My Ministry Calling and Walk with God
I’m Stephen Kasasi Mwaviki, and I am taking ministry courses online at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I come from the western region of Kenya in Vihiga county. Born in 1988, I was seventh in a family of eight siblings. I grew up in a Christian family, although my dad used to drink. My mum took us to church every Sunday. I attended Sunday school at my local home church and learned about God and the Bible. I joined the church school and grew up knowing God.
Due to my family background, I desired to become a pastor. My late grandfather was a great missionary from the 1930s to the 1950s. He worked with European missionaries to bring revival to our country. He also contributed a piece of his land for a Pentecostal church to be planted there, which still exists to date.
Struggles
After completing my form four-course, my dream of becoming a pastor and expectations of joining a Pentecostal Bible college no longer filled my mind and soul. I interacted with many different friends. My life began getting ruined and sidetracked; surely, I had no fear of God. I fell into sexual sin and immorality. I even smoked bhang. Eventually, I stopped attending my local home church. At that time, I was attending college and studying journalism. However, things did not work for me as I expected. I found myself in a complete mess.
I married at the age of 25, and God blessed us with a baby boy. After five years of marriage, my dad passed away at his old age. I knew he fought well and finished the race. My wife also became ill at that time, and only three weeks after burying my dad, my wife also passed away. I went through a difficult time, but God strengthened me. At this time, I went back to my local home church. I noticed that God was answering my prayers. Then, I discovered that God was still calling me into ministry. However, most people in my local church and village did not believe that I could attend a Bible school or training and offer support.
Finding a New Church Home and CLI
One year later, I landed a job in another county where I found a local home church branch and attended it. The ministers of God there were loving and welcoming. We worked together in building the church of God. My new pastor loved me. Most of the time, he appointed me to do specific roles in the church. Sometimes, we did door-to-door evangelism, praying for people and teaching them the Word of God. He then introduced me to the Christian Leaders Institute. In fact, he used his Android phone to register me at CLI!
Now I take courses at Christian Leaders Institute. I am very much pleased and blessed by the ministry courses online. I’m happy to be a student at CLI. The free training I’m receiving at Christian Leaders Institute will make me the servant God wants me to be and fulfill God’s calling upon my life.
My spiritual dream is to bring back the historic revival of souls at my local church, other parts of this country, and worldwide. Then, the souls that are perishing will be set free! I will be led by the Holy Spirit and inspired by the free training I’m receiving at CLI. I’m looking forward to completing my training at CLI. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to take away our sins! He overcame the world, and I too shall overcome in His Name! God bless CLI!
Backroad Ministries: Reaching Those Off The Beaten Path
My name is Michael Williams from the United States of America, and I am studying to learn more about the Bible at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). Although I have been a Christian since I was a young boy, I am just recently realizing that my Christian walk is not what I thought it was. I have been presently learning more about a fully committed walk with the Lord Jesus.
As an outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, camping, and hiking, amongst other nature activities. My desire, God willing, is to have a ministry traveling the country with my wife, where we will reside in our enclosed off-road trailer handing out Bibles to those we meet on the road and introducing them to our Lord and Savior.
My Testimony
As a child, I grew up in a Christian home and attended church regularly. In our home, prayer was practiced when we ate and also at night when my father would read the Bible with me. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior at an early age. I also participated in the Royal Ambassadors programs in the church.
As life went, I got caught up in the “rat race of life.” At times, I fell away from the church but never forgot who I was, a child of God. Now, many years later, I am reading my Bible with new fervor and zeal. I have discovered many things that I wish I had known much earlier in life. My passion for self-growth in Christ and my desire to share Christ have grown exponentially.
My wife, Tammy, had a Christian upbringing that mirrors my own. As a couple, we spend a lot of time in the outdoors camping, fishing, and hiking. Eventually, we plan to do a large amount of traveling and camping in secluded locations. Our hope and desire are to bring a Christian ministry to these remote locations. We can then meet others who might otherwise miss out on God’s Word. Through our ministry, they have the opportunity of being introduced to Christ or strengthening their faith.
