Free Australia Ministry Training
My name is Sarah. and I live in a beautiful part of Australia close to some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and rainforests. I live with my husband and have six amazing children (yes, you read correctly). How did I get to a place that I would be seeking out Free Australia Ministry Training with Christian Leaders Institute?
The Story Begins
I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional and abusive home where my parents claimed to know God but lived under the influence of Satan. My mother was absent for much of the time and lived a separate life as a prostitute. My father was an alcoholic who abused my siblings and me for many years. We lived in the country, very isolated and neglected. Most of the time we were starving and dirty. No one truly knew our horrible situation.
When I was eight, I visited my grandmother who was a very beautiful, godly woman. She told me about the love of God and brought me my first Bible. I cherished it and the word of God sunk deeply into my starving heart. I knew God was true and always kept the Bible close to me, but I didn’t realize the depth of His love for me and that He wanted a relationship with me.
When I was 14, my father went to prison. We were sent to live in a youth hostel where we met the wrong children and were influenced badly. I found myself pregnant at aged 16 and desperately tried to make things work with the father. However, after four years in an abusive relationship full of deceit, drugs, and affairs, I found myself in such a desperate situation that I felt I had no way out.
God’s Grace Saved Me
I knew something had to change. I cried out to God and dared Him to prove Himself to me. Even though I gave Him only two weeks to do it, every day I read the Bible and prayed. Then at the end of the two weeks, I felt an inner strength rise up within me. For the first time, God’s love became real to me, I knew He had a plan for me, a hope and a future. God’s grace saved me, and I left the situation. I grew in strength and faith more and more. Soon I was baptized and never looked back. That was almost 22 years ago.
A Twist in the Road
A few years later, I met my late husband. He had been saved from a life of drugs and alcohol and was a new Christian on fire for God. I didn’t give it long enough to get to know him, we were married soon and after about a year of marriage when I was 7 months pregnant he began to be physically abusive, I was petrified, too scared to leave. I suffered from extreme panic attacks. It was like being married to two different people.. one-minute he was the loving man I married and the next like the devil himself. I sought help from the church and different leaders and all I heard was how God hates divorce and not to mess with God’s anointed.
This led to 16 years of being in an abusive relationship. He moved us around and things slowly got more intense. I almost losing my faith and my children lost theirs. In my most desperate time, I cried out to God and told Him I couldn’t leave (I knew I could not escape him). I begged God to take Him out of our life somehow. I don’t know if it was in answer to my prayer, but God did. Seven months later my husband passed away from brain cancer which was heartbreaking but relieving also for me and my five children – the youngest was less than 1 year old. Though we loved him dearly, God knew we could not go on, and I believe out of His great mercy He saved us.
God Launches a Christian Leader
Finally, I was free. So, I said to myself, “No more will I allow myself to be under anyone’s control.” I vowed never to marry again and to devote the rest of my life to serving my Lord and loving my children. I grew in strength again. Also in this time, I finally realized what I wanted to be when I grew up, what my spiritual dream was, what my calling is. My heart’s desire is to be an author and speaker and life coach/counselor. I aim to start by finishing my Bachelor in Ministry and go from there.
Fast forward four years, I find myself married to the most amazing man. He pushed his way into my crazy life and his love is healing my broken heart. The way he loves us is such a pure reflection of the love of God, and bit by bit we are becoming whole. We have recently celebrated the birth of our son Noah, our little promise of joy. Never did I believe a love like this existed, especially not for me. But no matter how much I struggle to accept this love, I am a living testimony of how God doesn’t just save but He restores! He is truly restoring all the years the locusts have eaten, all the years the enemy has tried to destroy me and render me useless to the Kingdom of God. God’s love is truly ALL CONQUERING.
God Makes All Things Beautiful
I have led a life full of suffering, more than many people have experienced. However, through this, I know that I know that I know that God uses our suffering to refine us. It removes all of “SELF’ so what is seen is only a reflection of Him. Suffering does not mean God is angry with us or that He has left us. No, God allows us to suffer because He loves us. I believe this suffering in my life fueled my intense calling to ministry. God give me the strength to endure such cruelty and now He gave me the happily ever after I never knew I wanted.
