Formal Free Ministry Training
My name is Jeffrey Braden. I have been married to my wife, Marilyn, for 25 years. We have 4 children: Anthony, aged 24, Caitlin, aged 22, Chelsea, aged 21, and Emily, aged 15.
I live in the United States. The church in my country is seemingly ingrained into the very fabric of our national identity. One of the main reasons for my country’s founding was to insure freedom of religion. Churches seem to reside on every street corner. There is a large assortment of denominations available for individuals to choose from. Sometimes this is a blessing, other times its not. It can result in faulty doctrine being preached to unwitting believers.
I became a Christian in 1990. After accepting Jesus as my savior, I visited my brother’s church a few times but seemed to fall between the cracks. No one noticed I was there most Sundays. So, I stopped going. I read my Bible occasionally but didn’t go any further than that. After our eldest daughter was born, I felt led to get myself, and my family into a church. We found a small local church and began attending regularly. In 1994, I made an altar call to rededicate my life to Christ. A month later I was baptized.
Shortly after being baptized, we attended a summer camp with our church association. As I watched the ministers stand before us preaching the gospel, I felt the Spirit telling me that I should be up there, preaching with them. I knew that I was being called to minister the gospel. Ever since, I’ve been battling back and forth as to whether or not I should answer that call. Like Moses, I didn’t feel qualified to handle that kind of responsibility. But now I know that I can no longer shirk my call.
Throughout the last 20 years I’ve been a Sunday School teacher, a church deacon, and have been called upon several times to preach to our former church. Now, however, I want to develop a better understanding of how to develop a ministry. Therefore, initially, I will use my training to assist my church with developing our discipleship program. From that point, I plan to work under the minister of our church for a few years to ensure that I am prepared to lead a church that will be capable of growth and development.
Attaining a scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute will assist me in acquiring a lot of the training necessary to begin my ministry, which I can then develop in my home church with the assistance of my pastor.
I ask that you pray for my family and me, that we will be provided the opportunities to grow in our walk and our faith and that God will be exalted in all that we do and say. Thank you.
Las Vegas Ministry Training
My name is Kevin and I live in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Yes, it is a city filled with many casinos and a vibrant night life, but once you get away from the main strip where most of the casinos are, life is really quite normal. I live and work here, and I enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery we have in the Western United States is breathtaking. It’s a big city, which means It also has all of the problems of any big in the United States because it’s filled with people who need a savior. Sometimes God places a few of those people on my path in life and I am able to minister to them. It’s good to be able to pray with them and talk with them about God’s Word.
I grew up in a Christian family and experienced the Lord at an early age. My Grandmother who was leader of a youth program at our local church would make sure we attended the weekly classes. It did not matter if we were playing football in the field near our house, she would pull up in her car and demand that we get in attend the class. I am forever thankful to her for the Christian upbringing she gave me. However, I had a difficult childhood and I had a difficult time understanding the true nature of God.
I often thought of God as this all-powerful ruler who punished everyone with lightning bolts like Zeus. Even though I was taught about the grace of God, I did not understand his grace fully. That happened during a period of rebellion and trip to New York City. I was in my early twenties and I went to New York because I was dissatisfied with my life and my relationship with God. It was not just my relationship with God; it was my relationship with my father, and my co-workers who stole money from the cash register where I worked, money I had to repay. My life was just not going well at the time and I wanted to get away from my city in Ohio. However, while I was in New York I encountered many problems, like having my car impounded and not being able to get it out because my license was suspended. Though I made some new friends, none of them were Christians and soon I began to feel something I had never felt before. For the first time I actually felt the hunger for the presence of God. Whenever I would speak to my Grandmother on the phone, I wanted to talk to her as long as I could because It actually felt good to have my spirit being fed by another Christian. This and other things which happened while I was in New York helped restore my faith, love and trust in Jesus Christ. Most importantly I know we serve the only God, who loves us, wants a relationship with us, and will never leave or forsake us. I like this scripture: John 14:8 KJV I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. NIV John 14:8 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Honestly, I don’t know what God has in store for me, but I’m willing to find out. I do believe it will be as a teacher of His Word at some capacity, perhaps as an Evangelist. However, I do know that it seems no matter where I am in this world I always find myself praying or sharing God’s Word with someone.
