Kristina Lunde

The Lord is my strength and my song.
Psalm 118:14a

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July 29, 2024 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Vacation Bible School: A Volunteer’s Prayer

Dear Lord God,

I pray that you develop the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of all the children and volunteers during our Vacation Bible School (VBS) this summer. Bring the content, logistics, volunteers, and children together to fulfill Your purposes for this ministry.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
ESV

Image by Tep Ro from Pixabay

Lord, let Your love fill and direct us as we teach these precious children.

Please inspire everyone involved in VBS to find and express joy in you, dear Jesus.

Let your peace fill our church and the grounds while the children play, craft, and learn the VBS lesson themes.

Give the volunteers patience to meet the needs of these children.

Provide opportunities for us to show kindness and goodness in all interactions with children.

Develop faithfulness in us as we teach and love these children in Your name, dear Jesus.

Guide us in gentleness toward the children, especially when they need to be admonished or redirected.

Work in us self-control, as we teach the children to develop the same in their interactions with others.

Lord God, please grow the fruit of your Spirit in everyone involved in this VBS program. Let all that we do in this ministry bring you honor and glory. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed Under: Ministry, Prayer Tagged With: children, fruit of the Spirit, ministry, prayer, teaching, VBS

March 31, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Samaritan’s Purse: Thank You for Operation Christmas Child

Dear Samaritan’s Purse,

Thank you for Operation Christmas Child, the ministry you have faithfully implemented for almost 30 years. Your ministry helped me, my now-grown children, and the children I teach at church, to:

  • recognize my first-world biases related to Christmas shopping
  • organize my perspectives and priorities before the Christmas season
  • challenge our ideas of what a Christmas gift should be
  • identify our first-world mentality, which expects treats, not necessities, as gifts
  • present the concept, often inconceivable to first-world children, that many people never receive gifts
  • share the true Christmas gift of Jesus as we pack the boxes
  • identify how Operation Christmas Child shares the gift of Jesus with shoebox recipients
  • demonstrate a way to participate in missions around the world
Author Photo

At first, the children think I am silly when I ask if they get toothbrushes, pencils, or soap as gifts. They cannot comprehend that hygiene and school items are anything other than necessities automatically provided by parents. The reality that there are children in the world who don’t have these items is hard for our first-world children to grasp. We talk about gratitude and not taking necessities for granted. Teaching gift-giving to preschoolers is a challenge. We talk about giving gifts, letting go of the toy they grabbed, saying goodbye to the toy, and closing the box. The older grade-school children can discuss poverty and how that affects gift-giving.

For every level of understanding, Operation Christmas Child helps teach important lessons on gratitude, appreciation, sharing, prayer, and missions. We pray for the kids who don’t know Christ: as I buy the items, with kids as we pack, and later when we find out where the boxes will be delivered. Sharing Jesus’ love is the biggest gift of all, an important lesson to emphasize for both children and adults.

Author Photo

Thank you for the structure of your organization, the planning that goes into shoebox deliveries, and the dedication of those who bring the love of Jesus along with the physical gifts. What a treat that we can now follow the boxes online! This year, I plan to bring in a globe and show my Sunday school students the shoebox delivery countries.

Thank you, Operation Christmas Child workers, that you do not just drop off boxes and run away. Thank you for presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to entire families before you distribute shoebox gifts. I especially appreciate that we can donate toward the follow-up discipleship lessons. What a blessing that you connect the gift-receiving families with a local church, where they can hear more about the truth of Jesus Christ. The entire ministry of Operation Christmas Child is centered around bringing Jesus to the world. And even if children cannot go on missions, you provide an opportunity to connect and share Christ’s love with children around the world.

Nothing reframes my Christmas priorities better than filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Thank you for your ministry!
Gratefully,
Kristina Lunde
[Originally posted November 2021]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: gifts, ministry, Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan's Purse, shoeboxes, Sunday school

March 31, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Obeying a God Nudge: From Selfish to Willing

An email request asked Lakes Area Writers Alliance members to volunteer for a shift in a non-profit booth at the county fair. My irritations added up. The group held meetings, inconveniently, on Saturday mornings, and this request also involved weekends. A four-hour shift seemed like a long, boring stretch of time. All of my reasons not to participate felt squelched by a “God-nudge,” to use my husband’s description of a gut feeling that God wants you to do something. I preferred to volunteer for a two-hour shift, but four hours in a row? Really?! How much could I say about group meetings that I rarely attended?

