Walking in Freedom in Christ
Hello to all, my name is Cristina Jones, and I am taking free training in ministry at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I currently live in DeLand, Florida, in the United States. I am the proud wife of Casey Jones, and together we have a blended family of five children.
My Youth
Growing up, I never heard the name of Jesus or God referenced unless it was in a derogatory manner. Alcohol was lord in our home. The day after my 10th birthday, my two-year-old brother drowned in our backyard pool. My stepmother, in a moment of grieving, blamed me and sent me away. They sent me to live with my aunt and uncle, and it was there I heard about Jesus for the first time. God planted a seed.
When I was 14, I was attending a Baptist church that preached fire and brimstone. I became scared of going to hell, so I said the sinner’s prayer. Nothing changed. I didn’t feel any different, and my actions over the next few years reflected that.
Challenges and Finding Jesus
Fast forward to 1992. I am 21 years old and stationed overseas at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. I am walking home one morning from being out all night at the clubs, and I hear a voice say, “Go to church.” I got back to my barracks and found what I thought would be “church clothes,” and walked to find the base chapel. After 3 weeks of hearing the Chaplain tell everyone all my dirty deeds and how I was living, I raised my hand to receive Jesus into my heart for what I felt was the first time. (Afterwards, I learned that it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me and directing me to go to church that morning) The day I was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, I became radical for Jesus!
However, for the next 26 years, I would fight, and not win, the battle with my addictions. At the age of 10, when I was sent away from my family, I was exposed to pornography by a family member. I opened a door. A sexual addiction began. It led me into several broken relationships, 2 failed marriages, and a lukewarm relationship with God.
After my encounter with Jesus when I was 21, I KNEW God called me to preach the gospel. Unfortunately, everywhere I turned, the “church” told me I could not preach or teach because I was a woman. So I spent 20 years trying to find my identity. And questioning the call God had placed on my life. I believe it really stunted my growth as a believer mainly because I let it.
New Freedom
It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom after the death of my fiancé that I knew I had to surrender EVERY secret part of my life to Jesus. I was empty. Which was exactly where God needed me to be so He could fill me with all of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. That is when I was healed and delivered of my addiction, and God brought my husband into my life. Today I walk in the freedom of the Word of God and who I am in Christ.
My passion is ministering to women who feel broken and teaching them their value is found in Jesus, NOT men. My husband and I have a passion for seeing marriages restored. We have been serving couples and teaching marriage classes for 4 years. There is nothing that sets my heart on fire more than studying the Bible and teaching others the power of the Word of God. It’s all with a little “Cristina flavor.”
Free Classes in Ministry at CLI
Every challenge and tragedy I have experienced in my life made me the woman, wife, mother, minister, preacher, counselor, mentor of God that I am today. With that being said, when God called my husband and me to plant a house church in late 2019, I realized I needed more structured ministry training. I didn’t know where to find that training without going to seminary (which I do not feel led to). Then a friend’s daughter reached out to ask if I would marry her and her fiancé. This led me to Christian Leader’s Institute because I DID NOT want to “buy” my wedding officiant certification. I wanted to earn it.
My husband will join me in taking some classes as we move forward with our house church. Being able to take advantage of free training has helped us more than we can say. We have been living by faith for the resources needed to complete our entire home renovation. God has met every need, including the free training classes in ministry I am taking through CLI and CLA. We are eternally grateful for the Lord directing our steps which led us here.
By becoming a Gold Vision Partner, we decided to sow into the Kingdom because we believe in the Christian Leaders Institute’s vision. With the opportunity for free training classes in ministry at CLI, we pray that we reach more people for Christ with no obstacles.
My name is Greg Sullivan. I live in San Antonio, Texas, USA, and am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute for deacon minister training (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
My Beginnings
I was born in New York State in 1949, the youngest of three children. My father had me late in life due to health problems. My mother was confined to a wheelchair well before I was born due to polio. She was a good person but also a chronic alcoholic. I later found out that she drank all through her pregnancy with me but not my older sister and brother. That knowledge brought me much peace. It explains many things about myself that I never understood.
Growing up Catholic, I had no conception of a loving God who cared about me. I didn’t fit in well growing up and started drinking as a teenager. Before I finished high school, I was a chronic alcoholic. I was led to the Lord in my early 20s by a godly cousin. However, by then, I was too far gone into my drinking. I accepted Christ as my Savior, but it was a difficult struggle for the next 35 years. I ended up living on skid rows all around the country.
