Before I begin any deep details, let me introduce myself by way of
my
biography from the 2006 Tengesdal-Lerfald family history book,
"Mountains, Fjords, Prairies":
Since
Dr. Kihle didn't work on Saturdays, and Kevin was to be a surgical
birth, Kevin was born on Monday, February 21, 1966 just two days after
his grandfather Jorgen's birthday. He was the last grandchild to be
born to Jorgen and Sophie Tengesdal and he was the ninth child of Roy
and Ardith. He was baptized at Betania Lutheran in May of 1966. He was
confirmed at English Lutheran in Maxbass in 1981.
Kevin
grew up on his parent's farmstead near Maxbass, spending many days up
at Mama Lou's with his cousins Scott and Dwight. He attended nine years
of education at Maxbass (with fond memories of his teacher Mrs. Georgia
Smith) until the high school merged with Newburg in 1981. Kevin was
involved with the school editorial staff, with the Farmers Union youth
program (which was at the time under the direction of his brother
Clifford), and with the Grace Lutheran Brethren youth group in
Bottineau.
Kevin's love for travel started early with
summer family vacations to the state of Washington. One particularly
memorable trip to Washington was with his Uncle Bob Steen and his
sister Kathryn. Bob sure loved to drive fast around the mountain curves.
His first jet flight was to Los Angeles with his sister Kristine during
his junior year of high school.
Kevin graduated in
1984 and then went on to study business administration at Minot State
College. While there, he was active with the Campus Players drama group,
the MSC Summer Theatre program, and with Inter-Varsity Christian
Fellowship.
In 1986, Kevin desired to leave North
Dakota to discover the world. First, he inspected various colleges in
the Puget Sound area of Washington and also checked out the job market
there. Then, upon the encouragement of his brothers, he joined the Navy.
He started basic training at Chicago in December, and then attended the
Operation Specialist tech school at Dam Neck near Virginia Beach, VA.
in 1987, Kevin was transferred to his permanent duty station aboard the
USS England CG22. The ship was in dry-dock in Long Beach before being
re-homeported to San Diego that fall. In southern California his
weekends were spent either with his Uncle Bob Steen, or with his cousin
Mark Tengesdal.
The year 1988 was tumultuous to say the
least for Kevin. He was given an honorable discharge from the Navy
because of their policies regarding homosexuality. With this discharge,
he was basically now left on his own as a civilian to discover what to
do with his life in light of the grounds of the discharge.
Back
in North Dakota again looking for work, he spent some time with his
cousin Steven traveling through the Midwest states to California and
back on his semi-trailer route. He also spent some time in Minnesota
with his sister Connie and her family while he interviewed with Marvin
Windows. He finally ended up in a job at a warehouse in Minot.
Life
at this time was a challenge for Kevin and through counseling with a
pastor from the Minot Evangelical Free Church, he recognized his need
for God's free grace and he submitted his life to Christ. Kevin asked
God to help him understand His plan for his life, and by faith, Kevin is
still on that quest.
In September, he moved to
Maryland to start an Inventory Controller position with a furniture
company that he had discovered through North Dakota Job Service. Kevin
found a network of Christian believers at First Baptist Church (FBC)
Savage. He soon joined with Mid-Atlantic Coca-Cola Financial Services in
Columbia. He lived for a bit with his cousins Myrna and Dave Staton in
Glen Burnie. (Thanks Myrna for teaching me how to make potet klubb!)
During his free time, he enjoyed trips throughout the region with
friends or family — to the Atlantic coast, the rolling mountains,
countless historic sites, and various theme parks.
He
was active with FBC-Savage in several Bible study groups and outreach
programs. In the summer of 1992, Kevin began his pursuit of how he could
be a part of the Great Commission. He left his job with Coca-Cola and
began seeking a Bible-based college to study mission skills.
But
first, he enjoyed a two-week vacation to Norway, which turned into a
three-week visit. He stayed with his cousins Perry and Wenche Tengesdal
on their historic Tengesdal farm between Egersund and Bjerkreim. Kevin
met many relatives and saw lots of historic sites in southwestern
Norway. He also met with a Baptist missionary in Stavanger to learn more
about how he and his wife were called to missions. He documented his
adventures in a booklet entitled "Wandering Through Norway."
Back
in Maryland, Kevin worked in temporary jobs. He was accepted to
Columbia Bible College (CBC) in South Carolina that December to begin
studies in the fall of 1993. Kevin participated in a weekend ministry to
a Jamaican Baptist Church in the Bronx. He also went on a short-term
mission trip to a church in the Choctaw Indian Nation in Oklahoma.
He
started his mission studies at CBC (whose motto is "To Know Him and To
Make Him Known") eventually centering his major studies on Biblical
Languages and Biblical Studies. He was involved on several committees
designing brochures and t-shirt logos. He also worked part-time with a
missionary newsletter printing company and served as floor leader in one
of the men's dorms. As part of his curriculum, Kevin participated in
prison visitations, led Bible studies, and was an English language
partner for a few Kuwaiti students at the University of South Carolina.
Christmas
of '93 saw Kevin flying to Albuquerque to help his sister Karen drive
her and the kids to North Dakota for milestone birthdays of their Dad
and Mom. It was fun teaching the Ingram and Vite children how to hunt
for snow snakes!
Kevin's studies led him to pursue
future missionary service with Wycliffe Bible Translators. For his
junior year at CBC ('95-'96), he studied in Jerusalem at the Institute
of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College). While there, he
was completely immersed in the culture and language of the land where
the ancients of Scripture trod. Among his courses of study, two of his
favorite classes were "Cultural Backgrounds of the Bible" (which
included meeting and visiting with a Bedouin tribe) and "Physical
Settings of the Bible" (which included six detailed field trips around
the region).
