Biblical Study for Free at CLI
Hello! My name is Sara Isabel Leitão Pedroso Crespo, and I am at CLI for biblical study for free. I am Portuguese and live in the suburbs of Lisbon. I am married and have three children.
Born in a Christian home, I grew up in the ways of God. In Portugal, we usually use the phrase, “I was born on the Sunday school benches.” I attended the Pentecostal church. When I was around 17, I started working on Sunday. At first, I couldn’t go to the late service because I was tired and didn’t feel like it. However, later I dated a boy who was not a Christian.
I know that the church does not save that it is God. However, your faith comes from hearing the word of God. Therefore, to let go of my church attendance, my fall was just a matter of time. God also didn’t want this courtship for me. Soon, I found out that he was dating other girls. I broke up with him.
Struggles
For a long time, I was angry and hurt by everything and everyone. I think I got to the point of exhaustion. It was then that a co-worker started talking to me. One day, he asked me to marry him. For a long time, I said no, that I didn’t like him. However, he said he loved me enough for both of us. He kept insisting, so one day, I said yes.
After we married, I went back to church with my kids. However, I wasn’t feeling right with myself, and everything was a process. I had to forgive myself first before I felt forgiven by God.
Saved to Serve God
The years passed and I always asked God to save my husband. Then, 13 years after we married, he gave his life to Jesus at a Christmas party in the church. Two years later, he was baptized. That same year at a mission service, they asked who wanted to serve God. The Holy Spirit nudged me, and I presented my life to serve Him.
I helped in the church to organize Christmas parties and Easter gatherings. Later, they asked me to help with youth retreats to cook for them. It was very gratifying. However, God wanted something more from me. So I talked to the Leader. She told me to be a missionary here where I live. I agreed, not knowing if this was what God wanted. I prayed to God to show me what He wanted from me.
Finding Biblical Study for Free at CLI
A while later, I was invited to teach at a public school for classes in evangelical moral religion. It was then that the problem started. One cannot teach young people and children if one does not have a well-structured foundation.
I tried to study at a biblical institute, but due to la ack of financial funds, I had to leave. In desperation, I went to the internet to search for where to find biblical study for free. I found the leading site, the Christian Leaders Institute.
It is a great challenge for me. In addition to understanding spoken English, my written and spoken English is very weak. I am taking three more courses at CLI to be able to teach at school. Also, I would like to complete my master’s in management. However, first, I ask God. God has been teaching me to wait, that it is not in my time but in His time. So, God’s will be done and not mine.
May God continue to work in my “desert” as he shows me what God wants most of me. I pray for open doors from Him and that He gives me wisdom. God bless you and your work!
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My Journey to Free Training for Ministry
My name is Jerry Margiotta, and the following is my journey to free training for ministry at CLI. I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York (USA), in some of the toughest neighborhoods. I am presently living in Long Island, Suffolk County, New York. God had his hand on my life. Guiding and directing my path. Although I made some bad choices, His hand and His calling on my life were always there.
When He promises never to leave me nor forsake me, He never went back on His word. He never breaks his covenant. One of my favorite scripture verses is in Philippians 1:6 “be confident in this very thing that He who began a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” I will stand on that promise and claim it over my life.
Early Life
I am the youngest of three children from both of my parents. Growing up as a child was extremely difficult. There was depression in my household. I was molested as a child and had my struggles with addictions. Cheated death more times than I can count on one hand, I give God all the glory! If it were not for His hand on my life, I would’ve died a long time ago.
At the age of eight years old, I had my first encounter with my Lord Jesus. Growing up as a Catholic, going to church on Sunday was just a ritual. I never understood what was going on due to the fact the mass was said in Latin. I remember as a child walking into the Catholic church when it was empty, I sat in the back of the church, asking, “God, where are you?” Then, I felt the overwhelming presence of God’s peace flooding over me, and tears filled my eyes. My desire, even at that young age, was to know more of the Lord.
Growing up as a teenager, I did not know why God was always on my mind. I remember hearing those taking the Lord’s name in vain. It offended me and made me defensive. I never knew or was involved with any Christians or that I needed to receive Christ as my Savior.
Marriage and Salvation in Christ
I remember dating my wife and having frequent conversations about the Lord. Then, when we got married, we planned to raise our family in a Godly home. My wife, Lori, had a similar experience as a child of three years old when the Lord revealed himself to Her. God certainly matched us together to serve as a team, and we have.
We both received Christ together. In January of 1977, my wife’s cousin, a born again Christian, was dying in the ICU unit in the hospital. As he was close to passing into eternity, the pastor of his church approached my wife and I. He shared the salvation and the redemption story of Jesus. I have never heard it explained to me that way. Quickly, I said yes and accepted Jesus into my heart. I realized it’s a relationship, not a religion.
