• Paul's Story
  • Sheila's Story
  • Our Love Story

    • Paul's Story

    Paul with our nephew Logan I grew up on a farm in North Dakota where I was the youngest of three boys. I grew up going to church but never understood the true meaning of the Gospel. I thought it was my good works, or should I say my lack of violent crimes that would get me into heaven. I thought I was a pretty good kid. I only partied every once in a while. I didn't do too many mean things to other people. I was quiet and minded my own business. The average person would think of me as a good kid.

    Then.....during my first year of college at the University of North Dakota, I met my roommate. My roommate was a really nice guy. I hung out and ate regularly with him and his friends. Then one day he asked me if I wanted to go to a Bible study. I was not interested in a Bible study--religion was boring. But being polite I said, "I'm too busy, but maybe next week." The following week he asked again, and again I gave the same response. Then the 3rd week came and he asked again. For some reason, whether out of guilt of putting him off, or a desire to check it out, I decided to go.

    That night I heard a story about a man's life being compared to a room full of filing cabinets. On the drawers of the filing cabinets were categories such as: "Movies I've watched," "Lies I've told," "Books I've read," and "Ways I've mistreated people." This man realized that he had secrets in this room that only he knew about. He was ashamed and immediately wanted to hide the room. At that moment Jesus walked into the room. He looked at the filing cabinets and starting at what seemed like the worst one, he opened it. He proceeded to remove each card and read through the account. The man was sweating bullets, he knew he was so guilty. And here the most wretched things he had done in secret, were being exposed. Surely he would be condemned. But then the man watched closely as Jesus wrote his name in blood over the man's name. Instead of condemning, Jesus was essentially taking the blame!

    I was enthralled by this story as I sat on the edge of my seat. I understood what Jesus had done for this man in the room. Jesus owned the rights to this man and everything he had ever done. I realized that I too had many hidden accounts in my life that I would not want anyone to see. I wanted Jesus to sign his name on my cards too, but I didn't know what to do to get him to do it. I was held in suspense. In the days that followed, I couldn't learn enough about the Bible. I read three chapters of John every day for the next week. I was falling in love with the Word of God, but I still didn't know what I needed to do to get Jesus to sign my cards.

    Two weeks after that life turning decision to attend that Bible study, the leader of the study sat down with me and told how I could be sure that Jesus would forgive me. He explained to me that God loved me and had a wonderful plan for my life. He then asked me, "If you were to die today, what percent chance do you think you would end up in heaven?" My answer was 70%. He then asked me, "Thats pretty high, why do you say 70%?" My response, "I haven't killed anybody. I'm a pretty good person." Then he explained to me that because God is holy, He only accepts perfection and anyone who has messed up just once according to God's Law is not worthy to enter heaven. Ouch! I knew I wasn't perfect.

    He just shared the most hopeless news that anybody could ever hear. Then he told me about a solution to the problem. He told me about a man, Jesus, who was perfect. He never did a bad thing. He was God and He came down to earth to live as a man. While Jesus was on earth he taught people about the path that leads to heaven. He accepted sinners and criticized the religious self-righteous people. These same religious people who thought they could earn their way to heaven by their own good works were threatened by Him, so they crucified Him on a cross.

    That might seem like the end, but if it was, I wouldn't be writing this now. This was all a part of God's plan. Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave 3 days after he was crucified just as the prophets had foretold would happen. It was a miracle that only He could do because He is God and has power over death.

    Why did Jesus go through all of that pain? He did it to pay the death penalty for every human that ever lived on this earth. Because he was perfect he could do this. The perfect man was beaten and tortured and killed. He died in our place and was every human's substitute. No human would ever have to pay the penalty of eternal death, which is what each person deserves.

    I then learned that even though no human would ever have to live separated from God, many would continue to do so, because they either think they are good enough to make it to heaven or they simply don't want any God telling them how they should live their life and thus they refuse to believe in the One who can give them eternal life and meaning and purpose in life.

