Youth Outreach Ministry
Greetings and Shalom to all who read this. My name is Michelle. I live in the southern corner of Western New York, where I believe Revival will start for America! Becoming an ordained Deacon Minister will greatly assist me in the calling the Lord has placed on me. I have been praying for the revival fire and cleansing power to hit this area, especially with the youth. I have been working as a youth leader along with my husband and another local couple through a youth outreach ministry called “Teens on Fire.” This youth outreach ministry has been in operation for almost 20 years, and just recently my husband and I were called to lead it. This ordination will help me better serve the youth by teaching them how to honor the Lord through communion. And the second way this will assist me is by giving me the knowledge and credentials to start a youth-led outreach ministry. The Lord has given me a vision for youth leading worship, teaching the Word to their peers, and praying for each other. I see this happening through the Teens on Fire youth group. This will be their outreach ministry with us adults mentoring them.
When I reflect on my personal testimony, I would have to say I do not remember a time in my life that I didn’t believe in Jesus Christ. My grandfather was a minister and my family attended his church when I was a child. As I became a teenager, I developed my relationship with Jesus on a deeper level. I led a girl’s Bible study and was part of the church dance team. As I grew older, there was a period of time that I rebelled and thought I could do things my way. Through this time my faith in who Jesus is never changed. I would describe this time as if God was an umbrella over me, and I chose to move away from His umbrella. Hardship came and hard lessons had to happen, but through those hard times, I began to realize that His ways are much higher than mine. I began to seek Him again in my later twenties.
My husband and I have raised all four of our children in the Christian faith. We have served as a family in our church and community in many different avenues by helping with kids church, greeting ministry, worship team, sound, and camera, encouraging card ministry, janitorial duties, leading Bible studies and pretty much anything that has been a need within our local church community. My husband and I founded a Nonprofit 501(c)3 community center in our community. Our vision for the center is to offer a safe place for youth and their families; space for County agencies to provide their services to our rural surrounding communities, and the headquarters of Teens on Fire.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank the Christian Leaders Institute for this opportunity to grow deeper in my walk with the Lord. I believe the Lord showed me the way to this school and am eternally grateful. You have asked what specific things to pray for in our ministry calling. I would say that number one would be that hearts be prepared to be ministered to and to have the co-laborers gathered to do the work of the Lord. Another critical part is to have the funds to accomplish this youth outreach ministry vision.
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Mission Ministry Journey
My name is Timothy Chandler and I am on a mission ministry journey. I am from Thorsby, Alabama in the USA. I am responsible for the media ministry at our church. I am not a leader from the pulpit. I lead behind the scenes through ministering to the worship team by making sure they sound great for the congregation and for the internet audience. Leading behind the scenes fits my personality type perfectly. As a leader, I must be prepared to answer for the hope I have in my heart just like Peter said, “[1Pe 3:15 KJV] 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
Before I was conceived, a dear sister in Christ prophesied to my mom that she would give birth to a child and that he would be dedicated to ministry. Shortly after I was born, my mom and dad divorced. At an early age, my mom brought me to a local church and the Pastor saw potential in me for the Kingdom of God. He placed me in front of the pulpit to declare a word over me. That moment was a seed planted in my heart for the call of God on my life on my mission ministry journey.
I became a member of Bell Lane Baptist church with my daddy at the age of 8 or 9 years old. I remember going to VBS every summer and learning more about the Bible and Jesus. I remember going to Sunday School classes. Right before I turned 10 in August of 1989, I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior. After this, I experienced the most painful time of my life for the next two years. It has taken years of recovery up to my adulthood to fully be delivered from the heartache of that time of my childhood.
