Praise be on to him who created all things. Blessed be the name of the Lord on high. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Christian Leaders Institute for devoting so much time and effort into making sure that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is reaching far beyond borders unheard of. May the God of Bethel, he who is the Horn of Our Salvation continue to bless and keep you. I pray that by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ I will find the knowledge I am seeking. I want to teach God’s words and be able to touch lives, change the situation and heal people around me. Having the scholarship to acquire the information that CLI gives through the wealth of ministry material will be very impactful to my journey with God. I pray that God continues to bless the work that CLI is doing for people like us who are in constant quest for the truth; may he never leave nor forsake our hearts and may he keep the fire burning in us. Amen!
I am a war survivor from Sierra Leone, West Africa. I have raised a Muslim, but Christ found me in January 2013, and he has been having been faithful to my family and me. By his grace, I want to continue to seek a deeper knowledge of his word.
I discovered Christian Leaders Institute like many before me, from searching the Internet for a free Bible ministry education, and I will be forever grateful I did. Since I signed up for the ministry leadership training, my life has been transforming right before my very eye. Every day, I wake up with the word of God, my relationship with him, his grace to be upon me, and walk with God in general on my mind. By the end of my day, I have listened to Bible passages, my work requires me to drive a lot, prayed, sang songs of joy, and have logged into CLI and done my reading and watched videos. My days are going by fast now with little or no coffee.
I pray to God for blessings of the works of my hands, so I can be a blessing to others, including doing my part to promote the vision/efforts of CLI. I have a story that connects me to donation-base causes like what CLI is promoting. I came to the US under a refugee program, after surviving one of the most brutal civil wars in human history, the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone in West Africa, by the grace of God of course. What is interesting here is that during those ten years that God covered me with a hedge of protection against bullets and evil men, I had not given my life to Christ. It’s amazing how he still covered me with his blood.
The purchase of my ticket to the US was sponsored by members of the Lutheran Church. I did not have to belong to their church, just the heart of God in his people. Upon my arrival to the US, I found a job, and I worked to repay my ticket, not because the Church was adamantly asking for the money, but to help the church sponsor other refugees like me get out of languishing situations around the world. I just wanted to share that and encourage us to a life of being our brothers’ keepers. God bless you all and continue to grow in your love of Christ and keep walking with our God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let us be blessings to one another, and because I know that God has already blessed you, I can only say, stay blessed!
I Mrs. Ruth Usha Paul Rainer from India, Maharashtra state, lives in Aurangabad.
I’m saved by the grace of Jesus Christ my Lord and my God. I came from a Hindu background.At the age of 5 years, my grandmother taught me to worship snake as a god. In my first grade, I had a poem describing God’s beautiful nature, sun, moon and stars. I would think, how beautiful are all these created things! Then the Creator God must be very beautiful. At the age seven, I once entered the inner room of a Hindu temple, where our village’s deity (a big & tall stone statue) was kept.
Women were forbidden to enter. When I first saw that big giant idol, it was fearful and seeing this god I was disappointed. How can a beautiful God be like this? Who then would be the Creator God? Moreover, I had many questions about God. After visiting that temple, I started having dreams with big snakes daily. We’d celebrate all Indian festivals & I’d participate in all heathen worship. That year I brought one human skull from the cemetery. I’d see all magic shows in our village. Once I was made as a goddess in a play, after which I fell sick. Since we had school only up to seventh (standard) in my village,
I was put in a Hindu boarding school for my higher education. Being far away from my parents, I decided to be nice: I even tried to burn a mark on my forearm, that when I’d see the scar, I’d remember to be good. But Alas! My decision didn’t last even a week. I felt very sad cause I wanted to be good, but couldn’t. I started thinking seriously. If I couldn’t make myself good, then only God can. But which god will make me good? At that time, I was worshipping many gods.
Then I thought, there must be a True and Living God, who can wash me from within and make me a good person. So I started praying like this: “O True and Living God, whoever you may be, give me an inner bath, wash me from within, so I will be good. I’ve tried to be good but have failed.” I prayed this prayer for almost five years. Many times I’d think(of washing), if I washed my intestines with soap and water (to be)then I’d be clean within. I worshipped idols daily and would spend time in Hindu temples.
After I stood first in my high school final exam, I took admission in a college and in a Hindu hostel. But by then, my all thoughts became unclean; I wanted clean and holy thoughts. I tried my best to have clean thoughts but all my attempts of a pure heart failed. Then I prayed more earnestly to an idol saying, “Please give me pure & holy thoughts”. But I did not get any holiness. Then I stopped all prayers and accepted atheism. But I had no peace, nor happiness. After consulting a fortune teller and believing the horoscope, I concluded my life as useless. And life without a God is hopeless. These thoughts led me to commit suicide. But then by God’s grace, I heard about Jesus on 20thDec1974, through Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International.