That “God-nudge” prompted me to sign up for the last Saturday morning of the fair. Yes, I volunteered for the day I didn’t want to go, for the job I didn’t want to do, and for a stretch of time I thought seemed too long. But I did it anyway, begrudgingly out of obedience God.

Our writer’s alliance event coordinator had thoroughly prepared the displays. Two rectangular tables included an obligatory candy bowl that attracted kids and other sweet-seekers. A raffle jar offered a prize basket of books written by members of our writers’ alliance—my memoir included. Some group members had self-published short stories in a collection entitled The Storyville Project. Copies were stacked and available for sale. Displayed in racks, stacks, and fanned arrangements, brochures and bookmarks spread across the table tops.

Volunteers had permission to sell their own books, so I spent the first minutes placing my books on easels. As I set up my sales display, I chatted with the woman in the neighboring booth. Her story tumbled out quickly: she was widowed three months prior, after taking care of her ill husband while he was on hospice. Confined to a hospital bed in the living room, her husband needed full-time care, so she had slept on the couch, ready to jump up and help him 24/7.

Her tears flowed as she spoke of her grief. I tried to reassure her about the grief processing she had already accomplished, even though nothing felt normal to her yet. Not surprisingly, the fatigue she accumulated as a caretaker now compounded her grief. We spoke of God’s healing and comfort. I gave her the GriefShare website, so that she could sign up for daily emails and check out this fall’s grief groups. Later, a woman walked by the booth dressed in a memorial t-shirt that displayed several family members’ names and dates of death. We also discussed death and grief, and I gave her the same resources and information.

My entire booth shift turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and the four hours passed quickly. Several teenagers approached the booth, some reluctantly as their supportive parents asked questions on their child’s behalf. Identifying these shy teenagers, I started conversations about their favorite genres and encouraged them to continue writing. Hoping that the teens would be challenged and validated by submitting a story, I asked each one to contribute to the next edition of The Storyville Project. One teenager described working on projects with her sister who created anime drawings for her stories. As I marveled at their talents, I encouraged them to keep collaborating.

I enjoyed giving booth visitors information about our Lakes Area Writers Alliance. Not all conversations related to writing as I talked with kids, parents, and families. The Gideons International hosted a nearby booth where they gave out New Testament Bibles. Unlike the plain covers I remember from decades ago, the new Bible came in colorful covers: designs, graphics, and even camouflage. I engaged a few kids in conversation as they walked by with their pocket-sized gifts.

Afterward, I thought about my much-needed attitude rearrangement. I had signed up for my shift out of reluctant obedience to the “God-nudge,” or God’s prompting. That reluctance started to change when I recognized God’s divine appointments. Within minutes of my arrival, God arranged one-on-one time to speak with a grieving widow in the neighboring booth. God blessed my volunteer shift with meaningful conversations with kids, families, grieving people, writers, and friends. Once my selfishness got out of the way, God changed my attitude to willing—even joyful—obedience.

Lord God, Forgive my reluctant and frustrated attitude toward obeying your prompting, or those “God-nudges.” Change my heart, dear God, and teach me to be joyful and willing as I obey. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Originally posted August 2021]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: books, God-nudge, grief, GriefShare, ministry, obedience, trust, volunteer

March 30, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

God’s Will and the Blessings of Sunday School Kids

Five-year-old Will proudly held up the card he brought for his Sunday school teacher. “Look at my name!” he insisted, giggling as he pointed to the extra three letters he had creatively tacked onto his full name. Before anyone could comment, he set the card on the table and ran around the room. His joy and enthusiasm made me smile.

Photo by Anna Kolosyuk/Unsplash

Then another boy walked into the room slowly, clutching a potted geranium and card that he handed to his teacher. Accepting the gift, she expressed her thanks and gave the boy a big gift bag in return. The four Sunday school children each received large gift bags from the teacher, their names on cards tied with a ribbon. Inside each bag were summer gifts: a beach towel and a manila envelope full of activities for them to review lessons about Jesus and His love.

This was not my class or my students, but I gladly joined their last day of Sunday school before summer. The COVID pandemic had locked me down for over a year and shut me out of in-person ministries. Excited to be fully vaccinated, I joined the Sunday school class with the intent of volunteering in the fall. I enjoyed seeing these kids thank their teacher. What a thoughtful teacher who challenged her students with summer learning materials!