In 1994, my life was in shambles. I didn’t get into trouble with people, I just felt a powerful sense of rebellion that controlled my life. One day, my mom talked to me about the love of Jesus and how He loved me. She laid hands on me to pray over me. As she prayed, I saw in a vision a fence and me leaning over it. I felt convicted by the Spirit that it was time to quit “straddling the fence”! I went to my room to seek God for myself. I read a book titled, “The Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey. I read Romans 7 in that book, then I finished reading that chapter in my own Bible. The Holy Spirit convicted my heart, so I knelt to talk with Jesus to tell him that I felt like what Paul described in Romans 7. Afterward, I repented and invited Jesus to be my Savior and my Lord! As soon as I did this, it felt like a light was shining down on me. God spoke to my heart. I had an increase in hunger for God’s Word and his presence! On October 3, 1994, I visited a church called the Upper Room. I went up for prayer and as the Pastor prayed for me the Holy Spirit filled me on my mission ministry journey.
The biggest obstacle to my mission ministry journey as I grew into maturity was not realizing my full identity in Christ. I constantly dealt with the fear of rejection and wanting to please everyone around me. I battled anxiety and depression for many years, went to counseling and even got on medicine to ease the discomfort of the anxiety. In May 2017, our church held a Glory Week revival. It was a very powerful move of the Spirit of God! I felt a change in my emotions as I worshipped God. The next week, I began to experience adverse effects from the medicine that I was on for anxiety and depression. I felt it was time to let my medicine go and put my full trust in God and God alone. So I stepped out in faith on May 17, 2017, and came off the medicine. Within 24 hours, everything went back to normal in my body. So, a year later I am walking daily with Jesus and He is taking me deeper into His presence!
My spiritual dream is a work in progress on my mission ministry journey. I am passionate about and have experienced the mission field four times, once in Ecuador and three times in Peru. I love to be on the mission field. My dream is to reach the lost globally, to help meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. My dream stands on three Bible passages that speak to my heart: Psalm 67:1-2, Isaiah 61:1-3, and John 3:16-17.
I found Christian Leaders Institute on a Sunday. While I was at the altar being prayed for, I felt impressed by the Spirit to be a “Global Ambassador for Jesus”. I didn’t know what it meant but as I was checking my email I saw an advertisement for CLI. I felt in my spirit to go after it. As I started my training here, I heard the phrase “global ambassador” from Minister and Director Henry, that confirmed and anchored my decision to go with CLI on my mission ministry journey.
One night I couldn’t sleep, so I used my time to study with CLI. I stayed up all night to study and pray over my specific calling. Early the next morning at 3:03 AM, I received the breakthrough I was seeking during my studies. Here is the vision the Spirit gave me: To teach and train the spiritually poor to be spiritually wealthy in God’s Word! This will involve spiritual gifts and my experience in the media ministry at church can also be utilized in this training vision. My personal Mission Statement is: By God’s grace, I am a person full of compassion and mercy, and He has called me to become a teacher of His Word globally in the body Christ.
With the help of CLI’s free training, I can continue to develop and nurture this vision for my calling. This free training is vital because without it I simply can’t move forward with my current finances. I am praying that CLI will expand to a Masters and Doctorate degree in ministry as my dream is to achieve a Doctorate in Ministry.
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Christian Music Leader
My name is Dylan Bailey and I am studying at Christian Leaders Institute to be a Christian music leader. I am 26 years old, and when I was 10, my family and I came to know Christ. While we spent years seeking Him, I started to drift away when I was 16. I fell into a life of sin, where my only focus was to please myself. Years passed, and I struggled with depression, loneliness, and just a general lack of fulfillment.
Around the age of 22, I had a serious problem occur with my wrist, where I couldn’t even hold a remote. The doctors told me I would have to stay on arthritis medicine, and I’d have to be extremely careful with my wrist. I was pursuing music at that time, so not being able to play guitar threw me into a deep depression.
It was around this time that God made himself clear to me. My family and I were attending one Sunday at a nearby church and the pastor preached on Mark three about the man with the crippled hand. I felt God speaking to me. So like the man from Mark three did, I just reached my hand out and I believed I was healed. While my healing didn’t come immediately, God did perform a miracle. I do not need medicine anymore.
I play guitar and sing every week at my church now. Not only that, but God has shown me my calling as a worship leader and a Christian musician. Being able to minister through music has brought me an immense amount of joy. I am so thankful I can do this! I am also thankful that I can study to be a Christian music leader at CLI!
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