Meet Jordan Lunderville | Evangelist and Pastoral Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jordan Lunderville and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I am a very ambitious and independent person by nature, and I have always been that way. Im an INTJ on the Meyers-Briggs scale, a personality characterized by intense ambition, passion, aggression, and leadership, sometimes to a fault (just ask some of my former employers).

So, when it came time for me to graduate high school and find a career, I kept feeling very unsatisfied at the jobs I would get hired at. I would get these unexplainable urges and inklings in my heart that there was something bigger that God wanted to do with my life, and for while, I would just ignore them.

But, in late 2023, I was working a dead end job, and it wasn’t a job I liked very much. It wasn’t even my bosses fault, but the job was dirty and blue collar, and I would just be so tired everyday after carrying around heavy equipment and turning wrenches in the hot sun. I was staying mostly out of necessity, since I lived alone and had bills to pay, and I was afraid of not having money. After all, If I quit my only source of stable income to pursue my dream, it may not work out.

I will never forget the day I was on my lunch break and stopped at a 7-Eleven, since I couldn’t afford to eat at an actual restaurant. I was feeling so agitated and tired from the days work already, and I finally decided I was done. I wasn’t going to live like this anymore, and I needed to take action fast. And I believe every entrepreneur has to first get to this point of dissatisfaction and frustration with a “regular” job before they can be successful in opening their own. You really have to know that you want it, or else you will quit as soon as it gets hard, since owning and growing a business is not for the faint of heart.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I run a self-entitled non-profit corporation called Jordan Lunderville Ministries. I am a certified evangelist, sports chaplain, and pastoral counselor, and I use these skills to serve the youth of our local public schools. Our organization is active on over 30 public school campuses in San Diego, and we are an organization that holds Conservative Christian values while also respecting and honoring the views, opinions, and affiliations of others that don’t see things the way we do.

I regularly meet with students ages 12-18 to provide faith-based life coaching and counseling. After all, there is a growing mental health crisis in Generation Z, and I am to be a voice of hope and opportunity to students who have no hope. I know what it;’slime to struggle with my mental health as an adolescent, and it is very fulfilling to be able to effectively help students to navigate the troubled waters I was once in as well.

I also publish books about once a year that cover some of these topics and provide practical, faith-based guidance to the next generation. I’ll then go on speaking tours in youth groups, churches, and podcasts every year to share about my book and teach students what following God can look like. I’m about to release my third book, “Catalyst” in April 2025.

It’s great and amazing now, but it didn’t start out successful. We had little to no traction the entire first year of being open, so I had to find ways to make money since we weren’t really seeing what we originally anticipated would come in. But I believe this was a necessary chapter in our growth. See, as a leader, I should never ask people to make sacrifices and efforts that I never made. And in that particular season of my life, I had to first learn how to lead myself well before leading anyone else well. I remember having to go do Uber Eats at night just to make enough money to put gas in my car, eat, and pay for business expenses. It’s in those moments of quiet frustration where you really discover who you are and the type of leader you are going to be.

At the end of the day, I truly believe leaders are not born, they are made. It’s the trials and fire of challenge, frustrations, and uncertainty that teach you how to be strong and courageous in the middle of hell itself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego is full of incredible small businesses, many of which are locally owned craft coffee shops and restaurants. And, being an avid coffee drinker, I have been able to check out most of the local shops here.

I would encourage both visitors and locals to try out Shepherds Coffee Co. in Sherman Heights, Cafe Moto in Barrio Logan, Revolution Roasters in Oceanside, and Modern Times in Downtown.

If you’re looking for food options, my favorite spots to visit are Tacos El Vaquero in Downtown Chula Vista and Bronx Pizza in Mission Hills.

I also like to visit cigar lounges and try new sticks, and I usually do that at 3-in-1 in Eastlake, or Cigars on 5th in Hillcrest.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Pastor Christian Cormier invested a lot of time and energy in me during my early years in ministry. When I started out, I was very immature and inexperienced, and spending all of that time with him helped me grow and learn so much.

He would let me shadow him at work, and we literally did anything from running the Celebrate Recovery Program at church to going to member’s houses to fix their WiFi system.

He really showed me how to care for people and work behind the scenes. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the church world think that being on stage with a microphone is the goal, and it’s not. If you can be there for someone in their lowest moment of crisis and pain, you have chosen the better thing.

People like Pastor Chris are the kind of mentors you should always seek out. They are the people who will always value and appreciate you, since they were invested in you before you were successful and known. It’s easy for people to want to be in your life when you’re being featured on magazines and radio programs, but the real friends are the ones that were with you when you were anonymous and in the shadows.

Website: https://jlmsd.org

Instagram: @jordanlundervilleministries