Praise the Lord! My name is Isaac Parry, and I am excited about the Christian connections at CLI – the Christian Leaders Institute. My family and I live in the western part of our country, India. I hold a professional degree in Social Work. Furthermore, I have about 18 years of experience working for a Christian humanitarian organization from a grassroots level to heading the national level.
I had the fantastic experience of being a Christian leader, not only in the organization I worked with but also in local churches at various places and times. Often, pastors preferred me to come to the front, but my preference was always to support and back the church and pastor from behind the scenes. I live in a country where persecution of a minority community is not a new thing. India has a long and sad history of such atrocities for years.
My Upbringing and Salvation
I grew up in a Christian family with a Muslim family name. Under some mysterious circumstances, my grandfather could not cross the country borders during the partition and remained behind. Later, he married my grandmother, who probably converted from the tribal part of our country. My Muslim family name was never an issue or matter of concern throughout my school education, making friends, or in any daily course of our life. Only in the 1990s, during nation-wide communal riots, for the first time, we were scared to carry a Muslim family name.
Though we were regular Protestant churchgoers, I never had a personal encounter with God. The Bible was too big a book for me to read and understand. After some tutorials in church, we received baptism as children without much understanding. Finally, during my higher education, I met a friend who helped lead me to God and a personal encounter with God. I surrendered my life and accepted Jesus as my Savior.
Gradually, I learned about many truths that were never mentioned or taught to us in my church or Sunday school during my childhood. Some of those teachings were crucial for me as a believer to understand, know, and experience. Instructions about the work of the Holy Spirit, speaking and praying in tongues, and much more.
My Spiritual Dream and Challenges
My spiritual dream is to be an instrument of God’s love in His Hands. I want my life to be a testimony so that all glory goes to God. The Christian Leaders Institute’s free ministry training will prepare me for the purpose that God has for me. I want to be ready and equipped so that I am available to do His work in my professional and personal life. Being a social worker, I understand poverty and social issues. These struggles can be addressed not by our limited wisdom but by God’s supernatural intervention.
The major obstacle that I faced has been in receiving sound doctrine and understanding of the Word of God. The watered down and manipulated words taught during Sunday services have not helped me. It led to more frustration and confusion on how to live out a Spirit-filled life. Time reading the Word of God, praying, and depending upon the Holy Spirit to reveal scripture truths helped me get a new understanding of God’s plan.
Christian Connections at CLI
Christian Leaders Institute training will help me get a proper perspective and a clear understanding of the aspects of being a Christian leader in our world. The Christian connections at CLI are a blessing. The awards and credits received will authenticate my leadership.
I am the sole breadwinner of my family. It was a long time desire to pursue courses like the ones at CLI. Until now, it was not a priority due to other responsibilities. Amazed that CLI offered free training online, I registered. However, for a year, I did not pursue it. I thought it would trap me into paying for the classes in some other way.
My wife and I prayed for theological studies to pursue. To our surprise, my wife received an invitation to join CLI! It was a supernatural act of God because she never enrolled in the course. Accepting it as an answer to our prayers, we pursued it and searched its genuineness. I praise God today that we both enrolled in various classes, along with our eldest daughter. We are blessed by this generosity-driven institute. We believe that we also will be able to contribute to this ministry soon.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Hello, my name is Matthias Ngandu Yemba, and I dream of a teaching ministry to vulnerable people. To accomplish this dream, I need advanced quality ministry training at CLI. I am from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but currently live in Dowa district, Malawi. My wife Irene Asumini and I have been living here for just over five years. We have five great children.
Salvation Path
I was still young, starting my secondary school and growing up in a Catholic Church family. Uncles and aunts were trying to become priests, nuns, and they were our model of Christian life. Though we did not understand well the word of God, we were eager to go through the whole process and become priests like them. Unfortunately, this did not happen to me. The strategy failed many times. I was reading the Bible like any other storybook. Today, I realized that at that time, my life was a mixture of worldly and Christian life, and my school would have probably stopped.
Still being young and about to complete my secondary school, the husband of one of my aunts was a deacon in a Pentecostal church and invited me to attend their church meeting. It was my first time I heard such a mind-blowing sermon. So, I decided to remain in that church and received believer baptism in 1995.
Marriage and Transformation
I realize today that God took me into this church to transform my life. As a young boy, it was not easy to change all my former habits. They were trying to draw me back. However, Jesus Christ won the battle for me. He gave me hope solely in His Word. I completed my secondary school and higher school education. I became a language teacher at a secondary school and enabled others in my family to pursue their education.
By God’s grace, I overcame different school temptations and opened the door of officially getting married for the entire family in 2008. That year I married my lovely wife, Irene, in a Pentecostal Church where I ministered as a deacon. Today, I can read and teach the Word of God to others and encourage and inspire brothers and sisters in the Lord. I also have a family under my responsibility. Amazing! Glory to Abba, Father!
