Youthful Passion for Christ
CLI student, Sydney Simao, has been raised in the faith and at only 17 she is writing and public speaking about Christ. She has such youthful passion for Christ that you can feel by reading her testimony.
Read her story below:
My name is Sydney Simao and I’m a 17-year-old Christian writer and public speaker. I live in the United States in Washington with my Dad, who is a Pastor and Entrepreneur, Mom, who has home-schooled all of us kids, me and seven younger siblings.
I don’t remember the day that I came to know the Lord, but my Mom tells me that she remembers the first time I appeared to have a clear understanding of the Gospel. I was two years old, and running around the house carrying a small gift. When she asked what I was doing, I told her that I wanted to give a gift to Jesus. She knelt down and told me that Jesus wanted to give a gift to me and shared the Gospel. I prayed and asked Jesus to save me from my sins, and ever since then, I have been striving to grow in the knowledge of our Lord. I was baptized when I was 7 years old.
I desire to continue speaking and writing for God’s glory, and pointing others to the truth of His word by sharing the Gospel, defending the faith, and helping others learn about the central and sometimes difficult doctrines of the Christian faith.
I have always had a passion for understanding what I believe and why I believe it. When I was little, I desired to be a missionary in a foreign country. That desire to share and defend the Truth has not changed, but now I am planning to do this by helping those all around me through writing and speaking. That is why I am pursuing a degree in Biblical Studies, and I hope to get my Masters in Theology/Writing when I graduate.
My local Church, family, and friends have certainly supported my desires to minister to others and my Dad has the blessing of a large library, study tools, and resources which I have access to and have been enjoying using on a daily basis.
A scholarship to CLI is important to me because it seems an accessible and solid way to pursue gaining an education and foundation in Scripture so that I can share that truth with others.
Please pray that God would use me for His glory and that He would give me the compassion to see the need of others, the courage to help them, the wisdom to understand His truth and share it, and the strength that can only come from dependence on the constant grace of God.
If God is calling you into ministry it doesn’t matter your background, age or gender. Like Sydney, you can have youthful passion about the gospel whatever your circumstances.
Read other CLI student stories on the CLI Facebook page.
Inspiration for Ladies
CLI student, Shay, has known what its like to be bullied for her faith but she overcame the doubters and now wants to become an inspiration for ladies everywhere.
Shay shares her story below:
Hello! My name is Shay. I am a newly married and I am really enjoying being married to my best friend. We reside in the Deep South of the United States, a place that I am still becoming familiar to. I grew up on the West Coast where I was born. As a very young girl, I would catch the neighborhood Sunday School Church bus all by myself. Attending church service and learning about Jesus amazed me. I love reading the bible and coming home to tell my mother what I learned. By the time I was in 5th grade, my church attendance was low. We moved and I simply stopped going.
In high school, my aunt invited me to her church. I loved it! I loved it so much that at age 16, I was baptized in the Apostolic church. I remember wearing all white and being dunked in the pool in front of my family. I felt so new. I had a need to feel new. I harbored a secret of shame. I had been sexually abused and I wanted God to make me new. I started wearing my church clothes to school because I was a new person, but my attire was met with taunts. I was teased. I was made fun of. High school just wasn’t the place for me.
My mom noticed a change in my behavior, so I finally explained to her what was going. How I had been abused. How I had been teased at school. She told me to toughen up, but if I needed to go speak to a counselor she would take me. I told her no because God is my counselor. I had learned to tell him everything. Things at home became unpleasant and as, a teen I just wanted to run away.
At the age of 20, I ran from home I wanted to see what I could do on my very own. I worked three jobs at one time to keep a roof over my head. I wanted to show my family that I could make it on my own. I kept getting sick from working too much and had no choice but to move home. This really made me depressed. I moved back home and started partying with my new friends. We would have drinks and play loud music every weekend. After all, I did work and I was grown. I felt I could do what I wanted to do; I was grown.
My 30s came and I must say, those days were no better. All of the loneliness I felt inside, finally caught up with me. I prayed. I prayed to God for a real friend and true direction. I wanted to get back on the right path. One day later, my prayer was answered. He sent me a friend! A girlfriend that I could talk to in addition to him. Someone positive that I could spend some time with after we worked. A Christian friend who believed the same things I did. There was no more need for extensive drinking parties and loud music. I finally had a friend.