    On that day, I finally understood and believed the good news of Jesus Christ. When I accepted the fact that Christ took my place on the cross and paid my penalty, God saw me as completely perfect and righteous. You might ask, how could I be a complete wretch one minute and completely righteous the next? Because when I accepted the fact that Christ died in my place, God saw Christ when He looks upon me and He still sees Christ in me as the basis of my standing before Him. I was pardoned from any penalty. God declared me not guilty. I was declared legally righteous. Instead of trying to be self-righteous, I am Christ-righteous.

    As a result of being in right standing with God, I would spend eternal life in heaven. God also gave me the Holy Spirit to live inside of me. Another result that started to occur and is still occurring today is that a transformation began to take place. My mouth was the first area to clean up. I became more outgoing and confident in who God made me to be. Those were some of the good things that happened. However, perfection does not occur this side of heaven. God continues to work on me in the areas of selfishness, envy, and pride to name a few.

    I now can live life feeling secure in who God made me to be, and it is so much better than the life I was living before I knew Christ. However, life still has its trials and hardships. God never promises an easy life for his children while here on earth. In fact, the Bible says that the Christian will face many hardships while he proclaims the name of Christ throughout the world. But I realize that our present sufferings while here on earth are only temporary compared to the everlasting life that is to come in heaven with Christ.

    Soon after I trusted Christ, I wanted others to know they could be totally accepted by God and spend eternity in heaven with Him. My heart broke over the fact that there were people all over the world who had no chance to hear about this awesome news. I wanted to go tell them so that they could tell others around them. Everyone needs this message. It was this desire that led me to attend New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson, Michigan where I planned to get some Bible training to prepare me for overseas missions. This is where I met Sheila.

    Sheila's Story

    Sheila at age 2

    I grew up in a Christian family with three sisters and parents who loved the Lord and lived out their faith on a daily basis. Their love for God influenced us kids. They always had a heart for reaching out to others and would be excited about how to reach out not only in our own town, but cross culturally and globally as well.

    I accepted Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior when I was 4 years old. I communicated to my mom that I believed he died on the cross for my sins and rose again, and that I wanted him to live in my heart.

    As I grew older I understood more of what that meant. I remember in middle school I got really excited about my relationship with God. I was learning that God wanted to spend time with me and I could talk to Him like a friend. I fell in love with the Bible and began reading it regularly. I was determined I wanted to live my life for God. I had opportunities to go on several missions trips overseas while in high school. These became life-changing and life- directing for me.

    There was a particularly life-changing experience I had at age 15 . . .. I still remember it clearly. I was on a missions trip to Bolivia in South America. The missionaries we visited were working with the Simba people in a village in the foothills of the Andes mountains. The missionaries decided to take us to another more remote Simba village. These other Simba people hardly knew any Spanish because they were so isolated -- they only spoke their tribal tongue. They also didn't have a Bible in their language or anyone to teach them about Jesus.

    That morning as Jack (the missionary) greeted the people in Spanish and had his message translated into the Simba language, different women began standing one by one and speaking in their Simba tongue. They were responding to Jack's message and asking a question. Then the translator translated. What he said humbled me and has forever left an imprint on my heart.

    The women were saying, "Please, stay here, teach us, we want to learn more, you can teach us, please don't go." When Jack responded that he and the other missionaries were busy working in another distant Simba village, the people responded, "Well, leave one of them to teach us,( indicating our group). . . they each have Bibles." Oh how that tugged on our hearts.

    These people didn't have the Word of God in their hands, they didn't know the truth, they were without hope and without the knowledge of God. But I think what hit me the most, was that they had this intense hunger to be fed! It was almost as if they were saying, "You guys have enough food, we are starving back here, can't you share some with us, can't you pass the food back here, instead of passing it amongst yourselves?"

    This was my first experience being exposed to the intense need for believers to get the gospel to unreached tribes. I interacted with these people, laughed and ate with them. They were real people, hungry for truth, but dying without it. They were asking to be taught and there was no one to send them. One Simba man had spent 10 years learning Spanish so he could read the Spanish Bible. Wow! He was thirsting for the Word even in a second language.

    In the years since then, I have been exposed to 8 more tribes, and have seen many incredible life changes, and heard awesome testimonies from the tribal people themselves. Testimonies of changed lives, hope and joy, no more fear and warfare. I've heard stories of a change in focus from warfare and deceit to loving their families and reaching other surrounding villages with the message of Jesus.