Through class trips and weekend jaunts, he
traveled throughout Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt. For the winter
semester break, Kevin participated on an archaeological dig at Qumran on
the Dead Sea, went on a backpacking trek in Wadi Rum and Petra, and
helped a Wycliffe missionary team in Cyprus with an Arabic translation
project. He witnessed history in the making with the 3000th anniversary
celebration of King David's conquering of Jerusalem, Prime Minister
Rabin's assassination, and a few bus bombings. But most impressive, he
discovered the genuine hospitality of the Near Middle Eastern people,
both Arab and Hebrew.
He accumulated over a thousand
photos, twenty-six poems, and hundreds of journal pages. While living in
"The Land Between", Kevin also discovered that there is so much more to
the Bible than just simply the Western conservative traditions and
interpretations. Having each of his five senses richly impacted by all
that he had encountered, the Bible became a new living entity in his
life.
After returning from Jerusalem in the summer of
1996, Kevin attended Wycliffe's Quest program as part of their process
for application. After three weeks of studies, applications, and
interviews in the awe-inspiring San Bernardino forests in southern
California, his application was terminated.
Down but
not defeated, Kevin finished his final year at CBC, graduating in May of
1997 with a Bachelor of Arts, a pile of intense education, a deeper
faith in God, a ton of great memories, and an unknown career path ahead.
While home in North Dakota during a month of re-evaluation, he accepted
an offer from his Uncle Pete to live with him and Melba in Tacoma.
He
held a few temporary jobs before being offered a position at a print
shop in Puyallup, a new start towards a career in Kevin's intuitive
passions — graphics and computers. He became involved with University
Place Presbyterian Church, as well as with a Greek Orthodox
congregation. Besides being doted on by Pete and Melba, he enjoyed many
weekend trips to his cousin's Trish and Dave Siburg in Poulsbo, and many
road trips through the mountains, to the ocean, to Seattle, or to
Canada. A college classmate, Mark Merry, had interned at a Presbyterian
Church in Seattle at this time as well. Kevin just felt a strong
closeness to his Creator amidst the majestic, towering forests.
He
traveled home by train (his favorite mode of mass transportation) to
North Dakota the fall of 1997 for his Aunt Ginny's funeral, in November
when his Dad had suffered a major heart attack, and again in October of
1998 for his Dad's 85th birthday party. At that time, it dawned on him
that he had been away for twelve years. It was time to return. Kevin
interviewed for a couple jobs in Minot before returning to Washington
State.
He wasn't there long before the Minot Daily News
phoned him with a job offer. Ever the nomad, Kevin packed up his
belongings and returned home. He was given a newly created position in
computer pagination. He lived on his parent's farmstead and commuted to
Minot, trying to have as much time with his parents as possible. Kevin
is truly grateful for that last year he had with his Dad.
After
a year with the Minot Daily, a new advertising agency was looking for a
person to develop their graphic design department. Kevin fit that bill.
He accepted their offer and worked there for four years. Now living in
Minot, he became very active with the Mouse River Players (Minot's
oldest community theatre program) as an actor (Gandalf in "The Hobbit,"
Mr. Rogers in "And Then There Were None," Charlie in "On Golden Pond,"
and Mr. Kraler in "The Diary of Anne Frank") and as a board member.
Kevin
joined his siblings Kenny and Kristine and their nephew Lucas on a
thrilling genealogical survey trek to Norway in the summer of 2000.
Together they traveled through Lillehammer, Trondheim, Bergen, and
Stavanger concluding their venutre by staying with Perry and Wenche and
visiting relatives around Egersund and Moi.
Kevin and
his sister Kristine enjoyed a road-trip through Washington state in 2001
to attend Uncle Pete and Melba's 50th wedding anniversary in Poulsbo.
They had flown in to Spokane, rented a car, and visited maternal
relatives in eastern Washington before driving west across the state to
join in the festivities.
In the summer of 2003, Kevin
accepted a job as a Print Graphic Designer with a commercial print shop
in Bismarck, The Printers, Inc. He turned over his Minot apartment to
his niece Joey, and moved to Bismarck that July. He continued making
weekend drives back to the Tengesdal Farmstead to help Kristine and
Kenny in their care of their mother until she went Home to Glory in
2005.
While in Bismarck, he has been involved with
Dakota Stage, which is Bismarck's community theatre, starring as Ambrose
Kemper in "The Matchmaker," Sam Wainwright and Mr. Welch in "It's a
Wonderful Life," and Tim Allgood in "Noises Off." He is an involved
partner with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bismarck. He is active in
local GLBT advocacy with Dakota Good Friends events, serving on the
board of Dakota OutRight, and helping with the regional summer GLBT
PrideFest. He has made a few trips to New Orleans and to Minneapolis.
Kevin and Kristine made a road-trip to Zumbrota, Minnesota in October
2005 for a few days of genealogy hunting. And to commemorate his forty
years, he took a SourceEvents GNI Windjammer Barefoot cruise around the
southeastern Caribbean in March 2006.
Throughout his
few years on the earth, Kevin has accumulated passions for reading,
traveling, acting and photography. Cultural events of most any ethnicity
intrigue him. Having rediscovered the deep, true grace of the Triune
Godhead, and striving to keep his faith stable, he has begun to develop
for himself the philosophy that "life lasts way too long for me to live
under the guidelines of other people's fears and misunderstandings, yet I
must live a life that is not offensive; therefore I strive for the
quiet medium."
