Not Hiding the Glorious Deed of the Lord
Hello, my name is Tyler VanCampen, and I am getting educated for ministering at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). My wife Kaylee and I are houseparents/primary care providers at the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children.
Early Life and Salvation Story
Born in 1992, I am the firstborn of two. I grew up in rural eastern Colorado on a cattle ranch and wheat farm. My mom is a believer, but my dad was not. So from an early age, I remember attending church with my grandma and my step-grandpa.
As I got into my teenage years, I lost my step-grandpa and grandpa. Along with that loss and my parents going through a divorce, in my teenage years, I felt lost. I was trying to find my own way in the world. It wasn’t until late high school that I started attending church and youth groups again. At that time, I had some seeds of truth planted.
I went off to college to pursue an Agriculture degree. During this part of my life, I really fell into the “Worlds View” of a normal college kid. During my second year, I was no longer happy and became depressed. That’s when I moved in with my mom again and started attending church regularly, and a few months later got saved!
Calling to Ministry and Marriage
After I became a Christian, my best friend was the Children’s Pastor. He plugged me into the Children’s ministry. During that time, the Lord impressed upon me the truth found in Psalm 78:4 that says, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” From that point on, the Lord led me towards ministering to children and youth.
While serving, I met my future wife, Kaylee, in our church. We enjoyed serving together and courted each other for seven months. We married on January 3, 2015. From that point on, we served as Sunday school teachers and also kids event ministers in our church. In June 2016, we welcomed our first son, Kanon. My wife and I felt called to do more with kids than we already were. We were further blessed with our second son, Kylan. As a family, we love to go camping, fishing, mountain biking, and just about anything outdoors!
Ministry Journey Continues
One of my wife’s friends called us and told us about a ministry opportunity with Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children(OBHC). At the time, we weren’t sure we were ready to move from our family there. However, the Lord had other plans! The job I was working at had to reorganize my contract with them. Kaylee and I weren’t going to be able to make ends meet with my new contract. We decided that was a sign we were supposed to apply with OBHC. In November 2016, we accepted the position of houseparents.
We moved across Oklahoma to be live-in parents to up to 8 children/teenagers in need. We taught and lived out the gospel every day with them! God placed us here. For almost five years, we have been serving and have served close to 50 different children in our time. Glory be to God!
Getting Educated for Ministering at CLI
So now I am seeking to do more training through the Christian Leaders Institute to be more educated for ministering. Then I can minister to the children I serve and also better serve in my church and community.
My name is Mary Morris of the USA, and I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute for ministry training to be ordained (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I was born in South Korea. I’m the second of four children. My father accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior about 4 years before he passed away. My mother used to believe in Buddha but is now Catholic.
When I was 7 years old, I went to the Methodist Church in my neighborhood for the first time. It was there that I heard God’s Word in summer Bible school. I just knew that there was a God and believed in Him. Around the 4th or 5th grade, I saw the Ten Commandments in church and knew that I wasn’t up to God’s standards. I entered Christian Commercial High School, about my sophomore year. I’d been seriously thinking about what true happiness is but didn’t find an answer because I didn’t know Jesus at that time.
Marriage and Salvation
I met and married my husband (a U.S. government employee) in 1986, and we have one child. I emigrated to America in 1993. After having to relocate several times because of his work, we finally moved to South Carolina, where we live today.
One day in 2002, I heard that Jesus is coming soon. When I heard this, my whole life passed in front of my eyes as in a film. I had no confidence that I would go to heaven. After a few days of various thoughts, faith began to come to me. I decided to trust and depend on God who makes everything possible.
So now, I know that I am truly born again by the Holy Spirit. Since being born again, the Lord Jesus became my everything. I received the peace of Jesus and now have joy and satisfaction. I am still learning to be humble, patient, holy, and trust in the Lord with all my heart.
Called to Ministry and Training to be Ordained at CLI
Over the years, it has been suggested several times that I become a woman minister. I have even received a Bible study certificate and studied Systematic Theology but was still unsure. However, after praying to God our Father, I received an answer from Him. God has a plan for me, and I should be ordained. So, I started searching the Internet and found the Christian Leaders Institute. I have decided to study at CLI and to become ordained. Training to be ordained from CLI will give me more confidence to effectively share the gospel.
