God is Lighting the Way
My name is Andrew Russell. I am thankful for the Life Coach Ministry classes at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I am 66 years old, married to my wonderful wife, Jo-Ann, and a Minister of the Gospel. We are originally from New York State, but we have resided in Lincoln, NE, for 16 years. After I graduated high school, I attended Alabama State University, where I studied Psychology. I hold an Associate Degree from the International School of Ministry. In my years of serving for the Lord, I have served in different roles within the church. I served as an Elder on the church board for nearly 15 years, worked as a Sunday school teacher, and worked with teenage boys conducting Bible study, recreation, and young men’s chorus.
Growing Up
The only downfall to my childhood was my biological father’s death when I was nine years old. His death took a toll on me. I became perplexed and angry. My mother was a faithful woman of God who, along with my grandmother, helped me through that rough period in my life. Despite it all, my childhood was pleasing, fun, and full of love. When I turned 12 years old, my mother married my step-father, who is my father. He was a devoted Christian man, so growing up in a Christian home was my foundation. I was always surrounded by the Word of God, prayer, Bible study, Christian songs, family, and community gatherings and activities.
My Spiritual Journey
I grew up in and attended the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church for 40 years. Deeply religious, I knew about the Lord. However, I did not have a personal relationship with Him. I was in my early thirties when I started a relationship with God. During that time, after attending the Methodist Church service, I would visit a Pentecostal Church service. There, I was introduced more to the Holy Spirit’s move and how the Holy Spirit’s infilling operates in your life.
My Spiritual Dream
Years ago, my wife and I always wanted to provide services for men and women who struggle with chemical addictions. Our goal was to provide services that would help them in overcoming their struggles. Today, God has granted that dream. Along with other Christian friends, we have started a nonprofit organization here in Lincoln, NE, named: Lighting the Way Pastoral Care. We will be offering a program called Living Free. It assists people with all types of addictions and provides the Word of God as the source of freedom. The Life Coach Ministry classes at the Christian Leaders Institute will better equip us for this work.
Challenges Reaching Maturity
The obstacle I faced growing into maturity was the era that I lived in as a young adult. The late sixties, seventies, and early eighties was an exciting time to live in. The culture was changing – music, drugs, sex, civil rights, and love for one another. At this time, I put my Christian upbringing on the back burner. Experiencing the cultural change, I felt more in tune with being a free spirit. I was open to the idea of different types of religion. I studied Zen, Buddhism, and any other religion that would open a pathway to reaching nirvana. During this time, I started making poor choices. I became addicted to drugs, had two children out of wedlock, got married when I should not have, and had two additional children from that marriage.
Reality: I Needed Jesus
While living a free-spirited life, I was still attending church and raising my two boys as a single parent. I had a good job, taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and held positions in the church. However, I was so miserable. The things I thought were fun were no longer fun—they became a curse. I was in a dark place in my life, which is when I knew I needed Jesus.
Conversion and Revelation
I realized that Jesus Christ is the only one who could stop the madness. Through a Divine Appointment, I met my second wife, Jo-Ann, who set me on the path to Jesus. The unconditional love she showed me through my chaotic lifestyle was a love I had never experienced from any woman before. I came to realize that the love she had for Christ was the only way she could love me as she did. I told her, “I want what you have.” She had a true love for Christ. It was the beginning of my conversion. The support that she gave my children and me when I was going through drug rehab was unconditional love.
While attending AA and NA meetings—I introduced myself by saying, “Hi, my name is Andrew, and I’m an addict.” One evening while attending a meeting, the Holy Spirit impressed me to introduce myself by saying, “Hi, my name is Andrew, and I have been delivered from drugs and alcohol.” That is the day I said, “If I believe that the Lord is my Savior, then I need to proclaim that He and only He is my Deliverer.”
Life Coach Ministry Classes and Training at CLI
In our nonprofit organization, Lighting the Way Pastoral Care, the Life Coach Ministry classes and training that I receive from the Christian Leaders Institute will help me serve people who need spiritual guidance throughout their lives. Due to being retired and on a fixed income, I would not be able to afford this level of Christian development and spiritual training any other way. I am thankful for Christian Leaders Institute and the people within the organization! I plan to become a vision partner!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My name is Chemine Mulford, and I am receiving in-depth, accessible Bible training at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I live in Iowa in the United States. Currently, I work as the music director and office secretary at a local church.
I was raised in a Christian family and was led to Christ at eight years old by my parents. God was ever-present in our home. My dad was a seeker, and from an early age, I learned from the many and varied books we had in our home. There were Christian biographies, theological books across many denominations, Bible studies, great books on prayer, angels, prophesy, and more. We attended church regularly, visiting many denominations, and I learned many things. Being exposed to varied Christian traditions allows for a fullness of knowledge but can also be a source of confusion for a thoughtful child.
Struggles and Doubts
As many Christians have experienced, I “fell away” from God as a teenager. I gave in to sin. Struggling with fear and depression, I was full of confusion and questions. I had many doubts. Was I really saved? If so, why did I sin? Why was I not a new creation? Why didn’t I feel God’s presence with me? How come I could not seem to “get it together?” Why was God far from me? I cried out to God but felt no answer.
My dad taught me that, whether I felt Him there or not, God had me tightly in His hand. He would never let go of me. God, who created me and knew me and loved me, could handle any of my questions and all of my doubts. I decided to seek God and find Him in the “right” theology.
