By listening to God and then obeying Him, Brooke found CLI online and can now fulfill her calling of working in women ministry in her local community.
Women Ministry: I Found Christian Leaders Institute
My name is Brooke Brueckner, and I am called to women ministry. I’m from a small town in the United States of America, Black Canyon City, Arizona.
My husband and I have been youth leaders at Calvary of Black Canyon for nearly three years now. We teach and guide children from ages 3 to 12. Though our town is beautiful and sweet, it has its share of problems with drugs and such. So we also run and coordinate the town’s outreach program (Open Gym) at our local elementary school. Many of our children have parents that don’t come to church. So these little guys get themselves up and ready on Thursdays and Sundays to go to our bus stop to get picked up for church! It is my joy to guide them in the way of the Lord. I learn from them, just as I continuously teach them in return.
I grew up in a Christian home and went to church often. When I was a teen, my mom was dealing with mental health issues. This was very tough for me, and I decided to leave home. With this decision, I also decided to leave my walk with the Lord and go down my path for about nine years. This path was very rough and steep because I wasn’t making my decisions with or for the Lord.
One day, I felt the Lord knocking on my heart of stone and slowly started to come around. I came in full swing when we moved to Black Canyon City, and God led me to Calvary. As my relationship with the Lord became strong, my mother and I rekindled our relationship, and her mental health is getting better.
The enemy is always at work and swoops in to bring us back a few steps. That did not stop us from moving forward. Instead, I became even stronger in my walk with Him. I would encourage my mom instead of abandoning her because the Lord never abandoned me. He was always there by my side. Now my mom is taking control of her health! She often helps me with many things, including homeschooling our children. God is GOOD!
While I was making pancakes one morning and talking to God, He told me I needed to focus on women ministry! So I asked him, “How do I do this, Lord?” That’s when I got a feeling to get online, and there’s where I found Christian Leaders Institute. I’m so excited because my dream is to not only help the children of our town but to help their parents! God is preparing my husband and me to help these broken families.
Christian Leaders Institute is going to guide me down the right path to reach that goal. God is amazing and always provides. You see, I can’t afford classes from many of the other online schools. I looked into it, and it is just not in my budget. But God kept bringing me back to the CLI website. I’m forever grateful to all that made this online school possible for free — not only the people that created this program but the Vision Partners as well. I’m very excited to become a vision partner soon myself.
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.From a horrid past, Raymond has come to know God and has answered His Men Ministry call.
Men Ministry Call: My Call to Faith
My name is Raymond Mallon, and my home is in Fayetteville North Carolina, USA. Being a Christian leader here means confronting homelessness and addictions. My brothers and sisters in Christ need encouragement to help those who need help living like that.
Spiritually my childhood was as messy as my physical world. My grandmother was a praying believer who tried to get me to come to the Lord. But I was too hate-filled to listen because my stepfather had been raping me for years. I blamed that on God. I couldn’t find a way to see past my hatred.
When I was in high school, I met Brother Roy. He brought me to Forest Park Bible Church. It was there that I started my baby steps toward faith. Yet I couldn’t resolve my past with my desire for belief in God and His love. Instead of running towards God, I ran away from him. I joined the Army where my hate finally caught up with me, and I was court-martialed.
It was in the spring of 2000 that I came to realize that I had become like the very monster who abused me. I realized that I couldn’t do this alone and that I needed Jesus. My baptism was the next Sunday. As I came out of the water, I promised God to go where He pointed me, and that was with a men ministry call. My spiritual dream is to preach the importance of being the men that God has called us to be and encourage those men so that they can stand boldly against today’s attack on men.
There were stumbling blocks aplenty in my coming to this point such as overcoming my own anger, temper, and pride. I had to learn how to get out of God’s way first so that He can work on my heart, soul, and mind to be the most effective tool to fulfill this dream. I had to learn that it wasn’t me that mattered the most but Jesus and my fellow man.
