Beginning Anew
My name is Brenda Baker. Columbia, South Carolina has been my family’s home since 1971. Born in Florida 65 years ago, I am the oldest of six children. I am up to the challenge with beginning anew today.
I retired from my career as a food service manager in the healthcare industry. However, I work part-time as a front desk receptionist at a small nursing facility in Columbia. I also enjoy the privilege that God had given me to meet and greet everyone as I enjoy talking to people. Some of the people I come into contact with in my work day need to converse or to have a reassurance that things they are dealing with will work out.
The Spirit of Christ lives in me and allows me to minister to souls that are in need of a word. I received my calling into the service of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Operating in my calling is the strength that carries me daily.
I am very involved in my local church. My church is of medium size. We have approximately 160 members. In the children’s ministry, as a member of the evangelism team and the women’s prayer group are some of the ways I serve. I am also on the Pastor’s Advisory Committee. I serve under a very knowledgeable and dedicated leader, which is a great blessing.
The scholar program here at Christian Leaders Institute is one of the best things to come along for me. After losing my husband of 43 years in June of 2018, I assumed my life was over. With this opportunity with Christian Leaders Institute, I have the opportunity of beginning anew. I received another gift from the Lord in CLI. I can now serve with all of my heart and truly study to show myself approved.
Learn about local ecuministry ordinations at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Discipleship Journey
My name is Hans Eksteen born in South Africa. I am living in Norway close to Kristiansand for the last 14 years and a Norwegian citizen since 2016. I am on a discipleship journey which has led me to Christian Leaders Institute. I co-pastor a local international church called Brave Heart Mission Church. Many of our members are non-Norwegians, but we also engage with many Norwegians who feel left out of society and feel they do not fit in. We also have a church with more than 250 members in Zambia and will soon start training church planters and pastors to be able to reach the lost.
I grew up in a single parent home with three other siblings. We did not always have what others had, but God used people around us, and we never lacked anything. As a child, I could never identify with a father. But, through accepting Jesus as a friend and reading a book called “The Father Heart of God,” I came to understand what a father should be.
I came to know God when I was 14 years old. I responded to an altar call from our pastor (Ed Roebert, Hatfield Christian Church), and baptized soon afterward. I remember one day while walking down the road a few years after I finished school; I was singing by myself. I found that I was uttering words I did not understand, then I realized that I the Holy Spirit was in me.
I would say that understanding my spiritual dream came later in life. It is to teach the word of God and move in the prophetic by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Early on, I could discern and know things about people but did not have the right knowledge or relationship with God at the time to have the understanding. This was all part of my discipleship journey.
The obstacle I faced growing in maturity was receiving outstanding teaching in the church, but not discipleship. This obstacle led me to backslide for a time to search for happiness outside the church. I learned through many trials, errors, following my mind and ways, that one cannot get away from God at all. God will keep on searching for us. I could never escape because I always knew He is the only way.
I later studied at Rhema Bible Training Centre and completed a two-year diploma. Afterward, I got involved with the ministry. I remember being in Sweden ministering and experiencing God’s power in a mighty way. I decided to stop ministering when I realized my character was not able to handle the power of God. I believed that was a dangerous combination. It was humbling to come to the understanding that God values character over anointing. But I am also very grateful that He allowed me to see it.
I got back into the ministry in the last five years. At this time, I went through a tough time in my life. I hit rock bottom with everything. I prayed to hear God’s voice not to air my shopping list of wants. This time is when God became very real in my life. It was tough in the beginning because God told me things I did not want to hear. But, I embraced it and received joy beyond words.
For some time, I looked for a place where I could further my studies to receive a degree. Then, I found the Christian Leaders Institute on my discipleship journey. I was surprised and happy that an organization like this is doing what it is doing. The reason I want to study more is first to build myself up in the Word again with the help of others. Second, to be prepared and available so God can use me to spread the Gospel in places that are off limits now because I do not carry a degree.
I am happy that I can receive free training at CLI. Financially, it would have been impossible for me to study without incurring debt. I believe training is essential. As Paul said to Timothy “to study to show one approved of God, not by men.” That said, I also know that men look at formal training as a criterion especially when one wants to teach in educational institutions and be taken seriously by churches.
To learn more about ordination check out Christian Leaders Alliance.
Marriage Ministry Training
I’m Brittany Earl from The United States of America, and I have a marriage ministry training dream. I’m married to a United States Marine, and as we have called a lot of places home over the last few years, we are blessed to be back in our home state now. We come from a small town in Arizona, about 100 miles north of Phoenix and 20 miles south of Sedona. Both of those coordinates are important as they have a lot of impact on our tiny community. Between drug trafficking and New Age cults, our town suffers and is nearly divided by the two. I never felt like I belonged to either group, and I thank God for that protection over me.
I was adopted by a couple in Minnesota in my early childhood. They divorced as soon as the adoption was finalized, leaving my mother and me on our own to spend many years shuffling between living with family members and on our own. It was during that time of my life that I was sexually abused by my adopted father. Many people have asked me, “How can you believe in God after going through that?” and it brings me joy today when I’m able to use that window of opportunity to share the Gospel with them.
I didn’t personally seek the Lord until I had my child out of wedlock. I spent many years before that drinking away my problems. I spent years trying to repair myself, but I finally realized I am a breaker, not a maker. I could not make myself whole again when I’m the one that broke myself in the first place. I did not grow up in a Spirit-filled house. My family told me, “You’re a Christian,” but never exemplified what that meant. I didn’t know His love for me personally. I just knew that God was real but never asked further. I didn’t know my God.
In my early twenties, I was in a situation that a good father could’ve saved me from, “If only I had a dad that loved me, I wouldn’t be in this mess.” Then it hit me one day. I do have a father. His name is Jesus, and He’s been protecting me since I was first born to a mother who did not want a child. I thought I had to be a better version of myself before I even spoke to Him. I didn’t know I could ask Him to forgive me. I struggled to accept the fact that He wanted me as I was. Broken and empty. All glory to God!
My goal is to achieve my ministry degree to help people like my mother. She didn’t feel worthy. She didn’t know Jesus at a time in her life when she needed Him the most when we all need Him the most. I now understand that it’s on a daily basis that we need Him most. Over the years of being Born Again, the Lord has placed people in my path that have found salvation through our fellowship and His wisdom. It’s hard work, but I pray for the opportunities to bring people to Christ. I feel like these courses at Christian Leaders Institute will better equip me for present and future encounters.
I would also like to focus on Marriage Ministry training as it has made my marriage flourish. It was my husband that brought me to Christ. I knew if I ever wanted to be at peace and have real joy in my heart, I needed to surrender myself to the Creator of the Universe. There was a void in my heart that only my Lord could fill.
As I ran to Jesus and away from my flesh and those who enabled me along the way, I became isolated from and foreign to the world I once knew. My “friends” completely disappeared from my circle, and I was left with the people I call my family to this day, my church. They accepted my daughter and me with open arms. I thank the Holy Spirit for closing doors for me and opening new ones to guide me and help me grow closer to Him through everything that I do on a daily basis.
As a family of five, I want to be an example to my son and daughters so they do not have to grow up with the hardships that I did and that they know the Lord their entire lives as actually present in their life. CLI has given me a sense of purpose and this opportunity for marriage ministry training. I’m thankful to work hard towards something that I could only wish for before. My wishing has turned into praying and even if I can just bring one person to God, these classes will be more than worth it.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.