Greetings! My name is Dawna Brennan, and I am receiving free training for a Chaplain Minister at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here). I am 51 and live in St. Louis, Missouri, with my husband, Joe, our youngest son, and my former father-in-law. Joe and I have 7 children between us, 5 girls and 2 boys, ranging in age from 18 to 38, and 2 grandchildren.
My Youth
My parents divorced when I was five years old. Due to my mother’s lifestyle choice, she and her partner had difficulty finding an apartment. As a result, we moved around a lot and were unable to attend church. Thankfully, I had a wonderful, God-fearing, Great Grandmother who saw to it that my sister and I attended Sunday school every week. She was always singing hymns, telling us Bible stories, and making sure we knew that God loved us!
We finally settled in a little apartment in a small suburb outside the city when I was in 4th grade. By the time I was 15, that sweet Great Grandma of ours had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and came to live with us. Thus began my foray into training for a Chaplain minister and caregiving!
My First Marriage and Turning to Alcohol
I dropped out of high school and married my first husband when I was 17. He had a 3-year-old daughter, and by the time I was 22, we added 2 more daughters to our young family. I was able to get my GED during this time. However, we were young, inexperienced, and had no idea what a healthy marriage was. Therefore, when we started having difficulty, we bailed out rather than fight. We both ended up regretting this choice. Sadly, he died in a car crash about a year later, leaving our girls and I devastated.
Grieving and miserable, I retreated into the bottle. I soon found myself trapped in an unhealthy, abusive relationship, forced into a marriage I didn’t want. With 3 fatherless daughters and no escape in sight, I set out to make the best life possible for my girls. So, I did what any codependent, alcoholic wife does. I decided to stick it out, honor my vows, have a couple more babies, and try to change him. It didn’t work.
I loved my children and tried to instill Christian values in them. I even tried to take them to church, but my husband was mad at God and took every opportunity to interfere and undermine what I did. When his job took him out of town, I was grateful. It was during those peaceful weeks I managed to teach them compassion, gratitude, and generosity. They also learned about Christ.
Struggles and Growth
My alcoholism progressed. When I was 37, I went to rehab and began attending a 12-step recovery program. Over the next several years, I struggled to maintain continuous sobriety. I had a pattern of building long periods of sobriety only to throw it away on a one day drunk and having to start over. I felt much shame about that, but I’ve realized that those relapses were a necessary part of my journey. So, I wouldn’t be where I am today had it happened any other way. During this time, I never stopped attending meetings. I made wonderful supportive friends and began depending on God like never before. Miraculous things happened in my life and the lives of those around me, and I knew without a doubt that God was real.
My husband was not supportive of my newfound sobriety. He was jealous and possessive and did whatever he could to interfere. Everything came to a head one night when, in a drunken rage, he hurt me in a way he never had before. Although traumatized, I got a protection order and finally filed for divorce.
I had a lot of amazing, supportive friends, but Joe was one of a kind. He was kind and generous with a strong faith in the Lord and the first man to treat me with genuine respect. We sat next to each other in meetings for 5 years and became best friends. He helped me a lot after I separated from my husband. Before long, our friendship caught fire, and we were very much in love!
The Power of Prayer
In 2015, smoking and lung disease caught up with me, and I almost lost my life. I quit smoking. After undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2016. I spent the next year heavily medicated and in extreme pain. One day, I recalled a scripture from a Bible study I attended a few years before. It said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours,” Mark 11:24. That was a game-changer. Six weeks later, I was pain-free. By January of 2018, my blood tests and x-rays showed no sign of RA, and I was officially cured.
This past summer, I got sick again. The lack of cardio from being cooped up caused my lungs to become congested. I also was depressed. Once again, I recalled that scripture and thought to myself that if God could remove RA from my body, He could remove the COPD as well. So, I gave it to Him. That very day, I began telling anyone who would listen that I was actively recovering from COPD, and by August of next year, I would be completely healed. Three weeks later, I felt like a kid again. It was amazing! On October 12, at my annual pulmonary function test, my results shocked everyone. My lung capacity had increased from 52% to 72%, allowing my doctor to change my COPD classification from severe to mild! Never underestimate the power of prayer!
