Christian Mission Call
My name is Jordan McGrath and I have a Christian mission call on my life. I am twenty years old and come from the small city of Vernon, located in British Columbia, Canada. I am currently serving at my church (Vernon First Baptist) as a youth leader and find such great joy in working with the youth and pouring out into them. Being a leader, though it can be difficult, is such a fulfilling role, especially when you get to witness the transformation of these youth and see their relationship with Christ flourish.
I was raised as a Christian child, going to church with my grandparents, but never really having that deep personal relationship with Christ. From a young age, I remember disliking school. I had a lot of trouble concentrating and gaining the motivation to actually complete work, which made each grade harder and harder to complete.
My walk as a Christian has been quite the journey, as I have only been a follower of Christ for just over a year. It all started in the summer of 2017 when I got invited to a young adult campout hosted by one of the local churches. God spoke through one of the pastors at night and it changed my heart immensely. Immediately after, I started attending church and delving into the Word, and a few months later in October, I was baptized.
My spiritual dream is to grow in closer to God and walk in God’s will as I go out to the nations as a missionary. I want to fulfill God’s Christian mission call upon my life, by loving people, sharing the gospel, and serving others. Some of my biggest obstacles in the process of surrendering to Christ was letting go of certain things and giving my all to God. Surrendering has its difficulties, as it involves huge amounts of trusting in God, and though it’s been quite the challenge, I’ve put a lot of focus on growing in this particular area of my life. I’ve been humbled time after time with the realization that I cannot be wise in my own eyes, but realize that wisdom comes from God.
God became so real to me when I was in YWAM, and I was brought to a point where He was all that I could lean on and He was all that I could trust in. YWAM brought me through such a refining process in my faith and overall brought my belief to a whole new level.
I’m here taking these courses at Christian Leaders Institute hoping to grow, grow, and grow. Accreditation is nice, and proves the legitimacy of this school to me, but, the primary reason for me taking these courses is so that I may use my knowledge and apply it within the field that God has called me to. The fact that these courses are free is the only thing that makes getting education possible for me, as I feel called to staff at YWAM in the near future and could not possibly afford to do both!
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My name is Rachel Hicks and I am receiving free Christian training at CLI. I grew up in the small village of White City, Illinois. I have moved a lot and now live in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. It has been a long journey from the time I became a Christian on 10/31/1997 to becoming a Christian Leader. Being a Christian Leader should not be a competition between leaders.
My childhood was the average childhood. My father was a police dispatcher and my mother was a certified nurse’s aide. We had some struggles after my father became ill and no longer worked. We were a decent family, my parents had morals and values, we learned of Jesus and they introduced Jesus to us. When we experienced the negatives of the enemy, my father took upon himself to reach out and get us spiritual help. I had a good father, although he was in a battle himself, he knew what was best for us.
I came to know the Lord in 1997 through a spiritual cleaning team: a youth pastor and other men, from Life Christian Center, also known as Life Church in Fenton, MO. Jesus became my personal Savior through the experience and the deliverance from demonic oppression. Although I knew of Jesus all my life, the turn in my adolescence was when I made unhealthy decisions as a kid and dabbled in witchcraft, Ouija boards, speaking to spirits, drugs, and alcohol. I was 15 years old when Jesus came into my life.
My spiritual dream is to effectively lead others to Christ. Sharing Jesus with others can be hard at times, treating a person with humility and dignity, showing integrity in being a believer, helping the poor and feeding the hungry, and sharing how Jesus truly is the inner peace to our souls. Our salvation comes through Christ, and we have a promise of a new kingdom from Heaven where we will have everlasting life. My dream is to gather as many souls for Him while I am on Earth and make an impact on God‘s Kingdom for His glory.
The obstacles I faced while growing into maturity is that I did not have a spiritual mentor or Christian training. My pastor was not close to me and I grew alone with God. I had been very isolated, misled, went places where I did not want to go, sent to other churches I did not want to go, and it has been a “Gracefully Broken” moment in my life. I had to learn to accept through Isaiah 42:19: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
There were deep dark moments in my life that made me realize that I needed Christ in my life. These moments of suicide, feeling worthless, that I did not amount to anything and people really cutting me down and saying mean things about me. It is tough for anyone to experience the dark side and abusive part of humanity that comes against us all, but through Jesus, I realized He is all I need. He became real to me when He became my #1 and my best friend, my counselor, my Savior, my provider, and my minds thoughts. He brings transformation in my heart, soul, and spirit, and through worship, His presence has been incredible.
When I first came to Christian Leaders Institute and enrolled to take the beginning course, there were many things that made so much sense to me. It helped me realize that through the changes in my life and Christian training God has called me to a be revival leader. I am being molded and changed in all areas of my life. There are attitudes and character traits that I need to follow in order to be a successful leader. I know through further studying with CLI that I can get the Christian training that I never had that will be helpful in the inner process of change in my life.
The free Christian training at CLI is necessary for me because it helps me grow in all areas of my life. Christ died for us and His blood was paid for us. This opportunity to receive free Christian training will be beneficial for me and anyone else who wants to be a steward for Christ. Thank you, CLI!
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Equipped Leader
More grace to the beloved of the Lord. My name is Derrick Opoka and I am studying at Christian Leaders Institute to be an equipped leader in my home, my church, and my community. I live in Gulu which is located in northern Uganda. I am the third to the last born of the nine children in the family.
My father was the police air-wing engineer at Entebbe International Airport of Uganda. He ran away from work for the fear of his life in 1976, during the dictatorship of the former president Idi Amin Dada. After that, he came back to the village and served in various local leadership roles including parish chairperson up to the time he passed on in June 2018.
All the family members brought up in the Catholic religion believed. In the early years of my school, I studied in a Catholic missionary school until 1991. In my higher level of education, I had to move to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, for better schooling and also there was a war between the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels and the government. There were serious abductions by the rebels.
When I was in Kampala, my friends invited me to their church called Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC, now known as Watoto Church). At the end of the service, the pastor made an altar call for the people who wanted to give their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ That is the day in 2001 that I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and that is the time, my journey started with Jesus up to this day. I worked with Watoto Church as the district sound technician. Then after serving for three years, another ministry called Full Harvest started. They requested me to go and support them with their sound department plus train them in sound engineering. My wife and I pastor families and marrieds couples. We have two children, ages six and two, a girl and a boy.
I am pursuing this course at Christian Leaders Institute for my own spiritual benefit and to strengthen the family and marrieds ministry. My prayer is to be an equipped leader so as to equip other servants of God and to walk according to His perfect Will.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.