Read how CLI has made it possible for a disabled single mom to pursue her associate ministry calling.
Associate Ministry Calling
My name is Tanya Mulneix and I have an associate ministry calling on my life. I am blessed to be from the United States where we may worship and serve God freely. I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior when I was 10 years old at my church’s Christmas play. I was raised in a very legalistic and strict manner. We had too many rules for “being a good Christian” to list or remember them all. I lived under “the law” throughout my childhood.
I felt God calling me into ministry as a child, but when I discussed it with my parents I was told I couldn’t be called into ministry because I was a girl. I wasn’t allowed to ever be a spiritual leader. “Maybe you can marry a pastor or missionary” was my parent’s response. Yet, my brother’s calling was celebrated, and he preached his first sermon at 10 years old.
Because of my strict upbringing and knowing I could never live up to those standards, at 16, I rebelled. I started dating the wrong people, wearing “taboo” clothes, makeup and painting my nails – everything I wasn’t allowed to do. I ended up with a teen pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage and severe depression. I tried to kill myself, but God wasn’t finished with me. I joined the US Army. I loved being in the army until a superior officer raped me. I didn’t tell anyone what happened to me for several years.
My long road to healing from the miscarriage (and two more miscarriages before I was able to have my children) and the rape brought me back to God. But this time, I was taught that we are no longer under the law, but that we are covered by His grace. I also felt God’s associate ministry calling on my life again to minister to and help others. My ministry dream is to be an Associate Pastor or Chaplain or Christian counselor. I want to work behind the scenes helping people with and through their biggest challenges in life and directing them to the love and grace of Jesus.
In December 2017, my family and I started at a new church. We had been happy at our old church and weren’t looking for a new one. But I am a low-income, single mom of 3 teens, and I found a program at another church helping low-income families with Christmas gifts. I had no gifts for my children, so I inquired on the process for the gifts. Requirements were that I had to attend 2 church services; one to register for the gifts and one to pick them up. I almost didn’t go, because I was dedicated to the church we had been attending and the children and I served on several teams. I prayed about it, and the kids and I went to the new church. Our first Sunday there they were holding baptism. My son (who is autistic, struggles to fit in, been saved for 8 years, and was never comfortable enough to be baptized) wanted to be baptized that day. It blew me away. We returned 2 weeks later to get the gifts, and it was another great service. After praying for those 2 weeks, I knew this was the church where we belonged.
As I got to know my Pastor, he encouraged me more and more to pursue my associate ministry calling. He directed me to Christian Leaders Institute and has really encouraged me along the way. I didn’t think I could ever pursue a ministry education. I am a disabled, single mom. I barely have enough food or gas to get through a month. Paying for education wasn’t an option. I had applied to go to Liberty but was told that I couldn’t get student loans to pay for my education because I collect Social Security Disability. CLI has made a way for me to pursue my ministry calling and dreams. Without CLI, I wouldn’t be walking the path God set out for me. I would still be running from God’s plan and feeling I could never be what He wants me to be.
I feel my walk with God has been strengthened through this course because I’m no longer trying to hide from God. I am seeking His will and striving to do His work. It has also brought me and my teens closer to God. They are fully supportive of my educational and ministerial goals and look forward to their own ministries. I am open to relocation as the Lord prompts and leads me.
Learn about ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Mission Ministry Call
I am Laila Kumar and I have a mission ministry call from God. I am from the Philippines but now reside here in India because my husband is here. I know God has a plan for me to share His word with everyone. I came to know Christ at a young age in the month of December at our Sunday school. It was there that God showed me the Way. I’m so thankful because I am chosen to be His child.
My ministry dream is to open a mission church here in Jammu Kashmir, India. By God’s grace, I hope to lead people to know Christ as their Lord and Savior and to live their life for His glory.
This first class at CLI strengthened and renewed my walk with God by opening my eyes and showing who I am and why I am here in His word. It has taught me things to consider in my daily walk with Him. It helps me know my God and Creator, to walk closer to Him, to trust Him, to lean on Him. I am to be a light for Him wherever I go on my mission ministry call.
I identify most with being a Pastor and Evangelist because it has a big influence on me as I am a servant of God. God uses them to be an eye opener, to see the need for Him. This is my purpose and why I am here and what my mission ministry call is as a child of God.
The key experience in my life that prompted me to pursue ministry is the grace and the goodness of God in my life. He forgave me and gave me peace and hope in my darkest days that no one can snatch away from me. Now I can share with others that God is always there and will never leave them. He is the only one who can give eternal life. I want others to experience Christ in their life and live for Him too.
The unique challenges in my geographic area are that the people don’t know the truth and they are slaves to old traditions and religions that lead them astray. I want them to be set free from this by knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior. My local church “Patotoo Online Ministry” with my pastor and mentor Pastor Irwin Noriega is on 24 hours and he is always teaching us and mentoring us. We’re blessed to have a pastor like Him, fully dedicated to serving God as well as His family. He is the one who encouraged me to take classes at Christian Leaders Institute where he also studies. He is the one who fired me up to study at CLI to learn more. He is always mentioning CLI and serving in God’s kingdom in his preaching. Deep in my heart and my mind, someone was telling me, “it’s you”, and I know it is the Holy Spirit.
I am thankful to God. I know God has a plan why I am here at CLI and why I came to know and learn at this institute. CLI is important to my ministry dream because it is an eye-opener to me to see what I need to consider to change in me and grow in Christ. Things need to be strengthened, especially to being a responsible believer in Christ in my daily living in dealing in every situation with my family, myself, my neighbors, my community, and so on. Mostly I need to seek God and know Him more and more. I seek to trust and to follow what He wants me to be. I am not to lean on my own understanding but to lean on Him.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
CLI Illuminates Light
I am Christopher Stanford Gonolinje, a Malawian national living in South Africa. I joined the CLI course in the month of August 2018 and I see that CLI illuminates light in Christian Leaders around the world. Prior to studying at CLI, I lived a normal Christian life committed to prayer, church attendance and serving in positions as a local leader in my denomination. However, I could feel that I needed more in the path of Christian leadership. I started searching the internet to find training within my economic reach.
My Google search landed on the Christian Leaders Institute website. Upon reading through it, I felt that God was answering my prayers of accomplishing the Christian leaders training with little monetary expense on my end. This is an answer to my prayer because I strongly desire such training but my financial resources are not permitting me to meet the costs in the traditional colleges. I find that CLI resonates with my economic need.
I quickly registered and downloaded the “Getting Started Class” lectures in PowerPoint format. I choose this format because of my internet connection. I studied each and every course unit with passion and the hunger to discover more. Thereafter, I completed the quizzes and scored above average in all of the first five quizzes. I also started sharing the course content with my friends. Some of them are pastors and church leaders. I did this in our daily conversation, paraphrasing and posting in social networks such as Facebook.
I discovered that CLI materials can transform and equip a person with the light of leadership. People around me started addressing me with greater respect, even my senior pastors and leaders started coming to consult with me when a leadership challenge arose on their end. Some even asked me to help them prepare the leadership teachings and presentations for in-house training. In this, I did not struggle, as I reread the course content of CLI and paraphrased materials with reference to CLI, then let them use it. After the use, all appreciated and dignified the material.
It is for these reasons I have come to the conclusion that the CLI materials and course programs are indeed illuminating the light of leadership to the individuals who study them. I look forward to learning more and attaining the extraordinary insights into being a strong Christian leader to work in God’s kingdom as I proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ. I thank you, Henry Reyenga and all the staff at CLI.
Learn how to become an Ordained Leader at Christian Leaders Alliance.