Ministry to the Unloved
Dedicated to our sobriety, Joe and I are very active in the 12 Step community and our local community. Our motto is “Trust God, Help Others.” We do everything we can to live up to that. With the opiate epidemic raging and being personally affected, we do what we can. We use our own experience to reach as many as possible. In February 2011, we started a 12 Step program geared specifically to those seeking recovery from opiate (heroin) addiction.
A year later, we started a support group for parents, family members, and loved ones of addicts called H.O.P.E.: Help for the Opiate addicts Parents Exists. Drawing on our experience as parents of a recovering addict and our own experience with alcoholism/addiction, we support parents through the rollercoaster of their child’s addiction. We help them see how enabling behavior is harmful, provide them with resources to get their kids into treatment, and offer a safe, non-judgmental place to cry. Recovering addicts share their stories, often giving parents suggestions about what worked for them. Recovery is possible! We have seen miracles happen, and we are dedicated to helping as many people as possible get there.
People say we are “a ministry to the unloved and unlovely.” I’ve nursed addicts through detox and distributed drug tests and Narcan. I’ve spent hours in the ER, prayed at bedsides, and attended more funerals than I ever thought possible. God has shown me my calling.
Training for Chaplain Minister at CLI
After my first husband passed away, I remained close to his parents. His mother already went to be with the Lord. Then, in 2014, his father received a dementia diagnosis. He didn’t want to leave his home. So he asked if I would bring Joe and our boys and move in with him. What a blessing! This move also afforded me further training for a Chaplain minister.
I want to spread the good news about what the Lord has done for me by sharing my experience, strength, and hope. I also want to be able to bring comfort to people who are going through difficulties. With free ministry training at Christian Leaders Institute, I will be better equipped to do that. My goal is to become a Chaplain Minister. With the training for a Chaplain minister at Christian Leaders Institute, I can actually envision myself reaching that goal.
Dad’s dementia has progressed to the point where he can no longer be left alone. It gives me the time I need to reach my goal. I’m also very grateful to my Mom for bringing Great Grandma to live with us. She did an amazing job, and through her example, I was able to gain the experience I needed to care for Dad. God is good!
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 Mary Ila Shana Williamson, and I go by Shana. Born and raised in North Carolina in the USA, I still live here today. I am a newly saved child of the One True King. As many people do, I spent most of my life, assuming I was a Christian. Recently, I realized that that wasn’t the case. To be saved, I needed to take a couple of steps. These steps led me to take more steps and more, which led me to the free quality classes at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here).
Life-Changing Accident
However, let me back up a bit. When I was 15, I was in a car accident that changed my life forever. I spent a month living in the hospital and multiple years after that going to therapy to learn how to walk again. My back was broken in two places. I had an incomplete spinal cord injury and had multiple lacerations on my intestines. Therefore, I had four surgeries. The first one was on my back, where it was fused, and rods were put in. Then, there was an exploratory surgery on my stomach to fix my intestines. Then, one week later, emergency surgery after my intestines began to leak. They removed a third of my colon and put a colostomy bag on then. Finally, the last surgery was for the takedown of the colostomy bag.
Life was hard. I questioned why me, and if it had to be me, then why did I have to survive it. I was in pain and was different now. Unable to attend my school or be with friends, I was angry. Further, I was also loaded on pain meds, which I then became addicted to. I spent from 15-21 as an addict. It got worse as I got older, and I also began drinking. My life was a dead end. I was probably close to the end when I found out I was pregnant. Immediately, I stopped drinking and taking drugs and never looked back. My son was sent to save me, and that I am sure of.
Saved and Called: Taking Free Quality Classes at CLI
Fast forward 10 years, I realized we both needed God. We were both baptized and have been attending church for several months now. When I accepted Christ, it’s like a light switched on. I couldn’t get enough information. Now, I want to learn everything I can and share the Good News. I want to help others.