After the gift exchanges, the teacher expertly drew the kids’ attention to the lesson. With her two-year-old by her side, the teacher gave each child a pamphlet of stapled sheets of colored construction paper. Using this wordless book , she asked the children to turn the pages and follow along as she presented the Gospel of Jesus. She explained the concepts at a four to six-year-old level of understanding, patiently guided them, and asked questions to assess their understanding.

Part-way through the book, the teacher gave an object lesson using balloons. Given time and space to move around, the kids got out of the chairs to keep their balloons in the air. A great break for littles who don’t sit long, the jumping and balloon-batting brought lots of giggles. Until it didn’t, when one boy ran out of the room in anger because the two-year-old touched his balloon.

I followed the boy into the playroom and tried to talk him into returning to the classroom. He refused, so I watched and listened as he worked things out while climbing on the plastic slide. He vented his anger about the two-year-old, who in his mind was trying to steal his balloon. When the teacher looked out the classroom door, the boy began to cry, but then he walked back into class.

When the teacher finished the wordless book, she introduced a board game. The board spaces included Bible verses and concepts that reviewed the year’s Sunday school lessons. She had prepped everything: colored game ‘boards’ pasted onto construction paper, play pieces cut out, and buttons used as board pieces. The teacher’s attention to students’ needs became obvious as she guided each child to take a turn. Afterward they each received a game of their own to take home.

I felt honored to be a part of this Christ-based curriculum presented by a young mom who poured love and support into her students. Playing and learning about Jesus, Will and his enthusiastic classmates brought energy and fun to my morning.

Lord, please open up hearts and minds to learn more about you as Sunday school and other ministries resume after the lifting of long-imposed COVID restrictions. Motivate people to volunteer, sharing the truth of Christ with your precious children, in churches and ministries all over the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Originally posted May 2021]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: crafts, ministry, Sunday school, volunteer, wordless book

March 30, 2022 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Coronavirus Chaos as God’s Reorg

March, 2020. Coronavirus chaos. COVID-19-related lockdown. A pandemic that stopped everything. No people to see or places to go. No stuff to do. My calendar of activities blanked out. A reorganization of everything in my life.

God, is this pandemic part of your plan?! Shouldn’t I be going, doing, meeting, etc.? Aren’t those activities the work you planned for me to do?

Photo by Jonathan Cooper/Unsplash

What an inopportune time for this to be happening. So I thought seven months ago when coronavirus chaos set in and the COVID-19 lockdown began. After moving to a new community, my husband and I involved ourselves in a church—really involved, as in four nights a week, some daytime commitments, occasional extra activities. In our previous town, we lived within a mile of our church. From our rural home, we drive 25 minutes for church, groceries, or anything. Until COVID-19 stopped our schedule.

God, what can I possibly learn from being stuck at home?! Yes, I am grateful to be healthy, but now what?

As an extrovert, this is not my lifestyle. I miss people! Especially kids. This is an empty-nester isolation sentence: no Sunday school to teach, no youth group to help, no kids in our neighborhood. I could be doing something important.

God, this is like a painful reorg! You took my current life’s org chart and wiped out the connected boxes.

A reorg (reorganization) happens in order to restructure an organization for growth, efficiency, expansion—or even reduction. The goal is to maximize the company’s resources, strategies, and people for improved outcomes. When you work at the bottom of the chart, as I often have, a new org chart brings surprises. Where did people go? Who am I stuck with on my team? Why can’t I be on the other side with that person/team/salary? What happened to the higher-ups that I trust?

God, I don’t like this coronavirus reorg. Why did you have to shake-up my life?

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Dear Lord, let me submit to your reorg of my life, my activities, my schedule, and my networks. I may not like the disconnections or the uprooting, but teach me to submit. Convict me where I need to be convicted, and turn my selfish heart away from sinful attitudes and actions. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6-9

Dear Lord, I feel trapped, unproductive, and frustrated. Forgive me for my bad attitude and reluctance to learn. Forgive me for taking my health for granted when so many are ill and dying. A contemplative attitude and reflection are tough for me. Please help me to focus on studying your Word, following your guidance, and obeying you. Change my priorities and pursuits to align with your ways. Your will be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:7-8

[Originally posted October 2020]

Filed Under: coronavirus Tagged With: coronavirus, COVID-19, empty nest, ministry, pandemic, prayer, reorg

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