Called Christian Leader – Victim to Victor in Christ
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are abused sexually. CLI graduate, Brandi Rainwater was sexually abused and faced other significant challenges. Through all that unbelievable pain, Brandi became a called Christian leader that encourages others that have and are facing similar struggles.
I’m Brandi Rainwater native Texan. Raised in Lubbock, TX lived in Atlanta, GA for a few years as a child. Then, moved back to Lubbock. Now live in Dallas, TX with my husband and two children.
I was raised in the church under my uncle as my pastor. I grew up in the Church of Christ, and my grandfather was an elder. My mother got married to her first husband, and we moved to Atlanta, GA. Then, after a year we moved back to Lubbock, by then my mom and her first husband got a divorce. A few years later she got remarried, and this man I remember feeling that something was off with him. He molested me from age 8 to 17. He would tell me that if I said anything he would kill my mom, my sisters, and then me. I was scared for years, he would beat me and do so many other things. But then after I graduated from high school, I spiraled into a life of drugs and alcohol to try to fill the hurt and shame. I got pregnant, and life had a little bit of purpose, so I stopped the drugs. But it still felt like life had no meaning.
Brandi kept looking to fill her void. She went from sexual abuse to more abuse and then to the streets, but God never left Brandi. God prepared Brandi with those tests to be a called Christian leader testifying to others.
I went to okay relationships and to having a job, car, and apartment to losing it all. I was out on the street, living in abandoned apartments, not eating for days, begging people for money and food on the street corners. Then I went to a very abusive relationship and lost everything. Lost not just my house and my job, but my kids. Lost who I really was and became homeless again. Then I went to a women’s protective service. I finally realized this is who I was supposed to be with. I got uncomfortable at the women’s shelter (paranoid that he would get out and kill me) that I left what I grew up around. Then, I asked the shelter if could they move me to Dallas. I called to GOD and said that I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t pick the right man that He had for me. “You guide me with the man that you have for me.” With that, I met my husband. We saw where the other one had been hurting, but couldn’t get past our addiction to alcohol and drugs.
During Brandi’s and her husband’s struggle, God revealed a path that lead to Brandi becoming a called Christian leader for God’s kingdom.
One day we saw a church sign that said this church was going to be opening up soon. We went, and it was so different from any other church that I had ever been to. The worship was incredible then the pastor got up there and he spoke words that I’d heard before, but it was like a light bulb went off, and I needed to get more from it. My husband and I started to change and seek HIS face again. It took me time to see that my husband wasn’t going to fix the issues of hurt and pain, but he was going to walk with me with GOD as our leader. I went to the pastor and asked if I could just clean the church to help. Then, we moved into another building, and GOD gave me a dream about helping homeless people. So I went to the pastor and shared my vision, and he told me, “Then you have to lead the homeless at this church.”
Brandi is a called Christian leader with a big dream. She hopes to help the homeless learn skills, but more importantly learn about God’s saving grace.
That dream was to be able to meet the homeless and relate to them and love them right where they are at. To help them in a building that will not only feed them psychically but spiritually. Where they can come get their GED, computer skill training, career training, and also get training that only the WORD can give them.
CLI is providing called Christian leaders like Brandi the opportunity to have high-quality free ministry training so they can further advance their knowledge and lead others to Christ.
With this training, I want to go deeper into being a better leader, a minister, and a woman of GOD. CLI will help me because I’ve been wanting to go to seminary college to get an education in not just how to present the BIBLE to people but to get better equipped in helping lead others. This will help me fulfill the calling He has on my life and be able to assist those who are like me and called to share their stories to lead others to Christ.
Through God, Brandi has risen from victim to victor in Christ and is leading others to victory in Christ.
Right now I’m new at this leading at a church, but I asked GOD to show me my calling and HE gave me a vision. What I do is all unpaid, and my husband works to not only support our family but to help support the vision that GOD has given me. So a scholarship will be a great blessing as lack of finances is what has stopped me from attending seminary college.
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How Do I Officiate A Wedding
Hello, my name is Nicola Amore, and I live in the Northeastern part of the United States. I am a husband and father, and my life has been sprinkled by God’s grace through my decisions in life.
I want to share with you how I stumbled upon the Christian Leadership Institute (CLI) and how I hope to use it in the future.
My son and his future bride had asked if I would officiate their wedding ceremony. I was honored and thankful at their request, but I did not feel that I had the proper “qualifications” to be a minister. I have started internships to enter the ministry at different times in my life, but the trials and responsibilities of life got in the way. As I started doing internet searches on – How do I officiate a wedding? – multiple ads and websites filled my screen.
It amazed me how much interest there was on the subject of ” – How do I officiate a wedding -” out there. I started looking deeper into the choices on my screen and was utterly astounded and saddened at what I found. It turns out that you can get a license to officiate weddings by just paying the appropriate “donation” and agreeing with the site’s “statement of faith”. Some of the sites are clearly unbiblical and are so universal that they cover everything under the sun. I was ashamed of what happened to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
I was determined to find an organization that has a sound biblical foundation and a statement of faith that agreed with my core biblical beliefs. I feel your character is important in life, and it is what you are known by. I began searching and reading the sites, and this is when I came across CLI. It seems like it was the perfect match for me. CLI was not just giving away an ordination certificate but they required you to systematically research fundamental biblical teachings through internet viewing and multiple choice testing. The questions were there to strengthen and challenge your faith in the Bible.
