Christian Leaders Institute (Ministry School)
Hey! I’m Amanda Lynn Crouch. The free biblical Christian courses and ministry classes are equipping me to serve better in my home, church, and wherever else God leads.
My Story
I’m from a small town in Georgia known for its love for music. I play music and got the nickname “Mandolin” from fellow musicians over the years. Becoming a musician is something that started at a young age for me. It started on the front pew in a community church where I was attending Vacation Bible School.
Growing up, attending church on a regular basis was not a normal routine for my family. It was something carried over from both of my parent’s childhoods. So, throughout my youth, the only regular church services my siblings and I attended were the summer programs known as Vacation Bible School. It was during one of these programs that I was introduced to worship music.
At home, our parents read the Bible, and we said prayers. However, the worship music was different. It was an instant bond for me. It was at that moment I knew two things. One, that I wanted to play music that sounded that beautiful. And two, that I wanted to do it while singing my heart out to our Lord. While my family never regularly attended church services, the knowledge of the Lord I learned at home and through church programs carried with me into my adulthood. It was an adulthood that a child, even then, in that Sunday school classroom, could never imagine.
The Ups and Downs
I continued attending the summer programs in church throughout my childhood until my later teenage years. At that time, I not only drifted from my faith but also grew closer and talked with God more than before. Regular church attendance was unknown to me. Therefore, by my teenage years, I no longer wanted to attend the summer programs designed for younger children.
However, as I drifted further from the church, something happened to me. Life went on. I asked myself questions. The main question was, “Why?” The little things my parents taught me about the Bible and the summers in Bible programs reminded me that there are answers. In one book, specifically, the Bible. Therefore, for the first time in my life, I actually picked up a Bible and read it. A few chapters here and a few chapters there. I talked to God in prayer far more than ever before. It helped set a foundation I had never known before.
Early Adulthood and Motherhood
Not long after college, I fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. I wanted to be a devoted wife and mother. As that dream was coming true, I was asking more questions. How can I be a better wife? How can I be a good mom? What foundations do I want to set? I knew I wanted my children to know God and for God to be a focus in our family. Further, I wanted my children to attend summer programs like I did.
However, I also wanted more for them than my experiences. Therefore, my husband and I joined a local church. We attended church services and took turns in the nursery with the children. Soon, our children were old enough for Vacation Bible School. We knew immediately that we wanted to volunteer as helpers for the summer programs. It was a start of a sort, the beginning of my spiritual dream. It was there in that church that I experienced my first calling as a Vacation Bible School teacher.
The Church Journey
In that small church, I first volunteered and spent more time in church. Weekly church attendance became normal for our family. As the years passed and our children grew, so did my faith and my knowledge of the Bible. Soon, I was a permanent Sunday School teacher and Youth Ministry leader. For years, I delighted in the Lord’s work and Word.
However, eventually, I burned out. I was doing everything I was supposed to do. Yet, I realized that I wasn’t even praying before Bible studies any longer. I just went through the materials with the children without personal study. For years and years, I had been in the church at this point. Further, I had never read the Bible from front to back. I was no longer going to the Bible when I had questions to seek answers. I was no longer in the church service listening to sermons. No longer listening to the choir. I was in the classroom every week. I didn’t know what I was doing.
Therefore, I quit. I quit going to church. For a couple of years, I didn’t step foot in a church. I was done. It became one of the most difficult times of my life. Everything that could go wrong did. My marriage even failed. I found myself asking God the same question I did when I was younger. WHY? This time of my life, I would compare it to a thunderstorm. Dark, cloudy, and constantly raining. Thunder raging. Lightening striking.
Born Again
One afternoon, I was sitting by the pond I often frequented to clear my head. I watched the water ripple was soothing. The rain slowly started to drizzle down. I thought about how much my life changed in that short period of time – everything that was lost and everything I couldn’t fix.
Then, I heard a song on the radio. A Christian worship song that I once heard on a summer day long ago in a church I only visited one week out of the year. I heard God calling out to me. I realized my dreams had never changed. They were still there. I still felt called to children’s ministry. To be a part of the church. To be a servant. At that moment, I rededicated my life to the Lord! I needed to get back on track. The thing was, though, I failed once, what went wrong? This time, I looked for my answers in the Bible with many prayers.
Biblical Christian Courses
I realized that as long as I had volunteered in the church, I never knew what I was doing. Regular Bible study wasn’t a part of my practice. I simply went through the motions. I needed to know more, to learn more. So, I prayed often for God to show me a path and a way. Further, the church was not the only area of my life I drifted from God. So, I studied more. I needed help and direction. For 15 years, I taught in the dark. I needed some light.
That’s when I found the Christian Leaders Institute. I am thankful for the biblical Christian courses at CLI. For many. With their help, I am back on track with my spiritual dream. My calling. Better equipped to serve to my fullest capabilities. Christian Leaders has made study and application so easy and accessible being online and free. The biblical Christian courses and ministry classes have helped me in my journey and walk with God. God bless Christian Leaders and all they have done, are doing and will do to prepare servants of God. Amen!
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.
Greetings, my name is Jason Swallow, and this is my spiritual journey. The free biblical education at the Christian Leaders Institute is preparing me for whatever the Lord leads me to do.
The Long Journey to Realize My Calling
I grew up and still live in beautiful central Pennsylvania with my fantastic wife. Together, we have four children; three of them graduated and living on their own. I came to know Christ very young and was baptized around 12. My family was very active in our church, and so was I. Our church’s youth group was strong. I attended every meeting and took part in mission trips every summer. A few of us started a mid-week church service tailored to youth, with group members delivering the message. I felt the calling to ministry at that time, yet I ignored it.
