Credible Ministry Training at CLI
My name is Claude Evele, and I am excited to receive credible ministry training at CLI. I am a member of the Rhema Bible Church in South Africa. Currently, I am an elder in my local church, Les Disciples de Beree, in Lubumbashi, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here, I oversee our Youth Ministry. I am 53 years old and a father of two daughters and a son, Nathalie, Alicia, and Claude. Originally, I am from Congo, where my mother, who just turned 85 years old, is living with some of my siblings.
My Youth and My Marriage
I grew up in a Catholic family. I was a Catholic myself and did my initiation sacraments. However, I didn’t understand much about the Christian faith until I was 17 years old. At that time, my mother brought me to a group called “The Way,” and I gave my life to the Lord Jesus. Unfortunately, the movement did not last long enough for me to get a strong Christian foundation. So, I became a backslider a few years later and for many years after.
When I was 27 years old, I married Felicité. In the same year, we were blessed with our first child, Nathalie. At 28 years old, due to some poor decisions on my part, I went through challenging times in my life. These led me to seek the Lord again. When I was 29 years old, I recommitted my life to Jesus.
Move to South Africa and New Understanding
In 1997, I moved to South Africa for work purposes and started to attend Rhema Bible Church. I became a home cell leader in 2007. During my time as a home cell leader, one of the group members recommended that I read Joseph Prince’s book “Unmerited Favor.” It challenged my understanding of the Gospel. Gradually, I received the revelation of the Grace of God, which then changed my Christian life completely. I understood the love that God has for me, the unconditional love of God.
The main difference was before I was going to the Lord our of fear for my mistakes. This time, I went to the Lord as I discovered the greatness of His love for me. I found the grace and mercy of God. He sent His one and only Son to die for my sins! I understood that He loves me unconditionally and that there was nothing that was able to separate me from that love. How amazing was that? Like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, the love of Christ compelled me that I could not remain the same. This time I gave my life to Jesus, not out of fear but out of love. From then on, I became a completely different and new Christian because I understood what the Gospel is.
The Good News and Credible Ministry Training at CLI
The Gospel is THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE GRACE OF GOD TO MANKIND, EXECUTED BY THE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. I know the power that is in this simple message. It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. I want everybody to hear it. Nobody can remain indifferent to the true Gospel. That is why I am in ministry.
Doing Bible Study at Rhema Bible College in South Africa, I am in my first year of studies. Also, I have recently joined the Christian Leaders Institute for credible ministry training. I want not only to get knowledge and understanding to accurately handle the word of truth but also to get credibility with my congregation.
Deeply passionate about the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17).
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Formal Training in Church Planting at CLI
I am Beauty Nobuhle Tyalimpi, a mother of three children and a grandmother to five. Born and bred in South Africa in the Eastern Cape, I am a 59-year-old widow and a primary school teacher. I love the Lord and am also a church planter. So, I am excited to receive formal training in church planting at the Christian Leaders Institute.
My Early Years
In my early years, I grew up in a Methodist church home. My mother was a full member of the church. As black South Africans, things were not easy for us. My father was working in Johannesburg, far from home. He was at home only for three weeks in December every year.
After I passed Matric, I went to Johannesburg, where I heard about salvation for the first time. I was born again. However, I had to go back home and pursue my teaching career. Then, I married and went to my husband’s church. I longed for what I experienced in Johannesburg, but no church preached salvation nearby. After some years, I bought a house in Queenstown, a nearby town. There I joined a vibrant church, His Grace Tabernacle Church. God brought me back to life again.
Calling and Formal Training at CLI in Church Planting
I discovered a side of me I did not know existed. The problems I had in my marriage became insignificant. My life filled with inexplicable peace and joy. I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. I found myself preaching to groups of women. Naturally, I am a shy kind of person, but when I stood up to share the gospel, I amazed myself. Something was burning inside of me that was not easy to contain. My pastor invited all the people who had a calling from God to a two- day seminar. He encouraged us to pursue God’s calling. He helped me to start church planting, so now I am a church planter.
Whenever I face challenges in church planting, there is a little voice that tells me that I am not qualified in ministry like I am in teaching. I want to dedicate my life to being a fulltime minister. With the Christian Leaders Institute’s formal training, that little voice will be silenced. I will be more effective and confident in ministry. I also want to grow in my relationship with God.
With CLI’s formal training in church planting, all my dreams will be fulfilled!
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Free Training at CLI for My Youth Pastor Call
My name is Daniel Schippers, and I am receiving free training at CLI for my youth pastor call. My family and I currently live in Coopersville, Michigan. I am 37 years old. Although I have believed in God my entire life, I didn’t become a Christian until I was 30.
My path to Christianity was a long and rough road that went through my parents’ divorce, firefighting, the military, lots of death and depression, a special needs child with lots of surgeries and trips to the hospital, as well as my divorce.
Realization and Salvation
After a long downhill struggle, I finally hit rock bottom during the summer of 2012. It was the middle of the night, and I was sitting in an empty parking lot in downtown Chicago. I was at the end of my rope; broke, lost, and in a car that was breaking down.
I saw a bumper sticker that read, “In God We Trust.” Then I remembered what my ex-wife’s Grandma said to me once. Grandma said that she couldn’t pray for our special needs daughter because she prayed that God brings my wife back to Him so she couldn’t question His means.
Now, although I do not agree with her statement, it made me come to an important realization. Everything that I went through was not God punishing me, it was God testing me, and up until this point, I failed. Everything that I had gone through was meant to bring me closer to God. He wanted me to rely on Him; I was relying on myself.
After I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, my life turned around. God led me to the love of my life, a beautiful Christian woman. With my two daughters and her two daughters, God made our fantastic family of six. After trying a couple of different churches, we finally found our church home in 2013 at Coopersville Reformed Church. We have been there ever since.
Church Involvement
In more recent years, my wife and I have been getting more involved in the church. I felt a strong calling to go into youth ministry. Therefore, I volunteered at what we call “The Nest.” I drove the bus to pick the kids up and cook breakfast for them. I felt I wasn’t doing enough, so I started substituting for Sunday School teachers. Still, I felt I wasn’t doing enough, so I helped out with the Middle School and High School youth groups.
In the High School youth group, I felt my calling. So I became a leader and have been there for two years. I love being a youth leader. However, I still felt I wasn’t doing enough. That’s when God told me that it wasn’t “how much” but “what” I was doing. At a fall men’s retreat, He said to me that His path for me was to become a youth pastor.
Youth Pastor Call and Study at CLI
About this time, I was also nominated for the role of deacon at our church. I wasn’t feeling a calling to be a deacon since I felt a strong pull to the path of a youth pastor. I brought all of this to a pastor at our church. He told me to accept the deacon role and to start taking classes through the Christian Leaders Institute. Taking free training at CLI for my youth pastor call is what I am doing, and I became a deacon. I am pleased with both choices.
My spiritual goal is to keep young adults in the church. After High School, so many leave the church. I want to excite High Schoolers so much that they don’t want to leave the church. I wish to light a fire in the youth of the church that nobody can blow out, no peer, no professor, not the Devil himself. To God, be the glory!
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.