God Calling Me to the Ministry
My name is Mark W. Mathis and I have a God calling on my life for ministry. My wife, Debra, and I live in Lindale, Texas. I am the middle child of three. I was raised in a Christian family of leaders, teachers, and preachers going back as far as the civil war, as far as I know. I came to believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior at 9 years of age, and I have ridden the stormy seas of life with God ever since.
It was several years back that I heard God calling me to the ministry. I began looking into online seminaries and Bible schools. As I was talking to God, I told Him I could make time for studies but could not afford the training. However, I knew when God was ready for me to train, He would make the money available. Three days later, I came across Christian Leaders Institute and your scholarship program. I knew right away it was God’s hand at work showing me the way to receive free ministry training.
It was not until recently that I began talking with a local pastor I hold in high regards about this God calling on my life. He was the one that started talking about a meeting schedule and possible others to meet with at the same time as mentors for me. To my shock and amazement, he told me it was time to step into my position in ministry and that it was long overdue.
Thank you to Christian Leaders Institute for this opportunity for free training without which I would not be able to afford to study to prepare for the ministry.
Learn about ordained minister study programs and local ecuministry ordinations with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Free Leader Training
My name is Laural Coleman and I am receiving free leader training for ministry at CLI. I live in a little town called Richburg, South Carolina, in the United States, which I love. I have been married to Joe for 30 years. We have two daughters and four grandchildren. I have attended the same church (Mount Pleasant Baptist) since I was around nine years old.
I sing in the Mass choir and as one of the leaders, birthed a Praise team, teach the children’s message some Sunday’s and teach a Bible study on Wednesday nights. I have had the opportunity to preach the word at several event locations. I attend Women’s Fellowship Bible Study.
As a child, I was sick most of the time with asthma, which caused me to spend most of my time in my home. I learned how to read, and the only reading material I had was the Bible. I read it from Genesis to Revelations. Even though I did not understand any of it, I was always fascinated by the Bible. It was my oldest brother that carried me to church with him on Sunday’s when I was young. Later my entire family started to attend.
As a teenager and in my early twenties, I had a desire to know who God was and why I was attending church. This led me to learn about other beliefs than Christianity. However, “something” would always pull me back to Christianity, a faith that believed in Jesus Christ. I was the first one in my family to accept Christ into my heart in my early twenties.
My calling came in my mid-thirties. However, at that time I was stubborn and decided I did not want to preach. Like Jonah, I ran. In my late forties, God called me to preach the Word again. But this time was different! The calling was strong! The calling came in visions and dreams! God knew I was ready now! I would sit in the church and see myself preaching at the pulpit, I thought I was losing myself. No matter what I did, the Holy Spirit was present in my mind and my heart.
In September 2014, I preached my initial sermon. I began working more in the church as I began to learn. I attended Women’s Bible study fellowships. I studied the Catechism under the leadership of my Pastor. I was ordained in April 2017.
My spiritual dream is to preach the Word everywhere God sends me. I love helping other people’s dreams come true. It is something that makes me happy when I see others achieve their dreams. I have currently teamed up with a non-profit team of females helping cancer patients, abused women and senior citizens. Thanks to free leader training with Christian Leaders Institute, I was inspired to serve and I am loving this.
My biggest challenge has been ME! I have never been able to see who I am. I always see who others are and who they can be. But, serving God is not about me. When I am serving God my ME challenges are nothing. Life itself humbles me to know that without Christ I am nothing, but with him I have everything! I was always afraid to die, afraid of the dark, and afraid of dark places. I knew that I wanted to live forever and I realize with Christ that dream is a reality.
The Baptist Association that my church is affiliated with requires that all ministers attend divinity school before preaching their initial sermon and to become ordained. God knew the plans He had for me so I was exempt from going to their school. But God knew I needed more to accomplish my dreams of becoming a leader. I want to be a confident leader with the free leader training education and the correct tools to be who God has called me to be.
I plan to use my Christian Leaders Institute Training by being a Pastor and a servant of God. I had no idea I would find Christian Leaders Institute (God knew). Then it was free! I had to do research because I could not believe anything this great was FREE! It had to be God, He knew what I needed and He knew it had to be free.
Free leader training was important to me because when I was working I could not afford to attend training or finance training at that time. Now I am unemployed and cannot afford training, (I was waiting for God to send me my job and He sent me to CLI). I know that I needed to learn and I had been seeking, but I never thought I would stumble upon free leader training. However, after completing the getting started courses, I have learned that it is time, effort, encouraging myself and dedication but worth every hour. Nothing that has to do with Jesus is by chance. This is where God has placed me and I am loving it! There are so many others like myself in this area that need this training.
I want to become a Pastor and I needed free leader training. One thing for sure, I am where I need to be and the excitement is overwhelming! One day I will rise from being a bronze vision partner member to a platinum member!
Learn about minister ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Read how God the Faithful Father has been working in this man’s life through tragedy and triumph to lead him to the ministry like his late grandfather. God has called him to train at Christian Leaders Institute to prepare for the ministry.
God Is My Faithful Father
My name is Jesse and this is my journey from faithless to faithful by God’s grace and timing. I am excited to serve my Faithful Father in the ministry. I grew up in that stereotypical genre of “I was raised in a church but never really lived my faith.” My late grandfather was a retired Baptist Minister. I spent many a weekend with him and my grandma. He often told me over the years, “You better go into ministry.” I had no clue that God would call me to this very thing until many many years later.
Many years later, I met my dear wife, Carrie, on eHarmony. We suffered through much early in our marriage. We experienced infertility and then the loss of our first daughter McKenna. After that, we have had to see our other daughter Lily suffering through her constant seizures. It was not until the loss of my grandfather in 2018, that God spoke to me about the ministry. He made it obvious what His plans were for me when I inherited my grandfather’s library. It was filled with his sermon notes and various theological books for me to learn and grow from.
So now, I am spending every evening after our daughter goes to bed and falls asleep, studying for free at Christian Leaders Institute. I am working to further my knowledge and practice in becoming a minister for God’s Kingdom through the training I am receiving from Christian Leaders Institute. Soli Deo Gloria.
Learn about local ecuministry ordination and ordained minister study programs with Christian Leaders Alliance.