My Dream of a Teaching Ministry to Vulnerable People
God has taken me through circumstances in which I met many vulnerable people and stayed moved with compassion. Though I have been a language teacher for years, I have experienced overwhelming guilt or unhappiness as to why I am not doing what can truly bring happiness to my life. Therefore, I had a seeking heart at the beginning of 2020, and Jesus sought me out for his ministry. I am called to a gospel teaching ministry, and I am to be a light in my community as an enterprise minister. There is a need to build the kingdom of God in my community. My ministry dream is to reach the lost and those under the devil’s captivity to bring them to the Lord. I proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord intending to change people’s lives for Christ.
Since it has become clear for me to start entering my ministry calling, Understanding that my life and calling relates to what Paul has said in Corinthians. I am called to minister to others as a teacher and missionary as a business leader to fuel my community. To be qualified for teaching others (2 Timothy 2:2) and to become a Bible school teacher who is competent to instruct others, I need advanced quality ministry training. I explored my ministry calling and now need to get the necessary advanced training to do well in ministry. I would also like my gifts confirmed by others through an ordination process.
Finding CLI for Advanced Quality Ministry Training
Within the opportunity I find at the Christian Leaders Institute, I plan to take enterprise classes they offer. Then, like the Apostle Paul, I will bring blessing to vulnerable people of my community. Being a businessperson called to the ministry of renewal, I can bring vigorous benefit to my community by providing products and services and jobs to help people feed their families. The Apostle Paul was also a tentmaker and a ministry leader.
Therefore, I sought an online Bible school since my volunteer work with JRS gives me access to the internet. At this time, I can not afford to pay for learning. Therefore, CLI is essential for realizing my dreams by having the chance to acquire sound knowledge about the Lord and scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit. Through this free advanced quality ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute, I push forward to my goal with confidence.
My prayer in this education journey is to continue to walk closer to God, overcome all the challenges/tests, and successfully achieve my ministry dream for the glory of God.
Thank you, CLI! God bless you and keep you all on your journeys!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Christian Leaders Institute is Here for You!
Have a dream to go into ministry? At the Christian Leaders Institute, they have a big heart and open arms to everyone wherever you live. Here at CLI, they offer free online training in ministry.
My Early Years
Hello, my name is Marie Cook. I currently live in Moscow Mills, Missouri. At this time, I work as a Direct Support professional in an ISL home. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. My baptism was in the Lutheran faith. Every Sunday, my parents went to church, and I went to Sunday Bible school. Through confirmation classes, I was confirmed in the Lutheran faith. As I got older, I served as an acolyte, which eventually led to me being a member of the church choir and teaching Sunday Bible school.
Things were different in church than it was at home. I grew up in a military family with stringent rules. My parents both drank and were physically and emotionally abusive. My father was also abusive toward my mother. The only way they knew how to show their love and affection for me was through material things. In school, I was never well-liked and was always in trouble. I also hung out with the wrong crowd of kids in and out of school.
My parents eventually stopped going to church. For me, this fact was a great disappointment. I searched for a church in hopes I would be able to convince them to go back with me as a family. During my search, I found a Lutheran church in O’Fallon’Fallon, MO. My parent went, and they were happy, and things got a little better.
Challenges
As I matured, my life had many obstacles. I married three times, and they all ended up in divorce. Each one ended with either being unfaithful, drinking alcohol, using drugs, or being emotional and emotionally abusive. Being a single mother of four children was a struggle. I worked full time and went to school full time. Eventually, I had to quit school to concentrate on raising my children.
Once they were in high school, I went back to school and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. Life was a struggle for me, and I became furious at the world and hated myself for everything. Lost and confused, I knew I didn’t want life to be this way. I was introduced by my close friend to Celebrate Recovery for co-dependency. Through God’s Word, I began to love myself and heal.
Faith Renewed and Free Online Training in Ministry at CLI
I was blessed at the age of 53 to be reborn in my faith and baptism. My new life began with the desire to learn more about God’s word. I became a member of a non-denominational church. I was so intrigued and happy to start my journey in a beautiful and excellent relationship with God. Soon, I joined the women’s ministry, coffee with a friend, and learning through Bible studies. I minister to woman in jail with the women’s jail ministry from our church. On my first mission trip, I learned of God’s love, compassion, grace, and mercy for me. To this day, I read my Bible, do a daily devotional, and go to Bible studies to grow my relationship with my God.
My main interest is in Judicial Restoration, and I want to retire and work as a missionary. My compassion in learning more about ministry is so I can bring the Gospel to others. Then, they can know God and His love for them. God leads me in directions I would never go. It wasn’t by chance that I found the Christian Leaders Institute. If it weren’t for CLI’s free online training in ministry, I would not get a degree/certificate in ministry. Pray that God continues to show me the path He wants me to follow.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.