My Spiritual Dreams and Free Training for Ministry at CLI
My spiritual dream and passion are to teach, start a home church, lead the lost to our Savior, and do men’s ministry, especially to those with addictions. The Lord also used me several times in healing. It is a desire of mine to be used for the hurting and those who need healing. God will use all of my failures in the past for those with similar struggles and circumstances. I am new, breaking through, and rising up for God’s call on my life. Here I am, Lord, send me!
Christian Leaders Institute will further my abilities, education, and growth in God’s word. At first, I was somewhat suspicious of this ministry because I had bad experiences with internet ministries. However, after taking the connection course at CLI, I saw that they have a firm foundation and a real love for serving in ministry. I hope to absorb as much as I can and to do more and more for God’s glory through CLI as I become more involved here.
Free training for ministry was a game-changer for me. Unable to pay expensive tuition fees, it was a confirmation of how I could advance and expand my knowledge of the word of God and not be unhindered by the cost. I will be one who gives back and not one who just takes. I support this ministry and help those who cannot afford legitimate Bible training. Blessings to you all! Thank you, CLI, for your obedience to our Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My Call to Minister to Teen Mothers
My name is Amy Walker, and I minister to teen mothers. Currently, I live in Florida. Born in Pennsylvania, I have one older brother and one younger sister. I grew up in Pennsylvania and learned at a very young age about Jesus. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. When I was a young child, my whole family walked forward in church one Sunday to be saved, baptized, and become members of the church.
Early Years
We moved quite a bit during my childhood. Friends were hard to make and were very few in my life. My parents both worked, so my grandparents raised us. Once my mother stopped working, she tried to become the authority figure in my life. However, to me, that was a position my grandmother held. I fought with my mother my entire life.
When I was 11, I began hanging out with older kids. I talked and acted like them. I started smoking and cussing. People would call me a problem child. I always snuck around and went with the wrong kids. They were more fun to hang out with than kids my age.
Trauma and Rebellion
When I turned 13, I found myself in a situation. My brother’s best friend from the Army raped me. It was brutal, and my mother blamed me for what happened. I was 13. How could that have been my fault? She told me that God didn’t love children who acted this way. Throughout my childhood, I heard that God loves all His children. So how could He not love me now?
We moved to Colorado shortly after to start a new life where no one knew what I had done. However, that didn’t last long. When I was a few months from turning 15, I became pregnant. I was told how horrible I looked to God and to stay in the house so no one would ever know. That didn’t work either. Everyone knew, and guess what, everyone seemed to accept it: everyone but my mother. I was a total disappointment to her.
By this point, I turned my back on God. I blamed him for how my mother treated me, and for all that had happened to me. By the age of 16, married with two kids, my family moved to Florida without me. They told me to lay in the bed I had made.
Struggles
My husband and I and our two children lived with my mother-in-law. Then, I went back to school and got my High School diploma. I started nursing school next. My husband didn’t see the need to work. He wanted to play and have fun. So with the help of my mother-in-law, I worked two jobs while attending nursing school.
I had no idea that resentment was building in my husband towards me until one day when he came home and beat me. I was hospitalized for three months while I recovered. When I was released, my husband, of course, was sorry, and his mom got us our apartment. I came home to what I thought would be a blessing from God. I’m still unsure to this day. Within a few months of living on our own, the beatings started more frequently. He never beat the kids, only me.
The beatings went on for years, and my hatred toward God festered into an uncontrollable rage. I joined a satanic cult and quickly moved up through the ranks. I’m not proud of it, but I was an influential person for Satan at this point in my life. I became pregnant a couple of years later with my third child. Sixteen months later, I was found in an alley propped up against a building half dead. I had numerous broken bones, a collapsed lung, and brain swelling. I was far away from God at this point, and I thought for sure I was dead.
God Steps In
However, God walked in and brought my current husband, Ken. Ken found me in the alley and took me to the hospital. He came every day to check on me. He showed me kindness and love. That love was something I hadn’t seen or felt my entire life. We became friends through the months I spent in the hospital. The day came for me to be released, and sure enough, Ken was there. He took me home to his place, and we went after my kids. It took us 11 months to find them and get custody of them. A few months later, I was divorced and married to Ken. That was 27 years ago this year.
I rededicated my life to serve God and minister to teen mothers. My heart is for those that are locked away in pain and misery. I never turned to drugs, but I have seen many teenage moms that live for their next fix. I had to live the life I did to witness to those that are living that life now. Ken was sent by God to protect and love me. Together, we are fighting Satan daily. I know without a doubt that I am a child of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know first hand the power Satan has, but I also know God is bigger and more powerful.
Finding CLI for Knowledge and Insight
I’m taking these classes here at Christian Leaders Institute to continue to grow closer to God. I want to gain the knowledge required to witness more effectively and to go into the prisons to help those that think God left them. They need to know that God is waiting for them to come back to Him, not the other way around. God is gracious and kind!
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.