pastoral training

Pastoral Training

Join today and receive free training for Pastoral Ministry. Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) offers free high-quality online ministry training. CLI accepts any individual anywhere in their life to learn about Christianity. Read a student’s testimony below who found CLI and is using the free training for pastoral ministry to answer his call from God.

Hi, Fellow Brothers and Sisters. Jesus Loves you and we love you too. I am Carlos Perez from Belize and I currently live in Belize City. Ministry work is very pleasing and can be challenging as there is a great need in this Third World Lesser Developed Country and a lack of resources. I am the Youth Pastor at a local Church Ministry in the little village of Duck Run III of the Spanish Lookout Mennonite Community. We are “Faro A las Naciones” or Lighthouse Ministry.

I had my encounter with our Lord God when I was a grown Man who was taught that I knew everything and needed no one, even God. I was successful in business greatly because I would lie about everything and steal opportunities from fellow businesses. There came the moment when the lies caught up with me and I was on the verge of facing Jail time. When no one came to help me, not even my family members, I felt the cold and harsh reality of the world and realized how cold I was myself. I lost it all, and the one person who came to my rescue was my wife who was a devoted Christian.

She did not help me in any financial way at first or gave me anything at all to comfort me. She left me to struggle through the odds. All she did was lead me to have a relationship with God. I accepted under pretense and things seemed to get a little better for me. My wife was a Physical Therapist and did very well. She prayed for me every day and all the time. But, I was not in it with all my heart. I continued to lie and eventually and slowly started to make adjustments and started reading the Bible. It would make me so sad to see her struggling to take care of the household and everything else.

I loved her so much and through it all, I still treated her bad by not showing my appreciation. Slowly, I found the courage to embrace a relationship with God and changed my life. She would then tell me that everything would be “all right” and that this was just a test. I drew close to God and started to lead the Youth service at the church. Our relationship started to flourish and I reconciled and was anointed as the Youth Pastor by our General Pastor of the Ministry. That made my wife so happy and she even joined me and we became co-youth pastors.

Five weeks after things were looking up in all areas of our lives, even the business was back on track, my wife was in a traffic accident and lost her life. This was the last thing I ever expected!!! I felt my own life was not worth it anymore. In my pain and grief, I had an encounter with our Father God. It was the moment when I felt that I could not continue, but he comforted me in bringing my family together. The entire family felt a deep loss and were all touched by her. God has since blessed by life and at times I am afraid to ask him for anything else.

I thank him for the time he shared Rubi with me and the kids. My dream is to continue to serve as the Youth Pastor and develop a Bible school in Duck Run III. I have learned a lot from this CLI’s pastoral training and classes so far, especially since I have never had any formal pastoral training in ministry before. It has prepared me to see the great need for proper training and mentoring. The class has also given me strength and confidence to take on our youth service with a much more prudent approach.

The word that I associate with more is Pastor because it is the title that is given to those who serve in the ministry as Christian Leaders for the congregation or part of the congregation.

One of the key challenges in our area is dealing with the culture and traditions that all lead and depend on wizardry and witchcraft. The other challenge is the poverty and lack of resources. Since we lost Rubi, we have banded closer together as a youth group and taken on the Title “Rubi’s Squad”. The parents are slowly breaking their traditional phobias and are coming out to support our youths. Once a month we bring all the parents to the youth service and we do dramas and dances. The youths bring the parts of the service and also prepare food and snacks.

Our local church has supported me tremendously by first of all giving me the opportunity to serve and to encourage and support me through a very difficult time in my life. My family enjoys being a part of the ministry and are active members. The kids are the leaders in music, drama and dance and prayer. This year for the first time we are participants in the annual Festival of Hope that takes place on the 20, 21 and 22nd of July 2017.

A scholarship is important to me at CLI because it will allow me to achieve my goal of constructing a bible school via myself receiving the necessary education and pastoral training. Also because I am financially committed to paying college for three of our four children at the moment.

I welcome all the prayers from the CLI ministry for us here at the Lighthouse Ministry Belize. We are trusting in God for the kindness of a building which will become our future Bible School and the first of its kind in Duck Run III. There is a great need for prayers of healing for the citizens here as they have limited access to medical services. The norm is bush medicine as the hospital is far away and two, they can’t afford it. Finally, we have much need for the spiritual shield of all the citizens, and especially for our Spiritual Leaders.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for this great privilege and offer of getting an education in Ministry online via CLI. I know that my wife would have been on this journey together with me. She perished this 9th March 2017 and I honor her Life by making good on the journey to certification by your Institution.

Check out more stories about CLI students becoming leaders in pastoral training ministry and much more on the CLI Facebook page

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