My name is Ashley Crowe. I am married to Jeremy and have a stepson. We currently live in Hopkins, Minnesota, United States of America. I am studying Bible courses and ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible courses, Click Here).
Before I Was Saved: My Youth
My childhood was not like most people’s. My dad was in the Army. So we moved from Minnesota to Louisiana when I was a year old. I had a younger brother named Richie who passed away suddenly when he was a little over a year. The reason is unknown, but both my parents were blamed for it. My dad did 4 years in prison for manslaughter; my mom did 3 months for an accessory.
They put me into foster care. For months, I refused to speak to anyone and went from foster home to foster home. Finally, a pastor and his wife fostered me and showed me the love of the Lord. A few months after, I came home to Minnesota to live with my grandmother. She showed me a lot of love and took me to church, but I was still missing something in my life.
Before I Was Saved: Marriage Struggle
I was pretty normal as a teenager. I skipped school a lot, partied, and didn’t care. This continued into my adulthood. When I was 18, I met Jason. He was tall, dark, and could talk his way into and out of anything. When I was 27, we finally married. He had many issues growing up with abuse and mental health issues. After our marriage, I found this out. Jason became abusive pretty early in our marriage and didn’t stop until June 5th, 2016. This was the day he decided to take his life. It was 5:15 am. I woke up to a loud sound coming from his home office. I will never forget the sight when I opened that door. Now, more was missing in my life.
New Direction: Yay! Jesus Saved Me!
A year and a half later, my friend was pushing me to find someone to “get over Jason.” I was not too interested, but she had me start a dating profile. That’s where I met Jeremy. An even taller and very handsome bad boy. He had a past, yet he was a believer. That’s what I needed! Someone who was broken like me but loved the Lord. I found what I was looking for! Was it this man? NO! It was Jesus!
Jeremy and I had our first date and every other date after for a while at church. Twice a week, we were meeting fellow broken people and even starting a ministry with some friends. On May 15th, I surrendered to the Lord and received baptism. After 33 years, I finally found what was missing all my life! The Lord!! Jeremy and I are married, and life is great!
Now What? Studying Bible Courses at CLI
As a recovering addict/felon and a widow/child of foster care turned followers of the Lord, we knew we had to do more. We had stories to tell and people to save. Last year, 2020, Jeremy and I decided to sell everything, turn a school bus into a tiny home and take our ministry on the road! We both decided we needed to study the Word more and get a closer relationship with Jesus. So, here we are at Christian Leaders Institute, studying Bible courses and ministry training!
Pray for us as we are studying Bible courses and ministry training at CLI. Our bus, Exodus, hits the road in July 2021.
My name is Joe Kwuble Ghattey, also known as Jeffery, currently living in South Africa. I am excited to get more ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible courses, Click Here).
My Youth and Salvation
Born in a little village called Peki Dzake in the Volta region in Ghana in the ’70s, I finished tertiary education in 1999. As a teenager, I knew nothing about God even though my parents attended the local church. It’s a practice here to follow our parents to church every Sunday. Yet, we have no personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In my third year of my secondary school, I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I followed one of my elder brothers to the prayer meeting on our holiday, which takes place every Wednesday. Since that day, my inner cry was to know more about Jesus Christ. I registered to be in the new convert class, which taught us the steps of becoming a child of God. This foundation class changed almost every aspect of my life, if not all.
My Spiritual Journey
The journey in Christ has been amazing even though I encountered many challenges, negativity, and rejection by others. I proceeded to the Bible College of Word of Faith and finished in 1999. I married my wife Gladys in the year 2003.
Recently, God gave me the mandate to “gather all that are sorrowful, afflicted, oppressed, and have been put to shame and all that have a burden. I, the Lord, will make them to celebrate in their land. And I will wipe away the tears from their faces.”
After receiving this mandate, I thought of getting more ministry training. I found the Christian Leaders Institute online. CLI has given me the unique experience and opportunity to be trained without being burdened with debt. Also, the classes can be done at my pace and on my schedule.
Furthermore, I believe that through CLI the 2 Timothy 2:15 command will be fulfilled. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (KJV).”
Blessings to you all!
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!