Currently, I share God’s Word with the Korean people through my YouTube channel and any other way I can. My plans after being ordained at CLI are to serve internationally married women in my area, keep sharing the gospel, and perhaps start a home church in my area.
My spiritual dream and desire are to be loyal to the Lord Jesus! I will keep His words, live a holy life, and keep my faith, so I can be with the Lord Jesus forever.
My name is Terry Gatewood, and here is my journey to ministry study at Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). Currently, I hail from Columbia, South Carolina, USA. I was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. At the age of 12, I moved to Columbus, Ohio, due to my father’s death in 1977. My mother passed the following year, and family in Columbus, Ohio, took in my brother and me. I lived in Ohio until 2014.
At age 48, I retired from law enforcement and moved to Columbia. There I took on a job as a Fire Protection and Communications Maintenance Technician with Richland County School District Two. Law enforcement was a career I thought I would be in until I physically couldn’t work the job, but the Lord had other plans for my life.
My Ministry Study Journey
Currently, I hold an Associate’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Ohio Christian University and worked toward my Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies until my financial aid ran out. Due to economic reasons (cops don’t make as much as many think they do), I could not afford to pay out of pocket for college. Sadly, I needed to withdraw about halfway through my program. I love learning and the Lord, so this was a blow to me.
However, last year on my journey to ministry study, I was looking at some local small colleges to enroll in. I wasn’t finding anything that would get me where I needed to be in Biblical Studies. When I was ready to give up, I came across Christian Leaders Institute, which advertised a free education. Of course, still having that cop mentality of suspicion, I almost brushed it off and kept on scrolling, but something (the Holy Spirit, I believe) told me to go back and have a look. I did and liked what I saw but was still a little leery. After some prayer and a “go for it” attitude, I enrolled and began taking classes. What I have learned to this point is on a level with my university education in workload and learning.
My Upbringing and Struggles
Growing up in Texas, my brother and I attended church, but my parents did not. They were both alcoholics but functioning alcoholics who took care of us well. But neither darkened the doorway of a church. They fought from time to time, but there was no physical violence. With all of his flaws, my dad was a good man with compassion and a strong sense of right and wrong. But, he did have a side that was not so good, mainly when others provoked him.
We lived in a rough neighborhood on the east side of Fort Worth in the Polytechnic Heights area. This rough and tumble area molded me into what I became—a fighter and a drinker. I fought all the time at school and home with other kids. When adulthood arrived, so did the beer, whiskey, and womanizing. Sadly, I lived this way for about 25 years of my adult life.
God Called Me
While on patrol one day, I was dispatched to a residence regarding a possible break-in to a garage. It is where I met the woman who would become my wife. She is my rock and best friend. I didn’t know the Lord then. However, since the age of 15 or 16, I knew the Lord was after my heart. I had dreams from time to time of being a pastor, but I always brushed them off. Why would God want someone like me to do His work?
I know now that God works in mysterious ways and puts people in your life for a specific reason. However, it wasn’t my wife, Nicole. But instead, it was her mother, Dawn. When I met Dawn that day, I instantly knew there was something different about her. I had only seen this difference one other time with Pastor Doc Wiggins, one of my instructors in the police academy. Doc was a true man of God, and he had “that thing” about him that made you want to be around him. I liked what they both had, and I wanted it too. However, I didn’t put two and two together until three years later. That’s when Dawn passed away from complications of open-heart surgery. Three weeks after her passing, I finally put the two and two together and accepted Christ on my knees in my dining room.
Answering God’s Call
My wife noticed an almost instantaneous change in me, and so did many other people I was around daily. I now understood God’s calling on my life (remember the dreams?). So, I began to pursue a path to ministry. I am not sure where God wants me, nor in what capacity. However, I remember Pastor Richard Ellis of Reunion Church, Dallas, Texas. He said that serving God isn’t always about being up at a podium preaching the Word. The person cleaning the bathrooms in the church is as important in the eyes of God as the preacher. As soon as we understand everyone in whatever capacity serves the Lord, we function better as a church.
As I continue this journey and mystery, pray that I stay the course set before me. Thank you.