Free Formal Ministry Training
The need for free formal ministry training is not being met by traditional seminaries. Many do not have the resources or time to do residential ministry training. Christian Leaders Institute recognizes the there is a need for free formal ministry training and we desire to make high-quality ministry training available. Graduates of CLI have shared their stories of how they found free formal ministry training at our website. Here is one such story.
My name is Sandra Roberts and I reside in the United States. Since my earliest childhood, I always had a desire for Jesus. At the age of seven, I would gather all my neighborhood friends in my room and preach to them the little I knew about Jesus and then I would teach them how to pray.
It wasn’t until I was sixteen, that I officially asked Jesus into my life. It was an unconventional event. (I had no Christian friends and no one that I can recall ever invited me to church.) A family member asked me if I wanted a small Gideon New Testament Bible they had received from someone at a community college. I said yes and read the Sinner’s Prayer in the back of the book. It so touched my heart as I received Jesus and wrote my name in the space provided.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I connected with other believers. This happened through a Bible Study during the noon hour at my place of employment. I was in awe when I attended the first study because the man teaching talked about the Bible as if he knew God personally. A few times after that, he asked me if I had ever been baptized. I told him as a baby and then he gently explained my need to do that again as an act of my will. So he arranged to baptize me on the following Saturday in a hot tub of one of the other Bible Study participants. After that, God led me to a church to connect in.
About a decade later, God told me to start a Bible Study at a the company I was working for. I hesitated much and ran from God’s calling to do that. It was due to the fact that I had never taught anything and had no . I had only attended the one Bible Study at my other job years before and in my church, it was small and there weren’t many Bible Studies going on. Any that did occur generally happened while I was a work. A year later, my unsaved boss, whom I never really shared anything deep with about God, out of the blue one day told me I should start a Bible Study there at work. I was incredulous because my first thought was why would she care? She wasn’t saved and she had no intentions of attending.
Thus, I started the study and long story short, it grew and people from all over the city began to attend. It then led me to an appointment to teach a Bible Study in my State Capitol for two years. The Minority Republican Senator’s Chief of Staff offered me the Senator’s office to conduct the Bible Study in. I was amazed and humbled God put me there because I did not advertise for it. A lobbyist went to the Capitol and sought the appointment and sponsorship.
In 2010, I retired from the secular and was called into full-time ministry. My husband and I planted a church in our area. Many of the people over the years from conducting a Bible Study in companies I had worked at were the ones who first populated our church.
Since leaving the secular, I have now authored three books – one for the legal field with a traditional publisher, and two self-published, a devotional and a children’s book for little girls 3 to 5 years of age. Even so, with all these happenings, my most important jobs are being a great wife to my husband and mother to my children. God has truly blessed me and there is so much more, but I will stop re this subject for now.
My ministry dream is to share the grace and promises of God in such a way that even the hardest of hearts will be compelled to hear more. My husband and I both identify as planters. We love to start ministries and then let others take the reigns. I was once called to be a Women’s Ministry Pastor at a new church plant. Within three months, I had engaged sixteen women as directors of sub-ministries. For a time, the women’s ministries was the core of the church until it grew. Afterwards, I stepped down to go off to plant something else.
I think the unique challenge in our geographic area is that there are a lot of churches, which can afford people an attitude of not wanting to commit. I have found many people church shop and hop because they can. It’s not uncommon to hear that a person attends more than one church on a regular basis. For example, we have people who only attend our evening services because they are “committed” to attending other churches’ morning services. It’s a challenge for support not only monetarily, but also for event planning and so forth.
A scholarship at CLI is very important to me. With leaving the secular to minister full-time, we rely upon and trust the Lord to provide for us, and sometimes there is only enough to keep the lights on so-to-speak. I have a great desire to continue learning and growing in my relationship with Christ. CLI has made this opportunity available to me, for which I am greatly appreciative!
I would love your prayers for helping us continue to do the work God has called us to.
Thank you CLI for all you are doing. You are a blessing!
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Free Chicago Ministry Training
My name is Katie. I currently live in the US, in the third largest city and murder capital of the country, Chicago, IL. I’ve lived here for 28 years, and I couldn’t be more in awe that God has called me to the adventure of building a lighthouse in the middle of this dark, yet beautiful city. I’ve been part of a church plant for the past 5 years. Our church is located in a super young, trendy neighborhood, where most people are desensitized and completely turned off by the word church. Before launching our church, we interviewed 30 people in the neighborhood: 28 of them had been to church, had a bad experience, and were not interested in going back, 1 person had never been to church and would be open to checking it out, and 1 person was currently attending church. Needless to say, doing ministry here is HARD. People have seen it, done it, and want nothing to do with it again. To be honest, in my city, it’s more socially acceptable to tell someone you are a drug dealer than a pastor.
