Debt-Free College Degree
My name is Parick Session, and I am excited about my debt-free college degree with Christian Leaders Institute and CLI’s Leadership Excellence School. I live in Gaston, South Carolina. Where I live, being a Christian leader is incredible. I get to minister to a lot of people who have seen me at my worst. However, they also have a lot of the pain I had in their lives.
My Early Years
A little background on me, I was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Pomona, California. I went into foster care as a newborn when my mother dropped me off at Martin Luther King Hospital. There were drugs in my system, but when my biological mother did what she did, it saved my life. A spiritual couple adopted me when I was two. I experienced abuse as a child in all forms and by different people, but God pulled me through that. God and my grandmother Lucille.
She was the most influential person in keeping me close to the Lord even now as she is with the Father. She taught me to pray, she taught me about faith and love, and she loved me unconditionally. Her passion strengthened my walk with Jesus Christ. She always told me to keep my eyes on heaven. She brought me to the Lord, and she encouraged my singing and worship of the Lord. As John 6:44 says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him on the last day.” (NASB)
Marriage, Military, and Suicide Attempts
After I left home at 18, I married for the first time. I then joined the United States Army to support my young family but failed miserably at being a man of God. My life up until that point was “sheltered” until I graduated my respective courses for my MOS. It was nonstop parties, drinking, fights, and everything unhealthy. I fell apart because I knew God, but I didn’t know God if that makes sense. I knew of the Bible, but I didn’t know the Bible.
And then came my deployment to Iraq and the mortar’s, the noise, the dust, the pain. Not only that, but I had a divorce looming over my head. But, I was there downrange, and things were in shambles. Now, these are all things and events that led me back to Christ. I was thrown down a hill in the back of a trailer due to incoming rounds that hit at the flat line. I woke up a while later, pounding headache, sore as can be and wondering what in the world happened. That’s when I first attempted suicide. Though I experienced many more events like this downrange, the Lord wasn’t done with me yet.
The second attempt to take my own life happened the night I returned home, and it was a bottle of oxy and a bottle of vodka. I was lost and hurt. My daughter was gone, and I was in a place where I thought I had no hope, and no one loved me. After that, I moved to South Carolina with half a duffle bag and my wits. All the cars and money I accumulated disappeared, just like that. I smile now because those things are worldly, but back then, I felt like I lost everything and I needed a debt-free college degree.
A Bounty Hunter from South Carolina
So, in South Carolina, I attempted suicide the third time with a shotgun. But it kicked, and I laugh as I write this now in 2019. However, in 2011, it wasn’t a joke because the Lord said no, not you, and not now. But still, my stubborn behind didn’t submit to God. I relied on what I thought was power in myself.
I went on to become a bounty hunter, and I ruined a lot more lives than I helped fix. The human heart can be evil, and I saw a side of me that I never want to see again. Hunting fugitives and criminals gave me a thrill because I was familiar with war. I enjoyed the hunt, but I was still avoiding the call on my life to sing and worship God, to live a life of worship. During this period, I also had an addiction to meth, cocaine, weed, and alcohol. As you can see, I was trying to die, trying to wipe myself from the world.
Met My Wife and We Met God
I left that career when I met my wife, Missy. I left every drug except weed and alcohol when I met her. She understood the pain that I went through as she has fought numerous battles herself, including cancer. We didn’t know or have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at the time, and we sure weren’t walking in His grace. But God…
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NASB)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead [a]in our transgressions, made us alive together [b]with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
January 22, 2015, was the last time I attempted to take my own life. Since then, I’m not perfect, but I’m striving to be the man that God made me be. No meth, no cocaine, no weed, just Jesus and building my life on Him.
Now, I go to the Rescue Church in Pelion, SC, and its a relief letting go of everything and fully trusting in Jesus and what He did on the cross. He’s given me a spiritual dream of seeing people that suffer be set free. It’s also to sing, and to worship, and to serve however I can. He also led me to CLI and a debt-free college degree. God became real to me when I stopped trying to control the outcome. He became real when I forgave myself for all the horrible things I’ve done. His peace is so amazing.
Study and a Debt-free College Degree at CLI
I plan to use my Bachelor of Ministry degree from Christian Leaders Institute to reach those who are lost and hopeless, to let them know there is joy on the other side of their pain. That there is true deliverance from addictions, depression, and hurts. Some people will walk with them in this life until we go to Heaven for eternity. This debt-free college degree is essential to me because I lost out on my college funding from the military, but God made a way through CLI.
Learn about ordination options at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Ministry Calling Testimony of Timothy
Each of us has a testimony and a calling. My name is Timothy Muchuku Ng’ang’a, and below is my ministry calling testimony. I am from Nairobi, Kenya. I am an entrepreneur in the field of electrical/electronics, but above all, Jesus is my Lord and personal Savior. To be used of God as a Christian leader is very a high priority in a country like mine.
For example, where I work and live, many people live, unaware of their environment. As part of them, I find myself challenged, advising them, and quoting them scripture they never heard of before. So regularly, as this helps them find identity, I feel comfortable seeing that most of them become content with getting a sense of belonging in this troubled life.
My Younger Years
When I was a child, we lived in three areas near Nairobi. A village within the famous Karura forest, a slum, and a suburb formally occupied by the Asian community during the colonial era.
The slum is where life was most strange, fun, and entertaining. We were unchurched and hung out in our neighborhood. Preachers would come and preach to us. We kids would join in praising, dancing, and clapping our hands.
