Africa ministry training including ordination is something ministry leaders need. In places like Zambia, pastors must have credentials to be considered credible. There are many reasons that Africa Ministry Training and Ordination is very important! The Christian culture in Africa rightly sees that untrained pastors and leaders can create cults or can damage people. A credible ministry training is crucial.

Christian Leaders Institute offers free ministry training which provides over 120 credits of high-quality education. Christian Leaders Institute is accredited by IABCS. Christian Leaders Institute also offers ordination programs that bring together a student’s study credentials with local confirmations. Christian Leaders Institute is under the banner of Christian Leaders, NFP. which is a religious non-profit recognized by the United States government to grant ordinations. Christian Leaders, NFP has started the Christian Leaders Churches who guide these local ordinations. Students go through a rigorous process of establishing credibility where local church leaders confirm an ordination candidate has the calling and ministry readiness to minister as a church leader. CLI has developed this program for a worldwide benefit.

Africa Ministry Training including Ordination Graduate

Apostle Douglas Mazimba is from Zambia. He needs an Africa Ministry Training including Ordination option which is not easy to do in Zambia.

Listen to his story (this story is from Zambia but will be similar to other nations in Africa):

My name is Douglas Mazimba. I am 39 years old, a father of three wonderful children; Grace, Benjamin, and Gauis. I am married to Sera. My wife and I are Zambians; we live in a rural part of Zambia in the Copperbelt. Zambia is a landlocked country in Central Africa with a population of 14 million.

I gave my life to the Lord in 1993 after a lengthy battle with sin during the time when I thought within myself I had the power to stop sin and that I was still young with enough time to change.

It was one Sunday morning; my friend invited me to their church in an urban area, a church with a small number of members meeting in a classroom at a primary school. The Pastor was an old evangelist with an interpreter. When he stood to preach, it was like he was reading from what was written about my behaviour. At the moment I thought maybe the ushers or some ladies have communicated to the Pastor concerning my life. He ended the message with the urgency to turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Without hesitation I ran to the front and asked Jesus to forgive me my sins, wash me in his blood, to be my Lord and Savior, and to come into my heart.

What made me join the church was “the welcome.” The Pastor came and hugged me and whispered to me, “Jesus loves you, so do I.” I was wearing a shirt written “real savage”, and had spent the previous night selling drugs (cigarettes and alcohol). I was producing a bad odor but the pastor hugged me regardless, and his nice perfume remained on my clothes. Wherever I went, I felt loved and belonging.

Bible studies made me grow and fellowship in worship and evangelism drew me closer to God. I became a house church leader, worship leader and interpreter to the pastor.

In 1999, I married and moved to a rural area where I was offered a job as a secondary school teacher. I moved away from this Pastor who was full of humor, love, and kindness. Going to church became a forcing matter in this rural area. Though in the local church, I rose to the rank of elder, deep inside I started going back slowly to my old ways of life. I could still hear within, a wonderful voice, “repent and come back”. So I resigned from my position as Elder and set on the journey to return to the Lord. I thought positions and titles were doing more harm to me. This was because every member of the church knew me as an elder and that I am holy without knowing of my backsliding in prayers and fellowship with God. I had lost my joy of testifying to others about Jesus.

My resignation from being an elder did not please the local Pastor, but I was set to seek the Lord, return to him and experience the peace that I once had. It is during this period that the Lord revealed his calling on my life. He said to me, “Go and preach my unconditional love, call everyone, preach the gospel.” I said not me; there are Pastors in this church who are better than me, speak better and are ordained. As for me, I had even resigned as Elder, how can I preach?  The church had four ordained Pastors.

Every time I would ignore the voice of God, I would lose peace, joy and just myself. Until when I heard a voice, “One day soon, you will stand before my throne and I will ask you what you did with the calling to go and preach.” I yielded to the voice of God and started to reach out to areas that are far and near preaching about the love of God and turning to him in repentance. I am now leading a rural church, even though I am not officially ordained.

 Overcoming the Africa Ministry Training including Ordination Problem

In Africa, there seems to be a barrier that stops called local Chrisitan leaders from receiving the needed training and ordination to do ministry in Zambia.  Pastors who are ordained and have been to Bible Schools are the ones who are respected to do ministry. This made me learn that in most parts of Africa, this is a challenge. More credible leaders are available, but accessible training is expensive or rare.

I pastor a local rural church. I had several challenges, though the church was growing in membership, I could not officiate at funerals, weddings and had no idea on how to conduct these ceremonies and my Bible knowledge was too shallow. I really needed an Africa ministry training including ordination option! When I met other pastors the only question that was difficult for me to answer was, “What are your credentials as a Pastor? Which College did you attend?” So I set out to find an online option that offered high-quality education and ordination options.

Most of the Bible schools that offered acceptance in Zambia were very expensive and couldn’t allow me to study at my pace. With a family of five, I failed to go to any of them. I was offered acceptance by an online college, but the content had nothing to do with the word of God. I searched for more online Bible colleges when I failed to find any with emphasis on God’s word; I prayed to God that If I did not hear you clearly or you just want this work to fail or be suffocated by the will of man, it’s your call.

Africa Ministry Training including Ordination is Now Possible!

After two years of giving up on Bible school and hearing Pastors announcing that all the churches with Pastors who do not have credentials must stop operating, I tried to search for an online Bible college again. One click, Christian Leaders Institute appeared.
My first response was, “Where have you been, you good thing?” and then I exclaimed, “Praise the Lord!” Christian Leaders Institute, to me, was God’s timely answer to the challenge.  Our 200 member church that was about to be closed!

When I opened to check the organization, I had so many questions, but the main one was, can something like this nice, well-organized Institute be free? After I was enrolled in 2016, right then, I committed myself. Night and day, I studied the materials provided and finished the quizzes.

The organization of the Institute makes me feel that I am no longer in my room but in a classroom at a college learning. The contact with highly qualified lecturers through videos and the hands-on activities in sermon preparation and preaching has really helped me. Materials are adequate and readily available. Studying with CLI is like you have your own more than enough personal library with all the materials needed for the courses. There are no other expenses in looking for the materials, it is really free training. The other part is the friendliness and helpfulness of the help desk team. They have been quick in responding to my challenges. God bless this team.

This ordination will be very helpful to me as a Pastor because it brings with it the confidence to conduct church activities and make me stand on a better platform within the stipulated laws of Zambia. Furthermore, for the church to reach out to areas where the preaching of the love of Christ is hindered by the demand for such credentials.

The church I am Pastoring is in the rural area. Most of the challenges we are faced with are to do with illiteracy levels that are high; very few adult members are able to read and understand. Even those who are able to, do not have Bibles. Lack of Bibles is a major challenge.

Poverty levels are also high. Most girls and boys are made to stop schooling or fail to continue their education due to financial constraints of their guardians. The church is managing to support only three school going children in paying fees.
My passion is to see people from the rural areas receive the message of Jesus Christ, be transformed into better Christians, and serve God by bringing others to the Lord. This ordination is very important to me and the church I am serving.

Thank you, Christian Leaders Institute, for giving me a chance and opportunity to learn valuable content and transforming my life to become a better and wiser counselor, preacher, husband, father, and pastor. You are truly sent by God. God bless you.
Keep on praying for us that the work of God in the rural parts of Zambia succeeds.

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