Free Online Training
Hello, my name is Peter Serrano, and I am receiving free online training at CLI. Currently, I live in two different worlds. I live with my lovely, intelligent wife Cleofe and our two lively children Rosita and Zoe in the Philippines. We also have a home in New Mexico. I spend most of my time in the Philippines. We are waiting to move back to the states as soon as we are approved by the National Visa Center and get the Visas for my wife and children.
My life has been in a limbo state waiting for our migration back to the states. It is taking longer than I planned. Therefore, I have thoughts that maybe the Lord doesn’t want us to go back to the states. Maybe the Lord wants us to live here in the Philippines. So, I have been praying about this. I ask the Lord: What can I do to support my family? What can I do to become a better example of a Christian man and father?
My Spiritual Dream
When I became born again by the Spirit of God, I had this hunger to read and study His Word. I read the Bible every waking moment I had. Every day, I went to the church, where the Holy Spirit came on me, in my dirty clothes after work to read everything they had about the Bible.
I love to tell people about the Word of God. I love the history of God’s Word and the way God’s word can explain His truths, His nature, His instructions, His love. The way my being becomes filled with power and joy when I am speaking, preaching, teaching, sharing His Word to others is exhilarating. I remember proclaiming that God would make me a pastor. That excited me!
Ministry Training at CLI
Christian Leaders Institute is where I receive my formal education in ministry. I always felt that is wasn’t necessary to be formally educated to be used by God. I thought if one is on the right path and is completely sold out to God then God will take care of the rest. However, I have come to learn that God uses people to teach other people.
I want to know more of God, I want to do more for God, and I want to please God. Not because I have to, but because I love Him. He is my Father, and I want to be a part of what He is doing. I found the Chrisitan Leaders Institute when I prayed and thought to take some online classes while I wait for other area’s of my life to unfold. Hence, I found CLI with its free online training. That these classes are free is a miracle, yet they say the best things in life are free, like salvation.
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Mexico Mission Ministry
My name is Margaret Padilla, born in Yuma, AZ and now live in California. Mother, a Hispanic woman originally from Oaxaca, MX, and my father, German Irish from Indiana, USA. My father for a time was a deacon in a church before he ran astray. To this day, my uncle from my father’s side is every title you can think of in ministry. He has a church in AZ, ministry work and churches in Africa, and Europe. My grandmother, who has since passed would preach on the Indian reservations, oh how I loved going to the reservations. These were the seeds for my 
Mexico mission ministry.
So, from my father’s side of the family, I was destined to do ministry work. And for a time as a child, I was considered a mentor in church for the other children and would help teach them. My mother told me that even in elementary school, I would teach the children who did not know English. I helped the teacher teach them.
Struggle
And yet with such history, life was twisted. My father was an improper soul. Not all my childhood memories are grand. By the age of 15, I left home. I had a different view of how life was. Living carefree and yet always associating with the wrong type of people. By the age of 19, I was married and went on to have two lovely children. The marriage did not last, and I went on to my next relationship, which did not last either.
Surrender
Eventually, I was just tired. I was tired of the associations I would make, weary of those who did more harm than good, drained of every right thing going wrong. My brother and mother invited me to go to church as always, and I went. There, I gave my life back to God. I told God I was tired and wanted Him to stop doing all these things to me. If He would stop, He could do with me what He wanted. Yes, I had no shame, blaming God for all my mistakes!
My words were: “I give. I am empty and have no life left in me and am alone.” At that moment, I saw a hand, formed out of a cloud, come down upon me. It embraced me! The hand was so big I fit in the palm, and in that instance, I life filled me. At the same time, I heard a voice say, “You will never be alone because I will always be with you.” Those words to this day have given me such faith in Him.
New Direction
In the midst of all this, I was making the best out of a bad situation in my life. Someone even poisoned me because they were afraid of losing me. That was a close call for me. That person eventually took their own life. My pastor taught me was that my problems are God’s problems; I only need to give them to Him.
