Ministry Profile 2023
My name is Linda Kotara, and I live in Texas. I have been married for 37 years to my incredible husband, Robert. We have two grown sons. Following our parents’ footsteps, we raised our children in the Catholic Church. Since studying at the Christian Leaders Institute, I feel called to the Chaplain program.
My Early Years
My parents were faithful churchgoers and followers of tradition. However, there was no evidence of the love of Christ or a spiritual plan for our lives in my childhood home. Once we left the church building, my father focused only on his career and providing for us. My mother was very passive and never recovered from losing a child previous to me. She suffered from depression and was not a big part of my childhood. My father brought his high level of tension and temper home to us. While with my parents, I felt very alone and without comfort or direction.
Our church had holy days of “obligation” but no offer or encouragement for family guidance. Growing up, I had no idea there was a heavenly Father who could provide the love, safety, truth, or guidance I so desperately needed. My teen years and until I married were a time of individual attempts to navigate this fallen world and search for who to trust. I encountered numerous dead ends and lies on my road to self-sufficiency.
Spiritual Journey
Only by the grace and leading of God did I meet and marry a man who knew the Lord. My husband served as an example to me of a Christ follower. He had a very different upbringing. After four years of marriage and the critical birth of our first child, I slowly began to call out to my heavenly Father. I needed the comfort and assurances only God could offer. I knew I was a lost sinner who needed the forgiveness only provided by the blood of Christ. My husband and I began attending an international Bible study called Bible Study Fellowship. It is a 7-year program that aided us to discern God’s plan for our lives.
During this study, I accepted God as my Father, Christ as my Savior, and the Holy Spirit as my ever-present Counselor. I experienced many situations and divine reasons that led my husband and me to search for a new church home. A place that could help nurture our spiritual walk and closeness to God.
Our new Bible-based church kept us immersed in God’s Word. It became evident that God wanted to draw us back to Him. We must trust Him by following His perfect plan and placing Him before every other distraction.
My Early Spiritual Journey
In my formative years, religion and a God who expected much from me were what I knew. I see now that I was on a training course to experience going it alone and failing miserably. This world presents so many lies about what happiness truly is. Material things will never fulfill us. Only God can fill that longing for the joy, peace, and contentment our heart desires.
Thirteen years ago, while with my favorite aunt at the time of her passing, I first heard of the hospice philosophy. Since then, I have been a patient volunteer and 11th-hour support. Hospice is where I discovered the role of Chaplain and felt initially called to the Chaplain program. Additionally, eight years ago, I was led to a very intensive study at my church that helped women learn how to know God’s perspective for their worth instead of what they were told or shown from their past failures. I felt the Lord’s guidance and grace taking hold more profoundly in my life. After the first few years, they asked me to become a group leader. God showed me I had the divine gifts to be His hands and feet for the suffering. I lean on HIS divine peace and comfort when listening, ministering, and walking with those in a spiritual battle or transition.
Called to the Chaplain Program at CLI: Gaining Competence and Confidence
Today, God continues to prompt me. The Christian Leaders Institute is a blessing to help improve my Bible knowledge, people skills, and confidence to be a better spiritual leader. The flexibility of the online courses and ability-based donation is why I could study the Chaplaincy courses. I remember learning about the inspiration Henry Reyenga received to put CLI into action after 9/11. After hearing this, I felt even more called to pursue the Chaplain program. Then, I could provide that comfort and spiritual guidance to those experiencing trauma, life struggles, or transitioning from this world.
Thank you, Henry Reyenga Jr. and CLI, for making this journey possible. I once read: What would it look like if you became the person God created you to be? I am thankful to CLI for growing the competence and confidence to develop into that person. My dream is to use and increase the gifts God, through CLI, has blessed me with. After that, I can minister to His hurting children and bring them the same hope, promises, and salvation I have received.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, Diplomas, and Degrees with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.
I am Carmelo Prieto Jr., of the USA. I am a student at the Christian Leaders Institute to study to become a pastor.
