Hi, my name is Angela Trevino, and I am training for ministry service at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible courses, Click Here). I am a mom of four grown children and 17 grandchildren. Married for 20 years, my husband passed 8 years ago. I since remarried. Currently, I am from Michigan, although my biological father and his family live in Tenessee. So I get to hang out there from time to time to visit that side of my family.
Early Experiences with God
My dad’s side was Christian; my mom’s side was not. Yet, I was not raised as a Christian. When I was a very young child, my father’s parents took me to church until around four or five. Sadly, I do not remember that, but the Holy Spirit sure does! When I was around eight, a church bus came around to our house in Florida, where I lived with my mom and new stepdad. My mom allowed me to attend their Bible school that summer, where we learned to memorize scripture.
A few years later, I started to walk to a church about four to six blocks from our house (we moved around a lot when I was a kid). The church was called the First Church of the Nazarene. Because I learned that Jesus was a Nazarene, I thought that I must be in the right church. My mom had five children, and I was the only one of us going to church at that time. I had a longing in my heart. But at that time, I did not understand the message of Jesus Christ. However, when the pastor made an altar call, though scared and by myself, I felt the need in my heart to go up there and give my heart to God.
Sidetracked
I wish I could say I then followed the Lord with all my heart. But that is not what happened. Life as a teenager happened, and then as a young adult. When I thought about the things I was doing in my life, I felt guilty but lived for myself anyway.
Many times, as I lived my life, the Holy Spirit would draw me back. Then, I would go to church, pray, and do more to allow the Lord to move again in my life. However, I always fell. Even when I thought I was doing all the right things, I was not living to please my heavenly Father. At that time, I thought I was. No Bible reading or going to church every Sunday, I walked in the flesh. I did not understand that we were to walk a different way than the world. I was still blind to that fact.
Open Eyes
Just two years ago, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to many things. I felt a calling throughout my lifetime—the scriptures about feeding the hungry and helping those in need really stuck out to me. Through owning a daycare for children and foster care, I tried to do those things through the years. I even took in teenagers my children would bring home when they had nowhere else to go. God put all kinds of information into my hands these past few years. So, He has taught me and gotten through to me.
Training for Ministry Service at CLI
One day I cried out to Him, “Take me deeper, Lord, teach me! What is my calling?” When I got up from my prayers (as if my body was not my own), I picked up my phone and somehow went directly to Christian Leaders Institute. As I was reading about CLI, I knew God was telling me to enroll. So I did, and here I am training for ministry service. I love my classes. My husband is not a Christian and never would have allowed me to spend money to go to college. He doesn’t believe I will do anything with it.
At 57 years old, I felt like a burden to everyone because I do not work since not many people will hire me with my age and lack of experience. However, God has a purpose for me! I have found new hope! Until my dying day, I pray to take with me to heaven a multitude of saved and redeemed sinners by planting as many seeds as the Lord will allow! God bless CLI!
My name is Daniel Fritz of the United States of America, and I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute for further ministry study (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I am 37 years old and married to Victoria for 17 years. We have two wonderful children.
I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness. While I received a very good knowledge of the scriptures as a child, I never felt close to God. So, with reservation and under pressure, I was baptized at the age of 14. My teen years introduced me to depression. I struggled into adulthood with feelings of worthlessness and anxiety that I could never be good enough to gain God’s favor or forgiveness for my sins.
Something Was Missing
As my wife and I welcomed our second child into the world, I knew something was missing spiritually. Therefore, I made a final attempt at being a Jehovah’s Witness. One day, while I reading the Bible, a phrase in the scriptures I read and heard all my life took on new meaning. It was “undeserved kindness.” I pulled out a copy of the KJV and read the same scripture rendered “grace.” Instantly, I knew this was the missing link. Salvation and favor were not earned by hours in ministry work. Nothing I could ever do would earn what was freely given in Jesus’ sacrifice.
So, I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses soon after that. I started exploring local churches that upheld my very conservative views. Eventually, I settled on Hanover First Church of God. I rejoiced for the first time in the birth of Christ. I had my first communion. Further, I came to understand the divine Trinity. On my first Easter Sunday service and my second Communion, I gave my life to Christ free of pressure and with great joy!
Ministry Calling and Study at CLI
As time progressed, my wife and mentor encouraged me to share my experience and use it to further the Lord’s work. Recently, while reading a Bible story to my son, God called me. The Biblical account was of the apostles arguing about who was greatest. Jesus used the comparison to little children. Suddenly, I was flooded with past conversations and knew I was ready, with God’s help, to share my experience and help others.
The message I most want to express is that there is a value God gives to every person regardless of our actions. He has provided a means of forgiveness for our sins through Christ. That forgiveness is freely given. How empowering for anyone going through hard times, addiction, depression, anxiety, abuse, homelessness, hopelessness, and the list goes on and on. I have started my ministry journey by volunteering with a local homeless ministry.
Finding the Christian Leaders Institute for free ministry training is a blessing! Further ministry study will prepare me for my calling from God. I am so excited for what the future holds for everyone as God’s purposes unfold!
My “Mess” is my Ministry Message
My name is Nicole Kirk. I want to thoroughly study the Bible at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible courses, Click Here).
From the United States, I live on the Eastern Plains of New Mexico. I am a wife to my husband Kodell, whom I met in middle school in 1993. We reunited 22 years after high school to marry in April of 2019. Thankfully, God has blessed me with our family and the ability to be a mother of three beautiful children. God has blessed us by making our family grow. I want to honor God by working to grow the Kingdom of God.
Although born and baptized a Lutheran, I did not grow up in the faith. I always believed in God, but I didn’t know God or have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Recently, I began my walk with Christ by studying the Bible. I searched diligently for a Bible-based church within my community. I want to grow as a disciple of Jesus and become a minister of The Gospel, which Jesus Christ called us to do in the Great Commission. To carry out my mission, God saved me from years of domestic abuse. Jesus placed the calling on my heart to become His witness and use my mess as a message to minister to women who have experienced domestic abuse. God saved me from my past to share the Gospel about our Savior Jesus, who saves us all!
Opportunity to Thoroughly Study the Bible at CLI
I obtained my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from California State University of Northridge (CSUN) in 2010. Now, I’m continuing my studies with the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) to thoroughly study the Bible. I also want to mentor women through God’s Word and hold Women’s Bible Studies. While I’m studying the Bible, I’m interested in earning a Bachelor of Ministry Degree to pursue my Master’s Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy (Counseling).
Ultimately, my ministry’s mission is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead my path. I am a diligent and dutiful minister, mentor, and resource as a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to serve God’s Kingdom. Some women feel alone in their circumstances and do not feel that there is hope for a future. The domestic abuse I endured and survived in the past is a testimony to God. He redeemed me and was the hope Who saved me. Jesus saved this sinner and gave me the promise of a future in Heaven! God called me by his sufficient love and grace to be a witness of the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who need His eternal hope of Heaven.