Sober Ministry Training
My name is James Tanner and I am receiving sober ministry training for free at Christian Leaders Institute. I currently live in Alpena, Michigan in the USA. I was the last born of three children, in 1991. I also have two beautiful daughters ages 8 and 4. I grew up attending church with my family, and I gave my heart to the Lord when I was five. I remember crying tears of joy and being so happy after I gave my heart to Him. At that time I would have never thought my life would have taken the twists and turns it did.
I drifted in my walk with God as the years went on. In my early teens years, I was looking “to fit in” and for acceptance. I got hooked on drugs and alcohol around the age of 13 and that continued for many years. I also got involved in many criminal activities, mainly trafficking drugs. I was incarcerated many times over the years. I managed to get through Concrete Tech. college and get a good job in 2013, but my drug addiction continued and kept progressing.
As I’m going through all this, I’m having God encounters, and having people witness to me. I remember having thoughts and dreams of ministering to troubled teens and addicts, even while I was in the chains of addiction. In 2016, God started removing those chains and helping me on my journey. God put a mentor Pastor in my life that brought me back to Christ. I started praying regularly, getting in the Word, going to Church and surrounded myself with Godly men. As I’m getting in the Word, God starts revealing things to me that I never understood in the Bible. As I’m connecting more and developing a relationship with God, I began cutting sin out of my life.
Today, I’m over two years clean and sober from all drugs and alcohol. I feel called to ministry and to receive sober ministry training. I’ve had a fire lit in me to reach out and share my testimony at local churches. And to encourage and minister to others. My ministry dream is to lead addicts and troubled youth to the Lord, as well as help families. And for God to use me whenever and where ever for his Glory.
I have a strong desire to get a deeper understanding of the Word and pursue ministry. A scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute is important to me for a variety of reasons. The two most important are: strengthing my own walk with God and being able to change the world by ministering to others. You can pray that God continues to work in me so I can produce good fruit for the Lord through my ministry.
Learn about ordained minister study programs at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Ministry Call Training
I am Diane Wolfe and I am receiving my ministry call training at Christian Leaders Institute. I was born and have lived in the United States all my life. It is a country where opportunity is available at every corner, yet still so many are hurting and do not know God. Rick Warren once said in one of his books, “Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.” I believe that statement to be true, so I will share my story here.
I grew up in the church, but I didn’t really know Jesus until much later in my life. I knew the Bible, hymns, and songs about Jesus, Christian and church doctrine, and I even accepted Christ into my life in my teens, but I didn’t have a relationship with Christ until about five years ago when my life completely derailed. Through my own actions, I was arrested, lost my job, lost my nursing license, and lost my purpose for living. In those darkest hours of my life, I wondered how I could have possibly gotten to that place in my life. Through much soul-searching and prayer, I realized I lacked the one thing that truly mattered…a relationship with Christ. My entire life, I knew there was something missing. Others had it. I searched for it everywhere, but it seemed elusive. You may wonder how a person who grew up in the church, accepted Christ as their Savior and knew the Bible could possibly be in that state, but I was, and I wasn’t alone. There are so many “Christians” running around frantically looking for that missing link…a relationship with Christ.
Out of my deepest hurt, my ministry dream was born…to reach a world of hurting people who are searching for the missing link. Not just to become “saved,” though that is the most important step in beginning the journey; but to truly have a relationship with their Savior. Intertwined in the core desire to reach a hurting world is to also reach out through medical missions to bring physical and emotional healing through medicine and prayer to those in areas where medical care is lacking.
The Getting Started class at Christian Leaders Institute has strengthened my walk with God through the affirmation and belief that only in truly having a relationship with Christ can one grow and bloom in their Christian walk. In order to have a relationship with Christ, there must be time and devotion and prayer spent with the Father. It doesn’t just miraculously happen when we are saved. It is a relationship that, like any other, in order to be healthy and to grow, needs to be cultivated.
If I had to choose which word in ministry resonates with me, I would have to say, Pastor, because it means to care for and teach the flock. My heart is to take care of people and my ministry is to care for people and teach people how to walk with God, so I believe Pastor would be the word that describes what I believe to be my calling, though that may change as I progress through the CLI ministry call training program.
Through achieving my degrees in nursing and as a family nurse practitioner, I have accumulated a lot of debt in student loans that will take the rest of my life to pay off. I believe it is vitally important to have a strong knowledge of the Bible and ministry to be able to effectively lead and teach others about the Bible and Christ. The scholarship at CLI will allow me the opportunity to study more about the Bible and ministry, and to become an effective Christian leader. Without the scholarship, I would not be able to pursue this opportunity. I am so unbelievably grateful that this opportunity does exist and that the Lord led me to it so that I am able to fulfill His mission placed within me.
I ask for prayer that God would equip me for this ministry call training journey that He has called me to and provide me with a clear vision of where I am supposed to go. Also for the perseverance and strength to follow his calling.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
