Grandma Christensen

I Corinthians 1:4-6 The Message: Every time I think of you — and I think of you often! — I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in you — it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

7-9 Just think — you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

When I was a teenager, my brother and I mowed my Grandma Christensen's lawn every week from the time the snow stopped in the spring until it started in the fall. Our father wanted to teach us, love, charity and the value of hard work, so he wouldn't let her pay us anything. This tore her up, and she would even cry sometimes. It was pretty sad.

When I was a senior in High School and I was starting to feel called to ministry, I asked her if she would give me a Living Bible. That was a gift that was OK with all concerned. At the end of summer or my birthday (this was 30-plus years ago so I don't remember exactly when), I received it and decided to read the Bible through every year.

I have been truly blessed by that 20-dollar Bible. I didn't read it every time, actually only once. But I have enjoyed reading or listening through the Bible each year since. I have been blessed every time. What I've learned by doing this hasn't been Earth shattering, becuse everyday life is like that. But I find new blessings regularly.

This is a passage that spoke to me recently. I am reading through the Bible in the order that it was written. So the epistles, the letters to the various churches, show up before the Gospels.

Think about what it says: You have everything you need when you become a Christ follower. It doesn't matter where you live, how much money you have or your level of education. He will never give up on you! He gives you all of the gifts you need! Maybe that is why Christ followers I have met in India, Africa and South America are so much more content than people from North America. They have a simpler faith that is not as influenced by an excess of training resources, music, videos and books that tell us how to live a life of following Jesus. They just have His word and very few teachers. It also costs more to be a follower when you are not part of the majority religion.

Thanks, Grandma Christensen. You influenced more lives than you ever knew.

Our Story

Throughout our marriage, we have always felt that God wanted us to be involved in church ministry of some sort. For four years Elizabeth was the youth and children's director in another local church. When she left that position we felt that God wanted us to be involved in a church ministry where we could work together. We were not sure how that could happen. After some time we began to make preparations to go to Canada to start churches. (Elizabeth is a Canadian native.) This plan did not work out and we were disappointed, but we continued studying and learning about starting churches. We now are finding that this was great preparation for what we are about to do. Also, we think our experiences played some role in our church catching the vision for getting more involved in missions to other countries.

Dan's Story

I also became a follower of Jesus as a young child. One night there was a bad thunderstorm. I wondered what would happen to me if I died. (It must have been quite the thunderstorm!) I remembered what my Sunday School teacher said about Jesus dying for me so that I could go to heaven. That was when I decided that I wanted to follow Jesus. When I was a senior in high school, I felt that God wanted me to be involved in church ministry. I ended up at the same Bible College as Elizabeth. We've been married now for over 31 years.

Elizabeth's Story

The story of how God brought us to where we are today begins a long time ago. This is Elizabeth's story:

I became a follower of Jesus at a very early age. Even though I was so young, I think I understood that I had done things that were wrong. I learned that Jesus was punished in my place. When I was about five and a half years old I was at an evening church service one Sunday. I don't remember the sermon but I will never forget the song we sang at the end of the service. We sang about the untold millions still untold about Jesus. It broke my heart. When we shook the pastor's hand as we left, he wanted to know why I was crying. My mother said she thought I must be tired. I knew the real reason, but I didn't have the words to explain.

As I was growing up missionaries were my heroes. The missionaries that I knew of were also doctors. So I thought that to be a missionary, I had to be a doctor. I wanted to be a missionary doctor when I grew up. As I grew older I did not see how that would work out. When I realized I would probably never be a doctor, I also forgot about being a missionary.

When I was seventeen, I felt that God wanted me to go to Bible College, although at that time I did not have a specific career in mind. I only knew that I wanted to learn more about the Bible. In Bible College I met Dan.