Do you know Kyle Lindgren?
Posted on Friday, March 23, 2018 by
A Lincoln native, Kyle grew up around Christianity, but he rebelled against it and pursued drugs, drinking, and gang life. He finally got to the point where he hated his life. A night filled with extreme anger over seeing Chelsea, his ex-girlfriend, out with another guy landed him shaking with anger, drunk on his couch, and Kyle told God, “If you’re real like you claim to be, you can fix what I’ve done and how I’ve messed up my life.” Kyle passed out and woke up in the morning. Nothing had changed but absolutely everything was different. God transformed Kyle. God took away Kyle’s anger and gave Kyle an overwhelming desire to read the Bible. When Kyle read the New Testament, a light turned on in his mind. “Nobody had any reason to forgive me ever. I understood why Jesus was such a great blessing and it just wrecked me. I’ve never known anyone who loves me the way Jesus does,” said Kyle. A beautiful story of reconciliation, Kyle and Chelsea were reunited and married in 2010. They now have four children. At Zion Church, Kyle and Chelsea heard about Parent Life. They themselves teen parents, they knew this was their ministry. Learning there wasn’t much focus on the dads at this time, Kyle thought this could be his offering to be there for the guys and encourage them to be accountable. Kyle and Chelsea volunteered for years with Parent Life before Kyle came on staff with YFC. He worked with the Parent Life group and with the teens at the detention center. He also was - and still is - the youth pastor at Zion PCA. This past October, Kyle completed his Staff Training Academy with the Department of Corrections. He is now fully with JJM as the chaplain at the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility in Omaha. "When I walk through correctional facilities, I don't see guards and inmates, I see those who are free and those who are not,” said Kyle. I go to set teens free. I get to talk with young men who are literally at the end of the line. Few illusions of what happens next are left; it helps keep the conversations real.” Kyle is having amazing conversations with the young men in jail. God is at work.