My name is Dr. Carol Matthews, and I am seeking restorative justice ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI). I live in Southern California, in the USA. I have been educated in different areas, where I previously worked in my professional life. As an adult and single parent, I returned to college when my daughter was in elementary school. I earned an Associate’s degree at age 30, a Bachelor of Science at 36, an MBA at 45, an MA at 59 in ministry (my passion). Finally, after seven LONG years, I earned a doctorate in Public Administration at age 63. I am a bi-vocational ministry leader.
My Early Years
I was born to an immigrant Jamaican father and Caucasian mother in the 1950s when being bi-racial was not well accepted. My father mainly raised me in a Seventh Day Adventist home, where we read the Bible daily and had family worship regularly. Going to the church was not a personal choice but rather a requirement.
Because of difficulties in my family life, I ended up in foster care in high school. There all of the basic Christian training went out of the window. Later, I returned to live with a close friend of our family, where I started attending church again. They strongly encouraged me to get baptized when I was 16, and so I did. I began serving by teaching youth, ushering, singing in the choir, and singing with a female quartet. I was doing all the Christian work expected of me, but I had not yet found God for myself.
Struggles and New Direction
Many years later, I was told that I would be “put out” of the church for divorcing. However, the powers that be did not know I had a biblical rationale for doing so. I did not feel compelled to share the painful details. At that point in my life, I was in survival mode and placed my church life aside. The only exception was taking my young daughter to sabbath school each week. That too soon died out, and I was back in the world. I lived how I chose, which, unfortunately, did not include a godly life.
In the early 80s, I woke up and realized that God and His word are not the same as “religion” and the earthly authorities with their human-made rules. I found a Bible-teaching non-denominational church and began my walk with Jesus as an adult. As my personal walk began, including Bible Studies and personal studies, I asked questions and understood what God wanted and expected from me. It was at this point, I accepted Him into my life and began my faith journey.
Speak, Lord, for thy Servant is Listening.
One day, I was alone at work. I stood and began worshiping Him and felt the presence of God in the room with me. I felt so close to God. So, I chose to serve in the prayer-room after weekly alter calls. I also taught young adults the Bible and helped guide new believers for one year. I increased studying to the point I felt lead to begin seminary. Unfortunately, later, I had a misstep and became discouraged, once again, and began to backslide.
Thereafter, my life changed because of two near-death experiences that occurred close together because of my poor life choices. I prayed as I had never prayed before, “God, please get me out of this mess that I got myself into, and I will serve you forever!” In fact, God did answer that fervent prayer, and I served him faithfully since that period of my life. I felt compelled to get re-baptized, and my walk has been consistent ever since. As Samuel said, I, too, said, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10, NIV).
Called to Ministry
In 2011, I began serving the Lord through outreach ministries. I finally formerly began ministry studies in 2014 and graduated in October 2016 with a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and Leadership. In 2017, I formalized my ministry to seek donations to do a greater work for the Lord. I founded Bestowing Hope Ministries as an outreach ministry. Our focus is on prison ministry, serving the local homeless population, and helping senior citizens in need. As the Lord provides the resources needed to do more work in the areas of need, we are planning to expand, such as college scholarships for at-risk youth.
In the USA, we have the freedom to serve the Lord and worship how we see fit without persecution. I believe that is why we sometimes take it for granted, unlike other places in the world where people have to worship in secret. My spiritual dream would be that everyone, anywhere, could worship the Lord freely and get to know Him so that all could be saved. Personally, my deepest desire is to be able to die without fear or regret. I hope to achieve this with God’s help and by living my life for him.
Restorative Justice Ministry Training at CLI
I am seeking more ministry training from CLI (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here) to become more knowledgeable in the area of restorative justice. Prison ministry is my passion. If it was not for God’s grace, I could have been a “lifer,” so I am called to help those incarcerated seek God’s face. For those who do not yet realize their need for Jesus, I am there to help them get to know Him as their Lord and personal Savior. My Christian Leaders Institute dream and my mission are Matthew 28:19-20. Because of Jesus’ words: “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”(Matthew 9:37, NIV). I am called to as His disciple among those who are least likely to know Him.
In conclusion, the reason this type of no cost formal education is helpful to me is that I want to learn more. However, I cannot afford the cost of state education at this time, which may not even teach the primary area of my interest, restorative justice. My prayer is that I learn what can benefit those I come in contact with and make them want what I have, Jesus!
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 Narciso A. San Miguel, and I am excited about free online Biblical training at the Christian Leaders Institute. I grew up with eight siblings, and I’m the sixth child in the family. My father, now deceased, worked as a construction worker. My mother raised money for the family by accepting laundry chores from other families in our community. When I came to this world on March 25, 1965, it was an added challenge for our growing family. Life, where I was born in the Philippines in the rural Barangay in Alijis in the City of Bacolod, was very hard. Everything was scarce.
My mother was a devout Roman Catholic believer, and my father was a non-practicing Roman Catholic. It was our mother who influenced us to attend Sunday masses, if possible. Although it was hard for our parents to send us to school, they wanted everyone to finish our school and get our college degree.
My Youth Experience of Church and Christ
There was a neighbor in our community who opened their house for a Daily Vacation Bible School outreach of the Bacolod Evangelical Church in the City. I attended this one-week program, and it was then that I knew that there was a Christian Church in our Community called Alijis Christian Church. It was from this church that I was able to make friends. So I started attending Sunday Services whenever I could.
In the summer of 1980, some of the church’s young people invited me to attend a Summer Camp. At this camp, I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Because of my parents’ religious affiliation, they were against me attending these Christian church activities, especially my father. So, I had to find ways to secretly attend the church and join a singing group of young people. I was not water baptized during this period because I was afraid of the repercussions.
