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"...and there are celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies.
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.
For one star differs from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
Everything starts small.
The beginning of the church in Eiker was truly small and weak.
During the 1920s, there were only a few church families spread out around the township.
The brotherhood had not yet taken a firm root, but something was about to happen.
On one farm in Lower Eiker lived a family named Døviken
and here God sent events that would come to mean much for the history of the church in Eiker.
My sister Else and I were born here in Eiker.
I grew up in a very good home;
I had an incredibly good childhood.
I don't think anyone in the world had it better than I did.
Else and Esther's parents were Karen and Peder Døviken.
Even though they were very good people in many ways, they were not converted believers at that time.
But many things changed when their little daughter Eli, age 10,
suddenly became seriously ill and was taken home to God shortly afterwards.
She was only sick for four days,
but during that time she wanted her Sunday school teacher to come visit.
My parents were not yet converted,
but she sent for the Sunday school teacher.
And he came and prayed for her, and sang, I remember.
He sang, "Jesus' name, it shines unfading,
through the ages ever bright."
After he left, she folded her small hands and said,
"Dear Jesus! Save me, dear Jesus!
Forgive me, Jesus. "
And then she fell back onto her pillow.
After lying there a little while she said, "You need to meet me at home with Jesus."
Peter Døviken laid eight red rosebuds on Eli's casket,
One for each child that lived,
and one fully bloomed rose for Eli.
Of course, we mourned her loss tremendously,
but at the same time,
a total transformation took place.
It was as if a completely new atmosphere came.
And I remember -
my father - I had never heard him say the name of Jesus.
But on the day she died
He had to go into town and report the death, and take care of those matters.
And on the way home he had picked some roses.
--I've picked some roses, so Eli can take them with her to Jesus
as a reminder of the crown of thorns he wore for us.
And - I'll never forget that.
And then he cried.
After that there was a complete change.
Eli's tragic death became, in many ways, a turning point for the Døviken family.
In their great sorrow, they completely turned to God
just as the small, dying girl asked them to do.
It was on the day of Eli's funeral that they were first introduced to the friends in the church.
My mother's brothers were converted and were in the church.
And they had brought several songbooks,
so we went into the room where the casket had been
and they sat there and sang from the Ways of the Lord songbook.
It was very moving and good.
Then her oldest brother gave Mom the songbook they had sung from.
And since then, every day thereafter, every evening
we sat and sang from Ways of the Lord.
Sang and sang.
And I believe we sang our way to salvation, actually, because the gospel is in the songs.
The Døviken family understood that they needed spiritual nourishment.
Therefore, in their need, they started holding meetings in their living room,
even if they were the only ones attending.
First we sang from Ways of the Lord.
Then we picked a mannacorn and talked about it a little.
We each picked a mannacorn.
Then we had a prayer meeting, and prayed fervently to God.
And God heard those prayers -
he has seen the lowly beginning.
--It is sown in weakness, but is raised up in power.
The following year, the oldest daughter, Mary,
traveled to Hønefoss, and there she heard the preaching of brother Aslaksen.
The young girl was gripped of the gospel,
and sent home edifying letters about her experiences.
Her eagerness and zeal made a strong impression on her mother and little sisters,
who were also infected by the same spirit.
Her mother, Karen Døviken, open her heart and her home
wide for the brothers and their preaching.
She became a woman of faith, -she battled for her family and for fellowship.
When Mary came home from Hønefoss, she immediately started having children's meetings on the farm.
A reproach came over the family because of this,
but the children - they loved it!
And then the whole neighborhood gathered in our living room.
It was quite crowded many times.
Sometimes she baked sweet rolls, and made it festive.
She sang and played, and planted something in our hearts as children,
which I believe has born rich fruit.
I have met many of them now, after we have grown older,
who say that some of their best childhood memories are the children's meetings with Mary.
So something was planted in our hearts,
both in my heart and in the hearts of many others.
The seeds that were planted, particularly with Eli's death in 1931,
by faithfulness and prayer, by God's grace grew
so that in 1934 there was a whole group of young people from Eiker
who were gripped in the spiritual revival that went over the church.
In the summer of 1934 Elias Aslaksen held a youth conference in Eiker.
The Døviken sisters and several others were baptized
and many of these have remained faithful pillars among us.
We can thank and praise God day and night for his election.
That he has seen us, and sends circumstances that cause us
to be drawn to the heavenly things.
When the war came in 1940, the new family became actively involved in the resistance movement.
And after the war, you could read about Døviken in the newspaper:
"No one could have had any clue that their farm was central
to the illegal resistance work during the war.
It was the picture of peace to the smallest detail,
from the horse that met us at the gate,
to the little seven-month-old
sitting contentedly on a blanket on the lawn,
a grandchild from Horten who with time and opportunity would become a dangerous revolutionary.
"That child's name was Kåre Johan Smith,
and his grandparents' farm in Eiker, where he was born,
became his childhood paradise.
There was a very good atmosphere; I can remember that.
A very peaceful and good atmosphere.
And the attitude toward the church was very positive.
But that was in all weakness!
And grandfather probably didn't understands so much of the gospel,
but he had an incredible respect for Johan Oscar Smith.
And therefore he opened his home.
He had a slightly larger house than what typical working people had,
since he was a farmer and had a farm.
Therefore his living room had room for more people.
So when Smith was in the town, he was heartily welcome in Peder Døviken's home.
We had great respect for him,
but with no fear - he was just like one of us.
Like his mother, these women also became victorious women of faith.
I want to praise and thank God for the church.
That early on, my eyes were opened and I was able to give my life to Jesus.
I am deeply thankful for the church.
I want to thank all of you, everyone here, who has worked and made preparations,
and shown goodness in every way.
And I ask you, you young ones,
I'm thinking especially of you;
- be faithful!
So you can live a happy life!
That is what I want to exhort you to do.
I have to praise and thank God for his great grace toward me.
That he has allowed me to live all of these years,
and that I have been allowed to be healthy for the most part.
I also want to praise and thank God from my heart for all of my siblings,
and in-laws, and also all of my children of course...
--Mary Jansen tells about the time that Johan Oscar Smith stopped the rain-
There was a conference at Tonsåsen.
The weather was nice when we went up.
Brother Smith was along as well.
There was a little cafe there, but there wasn't room for all of us.
We had started the meeting outside
but then rain started to pour!
Smith had just started speaking.
Then Smith raised his hands and prayed to God
that he would stop the rain.
Because we were having a meeting outside. -He didn't say that, but...
And right away the rain stopped.
So I experienced that.
-Use your time an strength to serve God!
And show the youth that this is a happy life,
and that they will never regret that!