Even countries where the gospel has been preached for years can need revival. The enemy is never idle, but levels attacks at believers wherever they may be found. That’s why we need people to be mentoring leaders in the church wherever they may be found.
Hardley Musiega Sogoni is very aware of these attacks. He lives in Kenya, a nation that identifies mainly as Christians. But Hardley tells how many who identify as Christians in Kenya still engage in ancestor and idol worship. It is this continued practice of idol worship that inspires his goal of mentoring leaders in the Christian community. He sees the need for God’s people to stay away from the practices of paganism.
I was born in 1968 in Western Kenya to Kenyan mother (died 2009) and a Kenyan father (died 2003); leaving behind my 6 siblings who are all alive. As a teacher trainee in Shanzu Teachers College in Kenya, I got saved and surrendered my life to Christ Jesus as lord and savior. I completed my Primary Teachers Certificate Course in 1991 and got married in September 1996 to Ruth Ikuni Musiega. Since 1997, we are parents to Charity, Joy and Glory who are beautiful daughters.
In 2005 I was transferred to Western Kenya and hence, commissioned as a pioneer pastor in the rural areas of Kenya. That meant I had to really surrender my whole life for Christ (dying to myself and letting Him live in me). The local church experienced growth over time that necessitated more knowledge on mentorship, leadership and church planting.
Mentoring leaders is an important part of revival. Without revival leaders, revival movements fizzle out and die. Because of this, Hardley’s vision for revival in Kenya includes a primary goal of mentoring leaders in the church.
My ministry goal is to Mentor many Christian leaders in Kenya and expand God’s kingdom by training local men and women and then send them to go to the unreached area of our nation. I want to give up everything for God just as Jesus did and to inspire others to do the same. My dream is to live my life like Jesus (after all I should be dead and only Christ is living in me). I want to be dead to sin, dead to worldly ambition, and live as if Jesus is the one doing the living in me and live only for His kingdom and sharing His love to everyone. One of my dreams also is to provide bible education to everyone for free (bible colleges in every town & city in Western Kenya).
I have read and re-read the bible but I feel there are plenty of things that I do not understand and when on mission ground in Kenya I would not want to under teach the word of God. Getting a scholarship with CLI would help me tremendously and will be a great building block for further studies.
Mentoring leaders is important in Kenya because many professing Christians are still engaging in ancient forms of idolatry and witchcraft.
Currently I live in Kenya but where I do Bi-vocational full time ministry. I have great trust to start ministry by 2020 as about 80% of the people in Western Kenya call themselves Christians but majority of the country men are yet to touched by the true gospel. Most believers still practice ancestral worshiping and witchcraft. These are the people that God has laid in my heart.
The main dream we (my wife and I) have is to reach the unreached people of Kenya but also we would love to be used by God to bring unity among the various churches in Kenya. Moreover, we would like to show the caring and love of Christ through helping kids who are orphans and bring bible education to anyone who are interested for free.
Due to financial challenges, I can’t really attend an on campus bible education program so the fact that CLI is an online bible college makes it possible for me to have a good quality bible education. The fact that CLI is bible based training institution is a bonus for me as it mean that I can spend less time on my study but still get the same vital information highly needed for ministry work. The teachings I will receive will assist me know more about God’s word and to understand it and how to pass it on to others, so I really appreciate that CLI is a donation based education.
Kindly intercede for us that the desire God has placed in our heart will grow and that in our future ministry, we will always seek to glorify our heavenly Father and that we will not seek our own gain.
If you are called to serve God, whether your service is mentoring leaders, preaching, evangelizing, or just leading your family, Christian Leaders Institute can help you achieve your ministry goals! Click here to learn more about our study programs, or click here to get started and enroll today!
Sometimes God has to tear our lives down so we can find new life in Him. It may not be pleasant in the moment, but we must realize that it is for our good.
Max Cuao of Colombia experienced this. He tells how he was in a dark place in his life and visited a neighbor for help. It turned out the neighbor he visited was the one God was using to show Max and his family the way to find new life in Jesus.
Blessings brothers in Jesus Christ.
My name is Max. I live in Bogotá Colombia, and I have a beautiful family with three children and my wife.
I knew about Jesus Christ about 4 years ago when I was in a very difficult situation. My wife and I went to a neighbor for help. Our neighbor was attending a Christian church, and he told us about of Jesus and what God had done in his life.
From that moment we choose to believe in Jesus Christ as our savior, and God changed all of our life. God gave us the peace that we were needing, and today we are leaders in the congregation by God’s amazing grace.
