"From One to Many - How Faith Works"

I recently met a new friend named Tim.  Over beers, he shared with me an amazing story of how faith came into his family back in the 1800’s. It is quite a story and I asked him if I could share it with you.  The following are Tim’s words.  It is a simple but powerful reminder of how faith works. Enjoy.

Osten Hansen was born in Lyster Sogn, Norway in 1846.  When he was 20 months old, his father died.  He went to work as a farm hand at the age of 6.  He was illiterate.  Another farm hand taught Osten to read using the Scriptures.  Thus, Osten learned to read and came to faith.  He got into the habit of lacing up his boots "Ina Jesu Navn" which means "In Jesus' Name" so that he walked with the Lord throughout the day.

In 1867 he loaded all his belongings into a steamer trunk and traveled to the US, entering at Ellis Island.  He made his way to Viroqua, WI where there was a settlement of Norwegians, and homesteaded.  He married Guri Prestegaard and the two of them started their family, living in a sod dugout.  He continued to lace up his boots in Jesus’ Name.

They lived 12 miles from the church, and every Sunday their family made its way to worship loaded into a lumber wagon drawn by 2 oxen, with their lunches packed.   By 1881, they had 7 children, and built a house on their farm.  In a matter of two months, six of these children died of black diphtheria.  A year later, the 7th child died of the same illness.  There were no hearses to carry the bodies of their children away.  They hung black curtains in the windows of their home to warn travelers to stay away, and buried their children in a make-shift cemetery at the farm.  

Osten and Guri started over, and had 6 more children.  My grandfather, Arthur, was the youngest of these 13 children.  Osten often said that he hoped at least one of his children would become a minister, because he and Guri would not have endured the loss of their family had it not been for faith in Jesus.  Arthur was the only child to go to college.  He served in the Navy in WWI, crossing the Atlantic 4 times on ship.  He graduated seminary and became a minister.  He married Marie, and had 4 sons - Paul, Rolf, James and John.  All 4 sons became ministers.  James, my dad, had four sons.  Two of them, Nathan and John, became ministers as well.  

I’m so grateful for the faith passed along to me by my mother and father.  This abiding faith in Jesus that we have known from childhood can be traced, in large part, to an unknown farmhand in the hills of Norway who befriended Osten and shared his faith.