisted His claims all their lives. "Eternity is just one step ahead," the Savior pleads.

Lisa Barry: In just a minute, Elisabeth Elliot is going to share statistics about the probability of various age groups coming to Christ. The news is not very encouraging to those of you who are getting on in years but still haven't made a decision to follow the Lord. And why haven't you? Maybe you've lived so long that you can't imagine dying. Or did living through the Depression teach you to trust no one but yourself? Could it be that you're afraid that if you accept Christ now it will hasten your death?

If any of those scenarios, in whole or in part, capture your feelings, then this is where you need to be. Today Elisabeth Elliot is going to tell us about a grandmother who resisted Christ her whole life, and we're going to find out what happens to her next on 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, talking with you this week about grandmothers. I have some wonderful grandmother stories, and I think that they will be of interest not only to the children who love their grandparents, but to us old folks. Those of us who have the privilege of being grandparents are certainly grateful for that. But I think there's something here for everybody.

I'm going to read, first of all, from a little leaflet by a man named Cornelius Van Der Bregen. He is a Dutchman. He has a ministry on both sides of the Atlantic. I met him many, many years ago when I was young.

He writes this: "If one were to choose a thousand Christians at random and have each one tell when he or she was born again, as many as 50% of them would probably testify that they had received the Lord Jesus before they became ten years of age. About 30% of them would probably testify that they had heard and believed the Gospel between their 11^th and 15^th year. Perhaps 10% of them would have been saved between 15 and 30. Relatively rare would be the individual saved in middle life or in old age.

Surrender is a humiliating thing, even when it is surrender that brings life and peace. The Savior continues to call lovingly to older men and older women, though they have resisted His claims all their lives. 'Eternity is just one step ahead,' the Savior pleads. 'Don't risk eternity without me.' A deaf ear, a haughty shrug of the shoulders, the last sigh on earth. Then the blackness of darkness forever.

At 99, Grandmother was hale, hearty and still resisting capture. As she approached the 100 mark with a certain exuberant anticipation and breathless awe, her life continued without any real important change of pace or custom. Tante Girardeau"-and Tante is the Dutch or German word for "aunt."

"Tante Girardeau was no longer in the home, since she had seen the wisdom of investing her youthful sixties in gainful employment, so that she would be cared for in her old age. Tante Marie was still present, keeping the house spotless and scrubbing the wash to the tune of 'Heavenly Sunshine.'

Tante Adriana, halfway between a common 75 and a coveted 80, was now slower on her feet than before, but no less keen of mind or gifted of tongue. She still prepared three meals a day and waited hand and foot on Grandmother; who, on her occasional blue Mondays, vigorously contended that her Prime Minister didn't know how to heat the milk for the coffee. This gave Grandmother an excuse for sneaking out to the kitchen to do it herself.

My own portfolio of Minister of Recreation and Surprises"-and this is still Cornie Van Der Bregen speaking-"My own portfolio of Minister of Recreation and Surprises had never been turned in, but it was a generally accepted fact that I could not devote much time to this cabinet function, inasmuch as I now lived rather far away.

Whenever possible, I would run down the dike for a visit with Grandmother and her daughters. They enjoyed having company as much as ever. The minute I would come through the door, Tante Marie would rise to pour a cup of tea. Grandmother would put her book or her crocheting down, and as often as not would say, 'Are we going to have a game of Dominoes?'

Well, the Domino pieces were the same ones with which I had played as a boy of six. They had survived thousands of handlings by successive generations of children, grandchildren and great-children. So they played Dominoes.

Then Grandmother called out, 'Come, Marie. I've been waiting for you for a half hour.' This was Grandmother's regular call to worship on Sunday mornings. Finally, Tante Marie would bustle, powdered and perfumed, into the living room. Grandmother would seat herself at the old piano and strike the first chord of a hymn. Grandmother would wince. Tante Marie would wince. Tante Adriana would wince. The cattle grazing in the nearby field would wince."

It doesn't sound as though Grandmother knew how to play the old piano very well, does it?

"'Let's try again,' Grandmother would say, reassuringly. 'I'll play soft and you sing loud.' It was the instrument, not the player, that was responsible for the eerie sounds which emanated from the super-annuated jumble of keys and strings. There was simply no discernible relationship between cause and effect, between what went in and what came out. Yet Grandmother had refused our every overture about helping her to obtain another piano.

Like her, this piece of furniture had been present for decades. There would be no shadow of turning in her affection for it, even though she had to steel her 99-year-old nerves against its wheezings and raspings as she played.