I believe I identify most with an Evangelist. I write this with the understanding of God’s sovereignty and that I could be wrong. I just feel like everything in my life is leading in that direction. I have a desire to travel and share the gospel with people and it seems like that is what peaks my spiritual interest and motivates me to be ready for the plan He has for my life. I would really like to travel and share the Word that God has given to me with others.
I can’t say that there was a key experience, but I believe there were several things in my life that prompted my pursuit. One major thing is that I believe I feel the presence of God moving me towards ministry training. I actually will feel like I’m being disobedient when I’m not pursuing some type of ministry training. It’s more like a huge desire God has placed in my heart that I can’t run away from.
The unique challenge here would probably be like any major city in the world; there are many more distractions, especially at night that can lead people away from Christ.
I do not have the resources to attend most Bible colleges at this time and that’s why I am so thankful for CLI. CLI makes this Las Vegas Ministry Training available to me! CLI is a blessing for anyone who desires excellent ministry training, but does not have the resources to receive training at traditional institutions.
No More Ministry Training Debt
My name is Joel Rashid and I live in Herriman, Utah. Ministry here is different than anywhere else I’ve done ministry. My history is in youth. I’m a pastor’s son and 2nd generation minister. We’ve done ministry in affluent suburban neighborhoods, and we’ve done ministry in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods, both with different needs, hurts, and challenges.
God’s always revealed Himself to His people in whatever way they’ve needed Him to. An encounter with God is an amazing thing to witness. Watching someone draw near to God is simply. Coming here to Utah, however, is something totally different, and I haven’t seen it before. With so being said, Utah is the most untouched state in our nation by missionaries.
Mormon, Utah is a real place, and it’s a sight to see. Evangelism can easily become a battle in apologetics, which rarely results in a soul won for God. There’s something genuine about it, though. Even though more difficult than I am used to, there is sweetness to the struggle. A Mormon converted to Christianity results in a believer that is so on fire for God that they’ll go to the ends of the earth for Him. I admire that, and I strive for that too.
I’ve grown since coming here as a person, and a man of God. It’s made me think about the times I was afraid of stepping out for God and realized how many people truly are lost and don’t know it. The numbers are staggering and alarming. I spent my life in the church, but the faith was not mine, my parents being pastors, I had always borrowed their salvation as my own, never making the decision for myself.
No one told me I could choose for myself. I read a book called Pilgrims Progress, and I watched a video on YouTube about the father’s sacrifice. God spoke to my spirit that I had been walking beside the path of salvation without actually coming through the door. On the outside, I had the appearance of a Christian, but a nicely wrapped package with no contents is no gift – so I came through the door, and not long after that, I received my mission.
Many people do what I did, and no one’s told them to go through the door that is Christ Jesus. The people of Utah are a perfect image of that. My dream in ministry is to see people set free and to walk in the confidence of their salvation. That being said, I identify most with the word evangelist. I used to think of an evangelist as someone who just does outreach, but it’s much more than that. There are believers in bondage too. Evangelism is a lifestyle where your primary goal is to get people to come to the realization of God and to come into relationship with Him.
I’ve been very blessed by my church over my course of ministry training and to this point forward. My Pastor, Al Zorn, taught me to be an optimist and believe the best in people. Pastor Zorn started me down the path of pursuing ministry training and I then completed a program and received a certificate.
This scholarship at CLI is so important to me because I have a copious amount of student debt already. Money is not a secure area for my wife and me, and I believe in God every month to provide for us, which He does every time. Having this scholarship means that I’m able to pursue the mission God has put on my heart without the burden of more debt. It’s difficult to eloquently express just what Christian Leaders Institute is doing for me.
In short, I never thought I’d be able to get training to do what God has called me to do, but just like how God provides for us every day when it comes to food, bills, and rent, He has also provided CLI. I know this is where I’m supposed to be.
Pray for me as much as you can! I believe in the power of prayer and the more prayer I get, the more power I would hope to walk in also. Pray that I have the right words to speak to the people here in Utah. The suicide rate is the highest in the nation, as well as abuse. People are hurting here, and the Christians are apathetic. We need God to heal our land. For my family pray that we don’t get tired. Starting a church is new to us, and it’s hard work. Pray that we would be strong in the face of spiritual attack. For me, pray for my confidence; sometimes I feel like the job we were put here to do is impossible. However, we serve a God who does the impossible.