For the first time I experienced God speaking to me. I heard Jeremiah 4:14 & 13:27. I understood that Jesus came to clean me from within and give me true joy & peace and God knows all about me and is asking me to clean my heart from all evil. I prayed, “Lord Jesus, I know I am a great sinner”. The day following I bought a Bible and was reading it & prayed to Jesus to forgive all my sins. I gave my heart to Jesus. Praise God! Jesus came in my life, He forgave all my sins. God spoke & assured me that I am His daughter. He enabled me to ask pardon from whomsoever I had wronged. I restituted all my thefts; cleansed my conscience before God & men and received assurance of salvation through Isaiah 44:22. Praise The Lord, He redeemed me! My dirty thoughts had gone, I got a clean heart filled with peace and joy. The Bible became sweet to me and I’ve read it 42 times until now.
In 1975 in a vision, Lord Jesus visited me and said, “Follow me.” As per God’s will in 1982 I resigned my Government job and went for Bible training. By God’s grace, I got back the job. I married Paul Rainer in1989; we have two daughters. We serve the Lord as a family.
In 1992, when I was on the operation table for a C-section and was serious. There I saw a vision of Jesus whose height reached up to the sky and His breadth filled the earth, and I was just a tiny dot standing there. I was amazed to see our great God. He made me understand that all humans are nothing before Him. Then I heard His voice, “I care for you.” I know my heavenly Father is the caring God.
In 1996 I had the vision to serve God in a new place. Therefore we moved from Mumbai to Aurangabad as self-supporting missionaries. The Lord Jesus healed me of my severe pulmonary hypertension in 2014.
I was praying for the Lord’s leading in Bible study and found the CLI website. My husband Rainer and I started studying the Bible through CLI. We praise God for this study; I learned about God’s greatness, His love, doctrine of Godhead, Church History, Theology lessons and I liked them all.
About 50 to 70 people come to our 2nd-floor house church in an apartment. I take the Bible study & my husband preaches. We need a place for worship on the ground floor. Please pray that we may remain faithful to God until the end. Thanks for free education at CLI.
I Mrs. Ruth Usha Paul Rainer from India, Maharashtra state, lives in Aurangabad.
I’m saved by the grace of Jesus Christ my Lord and my God. I came from a Hindu background.At the age of 5 years, my grandmother taught me to worship snake as a god. In my first grade, I had a poem describing God’s beautiful nature, sun, moon and stars. I would think, how beautiful are all these created things! Then the Creator God must be very beautiful. At the age seven, I once entered the inner room of a Hindu temple, where our village’s deity (a big & tall stone statue) was kept. Women were forbidden to enter. When I first saw that big giant idol, it was fearful and seeing this god I was disappointed. How can a beautiful God be like this? Who then would be the Creator God?
Moreover, I had many questions about God. After visiting that temple, I started having dreams with big snakes daily. We’d celebrate all Indian festivals & I’d participate in all heathen worship. That year I brought one human skull from the cemetery. I’d see all magic shows in our village. Once I was made as a goddess in a play, after which I fell sick. Since we had school only up to seventh (standard) in my village, I was put in a Hindu boarding school for my higher education. Being far away from my parents, I decided to be a good girl: I even tried to burn a mark on my forearm, that when I’d see the scar, I’d remember to be good. But Alas! My decision didn’t last even a week. I felt very sad cause I wanted to be good, but couldn’t. I started thinking seriously. If I couldn’t make myself good, then only God can. But which god will make me good? At that time, I was worshipping many gods.
Then I thought, there must be a True and Living God, who can wash me from within and make me a good person. So I started praying like this: “O True and Living God, whoever you may be, give me an inner bath, wash me from within, so I will be good. I’ve tried to be good but have failed.” I prayed this prayer for almost five years. Many times I’d think(of washing), if I washed my intestines with soap and water (to be)then I’d be clean within. I worshipped idols daily and would spend time in Hindu temples.
After I stood first in my high school final exam, I took admission in a college and in a Hindu hostel. But by then, my all thoughts became unclean; I wanted clean and holy thoughts. I tried my best to have clean thoughts but all my attempts of a pure heart failed. Then I prayed more earnestly to an idol saying, “Please give me pure & holy thoughts”. But I did not get any holiness. Then I stopped all prayers and accepted atheism. But I had no peace, nor happiness. After consulting a fortune teller and believing the horoscope, I concluded my life as useless. And life without a God is hopeless. These thoughts led me to commit suicide. But then by God’s grace, I heard about Jesus on 20thDec1974, through Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International. For the first time I experienced God speaking to me. I heard Jeremiah 4:14 & 13:27.
I understood that Jesus came to clean me from within and give me true joy & peace and God knows all about me and is asking me to clean my heart from all evil. I prayed, “Lord Jesus, I know I am a great sinner”. The day following I bought a Bible and was reading it & prayed to Jesus to forgive all my sins. I gave my heart to Jesus. Praise God! Jesus came in my life, He forgave all my sins. God spoke & assured me that I am His daughter. He enabled me to ask pardon from whomsoever I had wronged. I restituted all my thefts; cleansed my conscience before God & men and received assurance of salvation through Isaiah 44:22. Praise The Lord, He redeemed me! My dirty thoughts had gone, I got a clean heart filled with peace and joy. The Bible became sweet to me and I’ve read it 42 times until now.
