My name is Jean Daniel Pierre, and I’m learning to preach the gospel at the Christian Leaders Institute. I was born 06-08-1988 in Haiti. I am from a six-member family: my mom and my dad, and four brothers. With an associate degree in theology, I am the only Christian in my family. One of my goals is to bring my parents and brothers to the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m a member of the “Primitive Mission Christian Church of Duvivier” (Mission Eglise Primitive de Duvivier) at Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Recently I moved to the south part of the country with two friends. We started a kid’s and youth ministry where we teach them the word of God. After two years of studying the gospel, I want to know more and revive myself to share the Word of God effectively. I believe the Christian Leaders Institute can help me reach that goal (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I’m learning to preach the gospel because I like helping people understand and enjoy the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My Spiritual Journey
It all started seven years ago when I gave my life to Jesus. I grew up at Cité Soleil, in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Haiti. I was exposed to things that a kid shouldn’t be, like R-rated movies, pornography, gang conflicts, poverty, and so on. Thankfully, most of my friends were Christians, and they really had an impact on me. Growing up with my friends, I saw how Jesus brought joy in their hearts, even in such a terrible neighborhood.
When I decided to get baptized, my mom was shocked. She wished that she had never allowed me to go to church. However, God and I are grateful I did not stop going to church. One year after I got baptized, my mom told me that she saw how I changed and liked the man I became. That day was one of the best days of my life. I joined the young adult group of my church, and I became a volunteer at church. Later on, I helped with the youth and led some meetings in the young adult group. I also helped with cleaning up in the neighborhood. My pastor taught me how to lead a group and also some basics about preaching.
Studying at CLI
I decided to study at Christian Leaders Institute to learn how to teach and preach the gospel. I really like the way the teachers teach and the passion they have at CLI. They show me it’s not only about knowledge but also about discipleship, living the Word, and being like Christ. I want to help people enjoy being a disciple of Christ. My dream is to develop the spiritual life of youth, young adults, and adults. Then, they can grow as good citizens and also inherit the kingdom of God.
My name is Rachel Hermosillo. I am from Los Angeles, California. With a prison ministry chaplain call from God, I am studying the Bible and ministry at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
My Childhood and My Addiction
I was raised with a single mom and a brother. She was a drug addict and mentally unstable. We were taken away from her as very young children and went from one bad foster home to another. I suffered sexual, physical, and demonic abuse. The last foster home was a “pastor” and his wife, who were satanic worshippers. I knew very little of God, but something told me this was not Him.
As an adult, I had a very unhealed heart because of my past and the fact that I did not have a relationship with the Lord. I sought love in all the wrong places and ended up using drugs to dull the pain of my past. In my 25 years of drug addiction, I tried to commit suicide many times.
Saved by Grace
The Lord revealed who He was to me as I cried out to Him on February 8, 2016. Homeless, addicted, and broken, my life shattered completely, God brought me to the Walter Hoving Home. There I found recovery and a relationship with Jesus that changed me forever. I finished a year discipleship program, finished the Emerging Leaders Program through Teen Challenge Institute, and became staff.
Prison Ministry Chaplain Call and Study at CLI
I am now 5 years into my recovery and Jesus is healing my heart. My calling is to be in prison ministry and to speak into the lives of those in addiction. Because of some bad choices made in my addiction, I found myself deep into debt. I saw no way to further my ministry education until I found out about the Christian Leaders Institute. Once again, God made a way for me!!
I hope to practice ministry in being a bi-vocational Chaplain with a focus on prison ministry and addiction. The two verses I stand on are:
Jeremiah 29:11
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Genesis 50:20
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
My name is Jerry L. Young, and God gave me a call to serve in His kingdom. I have a wonderful wife named Dianne. We have five daughters and seven grandchildren. I have a call to serve from God. So, I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute for ministry training and ordination (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
I am number four of five children in my family. We are all believers. I grew up on a dairy farm in western Pennsylvania, USA. At age eighteen, I went to work in a welding shop. I have spent my working years in the manufacturing field. I started as a welder, then into supervisory, and eventually into engineering. Although my employment would be considered secular, it was also a ministry. I believe that through Christ, we bloom where we are planted if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Early Life and Conversion
I first joined the church where my family attended at the age of 13. It was March 24, 1967, in a Presbyterian church in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. I took the Bible very seriously and was interested in knowing about God. Then starting in 1973, I had my wilderness years. Fortunately, they did not last forty years. I never abandoned my belief but became stagnant without adding the water that Jesus offered to the woman at the well.
Ten years later, I had the desire to get back into the church. I was living in a Chicago suburb, and I joined the Presbyterian Church in Peotone, IL. I had my foundational teaching and was studying the Bible. Not long after, I began to lead an adult Sunday school. In 1990, I went to a tent revival on the family farm. That night in the spring of 1990, I had an awakening. I was very biblically literate, but my knowledge was academic. I was not saved. If I had died before that night, I would not have made it into Heaven. I would have missed by eighteen inches, the distance from the heart to the head. That night, I came to Christ, and it is undoubtedly the best decision of my life. I became a better husband, father, worker, and person: a new creation.
Calling to Ministry
Two years after my salvation, I felt I had gone as far as possible in my studies. There was no one I trusted to be my mentor. However, I was reading about Phillip and the eunuch, who did not understand the scripture. I thought, “That’s me.” I prayed for God to send me someone who really knew scripture to teach me. At the same time, about six miles away, a man with a Bible College and seminary education was praying for someone to disciple. God put us together. His name is Ron. We talked almost every day. He said I was like a sponge soaking up everything he taught. We are still friends, and he is still my mentor. However, now we live nearly 500 miles apart.
After moving back to Pennsylvania, I talked to one of the employees where I worked, a pastor. We had great conversations. He told me I had a calling. He asked me why I was hiding. In 2012, I was struck with a rare, incurable disease. The doctors said that I was handicapped and would spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. They were wrong. Jesus cured me of that incurable disease. I can walk again. Then I heard the voice of God, “What more proof do you want? Preach my Gospel.” I became a Presbyterian lay- preacher, but I knew the Lord wants me to be a pastor with a call to serve.
Ministry Training and Journey
In 2013, I took an online Bible course and started to fill in for the pastor when he was on vacation or ill. I signed up for classes through the Presbytery to be a commissioned pulpit supply preacher. Although commissioned, I was not ordained. I wanted to accelerate that education, so I signed up for the Christian Leaders Institute training.
In answering my call to serve in God’s kingdom, I have led many Bible studies and small groups, and in my own quiet time, I also study the Bible. So far, I have read it cover to cover 45 times. My goal is 100. I have read at least 10 versions, and I wrote a summary of every chapter in the Bible. Also, I have a Facebook following and write and post a short message 6 days a week. I have been given the heart of an evangelist, and I want people to hear the truth and be saved. “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10).