Free Online Bible School
My name is John DeWit. I am taking classes at Christian Leaders Institute a free online Bible School. I am from Montreal, Canada. I am presently working with underprivileged kids in Cambodia but the path that got me here could only have been provided by God.
My mother abandoned my brother and me when I was 4 months old and my brother was eight. I was placed in an orphanage until the age of thirteen. My father was in the military and could not look after a baby. I would come home every other weekend but usually to an empty house. On one of those weekends alone, I was watching TV and there was a Billy Graham crusade on. I loved the message and accepted Jesus when I was eight years old. I was innocent and had no mentors to explain what I did, but God knew I was sincere. I struggled through life and did all the party stuff, got married and divorced.
In my late twenties, I went to a crusade with my brother and we both recommitted our lives to Christ. This time, I knew what I was doing and things started to change. I attended church regularly, met my wife, we have been married for 32 years, and also got involved. We have two God-fearing children and God is Good.
In 2010, I went on a missions trip to Cambodia with my daughter and fell in love with the country. I especially fell in love with the kids and at the time we visited an orphanage. I came back a mess, crying and not understanding why Cambodia had such a big impact on me. My wife looked at me and said, “It’s because you can relate, you were one of them once.” WOW!! A light bulb went on and everything fell into place.
It’s now June 2018 and we are making plans to head back to Canada. We are asking God to show us where he wants us to serve next. It’s been an amazing adventure and God provided for all of our needs. I am eager to continue my studies here at Christian Leaders Institute a free online Bible School and see where God uses this in my life. Thank you and God bless!
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House Church Planter Ministry
My name is Fatima P. Timbang and I am currently living and doing ministry in the Philippines. I am pioneering house churches full-time under Hope Church Singapore. In almost 2 years in this ministry, I have been involved in pioneering 7 house churches in 5 different cities/municipalities in the Philippines in my house church planter ministry.
I grew up in a Catholic family as this is the predominant religion in our country. I knew the name Jesus since I was young. Growing up in public schools, I developed a liberal way of thinking. I became a free-thinker and thought all religions were man-made. In September of 2010, I decided to go to Singapore and try my luck in finding a job. I got invited to our church in October of that year, and there I received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. I felt so much joy in my heart and never missed a service or a small group. I was on fire searching the scriptures for promises and enjoyed worshipping God. I also got a job in Singapore and started working there.
But as I continued in my walk with God, the temptations of sin led me to live a double life. While still being faithful in attending church and serving in ministry, I was secretly involved in a sinful relationship. In 2013, there was a film shown at a members’ gathering in our church that awakened my heart to want more of God. I got to see in that documentary film a life of one person completely surrendered and recklessly abandoned to Jesus. I saw in that person a life that I wanted to live – full of Jesus.
I became hungry for God. I felt God calling me to stop my sins and seek Him. Little by little, He showed Himself to me and made me feel so valued and loved. That’s when I decided to break off the relationship and go back completely to God. Getting out of sin was not easy. It was so painful and hard. But in those painful moments was where Jesus became more real to me. I felt His presence with me everywhere I went.
My spiritual eyes began to open. I saw visions of myself and Jesus, how God sees me and how He yearns for me. He wanted to take away EVERYTHING that took His place in my heart. He was jealous for me. He wanted me to be His alone. These revelations blew my mind and I finally said yes to God. I threw away everything that He wanted me to throw away. For the first time in my life, I was completely abandoned to Him. I felt so free. I found my identity in Jesus. I knew who I was. I knew who my God was, and these made me feel so free.
I dream of mentoring people to go deeper in their walk with God. I want to be an instrument of God to touch the lives of as many people as God will give me. I want to help people know their identity in Christ, be secure in the love of the Father, and be made whole. I want to plant house churches in every municipality in my area, the province of Pampanga, and help people rise up to lead their own groups in my house church planter ministry.
This class reminded me of the importance of having mentors and accountability partners to help me stay on track. I am grateful that Christian Leaders Institute supports the same principles as our church when it comes to our relationship with God, personal devotions, mentoring and reaching out to people.
I can identify most with a house church planter ministry because this is what I currently do. What prompted me to pursue my ministry was a call from God to go back to the Philippines in March 2016. I said yes to God. I left my work and life in Singapore and went back to the Philippines to do full-time house church planter ministry.
The unique challenges in my area are the floods during rainy days, people addicted to gambling, superstitions, and idolatrous practices, involved in witchcraft and occult, and the prevalence of sexual immorality in workplaces.
The local church took me and supported me financially as I went to plant house churches in my area. CLI plays an important role in my ministry dream because I want to go deeper into the Word and learn more about studying the Bible. I want to take courses to learn more about the Christian faith and maybe get a degree in Divinity. However, I cannot stop doing my house church planter ministry. CLI gives me a platform to do both my ministry and pursue my studies at the same time.
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Layman Leader Training
My name is Ron Homan and I am receiving free layman leader training at Christian Leaders Institute. I was born in 1957 in a southern Minnesota farming town. I grew up and worked around farming. I was brought up in the Catholic Church and faith. God has always been part of my life, but not the center of it. My senior year of high school, I was greatly influenced by a small group of people in our small Catholic church. They really helped me get my first taste of the power of God in my life and a desire to read and learn from my Bible. In 1981, I married my fun and loving wife, Glenda. We have been blessed with four children: 2 girls and 2 boys. Our daughters have since blessed us with four awesome grandchildren.
With the help and Christian friendship from a special older couple, we decided to join the Lutheran Church. I became involved with the church council, Sunday school, youth groups, and Bible studies. I am one of the elders in our congregation and am called and looked upon more and more for leadership. At times, I feel God’s tug on my arm, but I don’t always wholeheartedly turn and follow, so I want to become more teachable.
My two daughters were married in the church, and now my oldest son has asked me to officiate his wedding. He has pulled away from the church and I look at this as a way to help guide him back into a fellowship with God.
I checked into how to become a wedding officiant in Minnesota and found that I could just signup with an organization online. That felt wrong, empty, and with something missing. Then I found Christian Leaders Institute online, and your courses looked good. But now, with the initial course complete, I feel that these courses will also help me in becoming a better leader in our church.
I would like to lead a Bible study group and later start the men’s fellowship group backup. Our Pastor leads our Sunday morning Bible study. It has become very interesting, which in turn brings out discussions about God, from all the people. This also is a great way to start Sunday morning service off. Both our pastors have encouraged me to become more involved and to look into further studies in leadership. These classes at CLI are a good start for my layman leader training.
For now, I feel God is leading me down this path of layman leader training. I believe God does what he wants to do, and we are asked to follow, listen and give ourselves back to him. I feel CLI’s courses will help me plant my heart deeper into God’s word and become an instrument of God.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.