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.
My name is Brent Tyler, and I am taking online Bible courses at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible courses, Click Here). Originally from Riverside, California, I currently reside in Portland, Oregon.
I graduated from Full Sail University with an Associate of Science in Music Production, expecting that it would just be a “hobby.” Little did I know, God put me through that program. Not only did it lead to my salvation, but I utilize almost everything I learned in that program serving in the church.
The Pacific Northwest is one of the most unchurched areas in the United States. Portland, Oregon, is full of hippies, druggies, far-left/far-right protests, social justice, and homelessness. It also happens to be one of the top cities in the country for the number of strip clubs per capita. Being a Christian in Portland is like finding a silver dollar face up on the ground – it doesn’t happen very often.
My Youth
Growing up, I did things opposite of the Christian walk. I experienced many, many traumatic things in my childhood that led to issues internally. Therefore, I went down an intense, dark path to destruction. I was the school punching bag, assaulted by other kids and my earthly dad. Through all that, I have a mom who battled her own demons. Whether working sixty-plus hours to provide for my little brother and me or dealing with a mental health crisis, I spent most of my time alone. We were always moving, and I was constantly changing schools, so building friendships was difficult. There was a time when I went to Faith Community Church in Glendora, California, as a kid. I only went to watch worship and play on the computers after service. At ten years old, those two things were the highlight for me.
When I hit my teenage years, I struggled even more. Getting abused by my earthly dad and other kids at school, I found it difficult to cope. Instead of looking to God, I attempted to end my life multiple times. From sixteen to eighteen, I was in the hospital fourteen times for attempting suicide. They put me into two dual diagnosis rehabilitation centers. There, I learned how to do drugs, where to get them, and how to hide them – as a teenager.
Struggles
My path got darker when I started dabbling in the occult. On drugs, dabbling in the occult, in and out of hospitals, my family reached a breaking point. They kicked me out at seventeen. Despite me doing drugs and getting into trouble, I graduated high school six months early. All of this led to me spending a total of six and a half years homeless as an adult.
For a time, I went to Calvary Chapel. Every time there was an altar call, I went forward. Just a kid, I liked the attention. As a kid, I didn’t really understand the concept of giving my life to the Lord. I didn’t grow up in a Christian household, had a druggie earthly dad, and a mentally ill mom. The best support system I had in place was my grandparents, who also are not Christian. I liked the attention I got at those altar calls, so I kept going up. I received a Bible from Calvary Chapel that I hung on to for nearly seventeen years through all the occult, homelessness, everything. Even though I didn’t have a reason, I hung on to it. However, knowing what I know now, the Lord had a reason!
Further Challenges
Everything in my life pointed in the direction of me surrendering to my pride. Even as a homeless man living on the streets, I was too good to take help from others. I didn’t want the help – until my life was so bad and so dark that I finally decided to ask for help. So, I went to a place called the Hawthorne walk-in center in Hillsboro, Oregon. It is a place that has resources for those in crisis, including mental health services and homeless services. I got a list of food pantries, and as I was scouring over them, I saw church after church. Every time I saw a church name, I said to myself, “Nope, nope, nope!!” I went to the only non-church pantry and got a can of cranberry sauce and a can of green beans. They told me, “Okay, you can come back in a month.”
So, I had no money and two cans of food that wouldn’t keep me full. The next day, I looked at the cans in my hand. I didn’t even have a can opener. Hopeless and angry at God for my circumstances, I caved. I grabbed the list again and found the next food pantry open. Terrified after being told by people in the church that I would go to hell, I thought, “I’m about to be murdered and buried in their garden out back.”
Finding Salvation in Christ
However, when I walked in, an older woman named Donna gave me a paper to fill out. As I looked over the paper, I come to a part where I saw a question that made my heart sink into my body. My fears completely overwhelmed me. But I didn’t run. I marked the paper accordingly and waited my turn. Naida, a very tender, loving woman who took me shopping. She was the one who got me to come to church that Sunday. I asked her, “How do people in this church feel about those who are different than they are?” She responded, “We love them.”
That was the beginning for me. Over the next three years, I remained homeless. But, I started Full Sail University. Then, I ended up getting sick and almost dying from pneumonia. God became real when my O2 saturation was 63, my blood pressure was 74/36, and my pulse was 39. Admitted into Kaiser West Side Hospital in Hillsboro, Oregon, I had pneumonia in all three lobes of my lung. The doctor who treated me told me as I was in and out of consciousness that I would not have made it if I had waited one more day. This experience made me realize I needed to change.
Ultimately, almost dying was the catalyst to my getting off the street. I knew I was going to die if I didn’t start caring about myself. After I met my current girlfriend, who is a Pastor, I found Christ. I didn’t realize that Jesus died for me. I was used to twenty-minute sermons that didn’t touch on doctrine or theology. It wasn’t until June 20, 2020, that I dedicated my life to the Lord. I was baptized and gave my life to the Lord.
Learning More with Online Bible Courses at CLI
As someone who is already seventy thousand dollars in debt, I cannot afford to pay for more schooling. I am hungry for more and more and more knowledge about God and the Bible. As a servant of Jesus Christ, I am also a minister. I am saved by grace through faith and a Child of God. Finding the Christian Leaders Institute with free online Bible courses is a huge blessing for me. Thank you, CLI, for the opportunity to become more engaged in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.