My name is Yvonne A. Davenport from Athens, Georgia (USA), and I am taking free Bible classes online at the Christian Leaders Institute. I am an undergraduate from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism and a Master’s in Public Administration from Piedmont College. Besides my public education, I have had the opportunity to attend many Leadership and Christian Education seminars and conferences. These fueled my desire to teach and serve in the ministry.
Christian Leadership Experience
Unlike many places, Christianity is supported and encouraged where I live. This fact by no means implies that Luke 10:2, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborer’s are few: pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborer’s into his harvest,” is not relevant. I serve in the ministry in my local church and on the regional and state level. My passion is teaching and serving others.
At my church, I have served and still serve positions including Christian Education Director, Sunday School Superintendent, Youth Director, Church Secretary, Pastor’s Administrative Assistant, President of Usher Board, and as a teacher for Sunday School and Bible Study. On a regional level, I currently serve as the Women’s President for the Northwestern Baptist Association#1, which covers three Districts. I am an inspirational speaker and a Christian author. I am inspired to reach the saved and unsaved by using all my gifts in God’s service.
Free Bible Classes Online at CLI
Presenting God’s Word and moving others to action is often challenging. Many have the habit of attending events and church but not putting their convictions into action. Through my free Bible classes online at the Christian Leaders Institute, I am learning much about leadership and relationship with God. The Seven Connections discussion in one class at CLI gave me a better understanding of building stronger foundations for those looking for Christ. It also strengthened me on a personal level to develop habits for my walk with God.
A woman in ministry can run into some unique challenges in some cultures. However, I have the support and encouragement of my pastor, family, and mentors.
Childhood Commitment to Christ
For as long as I can remember, I had a thirst for the Word and a need to be a part of God’s program. My public confession of belief came when I was eight years old at the Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia. It was on Mother’s Day. Pastor N. Mathis extended the invitation to Discipleship. In the African American community, this invitation was “opening the doors of the church.” Now to me, a child, it appeared to be a quick process. and I panicked because I sat against the wall, and I could not hold back. I closed my eyes and dove across the laps of others and landed on the floor in the middle of the aisle. I remember one of the older mothers in the church seated up front, saying, “Wait…here comes my baby!”
My Youth
I grew up in a Christian home with my father, mother, siblings, and grandmother. All were highly active in the church and community. We often opened our doors to those in need of a place to stay or older relatives that needed assistance when ill. All the adults held various positions in the church. What was expected of us was modeled by my parents, grandmothers, and those around us. Our church encouraged youth and youth activities. We participated in every phase of church activity.
The pastor’s I grew up under encouraged learning and family activities. They supported all the members in their church activities and their work life, school activities, and family celebrations. It is still true today. Our current pastor and my mentor, Pastor John K. Pinckney Sr, is exceptional in his commitment to our church family and his desire to order the church in sound doctrine and practice. Love remains the foundation in Christ that teaches all to serve with a sincere heart and purpose.
My Journey
As a youth, I attended church and Sunday School regularly. I participated in Christian education workshops and conferences. I began teaching at the age of 14 and served on the Youth Usher Board.
As time went on, I continued to grow in Christ. I served as a teacher for Sunday School and Bible Study, Superintendent, Christian Education Director, church secretary, and Pastor’s Administrative Assistant. I also produced the church’s newsletter, In My Father’s House.
Ironically, I learned that as you grow in Christ, many people discourage you by saying you are too young to be so wrapped in the Lord. Invitations to certain events were far and few in between for me. Taking a stand for right, I was considered naïve or just a little off. However, these events did not cause me to take a detour.
One of the most rewarding experiences and humbling was when I began my work with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services. As a caseworker, I saw situations and living conditions that I had never imagined. I saw the life light gone out in the faces of children and adults alike. It was then that I realized that in and of myself, I could do nothing, but Christ could do all. Initially, victims of child abuse, neglect, exploitation, and so much more prayed to ask God why. It was the 30 years of working in this field that opened my eyes to see God even in dire situations.
Spiritual Dream
My spiritual dream is to allow the Lord to use me as He sees fit. I want to walk out His Word in a way that will serve as a living testimony that God is real. To model that faith for others and point them Christ so they may see the beauty found in this new life is my goal.
Today
I am in this place and at CLI because God was positioning me for more. All my gifts are to glorify Him. Then, after the unexpected death of my niece in February of this year, I knew it was time to step out of my safe place. I am to go back into working with those in distress and helping them see the light that shines in the darkness.
Thank you, CLI, for this opportunity for free Bible classes online!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Praise the Lord! My name is Isaac Parry, and I am excited about the Christian connections at CLI – the Christian Leaders Institute. My family and I live in the western part of our country, India. I hold a professional degree in Social Work. Furthermore, I have about 18 years of experience working for a Christian humanitarian organization from a grassroots level to heading the national level.
I had the fantastic experience of being a Christian leader, not only in the organization I worked with but also in local churches at various places and times. Often, pastors preferred me to come to the front, but my preference was always to support and back the church and pastor from behind the scenes. I live in a country where persecution of a minority community is not a new thing. India has a long and sad history of such atrocities for years.
My Upbringing and Salvation
I grew up in a Christian family with a Muslim family name. Under some mysterious circumstances, my grandfather could not cross the country borders during the partition and remained behind. Later, he married my grandmother, who probably converted from the tribal part of our country. My Muslim family name was never an issue or matter of concern throughout my school education, making friends, or in any daily course of our life. Only in the 1990s, during nation-wide communal riots, for the first time, we were scared to carry a Muslim family name.
Though we were regular Protestant churchgoers, I never had a personal encounter with God. The Bible was too big a book for me to read and understand. After some tutorials in church, we received baptism as children without much understanding. Finally, during my higher education, I met a friend who helped lead me to God and a personal encounter with God. I surrendered my life and accepted Jesus as my Savior.
