Student Cliff Gonzalez enrolled at Christian Leaders Institute to fulfill his dreams of starting a ministry! Free Ministry Starting courses are helping Cliff achieve his goals and dreams! Here is his story…
Free Ministry Starting Courses – Cliff’s Story
Hi my name is Cliff Gonzalez, I am 46 yrs old and reside in the United States, along with my beautiful wife and three children. I was raised in a Christian home, my parents introduced me and my three siblings to God at birth. I dream of an online ministry (for starters) that reaches all over the world. I would love to spread the word of God, hold bible studies and prayer sessions, give marriage advise/counseling to people all over the world.
As I have gotten older and wiser, I have felt this calling, this need to learn more, be more for my family, friends and fellow man. I want them all to experience that happiness and love, that the Lord has planted in my heart. How empowering it makes you feel when you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in all your decisions. How no matter how difficult times may seem, there is always greatness to look forward to …hope.
I friends and family have supported me, but most important of all my wife has been behind me all the way. Without her support I would not have been able to accomplish all that I have accomplished. My siblings are also religious, so they also have been of great support with my calling.
A scholarship from C.L.I. would be such a blessing for me because I would love to make all these dreams of starting a ministry, a reality. I request for prayers so that one day my ministry comes to be, prayers for the Holy Spirit to continue to guide me, prayers that I maintain my heart open so I can hear our Lord speak to me, prayers of gratitude for all the blessings God has given me, prayers for me to be strong and fall into temptations, prayers for God to speak and work through me.
Thank you C.L.I., I am very grateful for this opportunity and God Bless you all!
Christian Leaders Institute’s student Simon Twine enrolled at CLI to utilize Free Africa Ministry Training to start a ministry in his small African village. Here is his story…
Free Africa Ministry Training – Simon’s Story
My names are Simon Twine, age 33 and I am a married man. A pastor of a church called Jesus Christ Is Lord Worship Centre, in a village called Butaleja which is found in Eastern Uganda that is East Africa. I am a Ugandan by nationality. Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life and I have known the Holy Spirit for about 15 years I got to know him when i was still in secondary school. It’s such a great feeling to know what you are created for. Life starts to have a lot of meaning.
1. To God be the Glory. I am a Ugandan by Nationality, Which is known as the pearl of Africa. I am living in Uganda in the capital city called Kampala. Uganda has had different level of transformation in leadership from the 60s which affected born again Christian because they were being persecuted because of their faith. Now there is freedom of worship and we have seen grate Evangelists, servant of God visiting the nation. Although much is still required to do the work of God.
2. Since my childhood there has been this Grace of God upon my life of having that fact or awareness that God is real. So one time, I was taken to church by my aunt and I felt that sense of belonging in the house of God. Ever since than I have loved being taught the word of God and now I understanding that Jesus Christ the Anointed one is my Saver.
3. I may have to be specific; the Lord has called me to be a light that shines out for others to see for His only Glory. (Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shines before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.)
4. I should be identified as a Pastor at the moment, because I have sheep to take care of, which were given to me by the Lord. And it’s in my divine calling to oversee some Christian believes, helping them grow into strong spiritual man and woman of God.
5. The key experience in my life for ministry lies in my individual life with God. Whereby I have gone through silent moments inspired by God to a point of understanding His divine calling upon my life that’s to say that I am a vessel of honor, and the responsibility that is a head me to influence His children in and out of the world to know who He Is to them.
6. The church I pastor I located in eastern Ugandan, in a place called Butaleja which is well known for strong traditional beliefs which include a lot of witchcraft practice and populated with Muslims. To add to that challenges here also include; people being primitive of the Word of God even to some Christians, They follow Christ and believe in witchcraft as well plus it being a village which is 5 hours’ drive from the capital city with bad road network.
7. They stand with me in prayer and encouraging the believers to continue standing with me so that the work of God goes on. Some of them have provide me with study materials that’s to good Christian books to help me learn more about ministry.
8. My family stands with me through the challenges of ministering since my church is a long way from my home. They also prayer for the ministry for God to use it to reach many people in the community.
9. Having a ministry in an African village, in a 3rd world country, is very challenging. Most people are not educated to the basic level, but yet I am called to do the work of God in them. As an individual, I don’t have that Christian leadership knowledge besides that divine call upon my life and I couldn’t even support myself through any bible school. Yet I passionately desire to learn more. For that cause, when I got to know about CLI, i joined immediately.
So training me, means training a village to impact the nation.
10. What an opportunity of having brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus standing with in from thousands of miles away. It’s my kind request to officially ask of you to join us in praying for the work God that He has trusted us with to accomplish in the village of Butaleja. Asking the Lord to facilitate and establish us fully as vessels of honor for His own Glory.
