Fire and Seeds

Liese Greensfelder, from California, decided in 1973 at 18 years of age to pursue a dream to help people in time of need, so she joined The Norwegian Committee for International Education and Youth Work to work on a Norwegian farm. She was to live with a family on their farm and work over the summer. When she arrived, there was no one at the train station to meet her. She eventually learned that her host had a stroke and was in the hospital and she would have to be in charge of the farm until he was well enough to come home. She'd never had any experience running a farm. This 18 year old girl from California was now in charge of a farm in Norway!! She had to learn how to milk the many cows, take care of the horses, sheep, harvest hay, tend the large garden, and upkeep the run-down farmhouse that had no indoor plumbing, and only a wood stove for heat. She spoke no Norwegian. Liese was alone. What a crisis in her life! But, as she wrote in her book, Accidental Shepherd, it opened up a new world, discovering strengths and a resilience she never knew she had. 

What would you have done if you had been in her shoes?

Thanks for listening.