God’s Work in My Life
My name is Ni Putu Airawathi Kryml. I am from Bali, Indonesia. Married with three children, I want to study the Bible more in depth and found the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about studying the Bible online, Click Here).
My Youth
I grew up in a common Hindu family. My childhood was full of fun, dirt, friends, ferns, and dragonflies. We lived in a small village surrounded by rice paddies. My days were spent chasing dragonflies or picking ferns for dinner. Besides these activities, the next best thing was my grandmother’s bedtime story about heaven. I was always fascinated by them. I don’t remember exactly which stories she told us just that they were about heaven and I liked hearing them. From a very young age, I was already very interested in the unseen world. The world of the spirits and God.
During one Hindu festival, my father took me to the beach to watch some performances. There were also many stalls selling toys and trinkets. He let me buy a necklace that day. So, I bought a necklace with a cross pendant. When we got home, one of my grandmas, who is Catholic, saw my necklace and asked if I want to be a Christian when I grew up. I didn’t say anything, however, I think that stayed in my heart. It feels like our Heavenly Father was speaking to me through her. I was around 5 or 6 years old.
Loss, Anger, and Salvation in Christ
When I was 17, my mother passed away in a car accident. Devastated, I had so much anger and pain in my heart. I felt God didn’t love me because He took my mother away. I felt alone and abandoned.
In 2002, there was a bombing in one of our cities and many people died. At this time, I was in college studying hotel management. Some students arranged for a group of volunteers to help out at the nearby hospital. So I joined them. I was at the crisis center when I met two people who told me about Christ. They shared the Good News.
I still wasn’t sure until the night I watched the Jesus movie. The Holy Spirit helped me to see myself for who I am, a sinner who needs salvation in Christ Jesus. I opened myself to Jesus and accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour. From that day, I joined a Bible study and went to church. In March 2003, I was baptized.
My New Journey
My new journey with the Lord was wonderful. I met many brothers and sisters in Christ. They welcomed me with open arms and hearts. I had joy in my life. The wound from losing my mom was healing. Knowing I was loved by my Creator and other believers healed my heart from my pain.
In 2004, I left for the USA. During my time there, I had lots of experiences. I saw the beauty and ugliness of creation. It made me see my own culture in a new light, from the view of the Bible. Being part of and living in the culture itself, I couldn’t see any goodness in it because of its tight relationship with the Hindu religion. Studying the Bible more in depth helped me to see goodness in my culture.
When I got back to my island, I joined a ministry reaching out to the surfing community. I managed a community center with recreational facilities for kids and young people. We also ran a club for the local kids where we shared Good News and taught English.
Expressing My Faith Through My Culture
After some time, I started to play the gamelan, a Balinese musical instrument. I met some Balinese who are also believers and artists. From them, I learned how to express my faith through my culture.
I worked with this community for 10 years. During this time I learned more about the Bible and church planting. My passion for reaching my people group grew strongly. I undertook training and learned to put everything into practice. God allowed us to see a harvest from the fields. It boosted our faith.
In 2012, I married and continued working with the community, however, not as much as before. When I gave birth to my second child, I retired from full-time ministry and volunteered within the community. During this time, I focused more on my family.
Desire to Study the Bible More In Depth at CLI
When war broke out in Ukraine, it made me think more about the end times. I wanted to study the Bible, know more about God, and understand His future for the world. As time and money didn’t permit me to attend college, I searched for free Bible courses online.
I am very thankful to have found the Christian Leaders Institute online. God led me to walk this journey with CLI. I am grateful for the free courses you offer. Thank you for accepting me as a student. Currently, my passion is to reach my family and community. I also love teaching and would like to teach God’s Word to children in a school setting one day. At CLI, I want to study the Bible more in-depth and get the qualifications to teach formally. I look forward to walking this journey with Christian Leaders! Blessings!
Register for a Study Account
Register for a free study account that automatically enrolls 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:
- Minister Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- 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.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost college degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My name is Aaron, born and raised in Southern California. I am studying at Christian Leaders. The tuition-free Biblical classes at the Christian Leaders Institute are equipping me for my disaster relief ministry calling (Learn more about studying the Bible online, Click Here).
My Journey
I currently live in Canyon Lake in So Cal with my 16-year-old son. God blessed me with a loving Christian family. My parents and my upbringing were very impactful on my Christian walk and perspective in life. My dad is the greatest man I know and an amazing Godly example to follow. So, m goal is to provide the same upbringing and example for my son. Then, we can continue to pass it along to future generations of the family. It will fortify and expand our Christian impact in this world.
After life’s journey took an unexpected turn, I have been a single father for approximately 10 years. Like all challenges in life, I’ve learned and grown so much from these struggles. I fully trust in God’s perfect plan for our lives. My quest as a single father has been centered around providing my son with a stable and Christ-centered upbringing.
Spiritual Growth
Baptized as an infant, in my mid-20s I made a decision to get re-baptized as a personal statement of faith. I attended California Baptist University for my college Business degree. There I had some incredible professors who taught Old and New Testament classes that helped to deepen my biblical knowledge.
Now, I am 17 years into a full-time Fire Service career. I am a Fire Captain Paramedic on a ladder truck in a mid-size city in So. Cal. The career has been rewarding in many ways. This includes meeting other good Christian brothers and sisters in the Fire Service, as well as having opportunities for discussions, witnessing, and shining light on others in the department.
