Studying at CLI and Sharing God’s Love

My name is Kendra Franklin, and I have a call to be sharing God’s love. I am originally from Baton Rouge, LA. However, I currently live in the Austin, Texas, area. I love it here because you are free to be who you are. That is the source of why I feel that God needed me to live here. People are very much accepted here, and being “weird” is a part of the culture. I know that I am one of the many Christian leaders here that God has placed here to fight the fight of serving and leading people to GOD.

My Early Life

As a child, I knew that I was different from others. I knew I was different in the way I viewed the world and how others saw me. There was NOTHING wrong I could do and get away with; I remember saying, “how come they did it, but never got caught?” Only now as an adult, I know that God was showing me that I had a calling on my life, that kept me from going out doing things as I got older, because I knew I would get caught.

However, that did not keep things from happening to me as a child; when I was 12, I lost my dad. Only months after that, I was sexually abused by my mom’s married boyfriend that lived across the street from us. I hated it, but I vowed that I would never tell her because it seemed that he made her happy. But, I was found out. My older sister noticed the long showers and baths and pulled it out of me. She told my mom, and that was the end of my childhood and the beginning of seeing my mom’s hateful wrath towards me. With every beating, the words that came out her mouth cut deeper and deeper as if she was trying to beat her hate into my soul (and honestly she did).

Adult Struggles

As the age of 21, I married the first man that said he loved me, clueless to know that words and actions were very much different. Just him saying them was enough for me and again the abuse started. As crazy as it may seem, my mother encouraged me to stay saying, “Well, if he hits you and kills you, that must be what God wanted.” How sad to hear those words from my mother. I stayed until I knew that there was no way that I deserved to be treated that way.

Years after my divorce, I moved to Texas and met the man of my dreams, I thought. By this time, I learned about God, and he talked about God. That satisfied me, he loved me and he loved God. He treated me like a queen, giving me everything I thought I wanted. However, I knew that we were serving two very different Gods. I was carrying my third child, his son. I did not have a job, and he counted on that to keep me from leaving him. But, I did. When I prayed to the Living God, I heard Him say, “Go, you will never need for anything.” So at six months pregnant and with two kids, I left. But, as God promised, I never needed anything.

After a while, I met a guy, a friend who wanted more. He decided that if he could not have me, then no one could, and took my life into his own hands and shot me three times. I died that day 04/12/2012, the best day of my life. I was in the presence of God; there are no words to describe the beauty of what God has in store for his children. That is my road to God, it took some time and many mistakes, but as I live, I realize that as a child I never got away with anything, but God saved me from everything.

My Spiritual Dream

My spiritual dream is “to share with everyone the TRUE LOVE OF THE FATHER.” Now, I know that no one can love me like God. Since the age of 12, I looked for that love in all the wrong places. God redefined my definition of love. “I WAS CREATED FROM LOVE, IN LOVE, FOR LOVE, TO LOVE.” The only way to love is through God, and I am sharing God’s love with others. Amazingly, when I started this journey here at Christian Leaders Institute, I called my mom. I had not spoken to her in years. I told her, “I have finally realized the calling on my life, and I am committed to seeing it through, so I need to forgive you and I have.” I am not ready to see her yet, but I know that in due time, God will also fix that.

Spiritual Warfare

There have been so many obstacles the enemy has tried to place in my way. Satan used my mother, sisters, and other family members, who will not have anything to do with me unless I have something that they need or want. He is currently coming after my children as I lead them down one path; he is trying to pull them down the other. But, as little children, I plead the blood of Jesus Christ over them. I know that God honored my prayer. He has saved my children many times and gives me a sense of peace that passes all understanding when it comes to them.

Sharing God’s Love

There is something about dying and coming back that makes you want to go back to Heaven. I know to do that I have to have God’s help. I have to have God and live His will. Now, I want to share that with all who I come across. Since I am a living witness of the power of God, my purpose is to get that message out.

It is my goal to share what God has done for me, how He loved me when I didn’t even love myself. I want others to know that no matter how bad things look, “Always Choose God.” He cannot and will not lie, He has never let me and my children go without. He blesses us more often than we deserve, and I want to tell everyone my story.

Free ministry training is essential for me because, without it, I would put it off. I have a daughter in college, a son in high school, and a little one in sports. I rarely put myself first, and this would have been one more thing that I pushed aside “until they get older.” This scholarship helps me to get the training and credibility to tell everyone who they are in the Lord Jesus Christ and how much He loves them.

Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.