1. Please share with us the country you are currently living in and what it is like to do ministry in this country.
Hi, I’m Janey, I live in England, in the UK. Doing ministry here is changing a lot. People are less and less likely to identify themselves as ‘Christian’. In the city where I live especially Atheism (or ‘no religion’) and Islam are growing most as Christianity declines.
2. Please share with us how you came to know the Lord.
I grew up believing in God as a child, but it wasn’t until I was in my teens that I heard about the Holy Spirit, and it freaked me out – I thought it was all a bit weird! Later in my early late teens and early adulthood, I went through a lot of trauma and eventually had a breakdown. When I was praying one day, I felt for the first time a really powerful presence of God, like the Father was holding me close and I really felt his love and compassion. Shortly after this I got baptised and made a commitment to follow Jesus. I got married quite young to a guy who confessed to be Christian, but he fell away from his faith and very sadly our marriage ended by his adultery. This was a hugely testing time for me and I went through a very rebellious stage against God – I was just so devastated and ashamed about my failed marriage. So for years I walked in my angry wilderness! After a few years of this, a combination of pretty serious life events brought things back into focus very sharply and a released how far I had drifted from God. As I cried out to God, he did a mighty rescue mission in my life – he gave me the strength to literally leave all of my old life behind and take a massive step of faith to move to a brand new city and give me a clean slate to walk with him – like the prodigal son, he ran to me and loved me back.
3. Please share with us your ministry dream.
Because I have been ‘the prodigal’ I especially have a heart for people who had previously had a walk with God, but ‘life’ has made them cynical and they have drifted away.
4. Which word do you identify with most and why? Pastor, Evangelist, Small Group Leader, Youth Leader, Church Planter
Probably church planter
5. What key experience in your life prompted you to pursue ministry?
Realising that after what I went through a few years ago (literally facing a painful physical death) and being so dramatically and powerfully rescued by God, that now, it’s all or nothing. I believe God can (and is) going to use all of those experiences for his glory. He can sew a silk purse from a pig’s ear 🙂
6. What are some unique challenges in your geographic area?
Its very secular, and quite middle class. So basically people think they have got everything sussed. It’s also a really hedonistic, and ‘instant gratification’ culture.
7. How has your local church supported you in your ministry calling?
Providing small group accountability and prayer. Helping me identify the steps toward developing a ministry.
8. Is there anything you want to share about your family’s role in your ministry calling?
None of my family are Christians, and this grieves my soul. One day I hope to be able to share the joy of knowing Jesus with them. Until then it’s pray, pray, PRAY! 🙂
9. Why is a scholarship at CLI so important to your ministry dream?
I want to make sure that I am properly prepared, and have a sound doctrinal basis for teaching others. CLI has been a God-send in that I can study at my own pace at home around all the other things I juggle!
10. How can we pray for you in your ministry?
It is early days, so I would love prayer to help me identify the specific ministries God would call me into. I think this could be in the music scene (rock and metal) as that’s my background. Pray too that I can continue to develop good devotional habits.
I’m currently living in sunny Vallejo, Ca.
I came to know the Lord at a very young age. I was about 8 yrs old when I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have been through many trials in which God has held my hand. Sometimes when I didn’t even realize He was watching out for me. Situations that I could have very well lost my life in.
As a mother of 4 and a once drug abuser, I was faced with the trials of having my children removed from my care. Through it all God kept me and restored my children back to me and I could not have became sober and did any of that without Him by my side or having a foundation in Him. He was my rock.
My ministry goal is to mentor other mothers or women who suffer from drug addictions and family issues surrounding their children. I feel the need to prepare myself properly to persue that calling in which God will use me to share my experience with other woman and expose them to the love of Christ.
My local church is awesome and very supportive thus far. I will be entering a evangelist class with them as well as taking classes at CLI, because I feel the more I learn, the better I can serve God’s people. Please pray for my walk with Christ and that He uses me to win souls for the Kingdom of God.
My name is Keith Moore. I am a citizen of, and currently reside in the United States of America. This is my story of how I went from Atheist to Christian.
For most of my childhood (from the age of five until about 16), I attended church fairly regularly. I did this without my parents, riding a church bus to Sunday school until I was old enough to drive myself. During that period of time, I never really grasped what it meant to completely give my life to Christ. I saw it as more of a social club.
My adult life found me struggling with the concept of religion, much less the teachings of Christianity. I had read, researched, and interviewed believers and non-believers alike, then read and researched some more. With over 20 years in the fire and rescue field as a Firefighter/Paramedic, I have seen and experienced horrible things that seriously made me doubt that there could possibly be a loving and merciful God. My faith was no longer and I spoke out often against Jesus Christ.
In the late night hours of June 28th, 2014, I found myself sitting on my bed in the bunkroom at the firehouse, reading The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. I was about three-quarters of the way through (maybe a little more) and I began feeling something that I cannot put into words. It wasn’t joy, pain, anger, or any other emotion that I feel I could properly label; I just kept feeling like weeping. It actually scared me at first. I wasn’t sad or mad, and I wouldn’t even say that I felt like “crying” (although some would think them synonymous); I just kept feeling “choked up”. I would take a deep breath, relax, and it would subside, but the feeling kept coming back.
Hours later, I was nearing the end of the book. I came to page 759 and a heading that read, “You Can Receive Christ Right Now Through Prayer”. All of a sudden, I began feeling warm and, quite honestly, scared; oh, and there was that choked-up feeling again. I took a deep breath and actually whispered out loud, “Even if this is true, I don’t deserve to be saved.” Then, a voice in my head said, “You can do it. Go ahead.”
I took a deep breath and began reading the following words, “Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
Now, I have heard people say that they were saved, born again, accepted the Lord, however you want to put it, and that right afterward, they felt nothing; no different, whatsoever. I promise you this, immediately after reading those words, I felt driven to close my eyes and speak from the heart. As I sat alone in silence beneath my reading lamp, tears began rolling down my face and I just PRAYED. I wept. I begged forgiveness. I thanked Jesus again. I asked for guidance. I wept some more. I honestly felt spiritually renewed. I must have prayed for 30+ minutes and then laughed at myself for the next hour, or so, about how I could not stop weeping from the joy I was feeling and about how awkward it would be if we got a call right then.
After finally regaining my composure, I went and sat in the dayroom and reflected on a number of things; the biggest being this:
I had finally come to the conclusion that, not only is God real, but so is Jesus and the Word of God. I realized that it didn’t matter how many books I had read or how many Christians I had tell me that they “just believed”. I realized that for all the time I spent looking for Jesus with my eyes, I had been refusing to look with my heart. Once I opened my heart to Him, it all became clear; He was with me all along. He knew my heart and was patient with me. God is great. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and completely Holy. He is the Father that made, the Son that saved me, and the Spirit that lives within me. Yes, He judges; He does so perfectly, righteously, and fairly, but He also forgives, loves, blesses, and shows mercy. I cannot effectively articulate the power I felt in HIM that night. God is definitely NOT dead! He is alive, well, and reigns on high!
Since I surrendered my life to Christ, I have felt called to the ministry for men’s leadership and the first responder community. I also have a strong desire to do God’s work through medical missions both here in the United States and abroad. I am committed to live my life for Christ and spreading the Gospel!