Free Australia Ministry Training
My name is Sarah. and I live in a beautiful part of Australia close to some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and rainforests. I live with my husband and have six amazing children (yes, you read correctly). How did I get to a place that I would be seeking out Free Australia Ministry Training with Christian Leaders Institute?
The Story Begins
I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional and abusive home where my parents claimed to know God but lived under the influence of Satan. My mother was absent for much of the time and lived a separate life as a prostitute. My father was an alcoholic who abused my siblings and me for many years. We lived in the country, very isolated and neglected. Most of the time we were starving and dirty. No one truly knew our horrible situation.
When I was eight, I visited my grandmother who was a very beautiful, godly woman. She told me about the love of God and brought me my first Bible. I cherished it and the word of God sunk deeply into my starving heart. I knew God was true and always kept the Bible close to me, but I didn’t realize the depth of His love for me and that He wanted a relationship with me.
When I was 14, my father went to prison. We were sent to live in a youth hostel where we met the wrong children and were influenced badly. I found myself pregnant at aged 16 and desperately tried to make things work with the father. However, after four years in an abusive relationship full of deceit, drugs, and affairs, I found myself in such a desperate situation that I felt I had no way out.
God’s Grace Saved Me
I knew something had to change. I cried out to God and dared Him to prove Himself to me. Even though I gave Him only two weeks to do it, every day I read the Bible and prayed. Then at the end of the two weeks, I felt an inner strength rise up within me. For the first time, God’s love became real to me, I knew He had a plan for me, a hope and a future. God’s grace saved me, and I left the situation. I grew in strength and faith more and more. Soon I was baptized and never looked back. That was almost 22 years ago.
A Twist in the Road
A few years later, I met my late husband. He had been saved from a life of drugs and alcohol and was a new Christian on fire for God. I didn’t give it long enough to get to know him, we were married soon and after about a year of marriage when I was 7 months pregnant he began to be physically abusive, I was petrified, too scared to leave. I suffered from extreme panic attacks. It was like being married to two different people.. one-minute he was the loving man I married and the next like the devil himself. I sought help from the church and different leaders and all I heard was how God hates divorce and not to mess with God’s anointed.
This led to 16 years of being in an abusive relationship. He moved us around and things slowly got more intense. I almost losing my faith and my children lost theirs. In my most desperate time, I cried out to God and told Him I couldn’t leave (I knew I could not escape him). I begged God to take Him out of our life somehow. I don’t know if it was in answer to my prayer, but God did. Seven months later my husband passed away from brain cancer which was heartbreaking but relieving also for me and my five children – the youngest was less than 1 year old. Though we loved him dearly, God knew we could not go on, and I believe out of His great mercy He saved us.
God Launches a Christian Leader
Finally, I was free. So, I said to myself, “No more will I allow myself to be under anyone’s control.” I vowed never to marry again and to devote the rest of my life to serving my Lord and loving my children. I grew in strength again. Also in this time, I finally realized what I wanted to be when I grew up, what my spiritual dream was, what my calling is. My heart’s desire is to be an author and speaker and life coach/counselor. I aim to start by finishing my Bachelor in Ministry and go from there.
Fast forward four years, I find myself married to the most amazing man. He pushed his way into my crazy life and his love is healing my broken heart. The way he loves us is such a pure reflection of the love of God, and bit by bit we are becoming whole. We have recently celebrated the birth of our son Noah, our little promise of joy. Never did I believe a love like this existed, especially not for me. But no matter how much I struggle to accept this love, I am a living testimony of how God doesn’t just save but He restores! He is truly restoring all the years the locusts have eaten, all the years the enemy has tried to destroy me and render me useless to the Kingdom of God. God’s love is truly ALL CONQUERING.
God Makes All Things Beautiful
I have led a life full of suffering, more than many people have experienced. However, through this, I know that I know that I know that God uses our suffering to refine us. It removes all of “SELF’ so what is seen is only a reflection of Him. Suffering does not mean God is angry with us or that He has left us. No, God allows us to suffer because He loves us. I believe this suffering in my life fueled my intense calling to ministry. God give me the strength to endure such cruelty and now He gave me the happily ever after I never knew I wanted.
My prayer for you is that you would not lose hope in the face of suffering, truly, God is our rock we can cling to, our hiding place in times of trouble. There is no other way to endure but through His grace.
Now, God has led me to CLI for ministry and life coach training. Thank God for CLI. God bless you my brothers and sisters in Christ as you seek to serve Him.
Free Australia Ministry Training
Sarah has an opportunity to study Free Australia Ministry Training by simply enrolling here. Christian Leaders Institute offers over 70 free courses. If you are interested in a College program, check out CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
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