In 1975 in a vision, Lord Jesus visited me and said, “Follow me.” As per God’s will in 1982 I resigned my Government job and went for Bible training. By God’s grace, I got back the job. I married Paul Rainer in1989; we have two daughters. We serve the Lord as a family.
In 1992, when I was on the operation table for a C-section and was serious. There I saw a vision of Jesus whose height reached up to the sky and His breadth filled the earth, and I was just a tiny dot standing there. I was amazed to see our great God. He made me understand that all humans are nothing before Him. Then I heard His voice, “I care for you.” I know my heavenly Father is the caring God.
In 1996 I had the vision to serve God in a new place. Therefore we moved from Mumbai to Aurangabad as self-supporting missionaries. The Lord Jesus healed me of my severe pulmonary hypertension in 2014.
I was praying for the Lord’s leading in Bible study and found the CLI website. My husband Rainer and I started studying the Bible through CLI. We praise God for this study; I learned about God’s greatness, His love, doctrine of Godhead, Church History, Theology lessons and I liked them all.
About 50 to 70 people come to our 2nd-floor house church in an apartment. I take the Bible study & my husband preaches. We need a place for worship on the ground floor. Please pray that we may remain faithful to God until the end. Thanks for free education at CLI.
I was born and raised in the great nation of the United States of America! Ministry here is quite different than ministering in other countries (which I have also done), but it also presents it’s on set of challenges. The hardest thing I find in ministering in my country and state is the different mindsets, and that people think they have plenty of time to ‘have fun’ and ‘live life.’ They put no value on what it means to live and instead prefer to find pleasure in temporary things. Things that take no effort.
I guess that is where I have always differed from my peers.
I accepted Jesus in my life at the young age of 2. I grew up with my parents in motorcycle ministry and with a very crazy family… so I always saw what sin and darkness did to people and I wanted no part of that. I knew even from a young age that there was more to life and I knew I was going to have to fight to get to it but I knew in my heart it would be worth it. I have never looked back since that day and I have suffered many trials and sickness; but God’s love has never failed me.
I accepted Jesus in my life at the young age of 2. I grew up with my parents in motorcycle ministry and with a very crazy family… so I always saw what sin and darkness did to people and I wanted no part of that. I knew even from a young age that there was more to life, and I knew I was going to have to fight to get to it but I knew in my heart it would be worth it. I have never looked back since that day and I have suffered many trials and sickness; but God’s love has never failed me.
I accepted Jesus in my life at the young age of 2. I grew up with my parents in motorcycle ministry and with a very crazy family… so I always saw what sin and darkness did to people, and I wanted no part of that. I knew even from a young age that there was more to life and I knew I was going to have to fight to get to it but I knew in my heart it would be worth it. I have never looked back since that day and I have suffered many trials and sickness; but God’s love has never failed me.
I am a newly married lady and my husband also play a very important role in my God-dreams. Where as I am the go-getter lets leave tomorrow kind of gal, he’s the one to calm me down and make sure my emotions don’t get the best of me. He is the wind in fire, while I’m the fire to his calm! We balance each other out and work perfectly together. We both have dreams and we support each other fully in them!
My dream as a minister is so many things… but they all fit together. I am currently the Youth Pastor at my church, but I also consider myself a missionary and Evangelist. My dream is to have a prison prevention ministry in the inner city (which is also where my church is currently located). I don’t just want to help those in prison but I want to help kids stay out before they even get there. I want to show them Jesus’ love before the world entices them with sin. I also want to help in street ministry by impacting the prostitutes in my area; by showing them how loved they are and that they are accepted in the arms of Christ who has already forgave them. In the middle of all of this I feel God is calling me into the nations as well. To spread His love, to BE His hands and feet. To be the tangible love of Jesus when they don’t know what to do next or how to survive any longer in their condition. To be the one who tells them who Jesus is, what He did for them for the very first time. I feel it is my job to fulfill the Great Commission in all of these ways. It is so amazing to look at my church and to see how much they have poured into my dreams not because I am their Youth Pastor but because they actually believe in me & believe that what I want to do can help transform the atmosphere of where we are at.
There was a time in my life whee I had a dream and a plan for my life; until I heard this statement “If your dreams seem achievable then they aren’t big enough. You have to dream so big that is seems impossible to reach that goal. That is where God comes in.” Since that moment I knew my life was going to be dedicated to ministry.
A scholarship here at CLI is important to me because I believe in quality of work. I don’t want to go out into my God dreams and only have half an answer for someone. I want to know how to respond in all situations and know about all different areas of the Bible, Jesus, and ministry. I feel CLI can help me with that. Quality of education is important not only for me but to the people God has called me to.
If I could ask you to pray for anything I would ask that you pray for endurance. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in my city, my state, my country, and the world. At times I feel overwhelmed at all God has asked of me but I know He will always give me strength. Especially when I have other believers lifting us up in prayer. I can not wait to see where God takes me next!