My prayer for you is that you would not lose hope in the face of suffering, truly, God is our rock we can cling to, our hiding place in times of trouble. There is no other way to endure but through His grace.
Now, God has led me to CLI for ministry and life coach training. Thank God for CLI. God bless you my brothers and sisters in Christ as you seek to serve Him.
Free Australia Ministry Training
Sarah has an opportunity to study Free Australia Ministry Training by simply enrolling here. Christian Leaders Institute offers over 70 free courses. If you are interested in a College program, check out CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Teaching Minister Call
My name is Terrence Wilkerson, and I have a teaching minister call on my life. I was born in 1992 in Taylorville, IL, USA. My mom (Jo Wilkerson) was young at 17 when she had me, and I’m not entirely sure how old my biological dad was. Not long after I was born, my mom left him, and we came back to Illinois, which is where I grew up. My mom re-married when I was in elementary school to Mike Wilkerson, who eventually adopted me as his own. I am the oldest of five children, and I am currently twenty-seven. I married my beautiful wife just under six years ago now. We have three children: Willow, Kylar, and Arizona. For my day job, I currently work as a sales representative and safety auditor for a tire wholesaler. Then in the evenings and during the weekends, I am a foreman for a local asphalt company.
Love God and His Word
I have always loved learning about God and the Bible from a very young age. I remember being very young memorizing Genesis 1:1 and bragging to my Grandma Gloria. When I was in High School, my local youth group went to the St. Louis Dream Center on a Mission trip for a week, and that was when God first moved in my life. I had never seen so many people that were so full of love. It was earth-shattering for me. That was when I “officially” gave my life to God.
I continued to learn and study the word, but I continued to fail when it comes to creating a deeper relationship with Jesus. It was in March of 2019 I finally had a “come to Jesus moment” and realized how messed up my life was. I knew so much about Jesus and God, but I didn’t KNOW him.
Teaching Minister Call Affirmed
I always felt called to teach, and I did so as a youth worship leader, and occasional guest speaker at my local youth group. Now, as an adult, it is time to pursue teaching and that brought me to the Christian Leaders Institute. My wife affirmed that I am called to teach. Also, a close friend of mine, who is a church planter in Japan, affirmed my teaching minister call.
I would love to become a full-time pastor someday and be able to focus 100% of my efforts on evangelism and studying the word. While I’m waiting, I will continue to study and pursue a quality education at CLI. So now, I am simply being obedient and leaving the rest in God’s hands.
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Life Changing Opportunity
My name is Naomi Wood, and Christian Leaders Institute is a life changing opportunity for me. I am from the beautiful mountains of Durango, Colorado. My age is 20 years old, and I grew up in the agriculture industry farming the fields the Lord has provided my family to tend. I left Durango a few times after graduating high school, but God always brings me back home. I am single and working on my heart and the foundation that God wants me to have in Him. Then, I will be able to fulfill the purpose that He has created for me.
It is incredibly rewarding to be a Christian leader in Durango. As beautiful as this community is, there are a lot of people who don’t know Christ. The majority of my family and the people that I grew up with have belief in God and claim to be Christian. However, many do not understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. Now, I am learning how to be a light for Jesus. I want to share His unconditional love with my family, friends, and community. This step is essential because I was once someone who claimed to be a Christian but was not on a Christ-centered walk.
Childhood Experiences
While growing up, my childhood was a little rocky. I did not know my birth father. But, when I was young, my mom married the man who I call my father. They had three more beautiful children, so I was blessed to grow up in a big family. My dad traveled a lot for work, which meant that as the oldest child, I had a lot of responsibility.
I was partly brought up Catholic due to my mom’s family being firmly rooted in the Catholic Church. However, my dad is not religious, so I was not raised consistently in the church. My parents instilled biblical morals into my life, but they never emphasized teaching me to live by the Bible or to follow Christ. In high school, I fell into a lot of sin and strayed far away from God.
