My name is Johan Scheepers, and I am receiving global ministry training online at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I was born in 1969 in South Africa, Gauteng, and since I can remember, I have been in church-life. When I say “church-life,” I mean my parents have been helping out in several different ministries in our church at that time. Now I know why because the Lord revealed to me the origin of my father’s heart, which was a Levite-heart. He served in the temple, if I can describe it like that. I have the same heart, so I am a Pastor in Middelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
My Journey
I fooled around a lot after my High-School years until I joined the Armed Forces in my country. However, instead of going full into the army, I joined a band sponsored by the army to minister to other army camps. We could even minister to schools and churches outside the army as well. During this time in my life, I realized my love for ministering to people I did not know in towns I did not even know existed.
After the army, I still experienced a sense of being lost. My mom suggested I start my studies to become a pastor. I finished those studies partly through the Apostolic Faith mission and the Full Gospel church theology colleges. I served a few years as a youth pastor in Alberton in Gauteng at a Full Gospel church. During this time, I also married my wife, and we have three wonderful kids. Two of them are serving God, and we are still praying for the third.
A New Direction and Global Ministry Training
I left the full-time ministry for financial reasons and started to work in the secular sector. However, it was a very intense, frustrating time of my life. It is funny how easily we tell ourselves that a second-hand life outside of God’s purpose for our lives can be our standard for our life. We tend to get comfortable in this life.
Well, God changed all this in my life when the Holy Spirit made revelations in God’s Word to me. It snowballed from there until I accept an Assistant Pastor’s position in Middelburg, Eastern Cape. There, I grew so much spiritually and in my character. During my time in Middelburg, God revealed my global ministry for the nations. I had an opportunity to go to Kenya and ministered there in Kisii with a mission. I saw the power of God flow in a way I have never experienced before, and I was sold for this vision of God for my life.
During this time in Middelburg, I learned about video editing and recording, multi-media producing, worship leading, selecting songs, preparing worship programs, etc. So was this period in my life worth it? Yes, yes, and yes again! As I am waiting for my next season, I am receiving global ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute to be better equipped for my next steps in ministry as God leads me. I know the best time in my life is yet to come.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My name is Julie Erickson, and I have a ministry call and now study for this call at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I am 47 years old and live in the United States.
My Salvation Journey
Salvation for me came at the age of 19. As a teen, I was involved in many sinful things. It is awesome when I look back and see how God was moving in my life even before I knew Jesus as my Savior. I was attending a public junior high school. A Catholic school in town came to our school to tell us about what they had to offer and recruit students. I chose to go to this school even though I was not Catholic and had no interest in religion. I had to work and pay my own tuition, but this did not deter me.
One year, I had to take a class called Comparative Religions. One of the class requirements was that we attend church services at several different denominations. One of the churches I went to was a Southern Baptist church. I had never heard someone deliver a sermon like the one delivered that day. The sermon was about our tongue. It stuck in my mind for quite some time, maybe about 2 years, before I felt God tugging at my heart in a way I could not ignore. I went back to that church, and Jesus saved me.
My Journey in Christianity
My journey as a Christian has been a long process of overcoming guilt, sin, depression, and trying to live up to others’ expectations. I look back and see God’s hand of protection over me through so much of my life. I am so grateful for His grace, mercy, and loving care. He truly delivered me from so much. Often, I didn’t recognize this deliverance and his hand in it until well after the fact. I look back at His amazing care through the darkest parts of my life and am in awe of how God carried me through.
Ministry Call and Study at CLI
This leads me to why I am here at the Christian Leaders Institute; my ministry call and the need to study for the ministry. I truly desire to minister to other women to help them overcome all that I have overcome through Christ. I want to help women look to God for their guidance, not other people’s expectations. So many women don’t have the tools to overcome depression and guilt. I want to give them those tools. Too many churches burden women with more guilt and never show them the way to true freedom and joy.
I also feel a calling to minister to police and their spouses, emphasizing police chiefs and their spouses. My husband has been an officer for 27 years and is currently the police chief in our town. There is no support system for us, no one to reach out to in the tough times. As America’s political climate becomes more and more hostile to law enforcement, the need for ministry to this group of people grows immensely.
Spreading the Good News
I also have a desire just to spread the joy that God gives. So many people question God, even when they have all the answers right there in His word. They don’t want to accept the answers and fight God on everything. I want to help them find faith in His answers, stop questioning, start believing, and step out in faith and joy in the Lord.
