Youth Ministry Dream
My name is Angela from the United States, and I reside in Virginia. I have a youth ministry dream because as a child I grew up in a home where there were drugs and partying. As a teenager, I went to church and learned who God was. But as I got older, I started following the crowd which in turn led me away from God and to a life of drugs. As I got deeper and deeper into drugs, I was finding it harder and harder to walk away. I started losing everything I had. That is when I knew that I could not get out on my own. I cried out to God to help me and from then I turned my life back over to God.
As I gave my life back to God, I started working with the youth at my church as a way to realize my youth ministry dream. The more I worked with the children the more my heart’s desire was to teach them that there was more to life than what this world offers. We as a nation have so much to offer young adults and teenagers as a quick self-help that makes fixing problems on their own easier. Our youth are turning more and more to the ways of the world because the world promises a quick fix to everything, in turn, making it challenging for youth ministry. This is because we have to show our youth that what they see as a quick fix is only temporary and that the only way to truly be set free is through Christ alone. My youth ministry dream is to teach children that God is the answer to all that life has to throw at them. I want to lead children to Christ and show them through my example what true love in Christ is. Then when they go out into the world, they will be equipped to handle the storms of life.
Through these first classes, I have come to look more at my life and relationship with God. I look at the way I live and see if it’s pleasing to God. By reading the Bible more, it has brought transformation into my life because it has shown me how to grow in Christ. It has shown me how to change from the inside out.
I have a great support team with my pastors, church family, and family. My pastors are always there encouraging me to do better. They support me in pursuing my youth ministry dream at Christian Leaders Institute. They are always there when I need to talk or need help. My church family has been a big support by helping me in my ministry when needed. My husband is always encouraging me to keep going and not give up.
My heart’s desire is to be a better youth leader and a scholarship would give me a chance to take leadership classes that otherwise I would not be able to do. My prayer is that I will stay in God’s will in all I do and be the example that the youth need to live a Christ-like life.
To learn about Minister Ordination check out Christian Leaders Alliance.
Revival Pastor Dream
My name is Joshua Lawrence. I am from Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. I am involved in my local church and the youngest Gideon member in my district. Our church just finished transitioning to a new pastor who is only 32, I myself am 22 and have a revival pastor dream. In my youth, I attended church with my family until the age of twelve or so. We as a family stopped attending because of some political drama going on. I didn’t understand at the time but I wasn’t too upset.
The ministry I’m involved in as part of my revival pastor dream is talking to my friends about God and the things He has done for me. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol for about five years but God helped me out of it. I loved to party and I have a lot of friends who know how much I loved to party, so when my friends see the change in me, some of them know there’s more to it than a mere decision to just quit everything. Lots of my friends or co-workers ask me questions about God. My best friend since second grade used to be an atheist. After I rededicated my life to God this past winter (I was saved as a pre-teen), Dave got curious and began coming to church with me. Dave got saved a month later. Before Dave got saved I was praying to God if I could help bring but one person to the Lord, it would be worth it, but then I would know what I was meant to follow my revival pastor dream. Dave getting saved and converting from atheism just brought this feeling of joy I had never felt before.
I would identify most with the word pastor because that is part of my revival pastor dream. My dream is to be a pastor in the church I grew up in eventually, but I would love to start as a youth/young adult pastor and speak to people close to my age. The Christian Leaders Connection and Christian Basics classes have helped to show me I have a long way to go in terms of how much time I set aside for devotions. Also, I realize that there will be challenges for me to keep devotions going when I have a family. I have a wife named Amanda (we were married July 1st of this year), and she is also a Christian. She is a huge blessing on my life because I always had this weird notion that I would have to leave town, clean up, and find myself a good Christian woman. But, by God’s grace, it happened right in my hometown.
One of the key challenges in my area is the total lack of young people in the church I am at. But at the same time, I think that is an opportunity to bring the young people in with God’s help. The Bible has transformed my life in that it has shown me you can read the same passage ten times and find yourself getting something a little different out of it each time. It has shown me that what I used to think was outdated is actually totally accurate even thousands of years later. One lady at my church knows I want to be a pastor and two Sundays ago she brought me a handwritten 15-page letter full of testimonies and cool stories from other pastors around North America. I loved reading it and was also touched by how she took the time to write that for me. The pastor in my church has expressed interest in me participating in the worship as well as with the youth!
My family used to be very involved in the church. We left the church, my parents eventually split, and neither one can talk about God very openly, I see a lot of pain. My hope is one day they can return and see their son, who used to be a drug addled alcoholic, preaching the good news, and receive it with soft hearts. My grandfather is a man of great faith who is always helping out at the church and who I turn to for just about anything I need advice on. I love him so much and he is the greatest earthly mentor I have ever had and I believe will ever have. Christian Leaders Institute is important for my dream because I could not afford to go to school right now, so this free education is key! Please pray that I grow in grace and that my connection with our heavenly Father continues to grow. Pray that I do not give up on my revival pastor dream. Thank you so much!
Learn about local ecuministry ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.