Bring Others to Know Jesus
Hello, my name is Casey Dubbs, and I am a mother of 3 children. In 2014, My husband and I decided that God was calling us to bring others to know Jesus in Salt Lake City, UT to help some friends plant a church. We have always been very involved in church and ministry. My husband is a worship leader, and I would teach youth and participate in outreach and evangelism opportunities.
I was not raised Christian, and was the first active Christian in my family. When others started to see God moving in my life and the change in my heart, the remainder of my family became saved.
Several years ago, God broke my heart for his “lost children.” I became very burdened to commit the rest of my life to the ministry of reconciliation and had determined that there was no purpose greater in life that to bring others to know Jesus as their savior.
Our family has committed our lives to the cause of Christ and daily work towards bringing freedom, grace and love to the lost and hurting.
Salt Lake City is known for having a high population of Latter Day Saint members and the opportunity to plant a church here was exciting. It felt like America’s last mission field. While I can not make a general statement about members of the LDS church being saved or not, I can, however, say that the majority of them struggle in accepting grace and knowing confidently they are in right-standing with God. Some really do have relationships with Jesus as their savior, but many have not even heard the true gospel.
In addition to a high per capita of LDS members, Utah is also the home to may cults and extremists. There are thousands of people here who are trapped in Warren Jeffs Polygamous cult, the Fundamentalists of Latter Day Saints. This cult religion has become more extreme since Jeffs was imprisoned several years ago during the Yearning for Zion Ranch raid in Texas. My heart truly breaks for these people who are so misled and deceived following a man hoping that it is the way to God. They are with their whole heart searching to be in communion with God and to jump through hoops and rules that are completely man-made and yet are still so far from finding the comfort of the Father.
There are local ministries who are working with people who have managed to escape the FLDS cults, but I can’t help but think there is more to be done. One of my motivations for getting a scholarship at CLI was so that I could have some credentials to work alongside law enforcement and local government who comes in contact with ex-FLDS members and help educate about their spiritual conflicts and set up a system in place to de-junk their mind from years of false religion. I am currently mentoring a young minor who has fled and been excommunicated by her family left alone in a whole new world to sort out truth from fiction.
My ministry dream is to continue to be a valuable leader within our local church and to help my immediate church congregation grow in the things of God. When my young children are older, I would like to do frequent international mission trips to help spread the Gospel and God’s love into spiritually poor places in the earth. As far as what calling I identify with the most, I am torn between a Church Leader and Evangelist.
I would also like to write a book about the things I have learned about God and the kingdom through my children and their child-like faith. I purpose to humble myself to be taught even through my children.
What I would like most is prayers for our church and all the churches in Utah to be a positive representation of the love of Christ in our interesting spiritual climate. There is a lot of resentment, arguing, debating and ostracizing that seems to happen on both sides preventing a real move towards reconciliation and truth. My prayer is for the LDS church to have a revelation on the truth of the Bible and the sacrifice of Jesus and to accept Him as their Savior and to turn from false religion and false prophets. I pray for a united Christian alliance who can create a strong, healthy safety net to properly transition ex-LDS members form their religion into a healthy relationship with Jesus and to learn how to forgive and be free from resentment and bitterness.
For my personal ministry and family, I ask for prayers that we continue to grow stronger together and that each day our focus and purpose is furthering the cause of Christ. That we are heaven minded with a single eye on bringing Heaven to earth. I pray that we continue to have open doors around us to preach the gospel and live in the fullness of joy that can only come when Christ and His purpose is the center.
I am Pastor Darko Ghanaian by birth, Italian by nationality, lives in Italy since 1993,with married with 6 girls, ordained as the Pastor in 2011 by the Day star bible school in Ghana, I was brought up by my mother who taught me the way of the Lord, I daily moved with her to Bibles studies in the scripture union, I gave my life to Lord in 1976, being born again had the Holy Spirit baptism, was baptized by immersion in 1978 after a three days seminar in a suburb of Accra – Ghana.
Being part of the Scripture Union really helped me to live for Christ, my desire by then was evangelism, down broadcast, distribution of Bible tracts, doing corresponding courses with the World Bible school as a youth with the zeal to know much to serve the Lord, my love for the Lord was so much that I was called by nickname pastor, evangelist and so many, I used to organized my school mates in sharing the word of God, prays with them, I have attended several leadership training course both in Ghana and in Italy.
Since 1979, I got interested in Church planting, in the secondary school I was forming bible groups, weekly worship, praying for people, became a youth leader and doing lots of work in the arena of the church. My desire has since been to learn more of the things of God to enable me preach, and teach His word.
In the year of 1993, changes happen for me. Italy was all a new beginning of my Christian life and my vocation, going from place to place preaching and planting churches. I stared the study of theology in one of the Bible schools in Italian language for barely 8 years without achieving my objective with the difficulties of the their language, I then started different corresponding courses in order to prepare me for ministerial work., but could not complete any for lack of funds due to the excessive charges.
For the 23 years residing in Italy, I see the needs for reaching the people with the gospel of Jesus Christ
Through my research for an affordable Bible Institute I came across the CLI, after reading more about the Institute and testimonies of some of the students I was totally convinced that this is the place for me to have the necessary training I needed to be well equipped as a pastor. Fortunately and, unfortunately, I am self-sponsored in my calling in Italy with my wife’s salary and mine. My wife and children have been of a great help in every area, my late mother always happy to see me working for God that was the revelation she had about me from my childhood.
I am convinced and happy that a scholarship at the CLI will help me become a well-trained pastor God wants me to be.
I will need the prayer of everyone above all the CLI in the area of Boldness in reaching out the people with the word of God that we win more soul to the Lord and machining positive changes in the community.
My name is Jeremy Pagan and I am from the United States of America, Specifically Brooklyn, New York. Ministry in this part of the world is interesting. We have so many cultures and different kinds of people and languages. So we have to be creative in our ways of evangelizing.I was introduced to the Lord as a young child, but in my teen years I strayed away into my thoughts and ways. At the age of nineteen in the year 2009 I had an encounter with the Lord. It was around 1 a.m, and I began to hear trumpets. I looked around my house, and everyone was sound asleep.
Suddenly a presence so Powerful entered my room, and I fell and trembled. The Lord called me by name and began to tell me how much He loved me and how He knew everything about me. The Lord told me to get up and proclaim His Word that He is coming soon. Since that encounter; I have been serving along side our local church youth pastor for about five years now. I am doing ministry with the youth and young adults because not only can I relate to them on so many levels, but also the Lord has given me a broken heart for them. Witnessing all that they go through in the stages of life that they are in. Some challenges that we have in this area is so many teens, and young adults are being raised by pop culture, school, friends, and the different trends the world is putting out there. Most kids are growing up in single house holds, and parenting is rare to them. The local church has been very supportive to me and has helped me grow as a man and leader in the Lord. This scholarship is so important because its very helpful and effective to go into a deeper understanding of God and spreading the good news through ministry.
Many people enter ministry only to get burned out and give up however far along they get. I want to be as sharp as the Lord will allow and be able to not just do the work of God for a sprint but for a marathon. All the days be able to give of me to God and His purpose and will for my life. To be trained that I may in turn train others in the coming generations and in my own generation. You guys can help pray for me by coming into agreement that the Lords will be done. That the Lord will grant me the strength to do all that He has called me to do; that a new path will be opened up, with new relationships in the faith, mentors that are built up and willing to teach, to heal in areas of the past that try to hinder our potential in the Lord. Most importantly that I will be used merely as an instrument; a broken vessel as HE gets all the Glory, Honor and Praise. Amen.