As it so often happens, God brought new life to Max and his family that day, but He also gave him a calling. Max felt that God wanted him to do more. God had given him so much, and he wanted to be able to give back.
We dream of being pastors someday, we feel that God has called us as the apostle Peter (John 21: 15-19) Do you love me? Feed my sheep.
But where was Max going to get training to become a pastor? He was able to find new life only a short time ago. His life was in shambles at the time, and he still didn’t have money for seminary. But thanks be to God, who answers prayer even when it seems impossible!
A scholarship at CLI is so important to our ministry dream because we want a quality formation to serve our Lord as good as possible for us, and we don’t have enough money and now I am unemployed and my financial situation is not the best and in my country quality training is in the most of cases expensive.
Max’s experience with God led him to a deep trust in his Lord and Savior. It’s this trust that pushes him to follow through on his ministry training. This faith assures him that God will provide if he follows Jesus. This faith compels him to help others find new life in the Lord Jesus.
We have faith and we are sure that God will supply all our needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
You can help us praying for God give us the strength to keep on the way of serving to Jesus Christ.
If you, like Max, have been called to a ministry, Christian Leaders Institute could help you achieve your goals. With a variety of study programs, CLI offers a path for many areas of leadership in the church. This includes Bible Study leaders, pastors, elders, deacons, and more. If you think you could benefit from free ministry training, click here to enroll in classes now!
Jared Thomas of Texas is evangelizing people in Texas. Texas is in the heart of what we in America call the “Bible Belt.” The Bible Belt is so called because most people in this area attend church, identify themselves as Christians, and have a history and tradition of doing so.
But in his testimony, Jared explains why evangelizing people is uniquely challenging in Texas. People believe in God, but often don’t know the God they believe in.
My name is Jared Thomas. I am currently living in Denton, Texas in the United States of America. Doing ministry in Texas is unique in a way because there are thousands of different churches, and the people who don’t go to church believe in God at different levels.
Even Jared didn’t believe in God when he was young, despite growing up in a Christian family. In fact, as Jared tells, it took the challenge and courage of his church’s youth leader to finally bring him to Christ.
I grew up in a Christian family and I became a Christian when I was 16 years old. Even though I grew up in a Christian family I didn’t always believe in God. I thought people went to church to get psychological encouragement because they were not able to deal with the challenges of life. I viewed Christians as weak, insecure people who needed the church to give them rules and to tell them what to do. But by Gods grace, things changed. When I was a teenager in high school, my youth pastor asked me to study the Bible. I agreed to study more out of curiosity about the Bible, not the desire to know the Bible. My youth pastor knew this, yet he constantly showed me evidence of God and the Bible. He would show me historical proof of the Bible and scientific evidence of God. At the age of 16, I decided to make Jesus Lord of my life and I was baptized on October 30, 2009.
Jared realizes that there are already many people evangelizing people in the U.S., and God’s laid a different passion on his heart. Jared’s passion is for countries where governments are trying to suppress the word of God. His ministry dream is to go where even being identified with Christ could send you to prison, or even death!
My spiritual or ministry dream is to go to countries where the gospel is not allowed to be preached and give the people there an opportunity to know God. I also have a desire to serve the poor in poverty stricken countries. The word that I identify with is the Word small group leader. I love leading small groups and seeing the group being unified for God. The key experience that has shaped my walk with God was when I go to other countries for mission work to help the churches and the poor. Some unique challenges that I have noticed in my area is the fact that there are a lot of people and students that identify themselves as christians. Yet there life does not demonstrate the life of Jesus and the Bible is not there standard. The Bible calls us to repent of sin and to live a life like Jesus. My local church has helped me with this calling because I have seen the blessings and rewards of what happens when the whole church is called to have the Bible as there standard.
Despite not personally believing in Jesus till he was 16, Jared was able to receive a good testimony from his parents and his brother. Their lives inspired him to follow the calling of Jesus on his life. And his calling inspired him to seek biblical training to show himself approved and ready for every good work.
A scholarship to CLI will be a great benefit to me because to will give me the knowledge from the Bible that I will need to be more effective in ministry here in Denton, TX and around the world. My prayer is that more men and women from Denton, TX will have big spiritual dreams for God.
Your calling may be evangelizing people, like Jared’s, but it doesn’t have to be. No matter what your spiritual calling is, Christian Leaders Institute has courses that can help you become more effective in your ministry. Click here to enroll in courses today and see for yourself!