Health Challenge
I met my first wife while in college. After we married, we rarely attended church. Around the time we were expecting our second child, I began to trip when I walked. My legs would give out at unexpected times. Doctors assumed it was a result of a previous knee injury. However, after three surgeries, I was not improving. Finally, a physical therapist told me that my issue was not muscular-skeletal but neurological.
After multiple visits with specialists and an enormous amount of testing, three days before my 30th birthday, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The disease was advancing at a rapid rate. I went from walking to using forearm crutches within a year and a half. Eventually, I lost the ability to walk and used crutches to swing my legs. Filled with rage and hatred, I didn’t understand why God did this to me. I slipped into a deep depression. It felt like a death sentence for me and an enormous burden for my family.
Despair and Hope in Christ
I wanted to end my life. The plan was to make it look like an accident so my children wouldn’t know the truth. On a back country road on my way home from work was a large tree on a sharp corner. If I slammed my truck into that tree, it would look as though I lost control. I set out that morning, never expecting to come home. However, there I was, sitting in my driveway with no recollection of the drive home from work. I burst into tears at that moment, praising God for this miracle. I realized that He had a plan for me. Multiple Sclerosis and my disability were not going to define me. I was not going to let it get in the way of living.
We attended church regularly after that. However, looking back, I wasn’t walking with Christ. I loved Jesus, but I loved money, success, and things of the physical world more. Our church life was busy. I served on many boards but always felt like a fake and a fraud. I was only a Christian on Sunday mornings. After 18 years of marriage, my wife walked out on us. Devastated, I realized God was the only One who could get what was left of our family through that time. A year later, I met a wonderful woman. She was strong in her faith, and we became friends, talking frequently. After two years, we finally dated, and within six months, we married.
God’s Healing and Calling
My Multiple Sclerosis has remained stable since God saved me from myself. I continued to believe that I was this way for a purpose. However, I never knew what that purpose was. Praying for healing was never something I felt worthy of. As I grew in my faith, I realized that through Jesus Christ, we have the authority to rebuke disease and illness. While listening to a podcast one day, the speaker talked about rebuking disease. My toes started to wiggle, something I could rarely do over the last 16 years. My first call was to my wife. She shared it with a friend, who shared the news with everyone she knew. What was unknown at the time was that an entire army of prayer warriors was praying for my healing and ability to walk again.
Later that week, my wife and I were watching “Come Out In Jesus’ Name” when God spoke to me through my wife. She looked at me and said, “You don’t need those crutches anymore.” Immediately, I could stand unassisted and stumble without crutches to the kitchen and back. Now, I continue to utilize crutches for balance. However, I am walking and continue to get stronger every day.
Free Biblical Education at CLI
Days before that miracle, I realized I needed to surrender to the Lord completely. I asked Him to forgive me for all my sins and prayed that He restore my ability to walk. Through the Lord, I had the strength to continue for all those years. Through Him, I am now able to use my legs again. I know the Lord is calling me to ministry. However, I am unsure what that looks like or entails. You must follow when you ask Him to use you, and He lays a calling on you.
Further, I also know that in this season of my life, I need to be prepared for how the Lord will use me. I searched for a free biblical education option online. I can’t imagine a better place than through the free biblical education that the Christian Leaders Institute provides. Thank you, CLI!
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.
Answering The Call
My name is Mark Knaak and I live in San Carlos, Sonora. I am a student at the Christian Leaders Institute to get my ordained minister credential.
My Journey
I grew up in Southern California. My parents, two sisters, and I attended church regularly. We also participated in church activities. However, when I was 13, my parents decided they were unhappy with our church. Therefore, they sought another. We bounced around from church to church but never found one they liked. So, we stopped going altogether.
After high school, I joined the military, did my four years, and entered the world. The world consumed me, and I was involved heavily in drugs and alcohol. I ended up divorced. In my second marriage, I felt that there was more to my life. I felt a call in my life. However, at that time, I didn’t know what it was. This went on for several years. I knew that there was more to life.
Salvation and Purpose
One day, I came home from a trip and found that my wife had died from a drug overdose. I cried out to the Lord to take my life, and He did. He gave me a new one! It was free of drug and alcohol addiction. It was a new life with purpose and direction filled with His presence.
Then God sent me out. He gave me a vision of needy children and a life of love and compassion. Within a year of being born again, I started a non-profit and worked with the children of Mexico. I became an Emergency Services Chaplain as God directed me. In this journey, God sent me a helper, my wife. Having a Christian relationship and marriage is the most beautiful thing.
I plan to open a full-time school in one of the farming communities. We presently work with a group of children in the area. We live at the school, so my wife and I can always be available. Further, soon, we hope to open another school. Recently, God showed me that many people work with younger kids but forget the teenagers. They are turned loose into the world to fend for themselves. Therefore, a youth program is crucial and heavy on my heart.
Ordained Minister Credentials with CLI
The free minister training at the Christian Leaders Institute is a blessing. After retiring, I could not afford training or even relocation to a new town to attend a school. Being able to do this in my free time, between ministry work and daily things to do, is just the thing I needed. This training to be an Ordained Minister and getting the required credentials will help significantly in starting and running the schools in the future. I also hope to take more courses as the Lord leads me. Many people asked if I had credentials in the past, but now I can say that I do. Thank you, CLI!
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.