One day my pastor went to Asia on business; he ended up taking longer than anticipated. So, I needed a new church. There was a pastor who helped my pastor for a time, so I decided to go to his church. In the long run, I ended up marrying the pastor. Shortly after we married, we started a ministry in Mexico. My husband started preaching to pastors that were in need.
Beginning of Our Mexico Mission Ministry
Then one day, a woman approached and asked me if I could help her feed her children. She showed me a picture with so many children. Then, I realized these were not her biological children. She ran what is called a comedor, a soup kitchen, for children. My heart melted. I told my husband we had to do something for this woman and all these children. At first, he said he was too busy with all the pastors. I persisted, and he said, let’s see what we can do.
We started our ministry with a wagon of food that we walked across the border. We progressed to filling our Pathfinder once a month and crossing the border. I was amazed at how much food we took across the border. Someone donated a 16-passenger van. My husband removed all the seats and filled it with food. We cross every week with it. We have a ministry in Camalu, MX and another in Tijuana, MX. They are not merely soup kitchens. The word of God is taught to the children so they can show their parents. We also take clothes and medicine when possible. My husband preaches the gospel.
Other Ministry Ventures
In addition to this, I shared the word of God online to the people of India and Pakistan. We used a video conference, and I preached on the streets via video cam. They then called me on their cellular phones and took me from house to house to pray for the sick. It was such a fantastic experience.
Then, somehow my Facebook account, where all my contacts were, and all my preaching went through, closed. I couldn’t reopen the account. It was disappointing
Now I want to expand my knowledge and education at Christian Leaders Institute and see where this will lead. I want to see if the drama in our life is the preparation for what is to come. Perhaps I have merely dipped my toe in the water for what is to come.
Mexico Mission Ministry Dream
Our dream is to build a facility in Mexico that will house the homeless pastors, elderly, women, and children. This facility will be a school for the children, a rehabilitation center for the women, and a shelter for the elderly. There the retired pastors will have a purpose again and teach the youth. Before my time ends, I believe this will be a reality. Please keep us in prayer. Our church’s name is Fresh Seed. God bless you all.
Learn about ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Called Christian Apologist
My name is Jeremy Hewett, and I am from Lagrange, GA. Five years ago, if you would have asked me if I would have ever thought I would be a called Christian Apologist, I have to say the answer would be no. My journey led me to just that.
I was born an only child after two previous miscarriages. My mother always called me her “miracle baby.” She wasn’t religious, and neither was my father. My grandparents are the real shiners there. They raised me to know God and gave me all the tools I needed to find him when I finally decided I needed Him.
God Found Me
After years of “bad luck” and loneliness, after searching for God in Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism, I couldn’t find Him. I became so desperate for God that I said something I will never forget. “God, I tried finding you. I couldn’t. So please find me.” So, that is just what He did.
That same night, I had a very vivid dream. I was conversing with several hooded individuals. They tried to convince me that I didn’t need God and that my life would get better without Him. I just had to wait and see. All the while, a man was rebuilding a table not far from where we talked. He only smiled as he heard what they said. Finally, he spoke to me. He said, “God found you. Now call out to him, accept Jesus as your Savior. He will fix you like I am fixing this table. It will take some time, but you will be fixed.” And I was.
Me a Called Christian Apologist?
After joining Wehadkee Baptist church, I watched our pastor as he delivered the sermons Sunday after Sunday. He was so passionate, reverent, and on fire. He brought countless souls to God through the years of knowing Him. I felt a tickle in the back of my mind, and I imagined myself in that same spot.
For months, I ignored it and said that it wasn’t for me. However, the tickle got more prominent and more profound. One day, I stumbled across a video on YouTube on Christian apologetics. A man was in a respectful, heated debate with a Muslim Imam on the validity of the Trinity. That tickle was a fire from that moment. I knew that I wanted to preach and defend my faith when necessary in a manner that was respectful and well-informed.
Free Training at CLI for this Called Christian Apologist
Free Christian training was necessary because my wife is in the military, and we move around quite often. A lot of our finances are tied up in moving expenses, deposits, etc. God has truly blessed me to find Christian Leaders Institute. Now, I can receive the education I need so I can show others the truth when they have been misinformed for so long.
Learn about ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.