My name is Deborah Fox from Gwynedd in the United Kingdom. I signed up for Bible courses and clergy credentials at the Christian Leaders Institute on the 4th of July in 2023. I am amazed that we can study for free without pressure to donate to this fantastic platform to study the Word and gain clergy credentials. God is good!
A Selfish, Broken Life
I have been a Christian since 2009 after losing my brother-in-law to heroin addiction. Before this, I was a lost soul. However, I didn’t know that. I am from a small town in Buxton, England. I have three sisters. The eldest is deaf and dumb. Our dad left us when I was eight, and we girls grew wild as we got older.
Drugs and drinking were a usual way of life in our town. I preferred smoking weed and cannabis to taking different kinds of partying drugs and dancing the night away. I had several jobs, from working nights in a factory to a hotel bar or in a pub. I had no real career but always loved art and drawing at different times of my life. A friend convinced me to go back to college in the late 1990s. So, I did a foundation course in art and design. However, it didn’t come to anything because of my lifestyle.
Times became more complicated when two of my sisters became drug addicts. It wasn’t easy to deal with. In 2000, I got into a violent relationship. We ended up living in Devon. The relationship became too violent, so I ended it in 2004. Then, I moved into a shared house. There, I was abused, and things spiraled. More fearful and unstable, I ended up in a psychiatric hospital for a few weeks with a nervous breakdown. They put me on antidepressants. So, I got my life back on track. My mum, a Jehovah’s Witness at that time, sometimes talked to me about God.
Searching for God
In 2009, my brother-in-law died from a heroin overdose. At that time, I worked in a call center. Further, I began to talk to God. I asked if He would reveal Himself to me as real. I had to return to Buxton to face my sister, the funeral, and everything. God used my mum’s 73-year-old friend, Allan, a Jehovah’s Witness at that time. Every time I prayed, Allan would either ring me or I would bump into him. I spent about two weeks in Buxton. I also spent some time with my mum talking about God. Furthermore, I took a Jehovah’s Witness Bible home with me and some Watchtower magazines.
Back in Exeter, I emailed their website and started a Bible study with them. Then, I attended the Kingdom Hall for meetings. I moved back to Buxton in July 2010 and started a new Jehovah’s Witness Bible study there. I asked a lot of questions and wasn’t 100% sure. This led me to a conversation with someone who was a born-again believer. The person told me Jehovah’s Witnesses were a cult.
Freedom in Christ
Therefore, I tried the church the person attended on September 18, 2011. Soon, I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and began my new journey as a born-again believer. At last, life made more sense! I did an Alpha Course and attended a prayer storm meeting in Manchester on 11/11/11. They showed a clip on child sex trafficking. It broke me, and I couldn’t believe that things like that were happening.
It also caused me to face my past trauma. Thankfully, I dealt with it by getting counseling and doing a Freedom in Christ course. That is how God healed me. I also had problems with my back sciatica from my previous violent relationship and fibromyalgia from the trauma. Therefore, in 2012, after doing the Freedom in Christ course with my church and having two extraordinary older ladies pray with and for me, God healed me mentally and physically! Hallelujah!!
Ministry Service
For five years, I worked an excellent job in Buxton as a part-time supervisor in a Christian charity shop called Little Blessing. We sold everything from baby to maternity clothes, cots, beds, and prams. The charity raised money for choice counseling free of charge for anyone dealing with miscarriage, abortion, or anything to do with mothers struggling mentally. We also did hardship funds for working mothers and mothers-to-be. It was a wonderful job, and I met many amazing people and friends. Sadly, the shop closed in 2017 after struggling financially.
However, I built such a fantastic friendship with one of the ladies I worked with that we moved to Bolton. I lived with her from 2017 to 2021. Also, in 2016, one of my dear friends, an older woman, had a vision for me about me picking up my artist equipment again. So, I started painting on canvas, and God inspired me to paint with Him. I have sold a few of my paintings. It has been a wonderful experience listening to and painting with the Lord.
Some Wandering and My Marriage
Since I had little Bible instruction, I got into some unbiblical teachings with some New Age practices mixed in with it. But God is so good! He used my mother’s death in 2020 when Covid hit to open my eyes. It was painful because I had to cut some friends off and relearn/unlearn things. Because of Covid, I couldn’t travel, which also turned out to be more fruitful.
On November 8, 2020, I met my husband. We had our first date on November 29. We knew without any doubt how we felt for one another. So, we married in May 2021. For one year of our marriage, we struggled to find a biblical church that had sound doctrine after moving to Halifax. Then, we moved to South Wales last year in 2022 and found a fantastic church. But our family stressed we were too far away, so we compromised and moved to North Wales. We found a lovely, small, biblical church in Anglesey. We love it and are involved in outreach.
Clergy Credentials
So here I am today at the Christian Leaders Institute to get a strong biblical foundation and clergy ordination credentials. My husband likes to go out onto the streets and evangelize and has done so since he was saved. We are figuring out what God wants us to do together and/or separately in ways of serving. We’re praying. The classes at CLI will be helpful and give us a firm foundation and clergy credentials. Then, we will be prepared for whatever God calls us to do.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, Diplomas, and Degrees with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.