    These experiences have really challenged my thinking and inspired me to be available to the Lord, wherever that may be. It puts eternity into perspective. This life I have now is not my own, I was bought with a price. I belong to the Lord and have the awesome privilege as a believer of being His ambassador, as I share the good news of His Son with others.

    I also want to mention that it wasn't clear sailing from here on out. When I went to college I struggled some with my faith. I chose to go to a community college in my hometown to get my nursing degree and it was here that I came to question my Christianity and why I believe what I believe. Although I had been to public school and had been exposed to many other world views, it seemed to impact me the most during this time.

    Did I just believe because my parents did? How did I know the Bible was reliable? After all, I'm planning to build my life purpose on the basis of the Bible being true! What about the other religions? Could there really only be one right way? Isn't that a little narrow? These questions and many more were overwhelming me.

    I spent a lot of mental energy thinking through other religions and their philosophies and goals, I also read the book "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell. This book really drove home some major points for me. It made me realize that I had to do something with the person of Jesus Christ. He was a real historical person and it helped me to see logically that unlike the popular belief that Jesus was just a good man, he really was either a liar, a lunatic or he was Lord (who he claimed to be). There was really no other option. I also studied up on the historicity of the Bible, and it's reliability.

    In the end, this journey of doubt and searching was so liberating. It helped me to claim Christianity as my very own. It caused me to be more secure in what I believe and why.

    After nursing school, I went to Bible school where I met Paul and continued to learn more about God's word. I continue to grow in my knowledge of Him. I've been challenged lately to put more stock into the life I know I'll have eternally, and to spend less time making this earthly home too comfortable. My time here is limited, and my purpose as a believer is clear. I exist to make much of God and to live for His purposes.

    While there are countless blessings as a child of God there is also great responsibility. I need to evaluate daily if I'm making myself available to the Lord for His purposes. It's so easy to lose sight of eternity and become self-absorbed and focus on the here and now and the comforts of this life. To enjoy the wonderful blessings of the Lord here on earth is not bad, but to lose the eternal perspective is very costly. God is working and moving in amazing ways, His plans will not be thwarted with or without my participation. But oh, how I'll miss out if I'm not responding to Him and available to Him.

    Our Love Story: How We Met

    The Gundersons

    We love to tell the story of how we met, "fell in love," and married. I (Paul) was currently living and working in Boise, Idaho as a registered nurse. During my time in Idaho I continued to sense the Lord's leading me to the mission field. I started to think about getting some Bible training under my belt to help prepare me. My good friend encouraged me to check out New Tribes Bible Institute (NTBI) because it had excellent teaching and was really inexpensive.

    So I guess you can say it all started on a wintry January day in Jackson, Michigan. I flew from Boise to visit the school to see if this would be my next step to the mission field. My experience at the school was great. The teaching was extraordinary and it had a very low cost, plus the school's curriculum was focused on the Bible and Missions. It also had a hospital across the street that I could work at. It was perfect.

    While I was there, I wanted to find out about the hospital. I was then linked up with a nurse who was a student that worked at this hospital. Her name was Sheila. She answered all my questions in about 10 minutes. Little did I know that she would be the girl I would marry some day. I thought she was cute, but I wasn't going to Bible school to find a wife.

    The following August, I showed up at NTBI. I loved it. The teaching was just how I remembered it. I met many believers that had awesome hearts for God. Many were going to the mission field. Sheila was there also as she was finishing up her last year of school. We would talk pretty often about work. It was the one thing we knew we had in common and it was a safe subject. I became more and more attracted to her all the time. I just came out of a difficult breakup a year before this time, so I was not going to just rush into another relationship. I learned a lot about what to look for in a woman from my previous relationship, so I watched Sheila from a distance and prayed to God for wisdom in what I should do in this situation with this girl I thought was totally awesome.

    I watched to see who her closest friends were, how she interacted with guys, and what her priorities were. I studied who she was. Sheila worked in the library every Tuesday for three hours. I would study in the library every Tuesday for those same three hours. I did this for four months and I learned a lot about her. I deeply respected the way she lived her life. She was deeply respected my almost everyone at the school. Each week that went by I knew more and more that this girl was worth pursuing.

