Youth Leader Training
Join today and receive a scholarship towards pursuing youth leader training and becoming a leader in Christian ministry. Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) offers free high-quality online ministry training. CLI accepts any individual anywhere in their life to learn about Christianity. Read a student’s testimony below who found CLI and is using the scholarship for pursuing youth leader training to spread the word of God.
I am living in the country of nomads, called Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country, which is used to be part of Soviet Union. Doing ministry in northern cities of the country tend to be easier because people there tend to be more tolerant and secular. Whereas in the southern and the central parts it is more difficult because people tend to hold to nationalistic Kyrgyz and Muslim traditions. Especially it is more challenging in village areas to do ministry because people do not like western, foreign ideas, or Russian god Jesus. Ministry workers might get persecuted physically and abused verbally. It is the pure grace of God that I got know about Jesus from my early childhood because a majority of our 6 million population still do not know about salvation and life that Jesus brought to humanity. I was about 3 years old when my father left our family. During my mom’s depressing and hopeless time she got to know Jesus through her group made and made the decision to follow Him. Since then my sister and I grew up seeing my mom pastor our home church, actively share the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. She made sure that we prayed, read the Bible daily, cited and memorized the Scriptures. All of that together impacted my faith formation in the Lord Jesus.
It is the pure grace of God that I got know about Jesus from my early childhood because the majority of our 6 million population still do not know about salvation and life that Jesus brought to humanity. I was about 3 years old when my father left our family. During my mom’s depressing and hopeless time she got to know Jesus through her group made and made the decision to follow Him. Since then my sister and I grew up seeing my mom pastor our home church, actively share the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. She made sure that we prayed, read the Bible daily, cited and memorized the Scriptures. All of that together impacted my faith formation in the Lord Jesus.
My ministry dream is to see Kyrgyzstan become this hub for mission workers to be sent to other Central Asian and post-Soviet Union countries. I see that Kyrgyzstan has more than 80 ethnic groups which can easily fit in to all other tribal, language and cultural groups in our region. I would like to be focused especially in discipling young men that is why I am currently working in a Christian non-profit organisation Network 20 International which has that mission.
This class affirmed me to continue strengthening my number one connection first, which is with the LORD. From there I seek working in the other six connections. Such lessons were good reminders and affirmations in my faith journey.
I identify with the word youth leader the most because God has instilled passion in me for young men to come to know the Lord closer and follow Him radically like the first apostles did. I am seeking youth leader training.
I remember a student conference that I took part in. It was in summer 2014. One of the speakers, Richard Lamb, challenged university students to abandon everything like the disciples did and follow Jesus. He gave the example of the rich young man who loved his riches more than Jesus. Who do I want to be like, like Peter and the disciples or like this rich young man? In that passage Jesus says that whoever leaves his family, field, house, and such will receive hundred times more in this age and in the age to come they will receive the eternal life, which I believe is Jesus Himself. So that experience had a big impact on my commitment to truly follow Jesus our Lord.
Unique challenges in my geographic area might be the stereotypical perception of our people about their identity. Majority think that if they are born Kyrgyz then they are Muslim, if you are born Russian then you are Christian. You cannot choose your faith, you are born with it. Second, those who want to follow Jesus can be threatened by such statements like, “If you become a Christian than your grave will not be buried among Muslim people”. We might think this is not a big deal, why care about your grave? The problem is our people tend to care so much about what other people would think that they might never end up making their own choices. So to sum up, the spirit of Islam, the spirit of stupidity, and the spirit of mass thinking are the enemies of the gospel to break through their hearts.
One of the key things what the Bible does is that it reveals the heart of our LORD God. His heart is that we are called to be His sons and daughters. I am called to be His son like Jesus is the Son. This is one of the greatest truth in the Bible. This truth was clearly revealed to me in November, the year 2013. Since then my identity as His child continued to grow in my understanding and experience. Now I continue to understand that I should daily abide in Jesus, be filled with the Spirit and live as a son of the Father. Out of this identity I am called to serve Him and advance His kingdom.I have two local churches that I belong to, one is located in our capital city Bishkek and the other is in east of the country [Karakol city] where I have been serving the LORD through a student and young men’s ministry. My church in Bishkek supported me financially and one of our pastors met with me and encouraged me like Barnabas did. My Karakol church was also a big encouragement for me, especially I really treasure one on one conversations with my pastor there. He has been serving me as my mentor. I praise God for him.
I have two local churches that I belong to, one is located in our capital city Bishkek and the other is in the east of the country [Karakol city] where I have been serving the LORD through a student and young men’s ministry. My church in Bishkek supported me financially and one of our pastors met with me and encouraged me like Barnabas did. My Karakol church was also a big encouragement for me, especially I really treasure one on one conversations with my pastor there. He has been serving me as my mentor. I praise God for him.
My family’s role in the ministry was mostly their constant prayers at the church and one on one conversations with my mom. I consider her still as my strongest adviser and one of my best friends.
This scholarship allows me to study, to learn more about God’s wisdom and to get connected with other like-minded brothers and sisters in the Lord. I would be so grateful for a scholarship for youth leader training.
Please pray that God will show me clearly now which city to choose as my next mission area. I am currently in between choosing Karakol where I have been serving already for two years or to go to Naryn where there is a big need for the church to grow. I am determined to bring my youth leader training to whichever city God leads me to.
