Christian Education Minister Training
Christian Education Minister Training – Greetings from Hong Kong!!! My name is Ailin Iwan, I am a naturalized American who moved to Hong Kong in 2012 to pursue a Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary of architecture and education, focusing on the Green School research. I am married to a local Hong Kong resident, Kenneth K.Y. Poon, in early 2015. We met in the United States when we both were still freshman in College and develop a long-term friendship before we started to date with each other in 2009. My husband is also a Christian and he is currently taking Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) courses. I recently completed my doctoral degree in December 2016 from the University of Hong Kong. I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and migrated to the United States after high-school and pursued my higher education there: Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and minors in Business and City Planning from University of California Berkeley and Master of Arts specialized in Global Citizenship Education from San Francisco State University. I was working professionally as a Project Director of a Shopping Mall development in Fremont in which I translated the biblical theme to design (Body – Architecture; Mind – Landscaping; and Spirit – Lighting). I often believe that the Lord gives me talents in “developments” whether they are architectural projects, writings, or putting together events. I left the built environment industry due to unethical behaviors of some colleagues while at the same time I was contemplating a lot about the meaning of life. I often asked myself whether a good building design can be a solution to humanity’s problem? I found that designing a nice environment can only partially helping the community, but at the bottom line is always people’s problem. I taught children in several different preschools for several years, while pursuing a master degree in education as an effort to understand the root of societal problem. I learned that the early years to be important to form people’s perception in life and I feel the calling to continue in this path not only based on personal interest, but mostly based on a vision that I receive from the Lord.
I started to believe in Jesus Christ when I was in preschool at the age of 4, even though my parents and many of my paternal family members are Buddhist. It was through school that I learn about Christianity and about Jesus Christ who came to save our spirits and to restore our relationship with God. I was Baptist in a Catholic Church in 1997 in Indonesia and I undergone an immersion Baptism in a Christian Church in 2013 in Hong Kong. In my mid-twenty at the peak of my career in architecture, I received a spiritual dream of Jesus hugged me very warmly and the scenery behind us was a huge school that is white in colour. Ever since I received that dream, I feel that God has shown me the mission that I have to fulfill in my life-time that is to build Christian Schools for Him. I need Christian Education Minister Training at CLI. Initially, I was interpreting this dream naively from the lens of my architecture background, I literally thought that I have to construct school buildings and I needed to learn more about the business aspects of it. Slowly but surely, the Lord guides me through giving me opportunities to complete my masters in educational field and a Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary of architecture and education. Apparently, there is more than the business side of building a school but there is the pedagogical, curriculum, teachers’ quality, classroom design, and so much more to consider. It has been more than 1 decade since I received that dream that has changed my career path. As I am writing this testimony, I am contemplating whether my encounter with CLI can also be interpreted as the direction from the Lord to fulfill the vision of building Christian Schools.
Christian Education Minister Training Available
I learned about CLI from my spiritual mentor and a local church leader, Prof/Rev. James Pounder and his wife, Elaine Pounder, who are the founders of The Little Church World. I think that the approach of CLI to train Pastors and Bi-vocational Leaders to be crucial for our modern era whereas it is important to use the Internet as an effective evangelism tool. I am excited to learn more from CLI courses and also open for future collaboration with CLI because I hope to fulfill the mission from the Lord to build Christian Schools for Him. My husband and my family members are not Christians and our prayer requests will be for their salvation and also for us to fulfill the mission from God to build Christian Schools. At this moment, we do not know where is/are the location(s) for the Christian Schools or with whom we will collaborate to fulfil this vision. The only thing that I believe is that we continue to follow our callings to use God’s given talents to give glory to Him and to spread His gospels that can bring real salvations to others. I firmly believe Christian Schools as powerful tools to witness since I got evangelise through Christian school and as a former teacher, I know that children’s spirits are pure and they are more receptive to the gospel.
Hong Kong Small Group Leader
CLI Student, Abigail Nickell, is studying at CLI so she can become a trained Hong Kong small group leader. Abigail is passionate and on fire for sharing her faith.
Read her testimony below:
My name is Abigail Nickell. I am originally from the U.K. but right now I live in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a thriving international melting pot where many cultures mix and mingle. There are a lot of churches here of many denominations, and God is certainly here using his church to seek new believers. The largest religions in Hong Kong are Buddhism and traditional ancestor worship, but Chinese people seem to be among the most open to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus, which is very encouraging. The biggest obstacle that brings challenges to sharing the gospel is a language barrier, especially for older generations. The culture barrier also might make it hard to connect with nonbelievers.
Coming to the faith I have in Jesus Christ now has been a life long journey, as I was born into a Christian home. At 10 years old I was baptized by my father, and after this, I would say my journey to discover Jesus really began. I am still on that journey today with Christ molding and making me every day! I hope and pray that I can continue on this journey and that CLI will help me along the way.
As of this moment in time, I do not have a world-changing ministry dream, but I want God to be able to use me in whatever way He sees fit, and I know that strengthening my own faith and becoming more like Jesus will help me to achieve whatever God has planned for me. So far, this class has helped to strengthen my walk with God, as it has deeply encouraged me to pursue my walk with God with more certainty, fervor, and more devotion.
I think that so far, I most identify with Hong Kong Small Group Leader. I am not a very loud person and I like to make deep connections with people. I like to really get to know people, to know where they are, where they want to be, and who they are. I want to be able to help and guide people with the little knowledge that I have. However, I do not do particularly well in large group settings. I like the intimacy of a small group where people can really feel comfortable to open up and delve deep. I know that in this world, people long for and crave true community and connection and that God intended us to be in community with one another, and I think that small groups can really help to cultivate this.
I think that the Bible always brings transformation when it is read. Even in seemingly small instances. I first really connected to the Bible when I was a 17 years old. I had been praying that I would want to read the Bible and that I would feel some desire to connect with it and God answered my prayer, surprisingly through reading Samuel and Kings. I suddenly found myself completely lost in the story of Israel and Judah and I didn’t want to stop reading. The story of the different Kings and how they led just enraptured me and I couldn’t really understand why, but God answered my prayer and allowed my mind to transform through reading and feeling the desire to read.
My church has always supported me, and they continue to support any member who wants to attend CLI. They are fantastic. My husband is also very supportive of me. He is a wonderful husband and he is also attempting CLI as well. We are very grateful that CLI exists and can allow us to further our walks with God and help us to further other people’s walks too.
My ministry dream is not, as yet, defined although I do have a strong leading towards small groups, I know that CLI with the scholarship will help me and be important in helping me to become the Hong Kong small group leader that God can use. I want to be able to help as many people as I can in their walk with God and therefore I want to be as prepared as possible. I want to be able to help people in the right way, with the right knowledge. You can pray that I will never take this opportunity for granted and that I will be able to finish CLI strong, not give up, and that I will be able to give back one day as I have been given.
Join CLI’s Facebook and connect with more leaders like Abigail.