I began reading a lot of Christian based literature. God’s Word started to change me. It shaped me so much that I packed my house up and moved down South to be closer to my sister and her family. The best decision I have ever made was leaving.
Life in the South is way different than California. People here are more family orientated and they have no problem telling people about God. Something that I love about the value system here is the traditional roles of husband and wife. Life is slower here, but peaceful in our little town. I believe God sent me here so, I could become closer to him and guess what? My relationship with God deepened. My spiritual growth allowed me to see things that I would not have noticed like, a Godly man pursuing me. I was mature enough to have an adult relationship. We courted shortly then married.
I have enjoyed visiting a few churches, but I still haven’t found one that I really just love. Most churches here are Baptist, different from how I was raised. This has lead me to not attending church regularly. I watch television or YouTube sermons. I do not drive and my husband works weekends so, I do not go. I got to thinking, how many other women are embracing the Word this way? Women that live in rural areas or have no transportation that want to fellowship and have bible study in a woman’s group, but don’t have the means of getting to the building. My dream is to join the other women who teach God’s Word online. I just do not know where to begin.
Then I got to thinking about how I always wanted to assist ladies who have been victims of sexual and verbal abuse. Young women who are teased just for being themselves. Women who say forget what society says, this is what God says I am and I’m going to live this way. These very factors are the reason I am starting my Ministry blog.
My goal is to be an inspiration for ladies to be the woman that God says they are, not who society says they have to be. I want to cheer them on as they realize the wonderful life God has for them to live. The beauty of the blog is my personal testimony—Evangelist. How God is changing me through His Word. I still have so much to learn that is why it is important that I receive a scholarship to Christian Leaders Institute. I do not have the money to afford “traditional” ministry training. I want to encourage women, but I really do not have the proper training to lead them. This is why free training is important to me. It will allow me to effectively be an inspiration for ladies everywhere.
Read other CLI student stories on the CLI Facebook page
Church Planting Passion
Thea, UK
I am writing from an affluent, elderly, seaside town in the South East of England called Eastbourne. I am an alien to these parts as I herald from Manchester, England. Manchester is a metropolitan city in the industrial North West of the country. The last three months since God called me to Eastbourne have been challenging, but this season has been full of growth and refinement – praise God! I have come to Eastbourne as this is where my husband-to-be lives, his family have generously and lovingly opened their home to me until we are married – what a blessing that has been! Until now, I didn’t realise one could have culture shock staying within your home country! Eastbourne and Manchester are poles apart and as such ministering in these two places are starkly different.
In Manchester, I lived on a troubled post-world war two satellite council estate where I could truly feel the presence of God, where lives and communities were changing because of the good news of Jesus Christ and where I met some of the most humble, generous and servant-hearted Brothers and Sisters of the Kingdom. Ministering in Partington; the town I lived in required Christians and the Church to go to the people and meet them where they were at. To name a few, this was done through holding Alpha courses in public places, conducting detached youth work and making Church services accessible and relevant for all. The area had a bad reputation for high crime rates and large numbers of children being known to social services, so local people were used to feeling unwelcome and ashamed. Ministry in Partington was all about loving people and affirming the truth and freedom of life in Christ. God loves Partington even if the world struggles to at times – Amen!
Ministering in Eastbourne is a whole different kettle of fish! It is fair to say that God has given me a heart for the poor and marginalised, Eastbourne doesn’t fit this criterion, and it has been a season of struggle to see what God wants for me here as my heart, gifting’s and competencies don’t lend itself naturally to my new home. I have found myself in an area full to the brim with Churches which are mainly depleting, ageing and dry. Christianity for many here is like a social status and part of being ‘a good middle-class family’ with the real rulers of the town being materialism, consumerism, greed, money and envy. The cost of living in this part of the world is extraordinarily high, and so debt advises and witnessing to the love, peace and joy of a modest way of life lived to the full in the Lord are two essential elements of ministry here. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit needs to be reinstated to set this town on fire – God is not a bloke in a book, He is alive! God is doing an amazing work with me to teach me how to love all His people and for that I am grateful for his grace on my failings and his faithfulness for using unremarkable people like me to work through. I believe that God is working things out in me so that I can love people from all over the UK regardless of class, denomination, etc. I have come a long way since becoming a Christian, but I have a long way still to go.
