Pastor Journey
My name is Reggie Smith and I am on a pastor journey. I reside in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was born and raised in Michigan but moved to Las Vegas 10 years ago. Las Vegas has been labeled “sin city,” due to the fact that there are so many opportunities to indulge in any type of vice that the flesh may desire. I feel like God has led me to this city for a reason. It’s not a coincidence. I grew up my whole life in the church, and have a family full of ministers of the gospel.
On my pastor journey, I encountered the real presence of the Lord at age 14. I went to a carnival with my cousins, and upon return, everything was turning cloudy. Soon after that, I started to experience excruciating pain in both eyes. My mother rushed me to the hospital where they told me I had two burnt corneas and would probably never see again. They could not explain how this could have occurred. The doctors did what they could and sent me home with patches on both eyes. I was still experiencing debilitating pain. My mom didn’t know what to do. The one thing that she did know was that we needed the Lord. She called my aunt who was the strongest prayer warrior that we knew. When my aunt arrived, I could hear her coming from a great distance, since my hearing was more intense due to my loss of sight. When she arrived in the room, the first thing she said was, “God is going to heal you!” She immediately started praying in tongues, and after a short while, the pain stopped. I took the bandage off of my right eye and it was healed! The left eye had not quite healed yet but was completely healed soon after that. The doctors could not explain it, but I could. It was my first encounter with the miracles of God.
My dream is to bring the world to have a relationship with the Lord. To know who He is, and what He is about. Taking this class with Christian Leaders Institute has introduced me to new thought processes and practices that will increase my personal relationship with God and help to continue the process of revival in God. I learned many different ways of how we can interact with God and bring others to know Him as well. I feel it is very important to not only know the scriptures but to know the background behind them. I feel it very important to have formal training to prepare yourself for the storms that will rise up against you. The more prepared you are, the better equipped you are, the better chance for a victory.
There are many callings that the Bible tells us about, but the calling that I identify the most with would probably be Pastor. I say this because I have had God called me as a child, and it has been confirmed by many in my life. The Pastor is the overseer of the flock, the leader of a congregation. I have owned several businesses and been a leader of my sports teams in high school and college. I feel that all of these scenarios on my pastor journey prepared me to be a leader of men and women. It is a huge responsibility and one that I take very seriously. I guess that fear of failing God has caused me to delay in what I am destined to do. I know it is not an excuse, but it is the truth.
I had strayed away from the things of God for a while and He told me one of my friends was going to die, and I needed to change my ways or the same could happen to me. Less than a week later, one of my close friends was found dead on the steps of a church, from natural causes and he was only 25 years old. He was not a spiritual person so it was very controversial why he was on the steps of the church. I knew at that time that I had to go back to my first love which is Christ.
I would love to receive a scholarship to CLI to pursue my dream in this pastor journey of getting a degree and learning more about becoming a true man of God and leading others to Christ. I want to understand the meaning of the scriptures and a deeper knowledge of Christ and how I can be used as a vessel to bring Christ to the people. Understanding and knowledge are some of the most powerful tools that we can ever have. I desire to be in the place that God would have me to be a vessel that He can use.
I still have things in my life that I am overcoming. I ask for prayer to give me the strength to keep moving in the right direction and not fall into the temptation of the works of the world. I want to walk and live the will of God, and be an example to others and lead them to know Christ Jesus. I know that the greater the calling the bigger the test, and I just want to be well prepared for any test that I may encounter.
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Evangelist Crusader
My name is Olivia Dunaway and I am called to be an evangelist crusader for my Lord Jesus. I was born in a small town in South Alabama which makes me a native of the United States of America. I am one of six children, the second from the youngest. I grew up in a church environment. My father was an evangelist who planted churches worldwide. My mother, an English teacher, was a devout Christain and an amazing role model. She implanted the Scriptures into my memory from a very early age. I spent the majority of my childhood in foreign countries. My father built churches in China, Guam, Kazakhstan, and all but one of the Central American countries. In ’87 and ’88 I attended language school in Mexico City. My time spent in the fields of missions left a deep and lasting imprint on my soul.