Seeking Answers
I studied the beliefs and traditions of many denominations in depth. When that didn’t bring me peace or answers, I decided to study Judaism. Where better to start than the root of Christianity? I set Jesus to the side as I immersed myself into the religion he himself was born into and practiced. After several years, I came back, tentatively, to figure out what to do with Jesus. In my studies, I had discovered a richness in Christianity that I would have never known without delving into the root. I found a solid foundation to build my beliefs from. I didn’t find ALL my answers, but God provided me with enough knowledge and enough insight that I felt I could leave my doubts and questions in His hand and trust Him.
As you can probably tell, I am a knowledge seeker. I value information. Learning sparks a passion in me. That passion has brought me to a place where I don’t just trust IN God, but I trust God. God made my mind and knows how I think. He graciously meets me on that level. What I have found, though, is that knowing ABOUT God is not necessarily the same as KNOWING God. God has developed my trust in Him through knowledge, but I desire a true relationship with Him, a listening, talking, feeling, living, solid relationship. That is why I am here at the Christian Leaders Institute. That is my spiritual dream.
Crisis Woke Me Up
In America currently, we are experiencing shakiness and uncertainty like never before. As American Christians, we have had a long period of freedom of religion. In many churches and my life personally, this has led to apathy in church attendance, neglect of God’s Word, and laziness in sharing the gospel. I believe that God used the year 2020 to wake us up and open our eyes to see clearly the spiritual battle we have been, thus far, able to ignore. We need to prepare immediately and diligently for what is to come in America. For I believe it will come quickly, and we are not ready.
God Led Me to Christian Leaders Institute
I have prayed for God’s forgiveness in neglecting to follow Him wholeheartedly. I have prayed for God’s forgiveness for neglecting to love my neighbor as myself. After praying for guidance and wisdom, God led me here to Christian Leaders Institute for in-depth, accessible Bible training to prepare to be God’s minister in whatever situation He places me.
I see Christian Leaders Institute as a blessing from the hand of God. I prayed for in-depth, Biblically sound, immediately accessible training. God led me here! I am very grateful to be able to participate in this training for free. I would not be able to afford a traditional Bible college, even if there were one near me. Also, I look forward to becoming a vision partner in the future to help bless others as I have been blessed!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My name Is Darrin Reed, and I am on a Biblical education journey at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I live in Conway, South Carolina, USA. Born in Illinois, I am the youngest of five. Our single mom sometimes worked three jobs to provide for us. I never had a Biblical upbringing and started using drugs and alcohol at a very young age. That got me into a lot of trouble, and I ended up in jail multiple times.
Challenges
At the age of 17, I had two DUI arrests and was sent to a treatment center for alcoholism. I attended a 12-step recovery program and learned about God, whom I didn’t understand. I received Jesus when I was 20 and looked for a church to get married in. A minister came to my home and led me to Christ. The next Sunday, we went to his church and were made so uncomfortable. The message we heard was we weren’t living up to the standards that God or that church demanded of believers. We never crossed the threshold of that church again. I floundered with my relationship with God and struggled to stay sober.
After five years of up and down living and blaming everyone for what was going on in life, including God, I sat in my vehicle one evening. I held a gun to my head, screaming at God that if this was all life had to offer, he could stick it! That night I learned that I was terrified to die, and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart that I had no clue how to live. Miraculously, someone stole that gun from me two weeks later.
New Direction
I returned to the recovery program with fervor and really wanted to know more about God. I began to live in a way that I could see God working in my life. Little by little, my faith grew. I attended another church and recommitted myself to the Lord. I received a water baptism. However, once again, the church rejected me. When I wanted to become a member, the pastor had a problem with my tithing and smoking. Another church relationship ended badly for me. I continued struggling for years to grow deeper in my understanding of God’s will for my life.
My first marriage ended years earlier, and I was about to get married for the second time. My soon-to-be-wife and I wanted to do it right. We felt God had given us both a second chance. We started attending a church where God’s grace and mercy were poured out on us. The people there loved on us when we couldn’t love ourselves. We both grew in our relationship with Christ and our understanding of His Word.
My Call
On many occasions, people told me that I have a gift to preach. When I gave a eulogy at my stepdad’s funeral, the preacher came up and said, “I can see you in a pulpit someday, Darrin.” Another time, my wife and I were eating in a small restaurant. We sat to eat, prayed, and started to enjoy our meal. A stranger walked up and put his hand on my shoulder, saying, “Boy, you ever thought about preaching?” I responded in awe that I had heard that before. He said, “Don’t miss your calling.” Then he walked out the door.
I was completely broken that day and surrendered everything to God. I said, “Here I am, all of me, do what you want, lead me wherever you want, I just want to serve you, Lord.” Since then, I have grown in my relationship with God and seek to follow Jesus every day.
Beginning My Biblical Education Journey at CLI
I have been a Christian for over 35 years now and have felt the call to full-time ministry for many years. I had the opportunity to serve the Lord in many areas, including full-time ministry for six years with a Bible Translation Ministry. However, I was never able to go on a good Biblical education journey. I am grateful that someone pointed me to the Christian Leaders Institute. Now I am on this Biblical education journey here. Therefore, I will be better equipped for whatever doors the Lord opens in the future. Thanks and God Bless!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.