I grew up in a home with five older siblings and my father. My parents divorced when I was about 2, and my dad raised all 6 of his children on his own. Therefore, he had to work A LOT, to support us. That being the case, I didn’t see him very often, and I didn’t see my mom very often either, so I pretty much raised myself, with the help of my siblings, who were all trying to raise themselves at the same time. I didn’t have very much growing up, but one thing my dad was committed to was sending his children to a private school, where we could learn about the Lord. So I grew up learning about the Bible and God as a concept, but I never learned about the relational aspect.
Being the youngest, I was exposed to A LOT very young. My older siblings all got into drugs, drinking, and living a promiscuous lifestyle. Most of them dropped out of high school. As the youngest, I saw how much my older siblings’ decisions and actions hurt my dad and took a toll on him, and I grew up with a mindset of “I never want to be like them.” My dad was doing the best he could, and as much as I wish he were around more physically and emotionally, I now see how much he sacrificed to provide for his children.
Fast-forward into my later teenage years, and I started to allow the absence of my parental figures affect me, and I used that as an excuse to rebel and act out and go down paths I never intended to go down—drinking, drugs, depression, suicide, self-mutilation. Even though deep in my heart I always knew these things were wrong, I chose to do them anyway, as a way of sticking up my middle finger to life. I felt justified in my actions, and like I had every right to act out. You can imagine where this road led me. Absolutely nowhere. I lived three very dark years, and was so unhappy and so unfulfilled. I felt lonely and confused and honestly had no desire to live if this is what the next 60 years of my life were going to look like. I hated my life, but I had no other solution or answers.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college, when everything changed. I transferred into a Christian College my sophomore year (for financial reasons). I didn’t even know what a Christian University was, until I got there, and was wondering why everyone was so “nice”. I say nice in quotation marks because in my mind, it was all fake. I honestly never looked at humanity at being genuine and good, so anytime someone, was nice to me, I became skeptical. Being at this Christian University when I wasn’t walking with the Lord was definitely a challenge, in fact I almost got kicked out because I was caught partying one too many times. By the grace of God, He kept me there. At the end of my sophomore year, I remember walking to class one day and in the middle of campus, I feel like God came down and rescued me. I instantly had the clearest revelation of the reality of Jesus. I looked around and I saw life for the first time—people all around me filled with joy and simplicity. I knew that was God beckoning me into a relationship with him. So I stopped, and said, “okay God, if this is you, I’m willing to give it a go. I am all in. If you aren’t the solution, like nothing else I’ve ever tried has been the solution, then I’ll keep searching, but if you are the solution, then I choose you.”
Needless to say, Jesus has transformed my life, and I’ve been on a journey of falling more in love with him for the past seven years. I have experienced so much freedom, deliverance, redemption, and purpose through my relationship with Him. I don’t know He found me, but I’m so glad He chose me, and I will NEVER turn away from this love that I’ve found in Him. He is my answer until my very last breath.
Please share with us your ministry dream.
My ministry dream is to be on staff at my church. I don’t know exactly what that will look like, and I don’t know that I need to. All I know is that I am called to a BIG life of ministry. I am willing to go wherever that takes me and do whatever that calls me to. I know that I am called to preach and to teach. I also believe that I’m called to SERVE and LOVE people. As I mentioned above, the church that I am a part of is a lighthouse in the middle of a dark city. It’s hard, but we constantly see people encounter Jesus for the very first time, we see lives change, we see healing, restoration, redemption, and forgiveness. We allow people to come as they are, and we love them through their journey. Our vision is to build lighthouses around the world, and I’m willing to go wherever God takes me and pour my life into building lighthouses around the world.
I identify with Church Planter most, but also with a small group leader and pastor. Being part of my church since before it even launched has given me the real feel of what it’s like to plant a church, with no money, no resource, and no people! Ha! I have served in every role and worked alongside my pastor for years. I’ve learned so much on what it looks like to run a church from a business aspect, but also what it’s like to just pastor and love people.
When I got saved, I instantly knew and heard from God that I was called to ministry. The more I got involved in church, the more I realized there is no other way I would rather spend my life than to serve and bring others to Jesus. I know what it was like to not know Jesus and not be connected to a body of believers. I also know that the hope and answer are Jesus, and the way to find that and walk that out is through His church. My life looks different than most other people my age, and I’m okay with that, because what an honor it is to serve Jesus and build His house.