The event that humbled me was getting out of prison and ending up homeless. I lived among people who have addictions to alcohol and drugs, who live under bridges, in the woods, and abandoned houses. Often society looks down on them. This quickly taught me that I can’t rely on myself. I need God to be able to stand up each day and walk in this world. I need Him to find a reason to laugh and smile so that I can encourage the next person who needs it.
My Christian Leaders Institute training will help me to encourage the men of faith in my church. I want to encourage them to be the heads of their homes, communities, and churches. Then, they can stand up for what’s right according to God’s Word not society. The free training from Christian Leaders Institute is vital to me because I am a homeless part-time worker in a fast food restaurant which means money is of limited supply for me. The ministry training is essential to me because I see no other way I can afford to do this.
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In this inspiring testimony, Erin writes “I thank God every day for my pain and the trials I endured. Not because they were fun; but because He trusted me to see the purpose in my pain.” Relying on God and His promises she is now experiencing a fulfilling and growing season in her life.
Growing Season: Out Of Pain Came Promise
Ever since I was a little girl I knew, or so I thought, what I wanted to be. While growing and changing, I remained an active society girl in high school and throughout my community. I went to Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland, all the while keeping my spirituality on the back burner. For a short period, I knew I wanted to be a doctor. Then, I had my mind set on being a teacher. And then I knew for sure that I was set to be a publicist. I never realized that God was chuckling at my plans while He was divinely merging my desires, interests, and passions with HIS ultimate plan. I find myself being happier now than ever before.
While at Bowie, I found myself falling into the world and not focusing on who God called me to be. I was drinking, smoking, failing my classes, battling with promiscuity, and everything in between. It was during this time I disconnected myself from people I loved. There was even a pregnancy scare, sexually contracted illness, and being taken advantage of sexually. I tried to commit suicide.
One night, when everything seemed like it was going wrong, I looked over on my nightstand, and there was my Bible. It was that night when I was at a dark place that I began to see God in another light. Since then, I have continued to grow in stature with GOD! I recently aligned my educational and spiritual goals. I am attending Regent University pursuing a degree in Christian Ministry.
Spiritual Growing Season
My belief in the theological principles of God’s existence shapes my worldview and my spirituality. Moreover, I see the proof that God exists through my experiences and seeing God’s hand at work. Biblically, I rely on the promises made to me because I see the manifestation daily.
Growing up in church notably streamlined my current belief systems in the Trinity. My past in the world allowed me to see the necessity for God in my life. He is continually shaping who I am in Christ and how I look at the world. Through my Biblical worldview lenses, I can see things on a spiritual level and beyond the worldly realm, further allowing me to not rely upon myself, but instead, “cast[ing my] burden[s] on the Lord, and He will sustain [me]; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Psalm 55:22 HCSB).
Out of my season of pain came a promise, and I began a ministry called “A Touch of Glitter, Inc.” (ATOG). I organized ATOG ministry to help young women grow in God, develop self-esteem and fulfill their God-given call. Prayer and scripture grow my faith as Romans 8:28-31 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Continuing Education
I plan on teaching at a Christian Day School after college and then getting a Master’s in Curriculum Development. From there, I want to write the curriculum for Christian School programs, women’s Bible Studies, Vacation Bible Schools, and everything in between. I plan on preaching The Gospel to nations and bringing souls to Christ to build the Kingdom. Eventually, I want to get a Doctorate degree. One of my ultimate goals in life is to become a Godly wife and mother.
There are more areas in which I need to grow. Coming from a place of such low self-esteem, I find myself being a little self-conscious at times. I quickly snap out of it and say a prayer. God is continually working on my heart and making me new every day. Knowing I am secure in Him is a reason I will continue to experience this spiritual growing season. I thank God every day for my pain and the trials I endured. Not because they were fun; but because He trusted me to see the purpose in my pain. He trusts me to turn it around and be the best me I can be.
I am also excited to be a student here at Christian Leaders Institute. In this growing season, CLI is helping me reach my ministry goals and to grow in the wisdom of God and His Word.
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