Calling for Ministry Training

A Calling for Ministry Training

Brenda Duff-Izaguirre is surrounded by violence, drugs and destruction. With all this sin around her, she has gotten a calling for ministry training to reach the youth of her community.

“I am a Mexican-American, and I live in Brownsville, Texas,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “Brownsville is approximately three hours away from Corpus Christi and five minutes away from Mexico. The wall that divides Mexico and the United States is about ten walking steps from my church, Mision Divina. In addition, my home is approximately seven minutes from the infamous wall.”

Some of the challenges Duff-Izaguirre faces is the media’s influence and the drug atmosphere, but with Christ, Duff-Izaguirre knows she can do all things.

“Ministry in my city is at times easy and at times very difficult,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “I say it’s easy because we can do all things through Jesus Christ, but it’s extremely difficult when there are radio, television and newspaper warnings letting us know of the over-the-wall spilling of violence. You might ask yourself, what kind of violence? Well, since I live in a border town with a very influential drug-infested atmosphere, that can make it hard, at times impossible if that warning comes with death. If the ministry is being done at the church, which most of the time it is, it makes it extremely hard knowing that the border patrol agents and vehicles are roaming around church territory daily and at all times.”

Duff-Izaguirre was brought to church by her uncle. Little did she know that many years later she would have a calling for ministry training at CLI.

“I came to know the Lord Jesus when I was 13 years old,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “I was washing clothes outside the old fashioned way, by hand; there was no washing machine in my grandmother’s home. At the moment, I was singing teen bop songs and my uncle who is the pastor of the church heard me. I did not know that he was standing there listening. He proceeded to ask my mother if I could join the church choir. My mother agreed since she was having issues with me misbehaving in school. Another reason was that my father was in jail and there was no male figure in my life. My mother thought that my uncle could fulfill that void. I began going to church because I was bored and my mom made me go. As the months went by, I literally started to listen to preachings and to what I sang, and that made a difference in my life at a young age.”

Once Duff-Izaguirre was baptized, she left her life of sin behind.

“We have been known to be a revival church since we started back in 1985,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “Well, it became a reality to me when the Holy Spirit descended and baptized the children and youth of our church. In the first batch to be baptized was my cousin Patty – I saw and heard her – and I wanted what she got. I became very active after I was baptized, I became very zealous and passionate about Jesus. I was able to push aside with help of the Holy Spirit all the trouble that once followed me in school, which included fights with students and teachers. In addition, I was already selling drugs, which was the reason why my dad was incarcerated. I also had dug into the occult in supernatural demonic ways.”

Duff-Izaguirre’s dream is to reach the youth, and her calling for ministry training is leading her to accomplish this goal.

“My ministry dream is to teach the youth spiritual warfare, the importance of not allowing gateway drugs and gateway curiosity to push our youth into the abyss,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “I identify myself most with the term Small Group Leader; I believe that teaching is more effective in small groups.”

Through many careers, Duff-Izaguirre was alway supported by her church family.

“My church, Mision Divina, has continuously supported me in every ministry that I have chosen to fulfill in that specific time range in my life,” Duff-Izaguirre said. “I have been a secretary, an usher, a choir member, youth leader, Sunday school teacher for every age group including adults, prayer warrior, intercessor, church cleaner, ornamentation, photographer, translator, missionary to prostitutes, website designer. Honestly, I have probably done it all. As the scripture says, it is all dirty rags before God, but never the less my church has always supported me.”

Duff-Izaguirre is pursuing the calling for ministry training to finish what Christ has started in her.

Duff-Izaguirre said, “The scholarship from this prestigious school is very important to me because I would finish what once I started and left aside when my seeds came into existence. I have the outfield experience and testimonies, but I don’t have a degree. I need completion of what I once started because Jesus finishes everything he began in me.”

Duff-Izaguirre is excited for what a degree with CLI will mean for her ministry, but she still needs support in her spiritual work.

“CLI prayers will are needed in the area of spiritual attack. I get attacked spiritually weekly, and prayers are always welcome,” Duff-Izaguirre said.

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