Planted a House Church
Blessings and Shalom – My name is Corinne Benefield currently living in America, in the state of Tennessee; which isn’t my birth place of Massachusetts. The two states are so different in many ways and quite different when it comes to the things of God. I am a young 56 year old, retired from the Air Line industry of 27 years. Married to my soul mate and a mother of two grown sons. Corinne and her husband have ministered in many capacities over the years. They even helped start a House Church in Tennessee.
My story – I did not grow up in a Christian home, but started to attend church at a young age through a bus ministry and vacation bible school. I’m thankful for those dear saints that reached out to my family and their dedication to serve our Lord Jesus.
One of the many blessings I received was to attend our church summer camp when I was a teen. My dear second grade Sunday school teacher sent me anonymously; which I learned of in my twenties. It was there that I accepted Jesus as my savior.
Not long after this time my parents would divorce, my dad would disappear off into the sunset. I would not see, hear from or speak to him for seven years. This would have a major impact in my life, my image of a father would be one of abandonment.
When I turned sixteen I walked away from the Lord and became very involved in the things of the world. Drinking and drugs would become away of life. Around the age of twenty one there was an emptiness and a longing to be loved. Jesus was the farthest thing from my mind. I would come to meet a man, who was much like my dad and married him. We then moved to Florida.
When we were expecting our first son, I started my walk back to God. This would be just the beginning as I began to build a new relationship with the Lord. During a time of prayer the Lord said to me, …”there is more to me than what you have been taught.” More Lord? What does that mean? So my quest strengthened to search out for more of Him.
Growing up I was told that the things of the Spirit were no longer in operation. Those things which were spoken of in the book of Acts were no more. Within me I needed to know the truth. Were these things dead? Was the Holy Spirit alive and helping people today? If this was to be true I wanted it! Life continued on and there would be many storms and it wasn’t all ‘pie in the sky’. My husband and I would move back to New England. It was spiritually very dry for me there and I began to drift again back to old friends and their influence. At one point I’d had enough and wanted to take my life but I knew it was wrong and couldn’t. I got angry, really angry, at God. I yelled and screamed out to God, “If you really love me then why am I going through what I’m going through? Why Lord?”
One day, not long after that, I saw a guest speaker, a messianic Jew. He began the service with the ‘blowing of the shofar.’ I would not be the same from that day on!
As I sat there the Fire of God consumed me! It started in my feet and like a thermometer’s red fluid going up. As the temperature rose up; up the fire went. From the soles of my feet to the top of my head. I sat there and I prayed… I was being consumed by a Holy God; everything else had to leave. So on July 23, 1995 a line was drawn for me. A line of demarcation. Jesus was no longer just my savior but now he was my Lord.
Over the next ten years I would encounter many major storms. Two failed marriages, hostile work environment and a son that was in trouble with the law. I have good news though! God can use anyone and He is the God of restoration! God has blessed me with a man of God. Together in unity we seek to minister, and love the one in front of us, bringing Christ’s love to the world.
One of my dreams was to be able to do mission work. With my retirement from the Air Lines that door has opened. Using my benefits to minister in other countries and being Christ hands extended.
Both my husband and myself were ordained in July 2013. At that time we were being sent by my home church in Connecticut to start a House Church in Tennessee. There are many churches here in the south, with many forms of religion. Everyone you meet says they are a Christian because they attend a church, but there is rarely relationship with God. My husband and I want to reach those that the local church wouldn’t even consider talking to, for it will be the love of Christ that will draw them in.
This past October the Lord directed us to a body of believers that are like minded. Sunday we were asked to be youth pastors with them. We both love the youth and desire to disciple them to be used by God for His Glory.
I can not express my gratitude to the Lord for the journey which I have taken. Though there have been many storms I have faced and God has never left me. (Thanks to Christian Leaders Institute), I am now able to better understand and capable to minister to those that are suffering and walking down roads which I have already gone. The lessons I learned are very valuable and more precious than gold to me.
I am thankful for Christian Leaders Institute and the opportunity to learn. My husband attended formal seminary training but I have not. A school of this kind was but a dream. To learn in a way which I have always desired but never had the opportunity nor time to do so.
My prayer is for God’s wisdom and revelation. That He will equip us as we prepare and walk out to the destiny which the Lord has called us. Gods love is so amazing, I pray that our lives will touch others so they will come to know Jesus personally and then will touch others for His Glory. Amen.
Trucker for Christ
Most times when you think about online ministry training, you think internet connections at a home or internet cafe. This trucker for Christ, David Pearce, and his wife study online while traveling place to place. He is a trucker for Christ who proclaims the gospel wherever he goes. This trucker for Christ has an amazing story that will inspire you:
My name is David Pearce and though I hail from the Northwest region of the United States, two years ago I had a career change after having spent 30 years in the construction industry. In December 2013, my wife joined me on the road as co-semi truck driver. With our children grown, we put all our belongings in storage and live and travel on the road every week of the year. From fellow truck drivers to waitresses to strangers we come in contact with, God has given us many opportunities to minister to those we meet in our travels.
I have a very Godly mother who has prayed for me my entire life and made sure that we attended church. I was saved and baptized at the age of 9 and though there have been challenges and the ups and downs of life, Jesus has been my Savior and source of joy and strength throughout my life. I found Him to be especially close during my six years in the military, where He began to use my photography skills and gift of encouragement to minister to fellow soldiers.