Gradually, I learned about many truths that were never mentioned or taught to us in my church or Sunday school during my childhood. Some of those teachings were crucial for me as a believer to understand, know, and experience. Instructions about the work of the Holy Spirit, speaking and praying in tongues, and much more.
My Spiritual Dream and Challenges
My spiritual dream is to be an instrument of God’s love in His Hands. I want my life to be a testimony so that all glory goes to God. The Christian Leaders Institute’s free ministry training will prepare me for the purpose that God has for me. I want to be ready and equipped so that I am available to do His work in my professional and personal life. Being a social worker, I understand poverty and social issues. These struggles can be addressed not by our limited wisdom but by God’s supernatural intervention.
The major obstacle that I faced has been in receiving sound doctrine and understanding of the Word of God. The watered down and manipulated words taught during Sunday services have not helped me. It led to more frustration and confusion on how to live out a Spirit-filled life. Time reading the Word of God, praying, and depending upon the Holy Spirit to reveal scripture truths helped me get a new understanding of God’s plan.
Christian Connections at CLI
Christian Leaders Institute training will help me get a proper perspective and a clear understanding of the aspects of being a Christian leader in our world. The Christian connections at CLI are a blessing. The awards and credits received will authenticate my leadership.
I am the sole breadwinner of my family. It was a long time desire to pursue courses like the ones at CLI. Until now, it was not a priority due to other responsibilities. Amazed that CLI offered free training online, I registered. However, for a year, I did not pursue it. I thought it would trap me into paying for the classes in some other way.
My wife and I prayed for theological studies to pursue. To our surprise, my wife received an invitation to join CLI! It was a supernatural act of God because she never enrolled in the course. Accepting it as an answer to our prayers, we pursued it and searched its genuineness. I praise God today that we both enrolled in various classes, along with our eldest daughter. We are blessed by this generosity-driven institute. We believe that we also will be able to contribute to this ministry soon.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Hello, my name is Matthias Ngandu Yemba, and I dream of a teaching ministry to vulnerable people. To accomplish this dream, I need advanced quality ministry training at CLI. I am from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but currently live in Dowa district, Malawi. My wife Irene Asumini and I have been living here for just over five years. We have five great children.
Salvation Path
I was still young, starting my secondary school and growing up in a Catholic Church family. Uncles and aunts were trying to become priests, nuns, and they were our model of Christian life. Though we did not understand well the word of God, we were eager to go through the whole process and become priests like them. Unfortunately, this did not happen to me. The strategy failed many times. I was reading the Bible like any other storybook. Today, I realized that at that time, my life was a mixture of worldly and Christian life, and my school would have probably stopped.
Still being young and about to complete my secondary school, the husband of one of my aunts was a deacon in a Pentecostal church and invited me to attend their church meeting. It was my first time I heard such a mind-blowing sermon. So, I decided to remain in that church and received believer baptism in 1995.
Marriage and Transformation
I realize today that God took me into this church to transform my life. As a young boy, it was not easy to change all my former habits. They were trying to draw me back. However, Jesus Christ won the battle for me. He gave me hope solely in His Word. I completed my secondary school and higher school education. I became a language teacher at a secondary school and enabled others in my family to pursue their education.
By God’s grace, I overcame different school temptations and opened the door of officially getting married for the entire family in 2008. That year I married my lovely wife, Irene, in a Pentecostal Church where I ministered as a deacon. Today, I can read and teach the Word of God to others and encourage and inspire brothers and sisters in the Lord. I also have a family under my responsibility. Amazing! Glory to Abba, Father!
My Dream of a Teaching Ministry to Vulnerable People
God has taken me through circumstances in which I met many vulnerable people and stayed moved with compassion. Though I have been a language teacher for years, I have experienced overwhelming guilt or unhappiness as to why I am not doing what can truly bring happiness to my life. Therefore, I had a seeking heart at the beginning of 2020, and Jesus sought me out for his ministry. I am called to a gospel teaching ministry, and I am to be a light in my community as an enterprise minister. There is a need to build the kingdom of God in my community. My ministry dream is to reach the lost and those under the devil’s captivity to bring them to the Lord. I proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord intending to change people’s lives for Christ.
Since it has become clear for me to start entering my ministry calling, Understanding that my life and calling relates to what Paul has said in Corinthians. I am called to minister to others as a teacher and missionary as a business leader to fuel my community. To be qualified for teaching others (2 Timothy 2:2) and to become a Bible school teacher who is competent to instruct others, I need advanced quality ministry training. I explored my ministry calling and now need to get the necessary advanced training to do well in ministry. I would also like my gifts confirmed by others through an ordination process.
Finding CLI for Advanced Quality Ministry Training
Within the opportunity I find at the Christian Leaders Institute, I plan to take enterprise classes they offer. Then, like the Apostle Paul, I will bring blessing to vulnerable people of my community. Being a businessperson called to the ministry of renewal, I can bring vigorous benefit to my community by providing products and services and jobs to help people feed their families. The Apostle Paul was also a tentmaker and a ministry leader.
Therefore, I sought an online Bible school since my volunteer work with JRS gives me access to the internet. At this time, I can not afford to pay for learning. Therefore, CLI is essential for realizing my dreams by having the chance to acquire sound knowledge about the Lord and scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit. Through this free advanced quality ministry training at the Christian Leaders Institute, I push forward to my goal with confidence.
My prayer in this education journey is to continue to walk closer to God, overcome all the challenges/tests, and successfully achieve my ministry dream for the glory of God.
Thank you, CLI! God bless you and keep you all on your journeys!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.