    I started praying about opportunities to interact with her. God would answer my prayer once in a while but never as much as I wanted. One time I got really impatient and was so close to asking her on a date but as I prayed I sensed that God was saying, "Not yet." So I waited impatiently.

    Then my opportunity came. My friend who lived in Vancouver, Washington asked me to be a in his wedding over Christmas break. Immediately I thought that this was the time. Sheila was going back in Oregon for the break. On the Tuesday before the semester was over, I got a enough guts to go to the library to "study." I struck up a conversation about our nieces and nephews and we looked at pictures. Then with no spit in my mouth because I was so nervous, I said something like, "I'm going to be in Oregon over Christmas break for my friend's wedding. Maybe we could get together sometime when I am there and you can show me around." She said, "Sure." Then I asked for her phone number and she gave it me! The stage was set. But I was still very nervous because I did not know how she felt about me yet. Now Sheila can fill you in on the rest of the details.

    So at the point, when Paul asked me for my number. . .  I was getting nervous. I had thought he was a nice enough guy, but I was not interested in a relationship with him. Talking about our work stories I thought was pretty safe. I noticed he came into the library when I was there, but I just figured he studied there all the time. There would be days that went by where we didn’t see each other at school, and I had figured if he was a guy who was interested in me, he’d be more intentional about hanging out with me. So all in all, I thought he was a safe guy to talk to without leading him on. At the point where he asked me for my number, I realized he might be interested after all.

    So when I went back home to Oregon, I convinced my cousin Kristi (who lives in Portland) to go along with me if Paul did in fact call to hang out. I assured her, along with my whole family that I was really not interested in him romantically.

    So the day came when Paul did call. I was actually impressed with the fact that he could find his way around Portland and he had rented a car and was willing to come meet us!  We ended up picking him up and showing him around Portland. We went to a coffee shop and took him to see Multnomah Falls. We had such easy conversation among the three of us the whole time. I found out all sorts of information about him. (At school I had been really guarded when interacting with guys, because everyone was watching and made it their business to find out who was hooking up with who, but here in my own territory, with my cousin who knew me really well, I could be myself and it was much more comfortable to interact.)

    As the day went on, I found out that I liked this guy more and more. He was so easy to talk to, and it was enjoyable to hang out with him. He was a good question asker and I liked the things he shared. I already knew he was a respected godly guy at school who was asked to be in leadership, but I hadn’t heard his story of why he came to Bible school and I didn’t know about his future plans. As he shared, it was evident that he really sought the Lord in many of his decisions and wanted to be available to the Lord for His purposes. There’s nothing more attractive in a guy to me than that! And as if that wasn’t enough, he also was planning on going on to become a missionary to do tribal church planting. I know that doesn’t seem romantic to many of you, but it was pretty exciting for me to meet someone with the same passion as I have.

    So there I sat at the coffee shop talking with he and Kristi. This big smile kept trying to find it’s way to my face. I had to hold the cup in front of my face a couple of times, to hide the smile from them.  I was falling for this guy. I was excited. I was confused, up to this point I was starting to think the Lord was planning to keep me single, and now this experience?!

    As soon as we dropped Paul off and drove away, I asked my cousin what she thought about Paul. Her words were, “Yeah, I can see how there is no chemistry between you.” “What?” I asked nervously. She replied,  “Wait, I thought that’s what you had said initially, so I never entertained the possibility, I think he’s a great guy, do you like him?”

    “I don’t know, I’m so confused, I think I might.” We were laughing. We both had really enjoyed our time with him and he was so easy to talk to.  I was excited about the possibility of a relationship but afraid to start hoping.

    Paul called me two more times that Christmas break. My feelings for him grew more and more intense, and I found myself really liking him and desiring a relationship. I would waltz around the house after a call.

    When we returned to school in Michigan in January of 2003, it didn’t take him long to ask me out on a date and express his desire to pursue a relationship. Although I was nervous about pursuing a relationship in the small school environment, I really liked this guy by now. I said yes and the times together began.  Six months later we were engaged on June 25th, and four and a half months later on November 15, 2003 we were married.