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.
Ministry Woman Story
I am Laura Terrazas. I am so grateful to Christian Leaders Institute for this scholarship for free ministry training online. I have been serving and walking with the Lord for several years now, and have found myself in constant women’s ministry roles. I have also been leading several studies and I started a homeless ministry a few years ago. My church is so amazing and has been very supportive in my ministries. My church has also been formative in my ministry woman story. Because I work with women so much, I felt that getting ordained and receiving an education was definitely what the Lord was calling me to do.
I grew up in a family that was fractured and torn apart from the start. So in adulthood, I have had to overcome many challenges in my life including a very low opinion of myself. But through finding my identity in Christ alone, I have grown immensely. I sometimes still doubt my abilities, but I have to always remind myself that I can do nothing without Him and that all things are through Him. As I share my ministry woman story, I never in a million years thought I would lead a homeless ministry, teach and mentor other women, or be of any real use to God in this life. Completing my education at Christian Leaders Institute has been invaluable to me. It has also been a blessing in my ministries. I have grown very much in the past year of taking class by class. I am truly impressed by the teachers, the assignments, and the classes, and I feel far better equipped to do what the Lord has called me to do. Thank you so much, Christian Leaders Institute!
To learn more about Minister Ordination and Local Ecuministry Ordination, check out Christian Leaders Alliance.
Ministry Preparation Journey
My name is Reginal Merisier. I was born 0n the beautiful island of Haiti in the Caribbean. In 1992 my parents made the difficult decision of boarding our family of eight on a raft so we could make the pilgrimage to America to escape the ongoing violence in Haiti due to the coup of the then President Aristide. After being picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard, we spent four months in a refugee camp on the island of Guantanamo before we were given political exile status to enter into America. I currently live in West Palm Beach, FL where I’ve spent most of my life. I work as a chef while my wife and I raise our son and daughter. In 2012, my father, who has always been a minister of the Word of God, received a prophecy to plant a church in West Palm Beach where I am currently serving God as part of my ministry preparation journey as the youth counselor, an organizer, and a worship leader.
Working in ministry was not always what I wanted to do with my life. While growing up, my dream was to play professional soccer in Europe. After a horrible injury caused me to have surgery on my knee, my career was cut short and I felt lost. I started partying and hanging around the wrong people. Being the parents that they are, my mother and father prayed for my deliverance from that worldly chain that had enslaved me. I am extremely grateful to them because it is their love and faith that ripped me from the devil’s hold.
I’ve made the conscious decision to minister and begin my ministry preparation journey because I want to have a greater relationship with the Lord and I want to make a difference in this world by bringing people to know Christ. I honestly don’t know what God has planned for me in ministry, but I have a great hunger to please him so I am training and putting myself in position for what is to come. For as long as I’ve lived, my father has been a disciple of Christ. He is my mentor and an example for me to pick up the banner and continue with it so the next generation could know the one true God.
I am very grateful for Christian Leaders Institute because they have provided an opportunity for someone like me who comes from a poor country and a poor family to be able to get the proper education despite my financial shortcomings. A degree from CLI will allow me to help my community with proper training and knowledge to succeed in ministry.
Check out minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.