Check out more stories about CLI students pursuing youth leader training and becoming leaders in Christian ministry and much more on the CLI Facebook page
Officiant Ministry Training
Join today and receive a scholarship towards pursuing Officiant Ministry training and many more studies and becoming a leader in Christian ministry. Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) offers free high-quality online ministry training. CLI accepts any individual anywhere in their life to learn about Christianity. Read a student’s testimony below who found CLI and is using the scholarship to make a difference in individuals’ lives. Her officiant ministry training is allowing her to spread the word of God.
My name is Janice Henderson, I live in the United States. I accepted Christ at a young age and use to love to hear my mother tell us stories of the Bible. Our grandmother made sure we went to church every Sunday, and although I loved the Lord and enjoyed sitting at my mother’s knee listening to the Bible stories and wishing, at the age of 10, that I knew the scriptures like my grandmother, I didn’t like going to church all of the time. Little did I know that the Lord was preparing me for leadership in Christ.
I enjoy sharing the word with others, and the young people are my passion. God has made us responsible for the spiritual development of the young, and in Proverbs 22:6, we are instructed to do so. They can learn at an early age when their learning capacity is like a sponge. I have taught my 1-year-old granddaughter how to put her hands together like she’s saying her grace before she eats, and most of the time she does it on her own when she knows it’s time to eat, and if I take too long getting the food to her, she will do it again. My husband and I have 14 grandchildren and I have raised most of them in my daycare of 26 years, where I taught all the children how to pray before they eat. I truly enjoy reading Bible stories to them and although I find much joy in sharing the Word of God to people of all ages and walks of life, I know my calling is to the young.
As I look back at all of the steps the Lord brought me through, preparing me for leadership, I never thought that he would bring me to become a leader of a church. Although I am an Ordained Pastor and Officiant Minister, and although I have been a Church Secretary, Sunday School Teacher, the Adult Choir President, a Missionary, Chairperson of Women’s Day and Youth Director, for many years, I felt that it is very important to get more education in the word, and God has made this possible through CLI. It has been a blessing to me. After completing the Officiant ministry training, I really feel confident to be able to counsel young couples before they marry and during their marriage. Teaching them that a family that prays together stays together. To put God first and teach their children about the love of God.
As one of the founders of our newly planted church in 2014, I had to carry on after we lost our founding Pastor 2 months after our first worship service. A year later, we were so excited to announce our new Pastor, and he passed away one month later. There I was carrying on again. It wasn’t easy, but the Lord’s work goes on and it’s not about us. It’s not our job to understand, it’s our job to trust in the Lord with all our heart.
I thank God for CLI, I would not have been this prepared if it had not been for CLI, and although I can’t afford to pay a tuition, I am so happy to donate every month. Every one of us can afford to donate something every month, no matter how small, if everyone gives what they can, teamwork will make the dream work. After all, even though CLI’s courses are free, it still costs to run and we definitely want it to continue.
Thank you CLI. You have made many dreams come true and made it possible for
God’s word to be taught throughout the world.
Check out more stories about CLI students pursuing officiant ministry training and becoming leaders in Christian ministry and much more on the CLI Facebook page
Women’s Ministry Studies
Join today and receive a scholarship towards pursuing women’s ministry studies and becoming a leader in Christian ministry. Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) offers free high-quality online ministry training. CLI accepts any individual anywhere in their life to learn about Christianity. Read a student’s testimony below who found CLI and is using the scholarship for pursuing women’s ministry studies to spread the word of God.
My name is Swe Swe Khaing from Myanmar. I have been married to Mr. Anjay Chitrakar for more than 11 years. I am 45 years old. Currently, I am a housewife. I was a Buddhist until I was 33 years old.
Before I came to Christ, I used to live the lifestyle where I was afraid of everything. Over small or big matters, my mindset was to only think of FAILURE, because of I experienced many fails by that time. Nerves, anxious, scared, disappointed, give up… those words were the expression of my feelings and thoughts in those days.
In 2005, I went to U. A. E (United Arab Emirates) to work as a retail staff. Over there, I got to know my future husband as a friend. As I got to know him, I was able to see how he treats everyone with a nice attitude. He is so helpful, kind, positive… and so on. So, I started asking him about how can he maintain all these attitudes towards people around him. He then told me that Lord Jesus Christ, Scripture, Bible and prayer are the things that keep him moving on. I thought that was amazing. We discussed our two religions for many days whenever we had free time. Most of the time, I argued with him based on my own belief to make sure what I believed was right. He explained the difference between my beliefs and believing in Christ. A few weeks later, I realized my interest in Christianity. Praise God! Buddhist girl is touched by Jesus Christ in Arab land. About 1 year later, before our wedding, I gave my heart to Lord Jesus Christ.
My ministry goal is to reach out to those who are like me, living in fear of the world. Reaching out to the women who can’t express themselves, but need someone to speak out for their situation. Reaching out to the people who want to live righteously but don’t know the way. I am especially concerned for women and children.
I have encountered many girls and women who need help to get out of their situation. Whenever I speak to them, although I pray and ask Holy Spirit to lead me and help me before I speak, I find I still need systematic training to make this ministry more effective.
CLI is a big help for me to accomplish my passion. It has a special course for women’s ministry studies, and also CLI courses that cover many aspects of different ministries. CLI can not only help my ministry goal, but also will allow me to teach others to be in ministry as well. I will strive to help the people where language is a barrier to learn high-quality training. I hope to be a teacher to them and share the teachings from CLI with them.
I pray that may God bless CLI founder, principles, staff and generous donors.
Check out more stories about CLI students pursuing women’s ministry studies and becoming leaders in Christian ministry and much more on the CLI Facebook page