Ministry Training Quest
My name is Stephanie Atkins, I am 41 years old and I am on a ministry training quest. I reside in the United States in rural Kentucky with my husband John. My parents divorced when I was five years old and my single dad acquired custody of me and we moved in with my grandparents. My mother chose Florida and I didn’t see her again till I was 10 years old. My daddy saw to it that I went to church every Sunday as a child even though he didn’t go with me. I walked to the altar of Crestwood Baptist Church when I was 11 years old as the church sang the chorus, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” I somehow knew the rollercoaster that was about to become my life was going to take the first of many tragic turns. If I was going to have any hope of making it, I needed the saving grace of the Almighty.
First, I lost my paternal grandfather when I was only 12 and I was in the house when they found him two days after Thanksgiving in 1989. I married when I was in high school at 17 when my mother came back from Florida and decided to make me marry. I did but we lost our beautiful little angel girl, Aleen Nicole, in the beginning of my fifth month. After the loss of my child, my husband became abusive physically, mentally and every other way imaginable until I had no choice but to die at his hand or leave. In the year 2000, my father suddenly died in June. Two months after the death of my father, we found out my mother was terminally ill with bone, lung and kidney cancer. In November, my 92-year-old grandmother that raised me after the divorce went to be with Jesus, and in January of 2001 only two months after her passing, my mother lost her battle with cancer. Before she left this earth, however, I got to hear her say the sinner’s prayer and was saved on her death bed. I lost all of my family in a matter of 7 months time, and I felt lost. Little did I realize that their poor life choices took them from me, and God had different plans for a ministry training quest in my life.
My ministry dream, and what fuels my ministry training quest, is to help as many suffering souls as possible. The bereaved, down trodden, grief struck, and also those who are happy and have found God’s abundance in the form of the love of their life. I desire to preserve the sanctity of marriage the way God created it. I want to hold hands with those who are lost in the vast abyss of the great gulf of grief. By sharing my faith and testimony, maybe God will entrust me to lead a precious soul to the knowledge and peace of a loving, comforting, forgiving God.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the getting started class here at CLI as I pursue my ministry training quest. It has opened my eyes to the spiritual vision, dreams and walks of others in ministry. I would venture to say small groups are my forte for ministry. I like being able to give as much individualized, spiritually grounded attention as possible to those in need. My recent wedding was a defining moment of “I want to perform weddings and funerals.” I want to provide sound Godly counsel and give couples a straight path based on the Word of God on which to plant their married feet.
While encouragers and mentors for my ministry training quest are few, I do have the support of Jesus and an amazing husband who is 31 years my senior. This scholarship couldn’t have come at a better time. Now I can do God’s will and purpose for my life with the proper education in my ministry training quest. I feel like I might finally be able to make a difference in this world for Christ. Please pray that God will give me the words to speak to those who struggle so that God is glorified. I have recently started a grief support group in my area. All of this for God’s Glory that He be ultimately magnified and exalted.
Check out Christian Leaders Alliance to learn more about Ministry Ordination.
Ministry Dream Journey
My name is Josh McMillen. I live with my wife, son, and daughter in Missouri, in the United States. Right now, I am the youth leader in my church. I have been given a ministry dream journey as I am called to be a pastor. At 15 years old, I attended a play called “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames”. I went several times, but the last time was one I will always remember. I felt the Holy Spirit call me to the front and I prayed that my heart would be opened to Him. I got off the path as I got older, but my family helped me to return to church. They have since encouraged me in this ministry dream journey toward leading a ministry and encouraged me as I received my calling.
Although my ministry dream journey has been full of positives, some challenges we face are getting youth to and from church, bringing family members to church, and getting some family members to accept my calling. It is God’s calling to pursue the ministry and the ones who know about it have been nothing but supportive and encouraging. Only a few in my church know right now, but the ones who do know have encouraged me to speak more in front of the church and they respect me as a leader in general. I started as a youth leader, where I am now, and can’t wait to continue on this ministry dream journey toward becoming a full pastor. As far as my youth group goes, they are like sponges and take what I teach and use it in real-world experiences. I am excited to see that they use Jesus Christ as their leader in everyday life and witness to others through him.
With the help of these classes, following with the assignments has helped me to follow a plan in my Bible. It helps me further my knowledge in those areas as well as studying in other chapters and gaining insight. These classes have helped me develop my ministry dream which would be to one day become a pastor at a church and be able to share the Lord Jesus with the lost people I come across. It is also my dream to help people further their knowledge of the Lord and the Bible and to help them fulfill their mission for God. The financial help from the scholarship available would be a blessing for my family to pursue this dream and allow me to further my knowledge in the areas I lack. I welcome any and all prayers for my ministry dream journey from here on out, including prayers for strength and guidance through the Lord to lead me along the path He wants me to be on. I pray the same for all of you as you pursue your ministry dream journey.
Check out Minister Ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.
Mercy Minister
My name is Anita Dries and I reside in the U.S.A. I am currently an optician, a mother of two wonderful adult children and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren. I have been saved and have known the Lord since I was eight years old. Through a series of events in my life, I walked away from the Lord for a while. But in October 2015, I lost someone in my family and she was a huge Christian influence in my life. That loss impacted me and my relationship with God significantly. One night, I fell to my knees and cried out to the Lord for forgiveness. I found a church and I started putting more and more into God’s Word and prayer. May of 2016, God put a call on my heart and I was baptized by full submersion. It didn’t end there. My relationship with God grew closer, and He has shown me that it’s not just reading his Word that brings victory but applying it to my everyday life and in everything I do. I put all my trust in God and waited with expectancy for His guidance, and He put a call on my heart to ministry as a mercy minister.
Over the past couple of years, my family has lost many family members to death, including a grandchild that passed away at birth. But God is so faithful. He has never forsaken me and will never forsake me. In answer to my cries of, “Why God? Why??!!”, He so sweetly leads me to his Word for comfort and lets me know He is in control. In that, I know in my heart and my soul that He is there for me and I need only to be obedient, trust Him and live for Him.
I am always asking God how I can be a blessing to someone else and ministry as a mercy minister is my answer. I seek to minister to Hospice patients, shut-ins and those who are grieving. However, I will minister wherever and to whoever the Lord leads me.
As a single woman with a single income, Christian Leaders Institute is a huge blessing. Just in the “Getting Started Classes”, I have received more Biblical and doctrinal knowledge. I am able to dig deeper and continue to feed my hunger and thirst for God’s word. My Pastor was thrilled and very supportive to hear of my answer to God’s call to ministry. Thank you, CLI, and to all that make this educational journey possible. God bless you all!
Check out Christian Leaders Alliance on ecuministry ordination.