As I mentioned above, most people in our city have been to church, had a poor experience, and have no interest in going back. Most have a terrible perception of church. Most think that church is all about shaming you, telling you everything you’re not, and everything you the should/need to be. It’s rare to find someone who actually believes that the church is meant to believe in you and bring out the best in you. Being in a big city as well, there’s a culture of everyone’s just out to build their own empire and establish a secure life for themselves. Everyone’s busy. Everyone is constantly moving. That being the case, there’s no time or room in their lives for church or for God. I also believe that we live in this post-modernistic era where everyone has their own theology and answer for life, and it’s more socially acceptable than ever for people to live out of their homemade theologies. So there’s more opposition than ever as well.
My local church has supported me in my ministry calling by pouring into me to the nth degree. My pastors have walked alongside me for the past five years, pastoring me, mentoring me, and counseling me. They have taught me how to have a relationship with God, how to discover my ministry calling, they helped me discover the gifts and strengths that God has placed inside of me, they have given me opportunities to lead, they have challenged me and coached me, and they have always given me space to be messy and sort things out.
My family is very disconnected from my life and ministry calling, except for my father. My father got saved a few years ago and lived a passionate, dynamic relationship with Jesus. He is my biggest fan and support, and I am his. The rest of my family doesn’t quite understand why I would choose this type of life for myself, and they don’t quite understand it.
I know that I am called to lead and preach and teach the gospel as part of my ministry calling. I believe that CLI is going to provide me with an incredible foundation in the word of God and absolutely challenge and expand my capacity to know God and his word. I am so excited to continue to grow in my love and heart to serve God and people. Even though I have been walking with the Lord for the past seven years, I feel like it’s still just the beginning. I am SO excited to have CLI be an integral part of this adventure!
My name is Shong Chai Her. I live in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States of America. My nationality is Hmong. I was born and raised in a Christian family and grew up going to church in the mountains of Laos. By going to church, I experienced church services or worship, prayer meetings, church choir, and Sunday school classes and programs, but I did not know Jesus Christ personally until I faced a crisis in my life. The crisis that I faced was an illness. Do you realize how great God uses illnesses to change a person’s life? Well, God used an illness to change my life for His glory. He came to me through an illness that brought me to Christ and changed my life.
God came to me during my illness. He came to me when I was about five or six years old. The illness that I suffered was hernia. This illness prevented me from doing any activities such as sports and playing with my friends. With this illness in me, all my friends neglected me so they did not want to play with me. I cried, was hurt, sad, angry, and frustrated for many years. Since I was all alone, the only thing for me to do was pray.
I gave my whole life to God and talked to God every day. I also asked God to help me through my illness. God answered my prayer and helped me through my illness. When I was about fourteen years of age, my family came to the United States of America. God had showed my illness to an American doctor and that doctor had cured me through a surgery. Since then, that illness left my body and I was completely healed. Shortly after my surgery, I was moved by the Holy Spirit and began to read the Hmong Bible version. But since I was very limited in English, I wanted to read the English Bible version so I can learn English as well. I used the Hmong Bible as my translator and went back and forth between the Hmong version and the English version. I then recommitted my life to Christ and was baptized in 1984. I joined the confirmation classes and youth activities. Since then, my desire was to go to Bible College and study to be a pastor for the Hmong people.
After high school, I got married and decided that I will pursue higher education later due to the family financial crisis at that time. At this time, Christ began to change my life. He directed me to study Pastoral Ministry through the Hmong District under the Church Leadership Academy of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. I graduated in 1997 and God placed me as a pastor in the Hmong Alliance Church in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the fall of 2000.
I thank God for giving me the privilege to serve Him. He had found me through my illness and gave me a new path of life and called me to serve Him. He showed me His love and saved me from darkness. As I look back in my life; I cannot imagine how much God had blessed me. Without God’s guidance I will never be where I am now. I believe that God has a plan for me from the beginning and has a purpose for me to serve Him. I would never have the opportunity to serve God if it wasn’t from Him. He gave me everything I need in this life. Now I long for His return and to meet Him face to face in His Kingdom. Amen!
When I was young I had a dream that someday I would become a pastor. The reason I had a dream to become a pastor was because I saw that being a pastor is being full of God’s knowledge and God’s power. This made my heart thirsty and I desired the knowledge of God and His power in my life. But there was one thing that blocked my desire and that was being called a stupid and dumb person.
