Amanda Faulkner experienced miracles in her life that led her to feel a need to Build Knowledge of Scriptures through Christian Leaders Institute’s free online ministry training. Here is her story…
Build Knowledge of Scriptures – Amanda’s Story
Hi. My name is Amanda Faulkner. I was born in South Wales & born blue (oxygen starvation). My family moved to New Zealand when I was 5 years old. I was raised in a small timber town, my father working as a computer analyst/programmer for the timber mill, & my mother working for a bank.
As a teenager, I was an attempted murder. I was in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ according to Police (32 years later, still an unsolved case). While in the hospital, no one was allowed to tell me what had happened, & I had no recall. A chaplain stood at the foot of my bed one day & said, “God hasn’t finished with you yet, you lucky girl,” & then left. I had little knowledge of God at that time. My family, although stating they believe in God & Jesus, & claiming Christianity, do not attend any church, or to my knowledge, read God’s Word.
Years later, I went to a local church. I was invited to go to an Intercessors meeting. I had no idea what an ‘intercessor’ is, but chose to go anyway – could be fun. At that meeting I saw 3 miracles happen in the space of 1 ½ hours (over lunch). Firstly, a couple were hoping to buy a house but required their house to sell, & the cut-off date was drawing near. They received a call to say that their house was sold & everything was sorted to buy the house they had chosen. Secondly, a man whose family member who had been very ill & on the edge of death, survived surgery & was making great progress. And thirdly, (this is my favourite), a couple had put in an offer on a large house & acreage of land $2.5mil under its asking price. They intended to use it to get Auckland homeless children off the streets, & bring them to God. Their offer got accepted. At the same church meeting, I received prophesy that I would be a leader. I gave the prophesy no further thought. Weeks later, back at my church, I was in intense pain, much like birthing labour though I was not pregnant. I went to one of the other church members & told him to call his sister to tell her to get to the hospital. A few hours later, his sister had a baby & my pain subsided. I didn’t even know his sister was pregnant! Apparently I was labouring in the Holy Spirit.
More recently, a friend of mine had been coughing really badly & when he went to his doctor, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After many tests, he was told they were now only testing to see what kind of cancer it was (one is more aggressive than the other). There were many weeks of incessant prayer from a large group of us. One night, as we all sat in the courtyard, one of the girls pointed at the sky saying, “look at that!”. We looked up & saw what looked like a giant hand over the top of the house we were in. My friend received a call within a couple of minutes of this observation, & was told the shadow on his lungs had disappeared! The cancer was gone. Five years later, there has been no relapse.
So, that is how I came to know God & His power, love, healing abilities, & care for us, His children. I would be a fool to not believe after witnessing all of that first-hand. I have been truly blessed.
In New Zealand, I do not believe we have difficulties to minister, but it was pointed out by my Salvation Army Major last week, that we as a country are tending to not attend church or any fellowship, although Bible purchases are still up. It is a trend nationwide & I believe it has a lot to do how busy we make ourselves these days, & put God on the back-burner.
My ministry dream is to reach out to these families who are too busy for God, & bring them back to Him, encouraging them to make the time for Him. I would also like to encourage my family into a meaningful relationship with God, especially my teenage children whom my parents have custody of.
I most identify with being a Small Group Leader. I can talk to almost anyone, but am not comfortable in large groups. If God calls me to address a large group, I will because I believe He will give me the confidence & words to do so.
I started to pursue ministry training after my fiancé asked me to find him some Bible Study to do online (he lives in another city to me). As much as I searched, I kept ending up at the CLI website. Honestly, no matter what words I put in the search, I arrived at the same site. I eventually gave in to the feeling that God was saying “Now” is your time. So I enrolled & haven’t looked back. I asked Him to take my hand in the quizzes I was most worried about, & He did. Incidentally, I did afterwards find a suitable study program for my fiancé.
I would love to achieve the CLI Scholarship to build credibility & integrity to address people & to build knowledge of the scriptures, so that I can be effective in reaching out to others to get them saved. At the same time, the studies will undoubtedly reinforce personal confidence & grow my love of God & all that He has done, & deepen my relationship with Him.
I would love you to pray for my failing memory, confidence for me to step out, & to the hearts of all who want need to seek God.
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