Hit Bottom and God Saved Me
Today, I praise God for every rescue mission and Salvation Army that took me in when I got too sick to stay on the streets. I started going to AA in 1983, but it was a revolving door relationship. I wanted to get sober but couldn’t. In 2005, I hit the lowest point in my life. I knew without a doubt that I would soon be dead on the streets in Morgan City, LA. There seemed to be nothing I could do about it. How dark it is before the dawn!
I made arrangements to come back to San Antonio, though I had no idea why. Through the kindness of a friend, I had a place to stay. I returned to AA, not expecting anything to change. A man spoke who made me realize for the first time that I had no understanding of “surrender.” My journey from there started with baby steps. However, I soon realized that God was truly doing for me what no one on earth could do.
Deacon Minister Training at CLI
The friend who gave me a place to stay is my loving wife of fifteen years, Karen. We married in 2006, and what a journey it has been! Several years ago, we both felt that we needed a local church. We went to several. But, as soon as we walked into SE Baptist Church in San Antonio, we knew we were home. I have been nurtured and mentored by the godly men in my church, including Pastor Jerry Cosper. I was invited to pray about becoming a deacon, and I do not doubt that God called me.
God placed it in my heart that I needed ministry training to be an effective servant. I had no idea how that could happen. I am still working full time as I have no pension and very little social security because of how I lived. Out of nowhere, I saw an ad for the Christian Leaders Institute. I thought, “This is too good to be true! What an awesome God we serve!”
I am not sure what else the Lord has planned for us, but I am as excited as any man half my age. Literally, I laugh out loud when I think how God is using this old sinner. I am taking deacon minister training courses to be an effective, ordained deacon. I hope to continue as long as God allows. Thank you, CLI!
My professional name is Patricia Renard Scholes, but please call me Pat. My husband of over 50 years and I live in a rural community north of Durango, Colorado. We live in a national forest between the Animas River and the Durango-Silverton Railroad. I am excited to take the ordination classes at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
My Ministry Journey Begins
I majored in “Mommy” for ten years before I decided to return to school. It took me a while because life kept happening. Two examples are: a tornado took our house, leaving us temporarily homeless, and my husband became disabled halfway through his working years.
Finally, I graduated from Denver Seminary with a Master of Divinity and a Certificate of Completion in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance. I intended to become a Presbyterian pastor, but I realized I wasn’t Presbyterian after all by the time I graduated. As a result, I never became ordained as a pastor.
However, that didn’t stop my ministry. For several years we opened our home to street people in a halfway house ministry. This was life-changing, not only for our “congregation” but also for us. We watched in amazement while God changed the lives of the people in our home. One young man, who previously led a very violent life, was challenged as he drove his truck down a mountainside. He got behind someone who not only drove very slowly but also prevented him from passing. The young man reached for his rifle, fulling intending to blow away the other driver. When I asked him why he didn’t do it, the young man replied, “Because God didn’t want me to.”
My Childhood
I didn’t enter this world to minister to anyone. My parents blamed me for “having to get married” when Mom became pregnant with me. Anger and violence filled our home. I refused to remain quiet, even when it looked like Dad might kill me for speaking out. I spoke out anyway. Although they went to church every Sunday, there was no Jesus in that home. I never remember one quiet family dinner. One of us kids either became the recipient of Dad’s verbal assaults or the physical victim of his terrible temper. I used to rush through my meal and run to my room to escape the next war to break out. I buried myself in a novel to shut out the noise downstairs.
My escape into fiction became my vocation. I write dystopian science fiction to encourage others that there is a way out of the tragic events people must face in this world. I am far too familiar with abuse. Too often, I was my father’s “chosen” child. I didn’t believe in a God who would allow any of this to happen to children. I remember being alone in my bed, crying from yet another beating, praying, not praying, then praying again. Finally, I said, “God, if you’re real, I just need someone to love me.” “I love you, Patty,” God said, not in an audible voice but inside. Then He filled me with more love than anyone could contain. Since then, I’ve told people that no one is an accident. God loves us specially and has made each one of us unique, with a fulfilling plan for each of us.
My Ministry Journey Continues: Ordination Classes at CLI
Another thing I learned in the seminary is that I’m not designed to be a pastor. I work best in small groups or one-on-one. As a result, I’ve never used my education as a minister. We attend church regularly, but I’m not one of the preachers, even though I am very qualified to do so and am not afraid of speaking to large groups. I do house church ministries or small group ministries. I would love to train people to become small group leaders.
Therefore, I am pursuing ordination for that purpose, not just to lead a group but to facilitate others to do the same. Denver Seminary cost me over $100,000. I can’t afford another major investment in my education, or I would have returned to school to acquire a doctorate. God is not taking me there. So, I am so thankful for the Christian Leaders Institute with its scholarship for free ordination classes.