Ministry Training Through CLI
I started with ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) to learn more about the Bible. To be prepared to spread the gospel was my goal. However, CLI has done so much more for my spiritual walk. I am more connected with God, which has led to more time praying and talking with God. Working a full-time job and having sleep issues, studying ministry and the Bible at CLI have allowed me to prepare for ministry without interruption to my family or everyday life. I am more excited and driven to succeed. With the tools CLI provides, I can prepare for the ministry God has called me for while performing the role that a husband should. Thank you, CLI!
My name is Teresa Rivera, and I am taking Christian leadership classes at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). My Heavenly Father brought me to the Christian Leaders Institute. I am no longer receiving a weekly pay-check and could not afford ministry and Christian leadership classes otherwise. I plan to go as far as I can with CLI’s Leadership Excellence School and then get my doctorate. Thanks are to God for all that He has done for me and mine!
I reside in a town called West Haven, Connecticut. We are on the East Coast between New York and Massachusetts. I have three loving children I raised as a single mom: two girls who are 46 and 44 years old and my son, 28 years old. I have also been blessed with two granddaughters and two great-grandsons. The oldest great-grandchild is from my 25-year-old grandson, who passed away last year. While it has not been easy, every aspect has definitely enabled me to grow in many ways.
My Journey
I was born in Puerto Rico. When I was four, we came to a tiny town named Guilford in Southern New England, where I grew up. We weren’t rich, but we never lacked anything. It got real when one day I called my good friend since kindergarten, and her mother heard my mother speaking Spanish in the background. The next day in school, my friend said she was not allowed to continue being my friend “because you are not white like rice.”
I thank God that my mother was a devoted Catholic. She was very involved in the local church and always took us with her. They called her to pray when someone passed away, and she had the gift of healing. I can still see crutches and arm slings left behind as the person walked away from our house. Our mother showed us how to be loyal to God and family in that order.
Struggles on My Journey
For a time in my life, I went through a phase of drinking alcohol, using cocaine, and experimenting with pills. I married young to a very abusive man, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The only good to come out of that marriage were my two daughters. They gave me the will to survive and persevere for them and show them how to never fall into that cycle. I had my son in my late 30s. After discovering six weeks into my pregnancy that his father was seeing his ex and another woman, I went back to being a single mom. I committed to living for my children and doing it sober.
When I totally surrendered my life and my will over to God, He freed me from the depression and the darkness of my past. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was with me from the very beginning, through the good and the bad. I had blocked memories from my childhood. During my journey, I had to stop at some destinations along the way. Multiple times I landed in psych wards because I couldn’t deal with all the memories. I joined a large gang and worked my way to the leader. Through Divine intervention, I left that lifestyle. I developed a quality, intimate relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
An Overcomer in the Lord
Through the Lord and the Holy Spirit, I came to see that everything I went through came together for good. If I had not gone through the good and the bad in my life, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate and be thankful for not just surviving but overcoming through my Lord. It all is to glorify His name. Some people think that once they receive Jesus into their life, all will be peaches and cream. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As we grow in our path, so do the trials.
It is an honor to be tested in our faith like Job. If you are not tested regularly, you are not a threat to the devil. God does not abandon us! He promises, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Eventually, we come to where the peace of God surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7). The person I am today has grown and is not the person I was 23 years ago. I accept my past and use the lessons learned to help others as they go through similar life chaos. We must overcome evil with good. What was meant to break you, God brings together for good!
Called to Serve with an Attitude of Gratitude
I have had careers from one side of the spectrum to the other, from Cosmetologist to Instructor to Platform Artist to MLM to Tractor Trailer and Motor Coach Driver to Local Church Leader. As I look back, they all deal with customer service.
I enjoy working with people and have been blessed with an Outreach Ministry since 1999. On November 6, 1999, we held our first Annual Thanksgiving and Coat giveaway for the Homeless. We help with their self-esteem, motivation, and education. We help with Bible classes in prison and hospitals, home visits for the elderly and the sick, faith-based recovery for the entire family, resources for their necessities, counseling, etc.
I was ordained as a Licensed Minister on November 26, 2013. As I waited on God, He tells me that the time is now. I believe CLI, CLI, and CLA will help me with organizational Christian leadership classes and support. Then, I can develop leaders who are duplicatable and committed to God’s Kingdom work. Back to Divine Intervention, God’s Calling to God’s perfect timing to God’s Purpose in my life is all from God!
May His blessing be upon you and yours always and forever!