Ministry Story from Nigeria
My name is Tolubori Ayo-Alabi, and I am from Nigeria. I am married to an Apostle and Evangelist, and together we are in the work of faith, glorifying Jesus in our calling.
It is an awesome thing standing for the glory of the gospel in my little town of Abeokuta, in Nigeria. I am a teacher of the word and a music minister, I also enjoy preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone I come across in my town and every place of opportunity I am invited to. Being a Christian leader for me is about exemplifying Christ. It’s a privilege to have few people around us whom we have preached the gospel to and are nurturing in the word of God, to grow into maturity. I trust the Lord to inculcate immediately what I have learnt at CLI into our discipleship pattern in our small group meeting.
I was born 37 years ago, into a family of three at the time, and two years later, my younger sister came along. My parents weren’t spiritual, although my grandfather, being an elder at THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH had a peculiar family altar which he never joked about. I recall him always ringing the bell as early as 5am every morning to wake us up for family devotion. I spent a lot of my childhood in church, following my granddad and parents to worship services. But really, it didn’t mean anything to me, because as at the time, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just went to Church for fun, and to play with my friends.
At about age 14 in my junior class at the hostel, I got born again, through an itinerant minister who came to preach the gospel to us. I was convicted of my sins as I became aware of the overwhelming love of Christ for me. I repented and confessed my faith in the Lord Jesus at the end of the meeting. After this meeting, I tried to be pious at the hostel, but it only lasted a week, afterward, I went back to doing what I used to do, listening to worldly songs, cursing, abusing, etc.
Meanwhile, I have always liked the sound of lead guitar, particularly when one solos it. At 22, I decided to buy a box guitar, and play around it. When my dad who was separated from my mum at the time came to our house and saw my box guitar, he exclaimed and told me a story which is very significant to my calling and assignment in Christ.
He told me how my mum had six miscarriages after our firstborn, and eventually, conceived me. At about a few weeks from delivery, a word came from the Lord to bring my mum to church and pray over her. While the prayer was going on, a prophetic word came that He “God” was going to work miraculously to bring about my safe delivery, since the devil was against my birth. Although the due date was in a week, the water broke that very morning the prophetic word was giving, and I was safely born. Additionally, the prophet who prophesied over me also told my parents to present God with a guitar, by blessing the church with it.
At my Christening, the guitar was presented, and as the gift box was opened, and the guitarist strummed the guitar, another prophetic word came forth and God said; “As the sound of this guitar went forth, so shall my glory be seen in this child’s life to the ends of the earth.”
Therefore, my dad seeing me with a guitar was a reminder from God that He was not a man, and whatever He said HE WOULD DO, He would do. It was actually a visitation from God to affirm and remind my parents of His word.
At this time, although born again, I didn’t know the lord as my LORD. I lived as I liked, and it was as if I wasn’t even born again at all, until I had a one on one encounter with the Lord Jesus, through the baptism of the Holy Ghost at age 24 in 2006. This baptism of fire birthed a defining moment in my walk with the Lord and separated me forever from the world, sin, the devil, and every work of the flesh.
I was in my 3rd year at the university, studying History and Diplomatic Studies when I had this encounter. I had traveled to another town to visit a female friend who wasn’t born again. Our coming together was characterized by smoking, drinking, and living as we pleased. I had planned to stay the weekend at her place and as usual, have fun, but God had another plan. Like Apostle Paul, God hijacked my plan and gave me His plan from that moment on. The date was 17th of June 2006, around 12:30 am. I found myself at a church, surrounded by believers who were praying in the Spirit over me. Suddenly I became more conscious of the realm of the Spirit than the physical. I heard a voice in the tongue, and I found myself thinking aloud and saying, “how come I am hearing one voice, since there were many people who gathered around me, praying over me?” Later on, in my walk with the Lord, I realized according to God’s word that when brethren come together and pray in the Spirit, we pray the specific will of God in one accord. Rom. 8:26-27,
In this windy encounter with the Lord, it was only me and Him, although there were people in the church auditorium, it was personal. My ears were opened to Him. He told me “You don’t read your Bible”, and I told Him I would read it. He told me to say goodbye to everyone, I was a bit reluctant to do that at first, until I experienced the chastening of His voice. The louder the voice, the hotter the feeling, and quickly, I yielded. I noticed that every time I yielded to Him, I experienced peace and calmness of soul. This way, He dealt with me in this encounter until I yielded all, and the bell rang, and the tongue finished, and I came to my consciousness. Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16
This was the beginning of my true walk with the Lord. After this encounter, all hell broke loose against me. This period which lasted about 3 years was a trying time in my life, and it was when I knew I needed the Lord like never before. What brought me out of that season of my life was the revelation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Saviour, and the overwhelming love of God the Father. Having received the empowerment of the Spirit, I grew in the grace of God through His word and prayer, and I overcame the fiery darts of the enemy against my mind, through His finished work. This has now become my life force – a life of deep fellowship and intimacy with the Lord Jesus. Eph. 6:16, Rev. 12:11, Rom. 1:16-17
I first knew the Lord as my Saviour, my salvation experience was obvious, I learnt from it. I saw Him saved me from sin, death, the world, and Satan. But knowing Him as the Lord is the true essence of my Christian walk after salvation. Now, I know Him as my Lord, my Master and Owner. I live for His glory and His will. As my Lord, I follow and yield to His word, as He leads me per time. Glory to His name forever. John 14:23
I trust the Lord to use my Christian Leaders Training to deepen my walk with the Lord, and being a woman in ministry, to use it to help others come into a loving and living relationship with God, using the 7 connections pattern, to build a lasting and reproducible discipleship structure. I hope to learn more new things, particularly patterns and more efficient strategies for life and ministry.
