God had a Plan
Even in the darkest of beginning, this CLI student knew God had a plan for her life. As she went from foster home to foster home she came to know God could give her a true home.
Read her story below:
My first memory was walking around an apartment following my older sister and looking out of a window that I could hardly reach the ledge on. I remember how blue the sky was and how white the clouds appeared. Not long after that, I was told my sister and I were found in an abandoned building on the West side of Chicago. One of the toughest areas of Chicago. I was almost two years old and my sister was almost three years old. By the time I was five I had been in four foster homes but we did find a permanency. My life there was filled with rejection, hatred, abuse physically and mentally and neglect. However, God had a plan.
I am a married mother of two girls who love the Lord. Taking classes at CLI is my first step in answering the call of servitude and ministry God placed on my life even as a child. I’m excited about the revival of the people in my community. I plan to use my training at CLI to further my knowledge as a Minister. My heart’s passion is to minister to the youth and enlighten them on who they are in Christ. I want to go into the streets of Chicago and lend a helping hand to the lost and be a beacon of light in some vastly dark places in Chicago. I can remember how it felt as a child not having anyone you can depend on but God put a neighbor in my life who took my sister and me to church every Sunday.
I felt the spirit of God in my life at an early age. I was eleven years old when I sang my first solo in church and I was really feeling down about the way things were going at home but as I began to sing praises unto God I felt a warmth come all over me. I began to have a peace that I couldn’t even explain. My neighbor was that vessel that beacon of light for me that showed me the love of Jesus. I want to be that same light for the youth in my community who have been abused, neglected, forgotten and burden down. I want the word of God to be a healing and deliverance to them and I pray that God will use me to do just that.
Having a scholarship from CLI will allow me to gain the tools I need to become a respected member of ministry and minister to the hearts of God’s people. The scholarship will allow me to be able to work and study so that I can answer the call God has on my life and be a help to the youth in my community.
Check out more stories on the CLI Facebook page about how God had a plan.
(THIS EVENT IS OVER
CLI 2017 Conference
(THIS EVENT IS OVER)
North Charleston, SC – Extended Stay America, Charleston Airport, 5045 North Arco Lane, North Charleston, SC 29418 Tuesday March 7th, 2017
President Henry Reyenga will be handing out FREE 2017-2018 ID Cards and you will have the opportunity to participate in the Graduation Ceremony at the CLI 2017 Conference.
To receive your certificate, diploma, ordination or degree at the conference you must order before February 15th! Your order will reserve your spot at the conference. Spouses and children are welcome to attend for FREE.
CLI New House Church Launch, New Programs, Graduation Awards, Ordination Prayers, Testimonies, Networking, Photo Ops, Question and Answer Sessions, and more information about programs and accreditation, and much more!
Christian Leaders was founded in the heart of President Henry Reyenga on September 11, 2001. In fifteen years, high-quality Free Ministry Training has spread the globe with over 11,800 graduates in 160 countries. The USA is the largest country with over 7,000 graduates.
Who is invited? Any active or reactivating student or graduate from CLI. You can still be in the Getting Started Class to attend. Brand new students are welcome. Spouses attend free.
Theme Verse: Romans 16:3-5
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.
When: 7:00-9:00 pm meeting:
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm President Reyenga and Professor Elzinga present keynote addresses
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Graduation Award Presentations, Ordination Prayers, and Testimonies (Invite mentors, family and friends to come to this hour)
North Charleston, SC – Extended Stay America, Charleston Airport, 5045 North Arco Lane, North Charleston, SC 29418 Tuesday March 7th, 2017
President Henry Reyenga will be handing out FREE 2017-2018 ID Cards and you will have the opportunity to participate in the Graduation Ceremony at the CLI 2017 Conference.
To receive your certificate, diploma, ordination or degree at the conference you must order before February 15th! Your order will reserve your spot at the conference. Spouses are welcome and can attend for free.
Revival Ministry in the Philippines
CLI student, Mark Castillo, is training at Christian Leaders Institute in order to start a revival ministry in the Philippines as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where 80-90% of the people there are Muslim.
Read in Mark’s words about his passion for bringing a revival ministry in the Philippines below:
My name is Mark Ralston Castillo from the Philippines. I am 31 years of age and the eldest of the two siblings. I am currently working as a nurse in the United Arab Emirates. I began my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when I was in my secondary school in our class and my age at that time was about 15 years old when one missionary from Campus Crusade for Christ shared to us how to have a relationship with Jesus and I accepted Him as my personal Savior and Lord. From then on my journey with God started.
Every day is a day with great hunger and thirst for the Lord. In my college years, I am a youth leader and a youth camp director once. I love teaching the youth and those people who are teachable in heart regardless of age, sex, and race. At the age of 29, I worked as an Overseas Filipino Worker here in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. I got married to my beautiful wife Christina at age 30. I have been a Christian for almost 16 years now but I still felt inadequate and still a baby Christian in my walk with God.
By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am going to use my ministry training to be a missionary to my fellow Filipinos especially the youth and a church planter to every place where God wants me to be. I am going to be used by God to start a revival to my fellow Filipinos through discipleship and training them to be disciples also for free.
I was born in the Philippines but I am now currently working as a nurse in the United Arab Emirates since 2015. The people here are 80-90% Muslims though this is an open country yet it is very difficult to evangelize people especially Muslims. If one is caught by the police converting Muslims to Christianity, it is a serious offense and one of the grounds for immediate Deportation to one’s home country. Bibles here are very limited and most Bibles here are online. We are open to have a worship service to specific places but we are not allowed to invite Muslims, only my fellow Filipinos. People here are busy at their job and no time for God because to them they live to earn money but I believe as a Christian I am commissioned for a specific purpose and God will be glorified wherever I go and people will know that Jesus is the Messiah and Lord of lords and not Allah.
My ministry dream is to start a revival ministry in the Philippines and to my fellow Filipinos here in abroad and to plant churches in my home country. To share to them that Jesus Christ is the Living God and to train disciples to become disciple makers for free. I see myself as a Youth Leader, Mentor and a Church Planter to where God wants me to be especially Philippines and UAE.
In my college years, I was a youth leader in our church and I saw hundreds of people especially the youth who are hungry to know God and are willing to be trained. The youth are willing to learn and always curious and that drives me to study and learn more about God and his work so that I can pass on to them everything I have learned and will learn in the future.
I encountered unique challenges here in my current place of work. Most people here in the UAE are Muslims and the language barrier is great because most people here speak Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu. I only speak English and bibles here are not distributed anywhere and evangelism in public is a serious offense in the UAE law.
My church in the Philippines is supporting me through prayer and that the mission of the Lord Jesus in me will be fulfilled. My wife Christina is a very supportive to me. We are praying every day, doing devotional and bible study and she supports me in my CLI training. She also joined CLI for the purpose of learning and growing more in Christ Jesus.
My scholarship in Christian Leaders Institute is my answered prayer and a great blessing in training me to know my calling and my ministry because there are no bible schools here in UAE. I need every prayer and support from all Christians because only by the grace of God that I can continue and be able to graduate in this institute. To God be the glory.
Read about other students that want to start a revival ministry like Mark on our Facebook Page.