My Journey
Growing up, I attended church in San Antonio, Texas. It was a small Mexican family-led church called El Divino Salvador. My grandfather was the Lead Pastor, and my dad and another uncle were Assistant Pastors. At an early age, I went to Sunday School every weekend and attended VBS during the summer. I loved worshiping and praising the Lord as a child. When I was twelve, a visiting pastor approached me during worship. He told me never to stop praising and worshiping, as he could see I loved Jesus.
However, I was on probation by fifteen due to legal trouble. I constantly got into fights at school and started using drugs and alcohol. Getting into continued trouble, they sent me to a military-styled boot camp for troubled youths. I was there for six months when I was 17 years old. When I got out, things got worse. My friends and I sold drugs and partied more heavily. This lifestyle continued into my early twenties when I finally decided I didn’t want to live that life anymore.
My Marriage
I met my wife through a mutual friend. I knew she was the one I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with. We married after three years of dating. She had a seven-year-old son when we met. Therefore, it was just the three of us. After four years of marriage, we had a little girl. Soon after that, we had a son and were a family of five. Things were great, but I was not serving the Lord. Taking my family to church was a thing I had to do, not something I wanted to do or grow more in.
Twelve years into our marriage and not having a relationship with the Lord, I stepped out on our marriage. It immediately turned our lives upside down. My wife filed for divorce within a week. We were on our way to separation and imminent divorce.
My wife started to go to church on her own. At that same time, I sought Christ once again. We began to reconcile after two months of separation. Through the grace of God, my wife was able to forgive me. We began to rebuild and pick up the pieces of our broken marriage. We added another son to our family in the six years since, making us a half dozen. My wife and I have helped lead our church’s Re/Engage marriage program. I also serve in our youth ministry, where our two teenagers attend youth night on Sunday evenings. Our kids also serve within our children’s Sunday school ministry at church.
At CLI to Study to Become a Pastor
I can see the wonders of God’s power firsthand as He helped restore our marriage and this broken man. Christ is using me and my family in many ways. Furthermore, I want to continue to serve, learn, and grow in Him and for His Glory. Therefore, I am here at the Christian Leaders Institute to study to become a pastor.
I thank the many wonderful people who donated to CLI to help others pursue their dreams of becoming ministers and spreading the Gospel.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, Diplomas, and Degrees with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.
My name is Frances Andersen from beautiful Southern Oregon. Looking for more training in ministry, a friend told me about the Christian Leaders Institute. Now, I study at CLI to prepare for whatever ministry God leads me to do.
My Journey
As I share my story with others, I see where God was in every step of my life. Growing up in a Catholic home introduced me to the existence of Yahweh very young. I received infant baptism in the Catholic Church, went through catechism in the second grade, and made confirmation as a teen, where I committed my life to Christ. My life was always His, even though it took me several years to understand how that would play out in the long run. For years, I searched for what was always with me from the beginning of my life.
Unfortunately, my interaction with the world of adulthood didn’t start out very well. Even though I was raised in a decent home with good parents, things happened. Easily influenced, I turned out to be an awesome follower of people, good and bad. Again, unfortunately, I tended to follow and take advice from people who didn’t always steer me in the right direction.
Called but Running
The whisper of a call was always there. However, like Jonah, I ran away until there was nowhere to run. I began to pay attention and learned to not only hear Him call but stop to listen. Nothing in the world I was turning to filled the emptiness or repaired the brokenness but God. He showed me that in Him, I would find comfort. Therefore, I surrendered.
More Training in Ministry at CLI
Many people have walked beside me, helping, encouraging, and listening while I learned, pondered, and wrestled with passages in the Bible. I began working with other people, doing for them what others had done for me. That’s why I am here at the Christian Leaders Institute. A friend of mine found CLI and told me to check it out. I wanted more training in ministry without the huge tuition I could not afford. Ready to retire from my current profession, I am dedicating the rest of my life to service work.
I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me at the end of all this, but I know without a doubt He brought me to CLI. He made more training in ministry possible. In faith, I will do what He puts in front of me.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, Diplomas, and Degrees with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.