My name is Theresa Jeremiah, and I am learning the Bible online for free at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here). I live in Brooklyn, New York, USA. I did not grow up in a Christian home. My siblings and I attended church frequently on Sundays, but it was just religious activity. I did not realize that until I made Jesus my savior and Lord.
My Christian Journey Begins
In my teens, my oldest brother and a remarkably close cousin surrendered their lives to Jesus. My cousin talked to my friends and me about Jesus and the need to be “born again.” He was nice to talk to, so we listened to him and asked a bundle of questions. Regardless, we had no intention of doing anything about what we were learning. As a matter of fact, we made fun of it every time he left us.
Eventually, my brother invited me to three days of meetings at the church he attended. I went to the services, and on the last night, I was sitting at the front and hated it. My concern was about myself, “Why did they give me this seat? I don’t want to be close to the front.” I don’t remember anything the preacher said in his sermon, but I heard him say, “What if you die tonight? Where would you spend eternity?” I thought about it. I knew I was afraid of dying. Suddenly I felt as though someone lifted me and brought me to the altar. No one had touched me. It was amazing, but I feel as though I never walked to that altar. The Holy Spirit carried me. I surrendered my life to Jesus.
Challenges and Standing Firm in My Faith
I started my Christian journey believing that I would only experience perfection. A few months later, I was shocked when I experienced two sisters’ unkind behavior toward me. I was in a prayer meeting and decided that it would be my last night in church. To my surprise, when the pastor went to the altar, he began to speak about what was in my heart. He said, “You might be saying, tonight is my last night here. Don’t let anyone stop you from serving God.”
That confused me! I reasoned within myself, “Who told him what I said? I did not tell anyone.” I wondered if I told someone and forgot, but I knew I did not discuss it. It was in my heart. That night, I made up my mind never to turn back from the Christian path. I thank God for that early experience because more than twenty years later, I am still on this journey with the Lord! I now know the wheat and the tares will grow together.
My spiritual dream is to help many people get to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. I want to help them become strong disciples and teach the weak and discouraged believers how to grow an unwavering faith in God. Since I got encouragement and am stronger for it, I want to do the same for others!
Learning the Bible Online at CLI
I have a hunger for a Bible education. Learning the Bible, rightly dividing it, and evangelizing effectively are my goals. This desire drove me to the internet to look for affordable education. I could not find anything to fit within my budget. I looked for a free class for learning the Bible online and found the Christian Leaders Institute. At first, I thought what I was reading was too good to be true. However, I concluded that God answered my prayer! I did the getting started class, and now I am about to complete the Christian Leaders Connection.
The high-quality education at CLI means so much to me. I am blessed to be learning the Bible online. Someone made this possible for me, and I look forward to contributing to others’ free education soon. Thank you, Christian Leaders Institute, and all the others supporting this institution!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Hello! I am Sharon Karcha, and I am taking free Bible training courses at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here). I live in Preeceville, a small rural community in Saskatchewan, Canada. My husband Duane and I have been married for 36 years. I am a mother of four children who are all adults and started their own households now. So, I have four terrific additions to the family by way of my children’s spouses. I got to grow with my children as we were called to homeschool. It was one of the biggest blessings of my life. We thank God to see our adult children walking in the ways of the Lord with their spouses, desiring to follow and serve. The biggest family bonus I have had in recent years is three beautiful grandchildren. We are praying and believing that God will be a central focus in our offspring for generations to come.
My Early Years
My childhood was wonderful, but not always easy. I saw my parents living their faith every day of my life. I made a personal commitment to follow Jesus at the age of four during family devotions. The question has been asked, questioning a young child’s ability to truly know and understand their decision at such a young age. There is no doubt I understood the decision I made and was impacted emotionally at that early age.
My dad knew he was called to ministry even before he was a Jesus follower. In mid-life, he decided to further his education to go into full-time ministry with seven children and a wife to support. I saw the intentional living and unwavering faith and determination to follow Jesus at all costs. That is the basis of my foundation in the Christian faith. At present, I have three sisters, and the four of us have a regular bi-weekly prayer teleconference. Since we do not live nearby, it helps us to continue to petition God for generations to come. We are thankful regularly for the faith of our parents and establishing us in the Christian life.
My Youth Service for Christ
I have also been an active church participant, a pastor’s kid, and church planting and mission work. The whole family was engaged in ministry. I feel that it really established me in leadership and gave me purpose even as a youth. I was privileged to see my whole group of close friends come to a saving knowledge of Jesus in my high school years. What a huge blessing that impacted me greatly as a teenager.
I had many wonderful experiences in my growing up years. The bar was high for being a Christ-follower. I never had a desire to sway from my upbringing. The world’s influence was nothing to what I witnessed as a Christ-follower. I am grateful to this day that God kept me in the palm of his hand.
College and Work Experience
After leaving my parents home, I spent some time at Bible College. While there, I realized that my background did not recognize or acknowledge women in ministry unless it was a foreign ministry. I did not feel called to be a missionary, so I did not pursue further Christian education. I was educated in the field of human sciences and worked the majority of my career supporting families in crisis.
Eventually, I ran a community-based program taking on leadership. I often felt frustrated in the area of supporting others. I knew the biggest difference for families would be to introduce them to Jesus. However, being a government-funded program, it was not a solution. The programming that we provide would be much more successfully done in the context of the church. I also recognize that many families would not seek support, as mandated support by social services. There would be challenges, and of course, there is always the need for funding. However, I still believe the local church should be providing this type of service, even in small rural communities.