Christian Leaders Institute’s student Benjamin Gyamerah enrolled at CLI because he could not afford a traditional seminary, and has the vision to open a charity to help the poor in Ghana through ministry. Ghana Free Ministry Training helped change Benjamin’s life, here is his story…
Ghana Free Ministry Training – Benjamin’s Story
I bring you greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Benjamin Osei Gyamerah. I was born on the 20th September 1980 to Ghanaian parents. Currently I live in Scotland with my wife and child but I will like to go to Ghana in a not too distant future to continue what God has placed on my heart. After I was born my father travelled to Germany for greener pastures leaving myself and my mother alone. After not hearing from my father for a very long time, my parents had to settle for divorce.
This situation led to a very difficult moment in the life of my mother bringing me up all alone without any source of livelihood. My grandmother then later took up the responsibility of my upbringing and she inculcated in me many Christian values and qualities that helped to influence and shaped my Christian life growing up as a believer. She will wake me up very early in the morning for devotion and encourage me to go to children service on Sunday. She became my source of inspiration and role model but she later died at the age of 67.
At some point in my life my father came into the scene and took up the responsibility of my schooling from senior secondary school to the University of Ghana where I studied Political Science with study of Religions. After my first degree, I secured a scholarship to pursue my master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom where I studied MSc in African Studies. Throughout my life, I never dreamt of becoming a minister of God but my greatest ambition was to become a university lecturer. However, after my master’s degree I felt a strong sense of Gods call upon my life and really wanted to abandon everything and go into ministry. I was highly motivated by the scripture in 1Timothy 3:1 that says that “if anyone decides to do the work of an overseer, he or she has chosen a good job”.
Initially, my father did not agree with my decision to go into ministry but I was greatly and profoundly encouraged by one great man of God (Reverend Lawrence Owusu Ansah), the general overseer and founder of Hour of Prayer ministry in Accra, Ghana whom I also got the opportunity to work with. He prophesied into my life that there is a call upon my life. I did not doubt the prophesy but rather I felt it was a confirmation from God of what I was sensing in my spirit.
Pastor Lawrence became my spiritual father and he taught me many things in ministry and gave me the opportunity to become a youth leader in the church. His tutelage and divine guidance was second to none and it greatly gave me confidence in the Lord. He gave me opportunities to lead prayer meetings and bible studies in the church and travelled with me on many occasions to perform religious assignments.
Currently, I am in a local church in Edinburgh, Scotland (Destiny Church) serving as a member of the welcome and the prayer team. Since I joined the church, I have learnt many things and the experience has been very fulfilling. The church has been very supportive to me and my family both physically and spiritually and I really thank Pastor Peter (Head pastor, Destiny church Edinburgh) for allowing God to use him to impact many lives.
My greatest motivation and desire for going into ministry is first and foremost to avail myself for any kind of work God wants me to do to expand his kingdom and secondly to bring revival among the youth in my country as a minister of God. As a former tutor in a high school in Ghana and a youth pastor in my previous local church, I noticed with discontent the rate at which moral standards in the youth especially those in our schools and colleges are deeply dwindling bringing about low level of optimism among many of the youth to serve the Lord. There are widespread negative and unapproved practices such as homosexual, lesbianism, stealing, gambling etc. in many schools in Ghana.
My aim in ministry is for God to use me to reach many people especially the youth in secondary schools and universities to know the Lord Jesus and demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm in working for God in many aspects of their lives. By the grace of God I intend as part of my ministerial calling set up an outreach team and program that will go into schools and engage with students to share and discuss with them pure teachings of the bible with the intention of empowering them for greater service in the Lord. As part of this vision, a comprehensive plan and strategy will be drawn to get many schools come together once a year to share what the Lord is doing in their lives. The purpose is to create the platform for other youth to be encouraged and also give their lives to God and serve him better.
Moreover, part of my greater vision is to set up a charity organisation which priority will be to assist the poor and the needy in most deprived communities in Ghana where church activities are not very common. I have observed that for most of these deprived areas, there is a strong correlation between livelihood and people’s desire to serve the Lord. The charity organisation when established with the help of God will have a dual responsibility of assisting the needy with anything that promote their physical wellbeing (clothes, food, trade, entrepreneurship etc.) whiles at the same time taking the gospel to them to help redefine their relationship with God.
The online Christian leaders’ basic certificate course from CLI has been very positive and has contributed to the broadening of my scope of knowledge in basic concepts in the Christian faith. I thank the management of Christian Leaders Institute for their clear vision in the Lord that is helping to shape the lives of many individuals in the Christendom. This vision can only be made possible through the unfailing support and guidance of the Holy Spirit and I beseech you all by the mercies of God to support me with your prayers to make this dream a reality.
At present, things have been quite difficult for me financially. I do not work full time and my wife is also not working at the moment so I will gladly welcome any opportunity from CLI to make my call in the Lord a reality. Scholarship from Christian leaders Institute to go further in this course will be a positive tool and an enabling platform to prepare me adequately for ministry and to make this dream a reality. Thank you for your support. Shalom