More recently, I have had the privilege of working with Pastor Phil Prietto and City Gates Ministry, an outreach to the homeless in our community. In addition to sharing Christ and praying with people, God used my photography skills once again to take photos of the homeless, add a meaningful caption, and give them the photo the following week to encourage them in their faith. These photos were also used in sharing the work of this ministry with local churches.
Pastor Phil continues to have a primary role in my life as my ministry mentor throughout my training with Christian Leaders Institute. I have an increasing desire to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word in order to be a more effective minister of the Gospel. Through the years, God has blessed me with many opportunities to develop the gifts and abilities He has given me – from puppetry to music to photography to speaking and evangelism; from hiking, scuba diving, and athletic training to a jack of all trades in home construction and repair.
My ministry dream is to use these gifts and abilities to share Christ with those who have never heard in my current job as a truck driver, on short or long-term mission trips to underprivileged countries, church planting and evangelism at home or abroad, distribution of the Jesus Film, developing a retreat center for troubled youth – the possibilities are endless. My wife and I share this ministry dream together and trust God each day for opportunities and open doors to use us as He desires. Taking courses at Christian Leaders Institute, reading God’s Word and praying together daily, our current ministry on the road, and even learning Spanish and French together as we travel is preparation for the doors God opens for us.
Because we travel for work, some of the challenges we face are staying in touch with those we share with and pray with. We provide them a “business” card to give them an opportunity to stay in touch with us on our “Faithbook” (what we call our Facebook page), by email, or by phone. We continue to pray for them but staying connected beyond our initial meeting is a challenge. We simply trust that God will plant a seed and that He will grow their faith from there. Staying connected to a local church can also be a challenge, but God has led us to local churches in the communities where we travel and we have met some wonderful Christian people who pray for us and share our excitement about our ministry. We keep our family and friends up to date on ministry news through our “Faithbook” and when we return home for visits.
My desire to be involved in ministry has grown throughout my life as a Christian. It was when my children were young and we led an eight-person puppet team that I began to experience the joy of ministry. With each missionary I heard share their ministry experience, my heart was moved with a yearning to be involved in some way to spread the Gospel to those who have never heard.
We are blessed and consider it a privilege to support the ministry of Christian Leaders Institute on a monthly basis and having a scholarship from Christian Leaders Institute will provide me the in-depth study of God’s Word and the leadership training I desire to better equip me for sharing the Gospel and ministering Christ to those in need.
The online format is especially valuable since it would be impossible to attend school in a formal classroom setting due to my vocation. My hope is that through the training from CLI, I will be able to effectively communicate the truth of God’s Word in a simple and clear way and that I will be used of the Holy Spirit to speak boldly of the hope and healing of Christ into the lives of those I meet every day. Please pray that my life will be effective in promoting Christ and His Word; that as a married couple we will grow in like-mindedness and will be strengthened in our relationship for ministry; and that we will have the clarity and courage to follow God’s leading and the path He lays before us.
Training For Ministry 
My name is John Ndirangu Mwangi. I was born 52 years ago in the central region of Kenya. In my early days, primary education in Kenya’s rural areas was free. The Catholic Church had partnered with the government in the public schools to finance much of the education costs. This made it possible for the catholic church to be involved in the school curriculum, which meant Christianity was a part of our education.
Apart from the school, there were Catholic churches scattered all over, and therefore the parents were more easily reachable. Catholic father’s, sisters and brothers visited people in their homes and therefore it was easy for all those who had been visited by these servants of God to reciprocate by going to the church. The church also provided food and clothes to some in the society who were very poor.
With such an early environment, I attended both Catholic primary and secondary school. Therefore I had some very basic Christian teachings and there was a catechism class which one was required to attend and pass before getting baptized. Some of the reciting I did while around 9 years old is still fresh in my mind till this day.
I, however, was not introduced to Jesus Christ and the fact that He can become my personal Savior. I was only taught about a Savior of the whole world. It was not until I was 30 years old that I started to experience an emptiness in my life which made me see nothing valuable in life any more. By then I was working in the Kenya Air Force, and in frustration I resorted to alcoholism and all kinds of running after worldly pleasure. Nothing was giving me joy, and I knew deep inside that there was something I was missing (I had stopped going to church since I was not getting spiritual nourishment there).
One Sunday morning while I was reading the Sunday Nation, a newspaper of Kenya, I saw a Bible Study correspondence course by a church from Canada, so I enrolled. Within one year I had learned as much as possible to make me understand that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, both for the whole world and individual believers. He was the answer to all my questions. However, when I graduated and received my certificate I still had not accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, although I was convicted and haunted by God’s Word every day. I couldn’t resist for long and on July 7, 1995, I gave my life to Christ through tears of repentance and the joy of the forgiveness of my sins.
God led me to a church in Nairobi, where I joined a Discipleship Ministry after taking some local new convert’s training. This ministry focused more on one to one evangelism and discipleship which I have continued to this day.
I unfortunately have not had further training, which I had been desiring to do but was not sure how and at what level I should start. I also had some financial challenges which hindered me from enrolling in a quality college with tuition fees. Christian Leaders Institute came as an answer to prayer, as the Holy Ghost had been speaking to me about advancing for the Lord (which He Himself knows). I see Christian Leaders Institute as a firm foundation, and a strong leap forward towards richer fields for Jesus Christ. I intend to complete the entire course provided by CLI while remaining attentive and sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I highly appreciate the CLI team. Henry and his team, are truly the humble leader servants whom Jesus is using in these last days, as we await the trumpet sounding. I think the wisest thing for me would be to remain under the feet of these blessed servants as they light the whole earth with Holy Ghost Revival and to eventually partner with them on this same course.
Blessings to all who are reading this note!