Finding the Free Bible Training Courses at CLI
My future dream and goal are to support individuals to be rooted and grounded in the Bible and local church support. To give them the tools to live their life abundantly as Jesus promised. I recently stepped down from that position as it required a 3-hour daily commute. Finding the free Bible training courses at the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) at this time is a gift. At this time in my life and given our current financial situation, I would have struggled to fund the education I can take through CLI. I also would not consider relocating to take further education as I feel called to my local community. It is where my home and husband are, so online availability makes this doable.
I would love to say that I have lived my life to the fullest, serving Jesus. Still, as happens to many, with a busy family, homeschooling, working away from home, my time was not always spent on furthering my understanding of the word and how it impacts daily living. I have been in many leadership situations, which often brings tough things to deal with. It is always a reminder of the importance of dying to self and living to serve others. I came out of a very toxic work environment and felt completely burnt out.
Exciting Future: Wherever God Leads
I have also been in situations where local churches struggled with strong, healthy leadership. Being from a pastor’s background, there have been times when I was not sure of what my role should be or when to speak up and when to keep silent and pray. I am learning how to keep myself in a healthy place spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. I do not regret the situations that I have come through, for they have been learning opportunities. They give me the ability to show compassion and empathy to others in extremely challenging situations.
I am so excited about the future and what God has in store. I have many good and hard experiences to draw from. When we begin moving in a direction, God takes that small act of obedience and turns it into something good and usually unexpected. My heart is full of anticipation for the future. The training available to me at CLI will be part of my next steps; I have no doubt.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
I am Omoha Precious from Lagos, Nigeria. I have a national diploma in computer science from the Osun State Polytechnic and an advanced diploma in theology from The Redeemed Christians Bible College. Being at the Christian Leaders Institute is a lifetime opportunity for spiritual, personal, and intellectual growth and maturity (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here). The free formal Bible training prepares me to be an efficient Christian leadership professional in the body of Christ.
Currently, I am a full-time church administrator. I have served in various capacities in the body of Christ. My ministry service includes being a worker, school fellowship president, associate pastor, assistant pastor, sound and multimedia director, and more. With a deep passion for discipleship, I nurture and disciple the saints into fervent and effectual Christians. Then, as agents of light and transformation in the world, they bring more souls into the kingdom.
A Life-Changing Time
I came to know the Lord unusually. I was in the hospital after successful operations from a ruptured hernia and laparoscopic appendectomy. However, something unfortunate happened. A piece of cotton wool was left within my abdomen before stitching up the cut. It was barely two days after, at about 2 am, I nearly died from pain when pain relief failed, and no test could ascertain the cause of the pain. I was left to bear through the day to be transferred to another hospital, but I knew death was just around the corner as everyone stood helpless.
By the bedside was Gideon’s New Testament Bible. I remembered the God of the Christians my class teacher in school told me about during break time. When all other students were gone out playing, she would call me by her side, give me her meal for lunch, and tell me stories about God, who I knew nothing about because I was from a Muslim family.
God Touched Me
So, I took the small Bible and called on the God of the Christians to come and heal me. The pain was so severe that I couldn’t read a word from the Bible, so that I would count the pages. Then I would know that he is truly God. I tried counting, and the tears from my pain fell on the Bible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the counting, but thankfully I slept. In that half-asleep state, I saw a man in white and in a doctor’s coat coming in through the locked entrance door without unlocking it. He walked up to me and touched the pain point as if carrying out an operation on it. It all happened within seconds. Then, he turned and disappeared without saying a word. But within me, I knew this was the God of the Christians I called upon before falling asleep.
I woke and discovered I’d slept for two hours. At that point, the pain had gone completely. Then, I felt something like a cold drop of water on the apron I was wearing. I beckoned to the nurses, only to discover it was purulent drainage oozing from between the stitches. They immediately rushed me to surgery. The incision was reopened and cleaned up. In the process, the piece of cotton wool was brought out. I watched everything being done on me in a clear piece of screen in front of me.
Life In Christ
This event was the beginning of my encounters with the God of the Christians. Impatiently, I left the hospital to learn more about God and grow in faith in Him. The journey has been an irrecoverable relationship with this God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who has been my greatest companion.
Yes, there were persecutions from my Muslim father and relatives. From being driven away from home to living in uncompleted buildings without windows or doors. Several scars on my body from injuries of tortures to stop me from going to church. I remember every church I attended in the community would receive my father’s visitation, accusing the pastors of teaching me rebellion. But to God’s glory, His grace was sufficient for me through it all. Most importantly, my father accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior over time, but everyone in my family is also Christian.
Free Formal Bible Training at CLI
Discovering the Christian Leaders Institute is one of the greatest breakthroughs I’ve had in my quest for spiritual, mental, and personal development. I want to be more effective in the King’s mission. Further, it’s my goal to learn in the courses and make CLI a platform for discipling the saints the Lord brings my way.
CLI’s free formal Bible training is a dream come true for me! My greatest setback in getting formal education has been financial restrictions. I’m really grateful to God for setting up CLI for opportunities like this for me and the body of Christ around the world.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.