THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER RETURNS-My Early Life
My name is Shivon Jackie Biryahwaho and I’m 36 years old. I currently live in Uganda in a place called Namugongo and this is my story of how the prodigal daughter returns. I am the last born with my mum and the second born with my dad because he married another woman. I grew up with my mum and she introduced me to salvation at an early age of 3 or 4 years old. A pastor came home to visit my mum and he led my mum and my siblings into confessing Jesus Christ as our personal savior. At this age I didn’t understand much what this really meant. I was only obeying mum’s instructions. Later when I joined secondary school at the age of 13, I was drawn to the things of God and loved worshiping and praying. I found myself joining scripture union at the age of 16 and seeking God with a group of friends. I always looked forward to Sundays when we would spend long hours in the chapel.
MY TEENAGE LIFE/EXPIERENCE
Though I loved Jesus, I was met with worldly temptations. I got involved with boys and I loved music so much so the school would bring dances and I never missed out on the fun. Because of peer pressure I made the wrong decisions and started drinking and having sex at the age of 19. But through all this I never stopped praying or going to church because everyone in church did the same. I saw no wrong in what I was doing. I loved Jesus because I knew he could give me the good life I wanted, so I sought God not because I loved him genuinely but I loved what he could give me. So when I didn’t get this I looked for it from the men I dated.
MY ADULT LIFE
My dad passed on before I joined campus in 2005. During my first year at campus, my mum couldn’t pay my tuition anymore so I looked for a job to help me pay as I worked. Before I completed my first year, I met the father of my 2 children, I always wanted to settle down in a home so that I wouldn’t be like my mum (a single parent) so I left campus when I became pregnant with my first daughter. All the promises he had made turned out to be lies. He was a serial womanizer and I used to take care of 80% of the bills. He got into so much debt which also became my debt. I borrowed to help him and then I also became indebted. It was terrible. I lost my job because of debts. I cried to God to help me change him or remove him from my life if he wasn’t meant to be my husband. He left me and married another woman while I was pregnant with my second son. I saw this as answered prayer since all he gave me was pain.
When we separated I returned to my mum’s home which was an embarrassment so I encountered severe depression. I wanted to abort the child. But through counseling and prayers, I got deliverance. Got blessed me with another good job and it helped me take care of my children and mum.
MY WALK WITHOUT GOD
Deep down I have always been attracted to the supernatural realm and I liked watching Sid Roth’s television program. So because of my passion, I thought every pastor that prophesied was actually genuine. This landed me in a church of a false prophet. On the outside he worshiped and fasted for days on mountains, at lakes, and in caves. I sowed my brand new car into the ministry to help grow God’s work. I gave so much into this ministry and the false pastor got attracted to me. I accepted and we started dating however along the way, I realized my life and finances were going down. I used to get dreams of walking in dirty water but I was so naïve in these things I had no clue about everything going on. I was seeking God because I wanted him to bless me with a good marriage so I remained very young spiritually. The closer I got to this pastor, I realized he was full of lies and he liked being around many women. Later I discovered he had many girlfriends in church and other women. I was so heartbroken and depressed that I totally backslid and left God in 2015.
This pain pushed me to another wrong decision, I left my mum’s home with my children and rented a home. I started partying and drinking and dating married men. I didn’t want single men in my life. In 2018, I started to miss the fellowship I used to have with the Holy Spirit. I started to hate what I was doing, and hating the man I was dating, but I didn’t have the strength to leave him or the life I led. I knelt down and said a prayer to GOD and asked him to rescue me from the life I was leading.
THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER RETURNS
Weeks after praying to God, everything started to go wrong. I just found myself resigning a well-paying job. I had acquired many debts at this time worth 200 million ugx (60,000 USD) and many people were looking to arrest me. I was desperate for help but no one could help me at this time. I wanted to commit suicide. I called my pastor who is also my spiritual mother, I told her if she didn’t come to my home I was going to be dead in two hours. I hadn’t spoken to her for two years. She was in shock. She drove hurriedly to my home. Before she came, I vowed to God that if he could save me from prison and help me pay these debts, I would seek him genuinely and give him my life completely.