As I grew into my teens, I became very embittered with the rigors of the church. I began searching for an escape. I found it in the form of marriage. The period that followed was very dark. I turned to drugs, began dabbling in the occult, trying God in every way imaginable, and grieving my parents. I was on a one-way track to hell. Finally, in 2001, it all came to a head. I witnessed the violent deaths of several of my ‘close friends’ over a period of just a few months. One would have thought this would have been enough to get my attention, sadly, it wasn’t. So God took one more step to reach me. August 8, 2001, I suffered a traumatic overdose. I had sense enough to know I was dying. As I began to fade out, I heard my mother’s voice; “When you hit rock bottom, there is only one way to look, Up.” Four days later, I woke up in ICU, tubes everywhere. My mother’s voice continued to haunt me. Scripture after Scripture pounded my brain. And for the first time in nearly 15 years, I looked up. Possessed by demons, wrecked by drugs, dirty and ashamed, I went searching for a church and pastor who would help me. In a span of two years, I sought out many pastors, but all turned me away, saying they could not help me. I was too ashamed to find my parents.
I was at the end of my rope. I began to entertain the idea of suicide. In desperation, l began screaming at God, “If you are real, prove it.” Doesn’t God just love these challenges? He answered me by putting a man I would later marry in my path. The first thing this man said to me was, “I know someone who can help you.” He took me to his pastor, Mike Ritzman, who in turn led me right to the feet of Jesus. I finally came to the full reality of John 14:6, “No man cometh to the Father but by Me (Jesus)” not the local church or any pastor. And John 4 “Whosoever drinketh of the water I (Jesus) shall give him, shall never thirst again.” March 17, 2007, I fell on my face before Almighty God and accepted all He had to offer. I was baptized in a special ceremony for me on Easter 2007. Since then, I have never wavered in knowing who is Lord of my life.
The man I married is Danny Dunaway. We will celebrate our eleventh year in December. We have raised three fine boys, two of whom have special needs. In 2008, I received a dual vision via a couple of dreams. One, which had not been fully revealed, is for a later time. The other would be fulfilled almost immediately. God placed my husband and me in Grandview, Tn. In Oct. 2008, Travellers Rest Refuge and Outreach opened its doors. For six years, God provided for and sustained this ministry which provided relief to families in crisis. During this time, I took every course available in Psychology, Christian and Pastoral Counseling. I hold two non-accredited ThD’s in Religious Ed and Pastoral Counseling, as well as the degrees leading up to them.
In 2012, my husband and I felt led to sponsor an evangelist crusader rally in Spring City, Tn. Bread Upon the Water kicked off Oct. 20, 2012. We hired several bands and gave away over 2100 plates of hot dogs, hamburgers and all the trimmings. We funded this venture out of our own pockets, and God supplied. We saw nearly 1,000 people pass through that day. It was at this rally that God began to show me the fulfillment of the second vision. We met the pastor and founder of Freedom Tribe Ministries. Since then, I have come to serve as worship leader, youth pastor, and women’s chaplain there.
My call for the future has led me to Christian Leaders Institute. My evangelist crusader call first has to do with reaching out to incarcerated mothers. Teshuva’s Place will serve as a ministry acting as a liaison between these mothers and their children. Overall, the goal will be to provide legal aid, psychological and spiritual counseling, drug rehabilitation, visitation or point of contact with their children, and assistance with reestablishment into their families and communities. This is to be provided through shelter, assistance with vocational training, group support, and Biblical studies. My local church has been very supportive of this vision.
Back in 2012, when I was in line for my licensing and ordination, I took some time in prayer and devotion to consider the title I would be called. After much consideration, I chose evangelist. One of the definitions given for this title is a crusader. I feel an evangelist crusader is a simple way of summing up my role as a minister. Because I am a loud, gung-ho, excited preacher. Just the mention of Jesus’ name sets me on a roll. Everywhere I go I like to sing His praise and proclaim His Glory. For I know that the Creator of the Universe, the King of Glory, walked to the very gates of hell just to pull little, insignificant me back to Him!
I am hoping with a scholarship to CLI I will have the opportunity to apply what I have learned, as well as learning new things, in the process of establishing credentials. I am hoping this will open the doors for credible ordination. The evangelist crusader ministry I am being led into will require much credibility. I understand the road ahead will be a major undertaking, but I know Who holds the future. God will open the doors necessary to facilitate this vision. His Word promises that in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.