I was surprised at the depth that the journey went, and I love that it is open to people of all faiths. It is just you walking through the Bible with other believers trusting in the Holy Spirit who guides your faith. The deeper you walk, the stronger your faith becomes. Another great thing about CLI is that it is free, and you can complete courses at your pace.
I am glad that CLI came across my path, and I intend to further and finally complete my education in ministry. I don’t know exactly where my ministry lies, but time and testing with the Holy Spirit as my guide will lead me there.
My name is Donald Young. I was born and raised on Long Island. My family went to a Southern Baptist Church there. When I was 11 years old I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and was baptized. I attended West Sayville Christian School from 6th grade through 9th grade.
There, I grew in my walk with Jesus. I was very active in our church and youth group. When I started 10th grade in public high school, I tried to live a Christian life, but the world was hard to resist. I started to let worldly influences into my life. Still involved in our youth group. I taught Sunday school and ran our youth group at 17.
Then I graduated high school and was encouraged by my pastor and church leaders to pursue a youth ministry pastorship. I felt the Lord calling me to that ministry but couldn’t leave the worldly life I was living. I was living a double life. At 21, I was convicted by God to give up my double life and He opened the doors to go to seminary and pursue the path God had planned out for me.
Then I got scared. I didn’t want to give up my other life so I left Long Island and went to North Carolina. I went to church there and I felt nothing, so I stopped going. I went to school to be a police officer. I found no peace in that. I knew the Lord was always watching over me, but I refused to come back to Him.
Over the years it got easier and easier to stop listening to that small gentle voice in my head of God’s yearning for me to repent. Through the years, I did make sure my children went to church. Not for me, but for my mother. Every time I spoke to her on the phone or saw her, she would ask if we went to church. So I sent the children to church just to keep my mom happy. I didn’t go. In 2012, my wife Kenia started going to church with our 2 children. On Easter in 2012 Kenia was saved. She wanted me to go to church with her, but I made sure I had to work on Sundays.
One year after Kenia’s salvation, I went to church with her and the moment I walked into church I felt ashamed to be there. I wept the whole sermon. I didn’t even wait for the invitational song to start before quickly walking to the altar and speaking with the pastor. I asked God to forgive me for leaving Him and asked to come back into His loving grace. I asked Him to use me as he called me twenty-five years ago.
We started serving the Lord in Tucson the next week. In August, my wife came to me and said she felt the Lord calling us to move back to Long Island and serve Him there. At first, I tested the Lord by saying, “If God wants us to go to New York, He needs to open the door wide.” Well, He did, and I got a job transfer to New York the first time I tried. My wife’s family and my family told us, “If that is what God wants, then go.” The money came and the old vehicle we had made the trip.
I started working on the Monday after we got there and had a place to live the next week. God is good. Then we started looking where God wanted us to go to church. We felt the Lord draw us to Trinity. We went several times. My wife told me this would be the church we would worship in. I wanted to search more, but we kept coming back to Trinity. We committed to go there. After attending for 4 months, Pastor John asked us if we would move into the vacant parsonage for ministry purposes. That included maintaining a presence there and doing maintenance of the church and the church grounds. We would also over see and house any interns that would be serving Trinity Baptist Church. We praise God for this provision.
We moved into the parsonage and helped fix up the downstairs of the house, which is where the interns would stay. We are to feed them and make sure their needs are met. Ministering at Trinity is a great opportunity. It is a small church with needs of growth and kingdom minded vision. Please keep us in your prayers as our church grows.
Once we were settled in at Trinity, the Holy Spirit spoke to me leading me to follow His path, the one He had placed before me 25 years ago. I told the Lord I didn’t have the time to go to school, I needed to work. Well, the Lord had other plans. In January 2015 I got pneumonia and the flu, which took me out of work for the month of January. The Lord supplied all our needs during that time. Then in February, my neck and arm pain, which I’ve had for years, got worse and I couldn’t work. This whole time my wife and I were praying for a door to open to pursue school. Well, the Lord is great.
On February 15th I started taking online classes with the Christian Leaders Institute. I was not working so I had the time for school. The school is an accredited school and is free; only donations online. I had neck surgery on April 15th and I’m not sure if I will ever be able to go back to my job at Home Depot. But, to the glory of God, I will finish my ministry classes and be ready to minister for His Glory and His Kingdom. I plan on continuing my education if the Lord desires. Only the Lord knows where He will lead us next. We are willing to go wherever He leads.
If it wasn’t for Christian Leaders Institute. I would not have been able to pursue God’s ministry. I learned so much to use in bringing God’s word to the lost. CLI has great programs and classes to train up the students in the knowledge of our faith to bring it to the world. CLI has prepared me for that. During my time at CLI, the Holy Spirit has led me to pursue my calling into being a Youth Pastor. Now I am being ordained. I know that God will lead us to a place we can serve and bring lost souls to Jesus. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
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