In the second year of college, I was looking for a scholarship to finish my Civil Engineering course. I auditioned to join the College Glee Club, and I was able to get a scholarship. Because of my exposure to our church’s singing group, I was able to learn how to sing. When I graduated from college, it was then that I decided to follow Jesus in water baptism. I said to myself, now that I finished my study, it doesn’t matter if my parents get angry with me because of my baptism.
My Wife and Family
Today, my wife and I are still in a singing ministry. We are part of the singing group called The Pillars Of Fire. We do evangelistic concerts all over the country as the opportunity warrants. I’ve been in this group for 31 years now. Actually, I met my wife, Christine, in this group 28 years ago.
The Lord blessed us with four children. Our 27-year-old eldest daughter, Lin-ay, is one of the Worship Leaders in our Bacolod City Alliance Church. Our 23-year-old son, Miggs, is the drummer of the Worship Team. Then, our 20-year-old daughter is also part of the worship team as a back-up singer. And our youngest, a 13-year-old boy, Y’Ho, is an alternate drummer for his big brother.
Changes
I served as an elder in our church for a long period of time. When the Corona Virus Pandemic hit last March 2020, our church was affected. It immediately went into quarantine, and we closed it. It really saddened my heart to see our churches closed on Sundays. There were so many questions running in my mind. I looked for leaders and pastors who would stand by what they were preaching. In my personal thought, it should at this time that we, as leaders, had an opportunity to manifest our faith and put our preaching and principles into action. However, we surrendered to the enemy in fear by closing our churches.
Called to Online Biblical Training at CLI
It was at this time that I wanted to strengthen my spiritual footing. I looked for someone or an institution from which I could receive training in a Biblical, systematic way. (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here) So, I praise God for leading me to the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) for free online Biblical training. I really need to be competent and confident when it comes to leading.
My spiritual dream is to have a Center for Pastors and leaders in our community. There they will receive training and equipping for the challenging times that the Church faces. By enrolling at CLI, I believe that my spiritual knowledge, commitment, and experience will be reinforced. Also, there is an opportunity for me to know who the leaders are within the CLI community near my area. I can network with them and work on fulfilling my spiritual dream.
Thank you very much, CLI, and I pray that I will have a fruitful journey with you! God bless us!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Greetings to all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! My name is Lala Malope. I am thankful for the free Bible study opportunity (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here) at the Christian Leaders Institute. By God’s grace, I am a Christian Leaders Institute student.
I was born in 1991 in South Africa in a small rural area called Mashashane in Polokwane, Limpopo province. My parents had me at a very young age. Therefore, I was raised by my grandmother with other siblings. We were about nine grandchildren in a small house with four rooms. My grandmother is an amazingly strong woman full of jokes, so the house was full of joy and laughter.
We all went to school and completed high school in the village. In 2010, I moved to Gauteng, Johannesburg, to further my studies. I obtained a diploma in business administration.
My Spiritual Journey
The last memory I have of the family going to church is when I was five years old. After that, never again did we set our foot there. I was too young to understand, anyway. So at home, we prayed to God and worshipped other gods and ancestors too. They still do. I did not see anything wrong as that was the only life I knew, and I had to obey the elders at home.
I am a person who dreams a lot. In fact, I never sleep and wake up without a dream. That made the elders conclude that I have a spiritual calling. There were some rituals to be done for me. I carried on with the life of worshipping ancestors and waited for an answer on what to do. However, it never came. In fact, every time I spoke to and worshipped them, my dreams and visions faded. It was like I moved further away from the true God.
How I Met Christ
After graduating, I found a job and had my own space, not close to any family members. That helped me a lot. Even though I did not stop worshipping ancestors, I began to realize that something was wrong. I was not getting the connection nor responses when I communicated with them. Yet, the spiritual void grew bigger and bigger. I knew I had to step into something, but I did not know what exactly. One Sunday, I woke up and went to the nearest church. I met my Savior, Jesus Christ, that day! That was November 2019. It’s been almost a year, and I never felt so alive.
My Humbling Experiences
In 2014, after I got a job, I fell sick. It was a strange sickness because I would have severe stomach pains but only at night or alone. In the morning, I would go to work, and it would be as if nothing ever happened as I felt no pain. I went to clinics and hospitals, but the pain did not leave me. After a time, I got better but realized that my menstruation got lighter until there was nothing. I have not seen my periods in seven years to date.
Before I was born again, I tried everything and everyone. I was afraid of the impact that this condition meant for me with infertility problems for the past years. It is a rare and sensitive issue. So I never found someone to talk to about it. I just cried and found no joy in life.
However, when I allowed Jesus Christ into my life, I found closure. I tell him how I feel, and he responds. So, I surrendered all the burden I had been carrying for years and find rest in him. Yes, the situation has not changed, but the living God I serve has given me peace. Also, I now know the promises he has made to me in Christ, and I know all is well. He is at work, and nothing is impossible with him!
Growth in My Relationship with God
I came to know God personally as my dreams and visions started happening in the natural. I dreamed of something, and it came to pass. That’s how I realized that God does communicate with me, and he has been fighting my battles all this time. In one of my dreams, a voice told me my purpose and how God will use me. I woke up crying and very much afraid and excited too.
The Free Bible Study Opportunity at CLI
My spiritual dream is to know God even more. I want to help my family get saved and turn from worshipping ancestors and other gods. Therefore, I need to be more equipped and have more knowledge about the Gospel. (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here)
I also need to build up my confidence because I would like to start a ministry organization for women. There, women can talk about their infertility issues and make awareness to their families and communities to understand and be supportive at all times.
I want to thank the Christian Leaders Institute for this free Bible study opportunity. Signing up was easy, and before I knew it, I was a student. It’s been only a month, but I feel the impact of the training already. Thank you again to the team of CLI!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.