So I was thrilled to find the Christian Leaders Institute and see that it was actually free quality classes. COVID has placed a great strain on my family, and we aren’t at all capable of paying for expensive schooling. As soon as my husband found a new job after losing his due to COVID, he ended up in the hospital needing emergency surgery. So free quality classes were a requirement, not just a desire. I now spend several hours a day completing lessons and working on becoming an ordained life coach minister. I am called to do such and very strongly called at that. God is good, and I can’t wait to see what all He has in store for me as time goes on!
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 Debbie Reynolds, and I am receiving advanced ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about Studying the Bible, Click Here). I am from the big city of Houston, Texas, the place I have lived all of my life. Currently, I serve as a bi-vocational Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church, which is also located in the Houston area. I am a mother of four adult children and seven grandchildren (and one on the way). I was blessed to be married for 36 years to the love of my life, the Late Pastor Eric L. Reynolds. My husband and I were the founders of Faith Tabernacle Church, where I co-pastored with him.
I attended the College of Biblical Studies, where I received a teaching certificate. I received a Bachelor of Art in Biblical Studies at the Institute of Teaching God’s Word in Rockdale, Texas. Currently, I am attending the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) because I desire continued learning and development to do the work of ministry with a greater level of excellence. CLI offers a great opportunity for people like me who cannot afford the seminary cost and have a lot on their plates. The courses are convenient and can be done from my home.
My Younger Years
I came from a household that initially did not serve the Lord. We occasionally went to church on Easter, and that was it. My parents had some negative experiences that turned them off to church. As the years transpired, our household became very dysfunctional. As children, we could clearly see that we needed help as a family, and we needed God!
At that time, when we needed the most help, God showed up in the lives of my parents. They gave their lives to God, and they led us to the Lord. As a family, we came to God and were baptized. My mother became a missionary in the church, and my father became a deacon and later a minister of the Gospel. I remember the advice of my father as I was going to college. He said to me, “Receive the Holy Ghost because He is a keeper, and he will keep you.” After I gave my life to the Lord in 1979, I had an awesome experience with God when He filled me with the Holy Ghost. That changed my life forever.
Marriage and Ministry
I sensed the call of God throughout my life, and I knew God had a special purpose for my life. It was so amazing the course that God put me on. I was right in the middle of His will, and I did not know it. I know God divinely orchestrated the day my husband and I met and later married. God set us on a course to do the work of ministry.
Being an introvert and basically a shy person, I thought, how could God use someone like me. My husband was my opposite. He was a people person and a builder. God used him to love me, train me, and help me get out of my box. He helped me do somethings I would never have imagined myself doing, the work of ministry. I was his right hand. I started as a Sunday School Teacher and then later developed a Women’s ministry. Eventually, I was co-pastor serving alongside my husband, the Senior Pastor.
My Husband’s Death
My husband, my best friend, my pastor, my mentor, devoted Father, Pastor, and the love of my life began to face one health challenge after another. Open heart surgery, flat-lining three times, but God divinely intervened and brought him out. Years later, he suffered a stroke. He walked into a hospital but could not walk out. However, he continued to have faith, and God brought him out. God brought him from a wheelchair to walking unassisted.
I walked and worked with him as we exercised our faith in God, who brought us out of various challenges. As he began to experience more health challenges, I could see him persevere, although weary and tired. There were times when he said, “I need you to step up and handle this meeting.” Oftentimes at the last minute, he could not carry out his duties. He would say, “I need you to stand and handle things for me.” Little did I realize the slow passing of the baton, nor did I realize how much could happen in a day.
I will never forget the day after Labor Day, 2016. I watched as paramedics work tirelessly to save my husband. He died at the hospital that night and went to be with the Lord. I was devastated and had to plan his funeral, among other things, as I said goodbye to the love of my life. After dealing with my spouse’s loss, there was something else to deal with, a ministry without a Senior Pastor.
Transition and Advanced Ministry Training at CLI
Later, God spoke to me to take the helm of the ministry and steer the ship. He said do what you were taught to do. God let me know before my husband’s transition that He was training me for another level of ministry. As a Senior Pastor, I am developing myself to do the ministry’s work more competently. The advanced ministry training at CLI is going to help me do it.
Pastoring during a pandemic is challenging, and I will need all of the resources I can get.
I thank God for CLI!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.