Journey to Ministry
Start your journey to ministry today! 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 used Christian Leaders Institute to continue his journey to ministry:
I was born and raised in Genesee county Michigan, USA. I still reside in Genesee county and currently, I am the outreach and evangelism pastor at my local church. I have been in ministry for a total of 15 years and have held numerous different positions. My wife Samantha Kelley and I are in ministry together.
At 13 years old, I felt the call of God on my life to preach. I come from a line of men of God who uphold the Christian walk and have taught and lived out the truth of who God is. My spiritual mentor is my father. My father’s spiritual mentor was his uncle, my great uncle, BL Kelley. It is my desire to continue this legacy to be the best pastor that I possibly can be. I am currently fully ordained as a minister of the gospel, and I hold an associates degree in biblical theology from Christian Leadership University. I am in a position where I can no longer afford to pay the fees associated with the traditional seminary. This scholarship would give me the ability to achieve a degree in Divinity, as well as give me the training necessary to be the best minister I can possibly be. Christian Leaders Institute will allow me to follow my dreams.
What I love about CLI so far is the quality information and training available. I’m not looking for the easy road for some online school to hand me the paper of completion. I look forward to learning the material so I can apply it to my local church. In my local area, we have a key demographic of low-income families, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken families, All of which who are in desperate need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so excited to learn in greater detail different ways I can engage our local community to present Christ. My father is the pastor of my local church, I have been called here for a reason. I do not want to have to leave my local church for a bigger denomination that has the ability to train within. The Holy Spirit spoke to me in January 2017 that I am to stay put and help my father pastor our local church. With that said, I am in need of further education and further training. I am excited to be a part of Christian Leaders Institute to continue my journey of ministry.
I was born and raised in the church but like most, I went astray for a while. Because of my personal encounter with God the Savior, I have a desire to see the lost saved and to see the broken be made whole. In my testimony, God has delivered me from drugs and alcoholism, he has delivered me from depression, PTSD from combat, and saved my life when I attempted suicide. The best advice I have ever been given to be effective in my journey to ministry is that we cannot be afraid to show our own scars. Just like when Jesus resurrected from the dead and some of those who are closest to him did not recognize him. His identifier was his scars.
I identify most with being called to serving as a Pastor because I truly have a desire to see people be filled, to see people healed, and to see people step into their calling.
My local church has been more than supportive and willing to help in any way possible to see us trained and ready for ministry. My family plays a vital role in our ministry because we have gone from absolute wreckage to reconciliation. My wife is truly my other half in ministry she encourages me, loves people, and is a prayer warrior. My children help me lead worship. We are all a package deal.
If there is anything that I can say we would ask for prayer for it is that God continues to direct our path, so we can be successful in creating disciples who will bring value to their own local church.
Sincerely thank you
Pastor Matthew Kelley
Check out more stories about students on their journey to ministry on the CLI facebook page
Bi-vocational Leader
Become a bi-vocational leader today. 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 was a lost son of God and found CLI as a tool to rediscover the pathway to Christ:
You may wonder when you first look at my name “Is he Italian or French?” Well, I’m none of the above… I’m Canadian. Born in a 100% French speaking small town of the Province of Quebec. Back in those days, people from Quebec were referred to as French Canadians. Nowadays, we are known more as “Quebecers” or “Québécois.” My first ancestor “Zacharie Cloutier”, who arrived from France in 1634, was a carpenter. Yes… like our Lord! As for the Italian roots of my first name, in spite of my best efforts, I just can’t find any from both sides of my family. Mom said she just picked it up because she liked it.
I’m not proud to admit that my walk with Jesus has not been a straight line, to say the least. I have been the “lost son” Jesus talks about in Luke 15: 11-32. Only times two…
I accepted Him at the age of 19 in the Spring of 1983 and got married in July of the same year. Then followed an insane 10 years stretch in which I found myself running after the world’s shiny objects. It took a monumental business failure for me to go back to Him when I turned 30. I got baptized a few months later in November 1994. Then guess what? I aimed again for the world! Objects were only bigger and shinier this time around… and I got divorced at the turn of the century.
In my chaotic years, the biggest sin I did, among so many, was to try to “mold” God to my liking. Although I continued to believe in Him and often expressed gratitude for the blessings of my life, the God I worshiped and praised was diminished to a stature that I had designed TO PLEASE ME. So I diluted Jesus. I adapted His gospel to one that better fit my prosperity thinking and the kind of literature I swamped myself in. Shamefully, I became my own Savior…
In the Fall of 2013, the Lord chose a pure stranger to throw me off my horse… After a back treatment, a chiropractor I was seeing for the first time, witnessed to me. His testimony was so pure, loving and candid that it literally rushed me home to my bible! After I repented for my sins, the Lord took me back ONCE more with open arms. Glory to Him! Although it took me too many years, I finally acknowledged Him not only as my Savior but also as the Lord of my life.
I am now married to the woman of my dreams since September 2001. Together we are the proud parents of 3 adults children. Diane has a son from a previous marriage and I have 2 daughters. She accepted Christ in June 2015 and got baptized in December 2016. We still live in Quebec but in recent years, we have been blessed enough to spend about half of our time on the Treasure Coast of South Florida, in the United States. Diane and I are serving in three local ministries in our Florida church and are honored to be hosting a weekly Life Group in our home.
The serving ministries and fellowship have given me ample opportunities to share my story with several brothers and sisters in the faith. What I noticed is that many have revealed to me that they too have had a similar “on and off” walk with the Lord. It has since become clear to me that this was to be my main ministry. My dream is to become a bilingual bi-vocational pastor, in Canada and/or the United States, whose main focus will be to reach out to the sheep that have drifted in the world from their Holy Shepherd. I feel that a CLI scholarship would equip me with the proper tools to do just that and become a successful bi-vocational leader of Christianity.
By His grace, I am now willing to follow any path He will show me to bring Him glory. Please pray that I remain faithful, obedient and active in the furthering of our Father’s kingdom.
Check out more stories about students becoming a Bi-vocational leader on the CLI facebook page