Ordination Training
My name is Karey Gaston. I am receiving ordination training and ministry training at Christian Leaders Institute. I am 56 years old and currently live in Big Lake, Alaska. I have been married 35 years to my wonderful husband Ralph. We have 3 beautiful daughters, 3 awesome son-in-law’s, and 4 granddaughters. I was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and raised in the North Pole area. My husband and I met in Golden Colorado in 1980. Within a year of meeting, we moved to Alaska and have called it our home ever since.
I was raised Episcopalian but my family was never really active in the church. At 16 years of age, I became curious about God and started searching for a church. I was saved and baptized at a local Methodist/Presbyterian church at age 17, but had no one to disciple me. After being accepted into the Colorado Institute of Art at age 18, I moved to Denver. At that time, I was not walking with the Lord. It was not till 1986 when my husband was born again that I re-dedicated my life to the Lord. We were very active in church and the word of God but both were still struggling in our walk.
In June of 2002, after a spell of about 8 months of not going to church, my daughters asked me to start taking them back again. Within 2 weeks of attending church, I had a moment at the altar that I feel changed me for life. I once again re-dedicated myself to the Lord and became so desperate for His love that I truly laid my life down on that day. My husband was not at a point to come back at that time, so it was a struggle. But I just kept pressing into my relationship with God.
By August of 2002, I found a local church to be my home. In 2003, my husband was arrested and went to jail for 5 ½ years. I went through the darkest time of my life but never felt alone. I sensed that God wanted me to stand by my husband, and I did. He surrendered his life over to the Lord and began walking with Him right where he was within the prison system of Alaska. In 2005, I was introduced to a ministry that was starting out up here called Blood ~N~ Fire Ministry of Alaska. I felt led to become involved but had no idea of what God wanted me to do. In faith, I stepped out.
Our mission was for the poor and broken-hearted to feed, clothe, and find shelter for them. We started out delivering food and clothing for families in need. Within the first year, I became the Secretary/Treasurer. The following year, I became President of the Board of Directors. This is a position that I held until October of 2014. At that time I stepped down to take on the Executive Director position of which I am currently serving in.
Blood ~N~ Fire Ministries serves our community with a Food Pantry helping an average of 600 families per month. A Clothing Pantry dealing strictly with new clothes serves 50 families a month. Our program, The Knik House, is a Christ-based transitional housing program currently serving 23 men, 10 women, and 5 children. We are supported mainly by churches and individuals support.
In January 2014, my Board of Directors voted to have me ordained as a pastor for this ministry. I was surprised that they could see me in such a position. Through prayer and seeking the Lord, I realized that He has called me as a pastor. I have been working within that gifting for the last 7 years. I spent some time researching online possibilities that could work with my need for on-the-job training. I soon realized that I was lacking a strong knowledge of the Word of God. That is when I found Christian Leaders Institute. At the time I started, CLI was not doing ordination training but I understood my personal need for a deeper foundation. So I decided not to concern myself with being ordained. After 3 months time, CLI began offering ordination training so I was able to begin moving in the direction necessary to properly equip my calling.
Our local church has supported us financially and spiritually for the last 11 years. The ministry started under the Crossroads Community Church umbrella in 2005. We became our own 501c3 in 2007. The outreach that we had in our community allowed us to reach out to many people that would not attend a church or had been victims of past hurts.
My mentor, Sondra Markwardt, looked up the CLI curriculum to see if she felt that it would be a good fit for me. Sondra is a recognized leader, a pastor, and the wife of Pastor Phil Markwardt, my pastor for over 11 years. Phil is now a Chaplain for our local prison system. After Sondra’s consent, I decided to move forward with the studies provided by CLI.
The ordination training and ministry training that I have received from CLI has been life-changing in how I am able to minister to clients on a daily basis. My knowledge and hunger for the Word have increased greatly. I would not have been able to accomplish this without the availability of such online training. I was able to move at my own pace while working 2 jobs at the beginning of starting this schooling. For this, I give you my gratitude.
In closing, I ask for your prayers for the purity of heart, the oneness of mind and spirit for our Board of directors, staff, and volunteers. Please pray for the wisdom of the Lord for continued expansion of this ministry and outreach. And most importantly, that we would continue to be a light within our community, and beyond.
Learn about ordained minister study programs at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Ministry Training Calling Journey
My name is Porche Darlene Colvin and I am on a ministry training calling journey. I am from Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America. Where I am from, it is very challenging being a Christian leader. With a town full of many non-believers and a hate for growth, I simply pray for my city daily. As a child, I was in church literally every day of the week for ministry. I was very dedicated and devoted to all the ministries I was involved in. I loved going to church and having a great time praising the Lord.
I have known the Lord all my life, but it was when I was incarcerated in 2016, I really found him. He became real once I fled from my wicked ways and thoughts. I walked and talked with him daily and have not left his side since.
My spiritual dream is to empower those who are faithless and weak in faith and help lead them to Christ or closer to Christ. My biggest obstacle has been facing the fact that not all of those who call themselves “Christian” are genuine in their Christian walk.
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior as a child and through seeing His wondrous works. Now, having children humbles me daily and shows me how I could not make it without the help of Christ. I want to be a light to my children so they can see God’s wondrous works in my life.
Free ministry training at Christian Leaders Institute is a true blessing to me as I follow God’s ministry training calling journey for my life. I hope to use my Christian Leaders Institute training to go into places where the people need someone to lead them to Christ and on the path to righteousness.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Rescue Chaplain Ministry
My name is Andrew Pillot. I am called to a rescue chaplain ministry. I was born in Boston, MA to Puerto Rican parents. As I was growing up I had a very hard life. I ran away from home and made poor choices. Things went south very quickly for me as I saw my life falling apart before me. The hate, the pain, the lack of love and understanding made me a monster. I did not want to live so I got deeper into the street life. I was living in Puerto Rico when all of this took place.
I got tired of the life I was living so I decided that going to rehab was my best choice. But finally, it hit me that I had done 11 rehabs and things were only getting worse. I remember at one point I was writing a song not understanding what was happening. I was not a writer and I started about a city that needed to be reconstructed. In the song, I found myself telling God to reconstruct my city. Not understanding what was happening inside of me, I called a friend of mine who is a worship leader in the process of recording a CD and she ended up recording the song. God was working in my life and I did not even know it. Years of drug abuse, pain, and hate were taking my life through a very dark hole. Then someone decided to tell me how important I was to God, whoa!!! News for me!
From that point on, my life took a turn for the better. To make this long story short, I am today a pastor of mission and have been a missionary for many years. I’m also part of C.A.P.A, a rescue chaplain ministry within the police force in Fort Worth, Texas. I do what we call ride-ins with the police. And when they have a problem and need to talk, I am there as a chaplain. Also, I talk to the people they arrest and I give them alternatives. Before they are arrested, I pray for them and give them follow-up. I am also a chaplain in the prison of Dallas and have a Mentoring Certification with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. I am part of a rescue team that is very active.
Today, I also travel around preaching the gospel. I have been in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Nicaragua, the United States, and Puerto Rico. In 2018, I will be in India. God has changed my life. There is nothing better than to serve the Lord. I’m giving what by grace I have received and I won’t stop now.
Thank you for this great opportunity to take these classes at Christian Leaders Institute. I am just hungry for God and keep seeking more. These free ministry training classes will help to fill that need.
Learn about ordained minister study programs at Christian Leaders Alliance.