God is leading me in this direction, and I just need to follow in obedience. I don’t know exactly where it will take me yet, but I know God will be faithful and show me. I am so grateful for having found Christian Leaders Institute to get training to help me on this journey. God has guided me through so much, teaching me, shaping, and molding me. He has given me a joy I never thought I could have. He has protected me, loved me, forgiven me, shown mercy toward me, and handled me with such grace. I want others to stop questioning and to start trusting God.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
God is Lighting the Way
My name is Andrew Russell. I am thankful for the Life Coach Ministry classes at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I am 66 years old, married to my wonderful wife, Jo-Ann, and a Minister of the Gospel. We are originally from New York State, but we have resided in Lincoln, NE, for 16 years. After I graduated high school, I attended Alabama State University, where I studied Psychology. I hold an Associate Degree from the International School of Ministry. In my years of serving for the Lord, I have served in different roles within the church. I served as an Elder on the church board for nearly 15 years, worked as a Sunday school teacher, and worked with teenage boys conducting Bible study, recreation, and young men’s chorus.
Growing Up
The only downfall to my childhood was my biological father’s death when I was nine years old. His death took a toll on me. I became perplexed and angry. My mother was a faithful woman of God who, along with my grandmother, helped me through that rough period in my life. Despite it all, my childhood was pleasing, fun, and full of love. When I turned 12 years old, my mother married my step-father, who is my father. He was a devoted Christian man, so growing up in a Christian home was my foundation. I was always surrounded by the Word of God, prayer, Bible study, Christian songs, family, and community gatherings and activities.
My Spiritual Journey
I grew up in and attended the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church for 40 years. Deeply religious, I knew about the Lord. However, I did not have a personal relationship with Him. I was in my early thirties when I started a relationship with God. During that time, after attending the Methodist Church service, I would visit a Pentecostal Church service. There, I was introduced more to the Holy Spirit’s move and how the Holy Spirit’s infilling operates in your life.
My Spiritual Dream
Years ago, my wife and I always wanted to provide services for men and women who struggle with chemical addictions. Our goal was to provide services that would help them in overcoming their struggles. Today, God has granted that dream. Along with other Christian friends, we have started a nonprofit organization here in Lincoln, NE, named: Lighting the Way Pastoral Care. We will be offering a program called Living Free. It assists people with all types of addictions and provides the Word of God as the source of freedom. The Life Coach Ministry classes at the Christian Leaders Institute will better equip us for this work.
Challenges Reaching Maturity
The obstacle I faced growing into maturity was the era that I lived in as a young adult. The late sixties, seventies, and early eighties was an exciting time to live in. The culture was changing – music, drugs, sex, civil rights, and love for one another. At this time, I put my Christian upbringing on the back burner. Experiencing the cultural change, I felt more in tune with being a free spirit. I was open to the idea of different types of religion. I studied Zen, Buddhism, and any other religion that would open a pathway to reaching nirvana. During this time, I started making poor choices. I became addicted to drugs, had two children out of wedlock, got married when I should not have, and had two additional children from that marriage.
Reality: I Needed Jesus
While living a free-spirited life, I was still attending church and raising my two boys as a single parent. I had a good job, taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and held positions in the church. However, I was so miserable. The things I thought were fun were no longer fun—they became a curse. I was in a dark place in my life, which is when I knew I needed Jesus.
Conversion and Revelation
I realized that Jesus Christ is the only one who could stop the madness. Through a Divine Appointment, I met my second wife, Jo-Ann, who set me on the path to Jesus. The unconditional love she showed me through my chaotic lifestyle was a love I had never experienced from any woman before. I came to realize that the love she had for Christ was the only way she could love me as she did. I told her, “I want what you have.” She had a true love for Christ. It was the beginning of my conversion. The support that she gave my children and me when I was going through drug rehab was unconditional love.
While attending AA and NA meetings—I introduced myself by saying, “Hi, my name is Andrew, and I’m an addict.” One evening while attending a meeting, the Holy Spirit impressed me to introduce myself by saying, “Hi, my name is Andrew, and I have been delivered from drugs and alcohol.” That is the day I said, “If I believe that the Lord is my Savior, then I need to proclaim that He and only He is my Deliverer.”
Life Coach Ministry Classes and Training at CLI
In our nonprofit organization, Lighting the Way Pastoral Care, the Life Coach Ministry classes and training that I receive from the Christian Leaders Institute will help me serve people who need spiritual guidance throughout their lives. Due to being retired and on a fixed income, I would not be able to afford this level of Christian development and spiritual training any other way. I am thankful for Christian Leaders Institute and the people within the organization! I plan to become a vision partner!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.