Bjorn Stavness

Having attended many Christian church camps and Christian schools throughout his childhood, Bjorn noticed that Christian organizations lacked the money to pay a savvy business person to run the business part of the ministry. They expected an underpaid and ill-equipped pastor to make all the business decisions. While in grade school he remembers church members actually collected their used tea bags, “used only once,” to send to missionaries to use again. While still in his early twenties, Bjorn Stavness made a commitment to God to be a “tent-maker” like the Apostle Paul.

In pursuit of this goal, Bjorn first got a B.S. degree in Business Management from Cal Poly Pomona and then went on to get a M.A. degree in Christian Education from Talbot Theological Seminary. After completing his education, he calculated he would have to make a substantial amount of money to free himself up financially to work for free. So, Bjorn and his wife, Cindy, started and managed a restaurant, which God prospered.

At the age of 38, after ten years of managing the restaurant and ministering in various ways through it to the community, God put it on Bjorn’s heart to “stop feeding people’s stomachs and start feeding their souls” on a full-time basis. He argued, “If I sell my restaurant, how am I going to feed my family?” The next thought that entered Bjorn’s mind was: I am accusing God of not being faithful to take care of my family if I obey Him! The insult was ridiculous. A buyer came, uninvited, and bought the restaurant shortly after.

Now what? The restaurant was gone and he had a family of five to feed.

Then, in early 1997, an elderly Catholic woman offered to donate her 31-room hotel to be used to house homeless women and their children. That was God’s open door to minister and thus started the House of Decision. Bjorn’s “learning curve” looked more like a straight line up.

House of Decision accepted women that found themselves homeless for any reason. Many were raised in horrific homes as children which resulted in them making their own self-destructive choices as adults. Several years later the men’s home, House of Opportunity, began. Not at all what Bjorn had in mind when he thought of a “tentmaking” ministry as a twenty-year old.

God prepared Bjorn to manage a discipleship home in many ways: a solid Christian upbringing, deep and broad biblical knowledge, a great wife and family, financial skills, no addictions, no immediate concern for money, and physically healthy. Although these tools remain invaluable, there were two completely unexpected matters, that became the greatest factors to learning how to truly restore people in crisis.

The first embraced actually living in the same building with the people he counseled, to observe them, typically for many months and often years. This long period of time of living in the same building revealed whether or not the truths he was teaching actually set anyone free. Second, living in their midst, enduring and addressing all aspects of their life, was the true test of whether one possesses God’s quality of love for someone. If not, they will quickly drive you crazy. The greatest motivation for them to start their new life in Christ is often seeing Christ’s love in someone else.

Personally, Bjorn and Cindy married in 1981 and have three amazing children and eight grandchildren. When playing with his grandkids, the rule is, “You can’t spank Opa.” (Which explains who starts all the mayhem.) Cindy currently works for the local school district as a counselor. They live in Cherry Valley, a small rural town located in Southern California.