Service and ministry in the disaster relief setting is a big interest and passion of mine for the future. I love the perspective of Ecclesiastes 3 that “there is a time and place for everything,” My time now is raising a Godly son and transitioning into a service ministry in the future for disaster relief and service to those less fortunate around the world. Christian Leaders has been an exciting discovery for me. I look forward to furthering my knowledge and equipping myself with a service-geared ministry in the near future.
Disaster Relief Ministry Calling
God has put a calling on my heart for ministry through disaster relief. My experiences and training in the Fire Service have given me a passion for serving in the emergency setting. I see so many natural and man-made disasters around the globe. So, I would love to minister and show God’s grace and love through disaster relief and rescue ministry.
I also love the experience and training being a paramedic in the fire service has given me, and look forward to using my skills in future ministry. Being on the front lines on the streets in So Cal through the COVID pandemic has given me a taste of the health crisis that so many experiences around the world and in less fortunate places. I’m grateful to say the career that I’ve been blessed with will provide a pension in retirement that will help fund these disaster relief ministries that I feel called and groomed for.
I am enjoying the equipping that CLI is providing in my deeper learning of my faith. Also, I take ministry opportunities in the meantime with short-term local trips as well as everyday contact with friends, coworkers, and those around me. Thank you, CLI, for the great education to further my own understanding to lead an effective ministry in my future opportunities!
Register for a Study Account
Register for a free study account that automatically enrolls 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:
- Minister Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- 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.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost college degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
A warm hello from New Zealand! My name is Mathilde Noordzij, thank you for reading my profile. I am a student at Christian Leaders getting evangelism and ministry training (Learn more about studying the Bible online, Click Here).
My Life
I’m a Netherlands-born Kiwi, living in Auckland. I came to NZ in 1997 with my husband. Together, we have three wonderful young adult children. Unfortunately, we are no longer together.
I grew up in a Christian home. I am thankful to have known Jesus as a close personal friend since I was a small child. Throughout everything, my relationship with Him has always remained very close. I accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour at an early age and was baptized on the 23rd of June 1993.
Challenges
Life has not been easy. I feel quite vulnerable, but think it is important, to share that for many years I lived under the heavy constrictions of a mental disorder. At the age of 17, doctors diagnosed me with Dissociative Disorder. I came under the care of a Christian Psychiatrist and was put on medication.
What this looked like, for many years leading up to the diagnosis and for some time after, was constant high anxiety levels, voices in my head, self-harm, being out of touch with reality, and a complete inability to connect with people. Thanks to a Christian friend, I blessedly came under the care of a Christian Psychiatrist, who was blessed with a praying wife.
Throughout this journey, from a very early age, Jesus has been very close to me. For years, Jesus was the only REAL person I knew. I did not always believe that He saw me, as I felt completely invisible. However, I could not deny the powerful encounters I had with Him. With those, He showed me beyond doubt that I existed and was important to Him.
My Marriage Journey
After six years of “walking” with the Psychiatrist, I was at a point where I could lead a “normal” life. I finished my studies in Social Work and held down a job. It was also around this time that I met my husband. I didn’t know it then, but I know now, that we were both still quite broken.
I wanted to honour him as my husband and my promise to remain faithful which I made before God and everyone I knew. Needless to say, I learned a lot in our 16 years of marriage. The main thing I learned was that I was bought at a price: Jesus thought me worth giving His life for. So, in spite of everything, I found my worth and the courage to bring up my children by myself.
My Ministry Calling Journey
Shortly after becoming a single mum, I found a job with a national children’s charity. After a few months on the job, on a Sunday morning in church, God spoke in my heart very clearly. He said that this was my ministry. I argued with Him, as it wasn’t a Christian charity. The aim of it was not to evangelize, which was my idea of being in ministry. God kept saying, after each of my arguments, “This is your ministry.” He showed me His incredible compassion for the people group I was privileged to work with.
After some confirmations followed, I accepted. I worked at the charity for 10 years. I was given a great deal of trust and freedom. It was an amazing opportunity to find my wings and develop many skills. I am very grateful to God that He gave me this experience.
Finding CLI While Pondering My Call
Pondering some more about this, and in light of just joining the Christian Leaders Institute, my happy place within this role was leading a team of people. I enjoyed watching them develop their skills and discover and grow in their areas of strength.
At the end of last year, I lost my job with the charity, due to the COVID-19 situation. Since I asked God many times for a proper break, I consider this my time of a Sabbatical. Therefore, I am praying, searching, and listening to see where God wants me to go next. While this is a time of some uncertainty and financially very tight, I am very certain of Him. Jesus is my Lord, my Saviour, my Hope, my Strong Tower, and my Provider. He holds my past, my today, and my future.
Evangelism and Ministry Training at CLI
While my gifting is in the area of pastoral care and leadership, I’ve always felt very clumsy when it comes to evangelizing, I don’t really know what to say. So, I accepted that evangelizing was not my gifting or calling. However, I never felt comfortable about that.
With everything that happened in the past three years, through COVID, I feel an urgency to be ready to share the Gospel in a knowledgeable way. I’m ready to share my faith, and God’s story in my life. Yet, I need to know more than that, so I enrolled in evangelism and ministry training at Christian Leaders. I just started an in-depth study in the book of John, which is an 8-week course. Also, I will enroll in the Evangelism: Presenting Grace course as a start to my evangelism and ministry training journey with the Christian Leaders Institute. After that, there is a list of other courses I wish to pursue at CLI. I’m excited! Blessings!
Register for a Study Account
Register for a free study account that automatically enrolls 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:
- Minister Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- 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.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost college degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.