Spiritual Dream Revelation
My name is Shawn Villela and I have had a spiritual dream revelation. I currently live in Algonquin, Illinois. I am from a wonderful family of four with one older brother. I graduated Northern Illinois University in 2010 and was hired as a Youth Counselor at a Juvenile Justice Center later on that year. I always wanted to work with the youth. I am truly privileged and honored to be in a position to make an impact in these kids lives. Unfortunately, our countless attempts to change the youth’s life rarely work out. It was for this reason that I found myself at a crossroads a few years ago and wondered if this was the job for me.
My brother had told me it was a good idea to start writing down memorable moments in my life, so I did just that, but I took it a step further. Over the years, I began to compile over 200 pages of my life starting from 2011 to the present time. Little did I know that what was happening in those years was actually leading me to Jesus and my spiritual dream revelation. You see, I had always “believed” but it was never personal or applied to my life, and I didn’t read the Bible. Over those years of writing, I began to experience some of the greatest times of my life. It wasn’t that anything material was changing in my life, but rather, I was beginning to learn who I was in Jesus Christ and it shook my world. I finally gave my life to Him in March of 2014, and this was just the beginning of my spiritual dream revelation and journey. I saw that the race is there for us to endure, and slowly but surely I began to grow.
So, here I am, a man of God that is still finding his way. What led me to Christian Leaders Institute was part of that 4-year long process of writing and understanding my own life. While learning about myself, I began to try to let my family and friends know about how my life had changed, and as is the case for most people, it didn’t go over so well, except for one of my best friends. He began to apply some of the things that I had shared with him that the Lord taught me. Eventually, he was saved, and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that he asked me to officiate his wedding. I was very honored for him to ask me to perform such an esteemed task. Surely, I couldn’t say no, so I said I would do it. I began looking up what I needed to do to officiate weddings and there were so many junk websites that had nothing to do with the unity and sanctity of Jesus in their wedding officiating “programs.” It wasn’t until I stumbled upon the wonderful CLI website that I found an opportunity to learn and enrich my faith even further–in a college type setting. This was just what I wanted! The fact that it was mostly free because of faithful Christians that donated their time and money was a huge plus. This was truly where I was meant to be, because I didn’t want to just get a “certificate,” I wanted to grow.
I knew the Lord wanted me to get more involved in ministry and I just never knew how. I was trying to lead the youth and my family and friends to the Lord, but it was always on the back burner of my life and it never had much direction. Now, CLI is an avenue the Lord opened up for me and by now I am starting to see how the Lord works in my life. I jumped at the opportunity, although I must admit I didn’t know it would be this much work! Joking aside, it was just what I asked for and needed. I feel like every day I am in the position that the Lord wants me to be. I find myself growing in the Lord alongside my fiance and I couldn’t be happier.
I ask for all of your prayers as I walk the narrow path with our Lord. I pray that I am able to grow in a way that best serves our community because that is where we all must begin our fight against the enemy. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me, but I couldn’t be surer that He is the only one I want to follow, and I know, although times may get tough, in Him I have my strength.
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