When we moved into Nairobi, the churches were unfamiliar and seemed strange. We thought they were for unique people who we longed to go in to have fun. But, the fear of getting into a new environment didn’t let us. The church we loved the most was the Catholic one because of the statues. Later, our Dad warned us never to go again into the Catholic Church. When he was a local street and church preacher in the late sixties and early seventies, he learned about idol worship. Therefore, he disapproved of the Catholic Church.
Personal Salvation and Ministry Calling
We then turned Presbyterian Church of East Africa for a time. Next, we went to the Anglican in our later childhood and youth stages. This church is where we received infant baptism. So we went “back to our roots.” I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of 12 through my aunt, who visited our home regularly. It was a struggle through primary and secondary school. However, when I got to college, the real change came for me at the various churches I attended. I learned about fasting, prayer, and mission through the fellowships.
Back home on holidays, I started teaching Sunday School and the teens and became an active church youth leader in the remote Nairobi outskirt where our family had migrated during the early eighties. Many youths left the church due to the revival of the 80s. However, some like myself decided to stay on and bring changes which eventually came. I then took a course in evangelism with the “new life ministry .” I also became a licensed service leader through the Anglican system.
Spiritual Dream
My spiritual dream is to live for the Lord, appreciate God’s grace, experience God’s gifts knowing they have a purpose from Him and for Him. In my ministry calling testimony, I tried many things in my life, but all have pointed back to service and scripture. Hence, I want to do to others what has been done to me in a more experienced way. It is a duty that brings real life in Christ. I hate living a lie; it’s filled with struggles over obstacles against which we can not overcome on our own. But when his blood covers us, I’ve come to realize that the progress is excellent. I only need to listen to God and move when and where He says.
I have found that the answers for life come when I seek God and His direction, and I am never going back. More ministry training was what I wanted, but I found no answer nor approval until I found the Christian Leaders Institute online. In my ministry calling testimony, I realized that God led me to this institute for His purpose. Since I study here at CLI, I already feel the warmth and love of God I longed to find. Change and confidence have already begun to take effect in my life. I also believe that, through His sufficient unfailing grace, I’ll get through. I also hope to share what Christ has and is doing in and for me through CLI. May God bless your organization for taking us beyond the limits.
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Free Ministry Schooling at CLI
Hi. My name is Lara Mayberry, and I am receiving free ministry schooling at CLI. Currently, I live in Englewood, Florida. I moved to Florida at the age of 13 with my mother to be near my grandparents that had a home here.
I was born on November 1, 1980, at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Then, I lived all around the Nashville area until 1994, when I moved to Florida at age 13. I have always in some way been involved in music, whether it be singing in my school’s select choir or symphonic band. Also, I like to draw, paint, read, and do digital paintings. I am also great at technology like fixing phones and computers and a great teacher at helping others learn how to use their devices.
I came to find Christian Leaders Institute through a Holy Spirit led search looking for online schooling. There are few opportunities to go to school for the ministry here. I immediately signed up and got started! Free ministry training is something I’ve been praying about for at least a year. I am so thankful that Christian Leaders Institute is all online.
My Early Years
As a child, I went to church with my family off and on. I went to Vacation Bible School every year. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church environment. At age 11, I felt the Lord’s call to me to become a Christian. After service one Sunday, I asked to speak to my pastor. I wanted to repent and sincerely ask Jesus into my heart. He led me through the Sinner’s Prayer, and I cried, genuinely excited to be one of the Lord’s own. My dear grandmother bought me my first Bible, and I couldn’t put it down.
Fast forward to after I moved to Englewood, Florida. I got involved with the marching and concert band. I had always played the clarinet and bass clarinet. One day, my middle school music teacher told us in class that we would be practicing Christmas carols and going over to a local church to play them. I felt led back to the Lord and joined the church. I then joined the choir. So next year, when we were asked to return there, I did both singing and playing my clarinet. I stayed there a while.
Again, I wandered from the church, but God always called me back. I still served in the choir over several years. I am always deeply involved with music.
My Church Home and My Spiritual Dream
Finally, I felt led, after a couple of years of daily Bible study alone, to find a church home again. One night, a close friend invited me to church to see an old friend speak as a guest. It was then I decided to join this church. I now serve in any way possible. I am on the worship team, a greeter, a volunteer during our Vacation Bible School every year, and help with a mission of meals ministry we have going.
My spiritual dream is to see as many people as possible brought to the Lord. So when He appears again on that Glorious Day, we can all be with Him. We will worship Him in all His Glory forever and live in a new world without pain or death or sorrow.
Obstacles Faced and Free Ministry Schooling
Obstacles I faced: Staying plugged in at a church, whether it was due to my feelings and past hurts or committing myself fully to something, was a struggle. If I were to do it over again, I would have fought harder to get to a church when I was unable to due to not having transportation. My parents divorced shortly after I was saved. Thankfully my grandparents were firm churchgoers, which allowed me to get there when I was young.
I have ALWAYS needed Jesus in my life. I was often alone and protected by Him from a very young age. My mother worked long hours, and I stayed home alone often until late at night. God and His divine protection kept me safe.
Free ministry schooling was the most important aspect when I chose to enroll at Christian Leaders Institute. I am a single mother of a wonderful almost teenage daughter (2019), and I am a stay at home mom, which is what we both need. Currently, I live with my mother, but one day, I hope to use the degree I get to have a paying job in ministry to provide for us both.
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.