God heard my cry and he saved me miraculously in a mighty way. The people who came to imprison me the next day, instead a case was opened against them by someone else and they paid my debt by mistake in a rush to save themselves. It was the saving grace of God I encountered that day. Since then he has helped me pay many other debts miraculously yet without a job. The Holy Spirit led me to start a clearing and forwarding business which brings in income that takes care of my children and home and also gives me room to seek God wholeheartedly. I now walk with God daily in my life and I have grown spiritually.
Because of the love the Lord showed me despite my previous evil ways, the Lord saved me from drinking and sleeping around with multiple partners. He saved me from numerous accidents and he also saved me from many people including family members that wanted to kill me through witchcraft.
God’s love and mercy humbled me and made me want to know more about Jesus who forgives and keeps no record of sin. He stretched his loving hands to his prodigal daughter. Since December 2018, I started to pursue a serious relationship with God and to know the purpose for my creation. Many pastors had always told me I have a great call to serve God and that he was going to use me to bring back the lost.
I came across CLI on a Facebook platform and I was drawn to join because it was free. I had tried to join many ministry programs but I couldn’t sustain paying tuition. So after I signed up for CLI, I then began doing evangelism here with my pastor. But the Lord put a great urge to resume studying and this why I’m now here. I desire to learn and grow more in my walk with the Lord.
There are so many false pastors and prophets misguiding many Christians in Uganda, especially on false doctrine. It’s my passion and desire to teach many about Jesus Christ and his saving grace that is free of charge. No need to pay to get a miracle, as it’s preached in Uganda.
Because of the unfailing love and mercy, I want to extend that love to many desperate to know God and seeking his mercy. But I want to do this right with proper training and equipping which I believe I am getting from CLI. Psalms 32:8 NLT (The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”) I have learned to trust the Lord daily for his direction and be patient with him and I know this ministry training is also part of my journey.
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God Has Passed the Baton to Me
I am Ericka Scott from Georgia in the USA. My calling is to work with young adults who were convicted in the Juvenile Court and are now re-entering society as an adult. God has called me to teach them job-readiness skills to obtain gainful employment. Out of these young men and women, community leaders will be identified and trained to uplift the community their crime impacted. God has passed the baton to me. So I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute to prepare for my restorative ministry service (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
How God Brought Me to Restorative Ministry Service
While visiting my grandmother in South Carolina, she often brought me while she taught a Bible study to the kids at Willow Lane Youth Detention Center. The director, Chaplain Brody, let me tutor the girls after Bible study. He also allowed me to organize sports activities for them. Chaplain Brody felt that the peer-to-peer interaction was a clever idea. Apparently, he was right. Chaplain Brody reported that their behavior drastically improved for a time after my visits. He also stated that some of the girls’ grades improved.
I was able to interact with them from the time I was 11 until the time I was 14. Then I started working during the summer. During my last visit with the girls, they presented me with a large, hand-drawn card. They decorated it so beautifully! This was their farewell and thank you for treating them with kindness and respect.
I was a troubled teen. Thankfully, God kept me out of any danger. God uses all of our experiences – good and bad – to make us more relatable to the people we will serve. Even as a troubled teen, I found myself on several occasions helping other troubled teens solve their problems of being aggressive or disrespectful to their loved ones.
God’s Next Step
While working in an underserved community, I helped high school students and their parents and grandparents with job-readiness skills. I taught them how to fill out applications, write their resumes, and dress for their interviews. I held mock interviews with them and taught them how to be the best candidate for the position. None of this was in my job description. However, I found that ministries must go above and beyond what they think God has called them to do when working to uplift a community.
After all of this experience spanning almost 40 years, I got the “bug” to help troubled youth learn the job-readiness skills needed to support themselves and become productive members of society. Being a troubled youth myself qualifies me to relate to them on a much more intimate level. God passed the baton.
My Restorative Ministry Service
I am contacting local law enforcement agencies and working with a non-profit to get the targeted data needed to put my program together. My biggest challenge right now is funding. Due to a disability, I have not worked since November 2020. However, I am believing and trusting in God to provide the funding when it’s time to file the necessary paperwork. Amen! I have always believed in the “Lead by example, not by direction” model. This ministry course at Christian Leaders Institute confirmed that this is the best way to lead in any situation. It’s the way Jesus leads us! My ministry dream is to offer the 2nd Chance Workforce re-entry program in every part of the Southeast USA.