I covet the prayers of all reading these words. That I will keep my armor on, that I will keep my focus on Jesus at all times and be uninfluenced by the cares of this world. Also, pray for the health of my family as well as the ministry I am currently serving.
Learn about local “ecuministry” ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Evangelist Pastor
My name is Jay T. McCaughtry. I live in the United States of America and I feel called to be an evangelist pastor. There are many challenges we face ministering here in the United States today, but I thank God to be alive here in this time. Although there are many difficulties to be faced and mounting opposition to our cause, I still believe there is great hope here.
When I look back on how I came to know the Lord, I realize how I was so unaware and yet so very blessed. I knew and had a loving relationship with Jesus from my earliest memories. For most of my life, I thought this was how everyone experienced Jesus. I did not know that this is the spiritual gift of discernment until I was told so a couple of years ago by a close friend and mentor who serves as assistant pastor at my church. I was telling him about knowing and loving Jesus at a young age “like we all do” (or so I thought) before falling away in my teen years. I did not even know that such a gift existed. I grew up in a church that did not teach about spiritual gifts.
My goals in ministry are: 1.) To seek out and serve the lost, the hopeless, and the fallen in my community and anywhere else God wills me to go. 2.) To help bring unity to this community and the churches that serve it. 3) To minister to the needs of the homeless so they will know their lives matter, they are loved and someone still believes in them. 4.) To be a mentor to tomorrow’s Christian leaders today and help them build a good foundation for their ministries.
I have really enjoyed the Bible connection class. It has reaffirmed my calling and given me some good tools to strengthen my walk with God and help my wife and family in their individual walks with the Lord and our family walk with God.
I identify most with the term evangelist pastor. I identify with evangelist because I love to share the Good News with others and look for opportunities to do just that everyday and everywhere I go. I identify with the term pastor because I minister to my brothers and sisters in Christ every day, young and old. I love helping them better understand the Word and how they can apply that understanding to their walk with Jesus. I love encouraging, comforting and praying for them. My greatest joy in life is to share the love God has put in my heart with others and to see His love grow in them and produce fruit for our Lord.
I would have to say the moment I knew I must become an evangelist pastor came earlier this year when I was in physical therapy after neck surgery. I walked into the therapist’s office one day and the receptionist was doing some work for a sociology class she was taking. She asked me a question that she had been asking people coming into the office all day, “If you could have any job besides the one you have now and were guaranteed success, what would it be?” I answered without even thinking. “Minister, I would spend my time adding to God’s kingdom.” She went over to a dry erase board where she had been writing people’s answers all day and wrote my answer down. The board had answers like “accountant “, “bank robber “, “lottery winner”, and the like written on one side of the board. Written on the other side of the board away from all the other answers, in a different colored dry marker, was the word “minister.” That’s the day I knew that I must become a minister.
There are several major challenges that the Kingdom is experiencing in the United States at this time. Every week roughly 700 churches in the United States are closing their doors. In a recent poll of the millennial generation, 50% have claimed “none” as their religious beliefs. There is a lot of hopelessness and unrest in our country. Many are of the opinion that this is the post-Christian era in the US. If there was ever a time revival was desperately needed in this country, it is now.
I believe the most important part of every day is the time I get to spend in God’s Word. The Bible encourages me, guides me, instructs me, inspires me, brings me wisdom and comforts me. The Holy Spirit leads me to deeper understanding every time I re-read through a book, chapter or verse of scripture. God’s Word transforms me daily.
My local church is a wonderful place. As I have been moving forward in my calling and training, I am mentored by two of our pastors. I have been blessed with some leadership roles to give me experience and help me grow while I help, encourage, mentor and disciple others.
I am blessed to be able to say that my wife and family support me in my mission. The time we spend studying, praying, and worshipping together is priceless to me. We grow closer with each other as we grow closer to the Lord together.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to have a scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute. Without a scholarship, training to be an evangelist pastor would only be a dream for me at this time. My family is on a tight budget. If you would like to pray for me, I would definitely appreciate it. I would ask you to pray for encouragement and resources to undergird my works spiritually and financially and to give me comfort for my painful spinal issues. May God bless you in all that you do!
Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.