Rev. Else Lund

Else Lund was born on September 16, 1932, in Dyment, Ontario, Canada. At the age of five, Else began her education in a one-room country school. Else graduated from high school in Dryden, Ontario, in 1950, and during the summer vacation she attended Teachers College in Toronto. Her goal was to obtain a degree in teaching and become a high school teacher. However, her life took a sudden turn when she contracted polio during the epidemic in 1953. Because of the epidemic, there was no room in the area hospitals, so Else was sent by train to a hospital in Sudbury.

Else was paralyzed from the neck down and unable to do anything for herself. After nine months she could walk again and somewhat care for herself. The medical field could do nothing more for her, so she was sent home. In the hospital Else had prayed the Lord's Prayer over and over. This was the only way she knew how to pray. Those with polio were all under quarantine. One day a pastor opened the door of her room and said, "This is all for a purpose." She never forgot his words. How true they were! It was polio that brought the Lund family to the Lord.

In 1954 Else returned to teaching. At that time she was invited to a meeting in the Edward Kelbert home. This was the beginning of the United Pentecostal Church (UPC) in Dryden. In 1955 at the Kenora UPC, pastored by William Cooling, she repented. Later Brother Cooling baptized her in the name of Jesus Christ at Bethel Tabernacle in Winnipeg.

Realizing the Lord was leading her in another direction, she attended Apostolic Bible Institute and graduated in 1962. In October 1962, she received missionary appointment to Fassama, Liberia, West Africa.

In March 1963 Else sailed from Brooklyn, New York, on the African Glen, a commercial ship. The only other passenger on the three-week journey was a lady missionary returning to Liberia. She was older and gave Else much advice on missionary work, which later proved most helpful. Else believed the Lord arranged their meeting.

Else faced many challenges in Liberia, but the Lord took her victoriously through them all. Twice she faced danger when flying on the Sheaves for Christ Piper Cub. Once they were lost in fog over the jungle, and another time the brake cable unraveled as they landed, causing the plane to crash. Shortly after a coup, she almost lost her new Sheaves for Christ car. As a soldier stood with his gun in his hand, a slender, short plain-clothes man in travel attire stepped up, took her identification card out of the soldier's hand, handed it to her and said, "This is all she requires." His words were so quiet and gentle that she actually relaxed. After he repeated the same words at least three times, Else realized she was free to go. On this man's approach, the tall soldier had clicked his heels and stood at frozen attention. Later they searched to learn who this man was. Nobody knew. She felt God had sent an angel to deliver her that day.

In February 1971 Else transferred to Accra, Ghana, to teach in the Bible school Missionary R. K. Rodenbush had opened. In 1989 Else returned to Liberia to work in the Bible school while the Jim Hall family was on deputation. In May 1990 she had to evacuate due to the civil war. Back in Ghana, she plunged into refugee work and helped build a church in the refugee camp. One of her Bible school students from Liberia, a refugee himself, pastored the work.

In 1998 Else was appointed to International Teaching Ministries and taught in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Togo, and Scotland. She also spent six months helping start a church in Copenhagen, Denmark. In November 2004 after forty-two years of service, she felt it the Lord's will to retire from Global Missions. She now resides in her hometown of Dryden.

In summing up her missionary years, Else stated, "If I had the opportunity I would do the same thing again."