Hi, I’m Timothy Jonsel S. Ermitaño from the Philippines, and I would like to attest to God’s grace and faithfulness in my life.
I am privileged because I have been called by God to teach and preach the gospel in my own hometown. God called me to start teaching in a our young people’s class at the age of sixteen and since then, I have fallen in love with His Word. Every single word and principle from the Bible proved to be a point of grace for me. He has been faithful in guiding me throughout all of my involvement in my church’s teaching ministry (Faith Baptist Church South Metro – www.fbcmm.net). Now, as I reach my fourteenth year in teaching, I think God is finally calling me to the mission field. Since God uses prepared people, I prayed for an opportunity to be trained. Christian Leaders Institute is God’s answer.
I thank God for leading me to this institute, especially now that a diploma course is a possibility. It is definitely a God-thing for me to be able to continue my journey of grace at CLI. I pray that leaders will pursue excellence in their ministries through training and spiritual development offered here at CLI.
God Bless us all!
My name is Donald Mason. I live in Texas in the United States. The dominant religion in America is Christianity but it is becoming more and more difficult to be a Christian in America as our society seems to be caving more and more to the wills of the devil and to the desires of our flesh.
I came to know God after a long and decisive battle with the concept of atheism, my life was getting difficult and my world seemed to be falling apart so I made a personal declaration that God could not exist because if He did then the world would not contain the evil that seems to consume it. However, after my father died from Graves’ disease and was resuscitated, everything changed in my eyes. My dad was no longer the same person, when he came back to life it was like looking at a new person. He told me that when he died, he heard the voice of God, who mercifully gave my dad another chance at living his life for God instead of living for the desires of the flesh. After hearing my dad’s testimony, I began to revisit the idea of God being real. I searched for proof that God is here and found that proof in my heart, when I felt the incomparable love that only God can give to us. I found Jesus and decided to try my hardest to live for Him. After finding Jesus, I began to see life in a whole new light, I saw the goodness of God in all of His creations, I saw what true love looked like and I felt the power of His mercy and His forgiveness.
My ministry dream is to help teenagers come to know God and see Him in all of His glory. I currently am a youth leader in my church and would love to be able to speak more into the lives of these kids that are struggling with hard family lives, addictions, and just the hardship of being a teenager in a cruel world. I also dream of being a medical missionary. I am currently studying in college to become a Pharmacist and would love to use that knowledge of medicine to help further the kingdom of God.
I identify with the title of Youth Leader the most, because I love my students in my youth group so much and because I really want to help more of our world’s youth come to know Christ.
My church has been very supportive of me in my calling to minister into the lives of others. My church truly believes in the Holy Spirit’s anointing of all believers to be able to work to further the kingdom of God on this earth.
A scholarship to Christian Leaders Institute would benefit me greatly in my ministry as it would allow me to study not only the Word of God but the background of the culture in the time of the Bible and how it relates to our current world situation. Knowing these things will give me the ability to use that knowledge to help the teenagers understand that God is with them and that He understands what they are going through. That He is sufficient and can help them in any area that they need help in, no matter how difficult the situation is or how much they think they have messed up.
I ask for prayer that God will have His way in my life and that I am able to lay down my own wants and desires to fulfill His will, even when my flesh cries out that I should go against what God wants. Pray that He anoints my words and my hands and everything that I do, and that the Spirit will move through me and through my works to speak life where there is death and speak love where there is heartbreak.
Hi, I’m Timothy Jonsel Ermitaño, a called servant here in the Republic of the Philippines.
I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior through the underground ministry of my Father in a Restricted Access Nation. He was working as a Civil Engineer outside of the country while ministering to our fellow countrymen in the area. The condition of my soul was confronted, one summer morning, by a family Pastor friend who asked the simple question – “What are you waiting for?” Tears started rolling down my cheek as I realized the time I had wasted.
Growing up in a Christian home, in a very Muslim country, and seeing my Dad spread the good news of Christ planted something in my heart – a desire to seek those who are lost! By the time I was 16, I came home alone to the Philippines to pursue a college education…but God had other plans. Our family struggled financially so that led me to work in a Christian organization that specializes in curriculum development. My involvement in this organization awakened the deep seeded desire in me to minster. As I became active in the organization, my Church involvement also became hectic. I was asked to handle a small youth group every Sunday afternoon. This opportunity was the start of my love affair with the Word of God. Since that time, I am amazed at the wide reach of God’s word into the life of the believer. I’ve been teaching for almost 14 years and the Word has moved me from a small youth group to a mission church in my hometown, from single to married, from blessed to overwhelmed. You can consider me a non-ordained pastor and an inspired preacher. I love my work so much that I felt in my heart that I needed to train and prepare more…after all, God uses prepared minsters!
Throughout the years, God has been blessing me and my wife with ministry opportunities and just recently, I was given the opportunity to visit a countryside location where the salvation message is needed! I think that God is now calling me out to the mission field. My dream is to fulfill this deep seeded desire of proclaiming the Gospel wherever God leads me…and right now, I think God is leading me there. I just need your prayers of encouragement and protection since the people in this new area are known to be hostile to Bible believing people and the spiritual battle is great!
I would like to thank Christian Leaders Institute for providing opportunities to broaden our spiritual know-how in pursuing ministry for God’s glory. I look forward to be more involved in the courses of CLI, especially now that diploma courses are open.
Again, thank you CLI for equipping people like us to push the Gospel message into the unbelieving world!
SOLI DEO GLORIA