I was saved six years ago, from a local Church in Partington, Manchester. I gave my life and was Baptised after doing the Alpha course. God has transformed me, and I am truly a new creation – praise is to the King of Kings! God met me in a place of brokenness and hopelessness after being the victim of a violent relationship and wanting to take my life. He has saved me and given me life in abundance. The path has not been easy, and I have stumbled on many occasions, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat – I love you, Jesus! I feel so blessed because He not only is a God who has answered my prayers but has exceeded my expectations awesomely every time. The two prayers on my heart when I came to faith were that my Mother would be saved and that God would have a Christian man for me to marry. Both prayers have been answered – thank you, Lord! Coming to faith has changed my life forever.
My ministerial calling beckoned three years ago. In the interests of honesty, I was very reluctant to take up the call because I felt totally unworthy. I have been well supported and tested in Manchester through the Church of England who has granted me opportunities in different areas of leadership and Church life to explore this call. I was blessed with the opportunity to go forward for ordination training through the Anglican Church, but I didn’t feel that was what God wanted. Despite this, I am thankful for their mentoring, love, wisdom and generosity as it has brought me to CLI. The calling that I have a Church planting passion for the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. My husband-to-be also feels the same call – he is a wonderful blessing on my life. Only tonight have we had another word of confirmation of this calling. I feel an urgency to equip myself, so I am ready to serve him wholeheartedly to His glory for when the time comes to go. A recurring key experience in my life which prompted me to both give my life and to pursue ministry is God speaking to me through dreams. While doing the Alpha course, I dreamt of a Church which I later attended and my first call to ministry came in a dream in which I saw myself in Church at the front leading. I adore that the Lord penetrates the busyness of life and the fullness of my mind to speak to me. I am so grateful that God keeps giving me confirmation and steps to take – He is a good, good Father.
I have been blessed to live all over the world due to my parent’s work, but since coming to faith, I have had a real heart for the UK. The UK is in a season of political and economic uncertainty which is fuelling those who want us to divine. In this time, I feel that the light of Jesus needs to shine out to those living in fear and darkness of the world. With the Lord as my strength, I will go in peace to love and serve Him in the Hebrides. I love God; I love the UK, and I pray for His Kingdom come in this place. Some of the unique challenges to the Hebrides are that it is very isolated from the UK mainland, it has an ageing and decreasing population which is scattered over a rugged and rural terrain, 90% of the population consider themselves Roman Catholic, but Church attendance is low, and poverty levels are exceptionally high which manifests in short life expectancy, high crime, low education and so on. As I am sure you know, the Hebrides had a revival. However, the spiritual atmosphere in general (not everywhere – there are pockets of wind) is very dry there again now. Praying for revival!
My family; my husband-to-be (Anthony), my mother and my father are all interested in coming to Church plant. Anthony has been ordained with the help of CLI – thank you for blessing him! He is a wonderful teacher and has such an anointing for evangelising men from difficult backgrounds. My mother; Elaine has given her life to Jesus this year after six years of searching and falling away – Alleluia! Elaine has such warmth that people flock to her as a maternal figure, her spiritual giftings are already being revealed as she evangelises at work, extends hospitality to all who cross her path, and gifts administration to the Church. My husband-to-be has family who will pray fervently for us and will visit us regularly. We are very blessed to be so wonderfully supported.
I come from a loving family who have always supported me as does Anthony, however, we do not come from a wealthy background. A scholarship at CLI is essential to my ministry dream because I do not want to be a heretic, damage the Kingdom or give anything less than my best to God. CLI will mean that I am better academically equipped in Bible and theological studies which alongside my practical experience and training will make me an all-round better servant for God on this quest. CLI and its mission just blow my brain; it does set a standard in Kingdom mindset and generosity – thank you so much!
I thank you in advance for your prayers. Please pray that I hear God’s will clearly, that I obey Him fully as I walk His path and that I love the Lord, my future husband, my family, my Church and all who cross my walk with a salty wind of love and light!
In the name of Jesus, I bless you, Lord! Peace be with you Brothers and Sisters.