As I was labeled as a “stupid and dumb” person, this totally changed my character and my behavior. This characteristic began to be present in my life in everything I do. Everything I did, I got yelled at and was labeled as a person with no brains. It made me feel broken, hurt, sad, depressed, lonely, low self-esteemed, and it deteriorated my physical body as well. As a result of this, I felt that I was no longer worthy to live anymore, but by the grace of God, He allowed me to live. This reminds me of Jeremiah 10:14 “Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge.”
God, therefore, directed my life to the United States of America and gave the opportunity for me to learn and become who I am. Even though I was labeled as “dumb and stupid”, God always had a plan for me because He loves me and gave me time to find His knowledge, wisdom, and to find out who I am through learning and studying His words. This is the motivation that made me study God’s words. Therefore, I used every minute that I could to read the Bible and to learn His knowledge and wisdom. In the midst of all of this, I committed my life to Christ and asked Him to be my teacher and to guide me to all truth for His purpose and glory.
As time went on, God came into my life and revealed to me who He is. He then taught me that I am a very special person in Him and that I have a special place in His kingdom. I therefore came to my conscience and got the opportunity to put off the “dumb and stupid” characteristic away for good in the Name of Jesus Christ and claimed the knowledge of God and His power into my life. God then transformed me and poured out His wisdom and knowledge into my life. He also opened the door to train me to serve Him through the Hmong District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. I no longer hear the voices of “dumb and stupid” being whispered in my mind anymore, but I now hear the voices of Christ’s knowledge and wisdom speaking in my mind.
I never thought that I could accomplish the dream that I had when I was young to become a pastor. I only accomplished it through Jesus Christ as He said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16, NASB). As I look back in my life, I may have been worthless in the eyes of many other people, but in the eyes of Jesus Christ, I am very special and am worth so much to Him. Who could ever doubt that a “stupid and dumb” person like me could ever gain the knowledge and wisdom of God? I can only say that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, thank you so much for your love and mercy. Amen!
My family and I just recently planted a church in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Rapids is a small town in central Wisconsin. There are about a thousand Hmong people that live in Wisconsin Rapids and the surrounding area. There isn’t any church in Wisconsin Rapids specifically for the Hmong people. Hmong people by culture, tradition, and religion have been Shamanism for over five thousand years. The traditional practices are hard to let go by many Hmong people and very difficult to convert them to Christianity.
In 2013, I stepped down from the pastor position in the Hmong Alliance Church in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and I began to pray and ask God for direction. After a year of praying, God answered my prayers and called me to look at the Hmong community in Wisconsin Rapids. He opened my eyes and I saw that there were many Hmong people that were lost and without a Savior. There are some Hmong believers in Wisconsin Rapids, but there is no shepherd to guide them. So God directed my step and called my family to gather the believers together and to start the church plant in March of 2014. Since then, there were many struggles in our ministry. The believers were not committed to help themselves grow in Christ, the believers were not looking towards the Word of God, and the believers were not properly trained in praying, and worshipping. Also our biggest challenge is that many of the Hmong people are not willing to live the new life in Jesus Christ unless they are oppressed by demons.
I’m so thankful for God’s love and care for me and my family’s need over the years. His blessings are filled in our lives and overflowed to the Church. The Church’s main financial were our tithing from the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Currently, my family members are the main leaders of the Church until we have fully trained leaders who are willing to rise up.
We need your prayer in asking God to open the hearts of the Hmong people in this area because they are lost and living in darkness. Pray that me and my family have the knowledge and wisdom from God to lead and train the newly converts. Pray that we have bold hearts to reach out to the lost for Christ.
I thank God for directing me to CLI and to get the opportunity to listen and read what CLI has to offer. I never thought that there would be a Bible school that will ever offer a certificate, an associated, or a degree program of Biblical training for free of charge to anyone else in the world. After listening and reading what CLI offered, I am very exciting and motivated to learn from CLI. I know that this encountering with CLI is from the Holy Spirit because I was not in the mood of going back to school. One day in October 2016, there was a little voice in the back of my mind saying, “search for a free Bible class online.” At that moment, I then quickly searched online. CLI came across my search icon and I began to read the information. This is why I am here. I believed that this was from the Holy Spirit who spoke to me to search for a free Bible class online. With this being said, I very determined to learn through CLI and trust that CLI will be a great equipping training for me to better serve God, living out the call that God called me to do, and loving God and others with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Thank you so much CLI for the scholarship because with this scholarship. It will open the door for me to receive my first College Degree and will be a window of opportunities for me to serve as a missionary to the Hmong people.