Christian Disciple Training
My name is Heletwork Bekele and I am receiving Christian disciple training at CLI. I was born and raised in Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. I am the fourth born and I have two brothers and two sisters. I got married to my husband Adamu Mengesha on, 2015. Currently, my husband Adamu and I are living in Michigan in the USA.
I understand a ministry work as preaching the kingdom of God by delivering souls from the evil one. I have never found it easy to do ministry in the country I live or in the places I used to live. Ministry for me is the work of the Holy Spirit in me through the word of our God. For that, I need to take the time to equip myself with the right understanding of the word of God to be the minister of the Lord. God wins my heart through his word and what the Holy Spirit has done in my mother’s life.
My mother was an Orthodox but she used to suffer a lot from the influence of an evil spirit. One night, Jesus Christ came to her life in a miraculous way and delivered her from that evil spirit and her suffering ended there. After that miraculous night, my mother received Jesus as her Savior in the evangelical church and converted to be a believer. God used my mother to open my heart to him at a young age. God helped me to understand him and to understand what he has done for my mother and for me, then I converted to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
My ministry dream is for the power of the word of God and the Holy Spirit to reveal his will to me. I want to be an instrument for God to win people’s heart to him and to help them to be true disciples of Christ. This first class at Christian Leaders Institute has helped me by shaping my attitude toward God’s plan in my life. It helped me understand how God can use me as a bi-vocational leader and opened my eyes to see my spiritual dream of Christian Disciple training. It also helped me to strengthen my walk with God by helping me understand what a relationship with God is and how I can be a revived leader. I identify myself as evangelist mostly for I have a big burden in my heart to preach the kingdom of God and to help believers to be a true disciple of Christ.
I received Christ as my Savior when I was in middle school and a year after that God helped me to be one of the organizers to start a student fellowship in that school. God gave me a lot of opportunities to serve him as a student fellowship leader when I was in high school. After I went to university, God gave me a blessed student fellowship and I used to serve him as a fellowship leader and in the ministries, we had in the college. The need to pursue a ministry is something that has been growing in my heart from a young age. Connecting to the Bible helps me to understand God in many different ways and gives me the insight of what he has done for me through Christ. It also helps to strengthen my faith in God and helps me to serve him in the understanding that he is the almighty who is able to do the unthinkable in me and in my ministry path.
My husband and I attend an evangelical Ethiopian church in Michigan. God gave us both the opportunity to serve him in our congregation. My husband serves as a member of the elders and also as a sound system coordinator. I also serve as a Bible study leader and in prayer ministry. Our pastor and the whole congregation encourage both my husband and me to serve the Lord and they always support us with their prayers.
This scholarship at CLI is important to my ministry dream because I want to keep serving the Lord and his people with a better understanding of God and his word. Since the calling of the Lord has a big voice in my heart, I know I need to prepare myself with the proper Christian disciple training to be well equipped with the right knowledge of the word of God. But I am not in a position to afford education and the scholarship from Christian Leaders Institute will help me in my ministry dream. I have a big vision of helping Christ followers and myself to be the disciple Christ wants us to be and to reach many souls through Christ. The scholarship will help me to have the proper training, which will help me to reach the vision God planted in my heart.
I want to thank CLI and all their associates for your blessed heart and please keep me in your prayers for God to use me as a revival leader in this generation for his glory.
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Effective Ministry Training
My name is Richard Stearn and I am receiving effective ministry training at Christian Leaders Institute. I live in South Africa. There is a strong Christian culture in South Africa but unfortunately, many people who associate themselves as Christians aren’t truly born again and do not live in a true vibrant relationship with God. We have strong vibrant churches in South Africa with many passionate believers, but there are also many unsaved people that still need to encounter Christ as Saviour and Lord. And there are many people in churches who still need to grow in their realization of Who God is, so that they will grow in hunger and passion for Him.
I was raised by a Christian mother and had been exposed to the things of God at an early age. One day when I was somewhere between the age of 8-10 years old, I was on my own at our house and watching a televised church service. When the pastor ended his service and came to the altar call, I felt a stirring in my spirit and made my decision for Christ. I told my mom immediately when she came home. It’s been more than 20 years now, and I was too young to fully realize the significance of that day, so I didn’t take note of the date but I know with great certainty that on that day I met with God and He met with me. On that day, the greatest and most important journey of my life started. One that is still continuing. I had much to learn and to grow into. I’ve made mistakes along the way and faced many challenges, but through it all, God has been faithful and kept me close to Him.
I love God and I love what He is doing in and through the church. I feel especially passionate about the local church and believers growing to know and experience God more. My ministry dream is to serve God passionately and faithfully as He leads me. This has been by serving in the local church and that is where my passion is. My hope is to continue to be a part of God’s work in and through the church. I want people to get to know and experience the real and living God who can transform their lives like He did mine. I also want people to see the amazing revelations in God’s Word, to marvel at it as I have, and that it draws them closer to Him.
This Getting Started class at Christian Leaders Institute has challenged me and reminded me to always remember that effective and healthy ministry comes from a healthy and vibrant relationship with God. I know this, but in the busyness of life and the excitement of ministry, it becomes easy to get caught up in the things that are going on and to not put God first.
I serve and lead in various areas in my local church and enjoy all of them. Primarily, I see myself as a servant of God and want to be willing and ready to answer His call to do whatever, whenever. The two key areas of service for me at this time, though, are serving as an elder and as a member of the youth team.
My local church, Rhema South Coast Family Church, has been amazing in helping me to heal and grow in the things of God. When I started attending the church at age 21, I was a scared, broken mess. Although I’d been saved at a young age and walked with God and experienced Him in many amazing ways, there had been many storms in my family and other areas of my life. They left me broken, but God started challenging me to attend church and led me to RSCFC. It was at RSCFC that a process of healing and strengthening began. The amazing people there, especially the pastor, have encouraged and helped me in countless ways. They gave me opportunities to serve and lead. They taught and trained and corrected. They opened up opportunities for further training and growth. It is through RSCFC that I was encouraged to try CLI for effective ministry training.
A scholarship at CLI for effective ministry training will help me to develop new skills to serve God and to help others more effectively.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.