Callers came and callers went. Relatives appeared for all-important birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. This esteemed friend became an invalid. That old friend disappeared from life's scene. Ill health paid its respects to this son-in-law or to that grandchild, but never visited Grandmother.

World news was continually in the center of Grandmother's thoughts. She studiously read the daily papers. If a well-known daily printed in Amsterdam carried too many reports about international difficulties, Grandmother, who was still imbued with her childhood teachings that men of good will would yet succeed in bringing peace on earth, threatened to cancel her subscription and start reading a small, rural paper, in the hope of finding better news.

To all appearances, Grandmother had an ideal life, with no clouds at all to mar the sunset of life's day. However, there was one very serious matter which weighed on her heavily. 'I must talk to Wim about that the next time he comes,' she said to Tante Adriana.

'But Mother,' the reply came, 'you told him about that the last time, and he said that you were wrong.'

Grandmother's jaw stiffened. The impudence of her Prime Minister. Very well, she would be silent and wait for the next visit from her 76-year-old son, Wim. In due time, Wim arrived on his motorbike from Amsterdam.

Not until Tante Adriana had gone out to the kitchen to make coffee did Grandmother discuss the all-important subject with her son. 'Wim, I've got to talk to you again about those electric bills from Leyden. I know that you looked at them once before, but I've checked them again since then and I'm right. They let me pay the same bill twice. You've got to go speak to them. It won't do any good to write them a letter.'

Thereupon, Grandmother produced a whole fistful of receipted bill stubs from the drawer of the table in front of her. She spread them out carefully, until she had two September stubs next to each other. Then she glowed triumphantly and said, 'Don't you see? I told you so.'

Wim began to explain things carefully, but Grandmother hastily ended the conversation as she heard Tante Adriana coming down the hall with the coffee. Her closing remarks to Wim were, 'Be sure to go see them and tell them what I've told you. It's clear that they're wrong. They know that I'm an old lady living here all by myself. And as long as they can get away with cheating me, they will continue to do it.'

Wim returned to Amsterdam and the weighty matter was still unsolved, so I asked Grandmother if I could be of help. Perhaps by putting in a short period of service as Minister of Finance, I could now somehow make up for my lack of activity as Minister of Recreation and Surprises.

Grandmother was thrilled with my offer. She again took all of the receipts out of the drawer and laid them on the table. Some of the stubs were six or seven years old. We worked together, sorting carefully, until we had the receipts for each year in a separate pile. It was clear at once glance that there were no duplicates.

However, Grandmother fished out the September receipts for two different years and held them up before me. 'Do you see?' she said. 'Here they are.'

'Yes, Grandmother, but they are from two different years. This one is from 1948 and this one from 1954.'

'But they're both in the same month.'

'But it's the same month in two different years, Grandmother.'

'That's exactly what I said,' Grandmother purred. 'They've let me pay that bill twice. Wim and Adriana don't even understand.'

The Prime Minister winked at the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance winked at the Prime Minister. The Head of the Nation gazed out the window in the direction of the white sailboats scudding across the surface of the lake. Undoubtedly, she was thinking that the young upstarts, who so sincerely tried to help her, were in need of much more experience.

In May of 1954, the burgermeister of our village informed Grandmother that she was to receive a visit from the Queen of the Netherlands. Queen Juliana was going to spend three days in the lower Rhine area of Holland. She would be passing through our village, and Grandmother should be prepared to be greeted by this famous and beloved sovereign.

When the much anticipated day arrived, quite a few of Grandmother's relatives arrived in it, in order to be on hand for that thrilling occasion. Typical Dutch weather also arrived. A rip-snorting wind caused hundreds of national flags to dance all kinds of crazy dances. In the hour before the Queen's Cadillac stopped in front of Grandmother's house, dozens of friends of the family crossed the quaint little wooden bridge in order to obtain a strategic place from which to view the proceedings. It's a wonder that the little island did not sink beneath the weight of so many visitors."

You are going to have to wait till tomorrow to hear the rest of the story of how this old Dutch grandmother met the Queen.

Lisa Barry: And we will bring that to you. But for now, let me encourage you to think about purchasing a video called FORGET ME NOT: A GRANDMOTHER'S INFLUENCE. The woman we heard about today waited a very long time to make some important decisions. When it comes to our grandchildren, we all risk losing precious time. This video will help you redeem it.

The cost is $24. You can send that, along with your request, to 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.

We'll hear part two of this grandmother's story tomorrow, so be sure and join us then for another Gateway To Joy.