I searched through the internet for free ministry training for several years, without results, until recently, when I came across Christian Leaders Training, totally free! Sincerely, this free opportunity is an answered prayer for people like me who are truly called into the work of the ministry and cannot afford to pay through their nose to acquire necessary training requirements to fully function in ministry without educational limit.
Equipped Christian Leader
My name is Alida Munro, and I am studying at Christian Leaders Institue to become an equipped Christian leader. I am 43 years old and from South Africa. Here in South Africa, it is not common for a woman to be a Christian leader. It is mostly men that carry the title. I know a few women who take the title as Christian leaders, but it is also in communities and churches where they are accepted.
Church Experiences in My Youth
I grew up in a Pentecostal Protestant house and church because of my mother. That was her background, so I followed in her footsteps. I fell in love with Jesus at a very young age, always going to Sunday school. My father got saved at the age of 35 years old and served in the Pentecostal Protestant Church as a Church Councillor member.
I used to sing in the church choir as well as a duo with my younger brother. Eventually, I sang solo up to the age of 14 years (also the age I got baptized). At 14, I gave up on singing because of something that a church member told me, and I did not agree, so I never went on stage again. Dark spirits tormented me from a very young age. But, the dark spirits stopped haunting me when I was about 16 years old.
First Encounter with Jesus
The very first encounter that I can remember with Jesus was when I was ten years old. I was standing in front of the ocean right after learning from my father that our food source ran out. I stood on the beach speaking to Jesus saying; “Jesus, if you are real, please let an orange wash up out of the sea for me.” A ship passed by on the ocean dropping fruit. In a matter of seconds, an orange washed up out of the sea and landed right by my feet. I ran to my father, telling him about it, and wanting to share it with my family. My father told me to have it for myself. Since that day, no one could convince me that Jesus does not exist.
Struggles on My Journey
I used to be a people pleaser and not a God pleaser. In 2004, I wandered from God’s path. That resulted in me getting messed up with wrong friends, wrong men, and corrupt people in general. My life spiraled out of control entirely, not once, not twice, but three times in the past 29 plus years. I have two failed marriages where I was abused in every way you can imagine. Out of these two abusive marriages, three beautiful children were born; one son and two daughters, who suffered immensely because of all my bad choices.
I received the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in 2016, which made my life even more difficult. In the same year, I was re-baptized. This year was also when I realized I wanted to walk in leadership circles in church.
Seeking God and Desiring to Become an Equipped Christian Leader
I began looking to Jesus after I faced death in my second marriage when my husband tried to suffocate me. I realized that something was wrong with that picture, and I started seeking God’s face earnestly to find out where I went wrong. God showed me that I was idolizing my husbands, my father, my brother, and everybody else who was not serving God in truth. That is why I could not hear God speak to me for more than three years.
When I sought God, He spoke to me through visions, dreams, and Scripture. I knew that I had to leave everything that was bad for my children and me and go where God led. So my real journey with God started in 2012 where everything turned into hell against me and around me, but I had Jesus. Jesus is who kept me going.
Spiritual Dream
I dream of helping abused women, children, older people, and animals. I also dream of bringing God’s message of peace to families, churches, communities, countries, and continents. Being a good steward of the earth God has given us is another goal of mine. I hope to use my Christian Leaders Institute training in my ministry dream. It will help me be an equipped Christian Leader for bringing God’s gospel of peace to all nations.
Christian Leaders Institute and Becoming an Equipped Christian Leader
I enrolled in free training at CLI because I could not afford to pay for a college education. One day, I searched the internet, and I found the Christian Leaders Institute, and here I am. I am so thankful for the opportunity to study at CLI and become an equipped Christian leader. It is a life long dream come true.
My husband, Leon Munro, inspired and encouraged me to study further because he knows it has been a dream of mine. So when I discovered the Christian Leaders Institute, he told me to give it a go, and I did.
I want to thank every person making this possible for me to study at Christian Leaders Institute. I want to become a vision partner when financial blessing comes to give back to the organization God has blessed me through. Most of all, I want to thank God Almighty for giving me the chance of a lifetime fulfilling the dream He gave me.
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
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.