College and New Opportunities
After I graduated, I attended a community college in Wyoming, and after one semester, I came home. Later, I transferred to a Tarleton State University in Texas to get my bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education. It wasn’t until that time that God was able to grasp my heart. At Tarleton, I got plugged into a college ministry at a non-denominational church. This season changed my life more than I ever knew it could. I began to learn more about the Bible and God, our Father, and I accepted Jesus into my heart and was baptized.
Shortly after this life change, I met a lady named Tara Simon from East Texas. She recruits people to work at Allaso Ranch, which is a youth ministry camp and retreat center run by Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas. I committed to working for their ministry last summer. At the same time, I found out I would no longer be able to attend school due to the cost of tuition and not having enough financial aid. This realization flipped my world upside down. However, I had a newfound faith and the next door God opened for me at Allaso Ranch. I had no idea what it meant to work in camp ministry, but I knew that God was calling me to go there.
Learning to be a Servant Leader
“Allaso” is the Greek word for life-change and that is what I found there. I found yet another completely unexpected life-change. That summer, I played many roles behind the scenes of the overall camp ministry experience. I was a lifeguard, a ropes course facilitator, a wrangler at the barn giving trail rides, a server for meals, cabin cleaning server, trash clean up, a professional window cleaner, and chair placer. The staff did whatever was necessary.
Serving in the shadows often seemed lifeless and discouraging when I wanted instead to be leading and ministering to kids more directly. But, I began to learn how to serve God’s Kingdom and His ministry through the small details. I learned how to be more selfless and what it is like to be part of something much bigger than myself. It was a blessing to be a part in every detail to prepare a place that God uses for life-change.
Life Changes and My Calling
Everything at Allaso is ordinary except for the people. The people at Allaso have decided to commit their lives to God and share His gospel. This fact is how life-change happens. In just a few short weeks, I witnessed 213 kids give their lives to Christ and be baptized. I saw the incredible life-change that God does there, and I am also blessed to have experienced my life-change. I found my calling to serve Jesus through ministry for the rest of my life in whatever capacity God calls me to.
Currently, God placed me back in my hometown. I am working full-time to pay off college debt that I already have. Then I can move forward with the next season He has for me. It was terrifying to leave such an incredible journey at Allaso to come home back into the real world. However, I came back to Colorado with a transformed heart and incredible eternal friendships.
I have a passion for people, photography, and traveling, and I want to turn those passions into my ministry and a life-time of sharing the Gospel. In this season, I am working on personal spiritual growth and building a strong foundation for my relationship with the Lord. Then, I can serve Him in my community and my home church until He calls me to new opportunities in full-time ministry.
College Degree through CLI and CLI’s Leadership Excellence School
A week before I left Allaso, I found the Christian Leaders Institute. In this incredible season with newfound life-change, fellowship, and calling to ministry, I struggled with the idea of not being able to get a college degree. Getting a degree has been vital to me, and I thought that my chance for that had been taken away. But, the Lord has provided me the life changing opportunity to get a degree through the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School. He could not have opened this door at a better time as He has opened my heart to ministry and the college that I was attending became out of reach.
The excellent education through my Christian Leaders Institute training will give me the foundation I need to pursue my calling into full-time ministry. Through this life changing opportunity, I pray that I will learn more about Christ and ministry and that I can be transformed into a woman of God. Free training is necessary for my situation of not being able to afford college and already having college debt. I am thankful for the people that have made this life changing opportunity for training possible for me. My life will be propelled into what God has for me to do. I am beyond blessed to be a part of CLI and CLI’s Leadership Excellence School to begin a degree in ministry. I can use this education to serve the Lord and His beloved people while I share the Gospel.
Encouraging Scriptures
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
God bless and remember to have joy in every trial. Let the testing of your faith produce endurance within you. The Lord has a plan to give each of us hope and a future. The plans that He has for us are much higher than any plan we could ever have for ourselves.
Your Sister in Christ, Naomi.