My name is Shawn Smiley, and I am studying the Associate Chaplain Ministry Ordination program at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). Married to Alma Smiley for 25 years., we have the blessing of our daughter named Nicole. We live in a western suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
My Early Years
Born in the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the town of Monaca, I was an only child. I had great parents who raised me in the Presbyterian church. My parents were not super religious, but church attendance was required. Therefore, I knew the Lord from a young age.
Academics and athletics were a huge part of my life. My dad always encouraged and inspired me to do my best to receive a scholarship to college. He did not want me to go into the mills like him. Through God’s will and hard work, I received a football scholarship to Geneva College. I graduated from Geneva College, a Reformed Presbyterian college located in Beaver Falls, PA, in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. I enjoyed my time there. However, the stringent rules and my rebellious nature did clash at times.
My time growing up was fantastic. It was rich in friendships and family. As I grew older, church and religion became secondary to my secular life. I had a rebellious and wild side. This side dictated how I lived my life for the next three decades. Through it all, the Lord was always with me, even when I didn’t remember Him. I was on my throne.
My Crazy Life of Sin
As the world became my reality, my life became quite complicated. In a quick summary of my crazy life, I became a professional business, eventually operating a small trucking business. I was a loving husband to a beautiful wife, father to a beautiful daughter, good neighbor, friend, and son. Where’s the crazy? For 18 years, I was a member and local leader in a national outlaw motorcycle gang and convicted criminal. I was in everything that this life entailed. The life of sin is like quicksand that entices you as it envelopes you. Through it all, the Lord was always with me, even when I didn’t remember Him.
Changes and Challenges
After the death of my father and mother in 2007 and 2010, respectively, I dove further into my crazy life for six more years. In 2016, God pulled me out of the gang life. Still not seeing His Hand in saving me, I knew that I needed to change. So, I changed my life around, but I was still on my throne. I focused more on my business and family. The Lord started to come back into our lives in small ways and blessings.
In the fall of 2019, I was working out of town and missing my wife. So, I watched some sermons on TV in the hotel room. I began to pray a little more. I promised God that we would start going to church. In November of 2019, I believe God had enough of my stalling. I began experiencing some chest, shoulder, and neck discomfort. In December, I went to the doctor, and he forced me to the emergency room. The left artery from my heart was 100% blocked. I needed two stents to open it up. Here is the miracle: the Lord created a small tributary around the blockage to save me. It kept me alive, praise God. Through it all, the Lord was always with me, even when I didn’t remember Him.
More Challenges and Total Surrender to God
God wasn’t done with me yet. In 2020, we had our best year in trucking, even with the Covid crisis. We could not find a church because of the shutdown. So, we worshiped at home on the TV every day, and I read the Bible and praying constantly. I was still trying to solve my problems, especially in the trucking business. I STILL DIDN’T GET IT!
At the end of 2020, we had a significant breakdown, lacked part availability, and no paychecks for three months caused a major financial crisis. Down to our last $100 and about to lose everything, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I vowed to follow Him for the rest of my days. My business and my entire life have turned completely around. He saved me, even though I didn’t deserve it. I am His!
Finding CLI: Associate Chaplain Ministry Ordination
Looking back, the biggest obstacle in my Christian maturity was me. That is a kick to the face. My walk with the Lord was sporadic at best in my adult life. I was the prodigal son. Then, finally, with God’s Grace and Forgiveness, I gave my life to the Lord. The Lord welcomed me home!
God then gave me the strength and desire to learn as much about His Word as I could. The Christian Leaders Institute gives me an excellent opportunity. Not only can I go back to school, but I can study the Bible and become a Christian Leader. The world needs Christian Leaders greatly at this time. We never had a lot of money, so the free classes and inexpensive degrees are fantastic. For me, time and flexibility are essential aspects of CLI. I am so blessed God guided me to the CLI website.
My goal is to complete the Associate Chaplain Ministry Ordination and enter the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School to work towards a Degree in Divinity with Chaplaincy emphasis. After that, I will leave the direction of my ministry to God’s Will. But, if I stay close to Him, I won’t go wrong. May God bless you all!