Youth Pastoring
My name is Adam Mack, and I live in Pennsylvania, the USA with a buddy and his family who are all a wonderful, loving Christian family who have helped me with my walk with God.
I grew up living a secular lifestyle because my family were not believers. I have early memories of going to church a few times, but we all stopped going, and I was never brought up on biblical principles. I went to public school and played soccer and basketball and had the typical secular mindset growing up. My parents got divorced when I was in 8th grade, and that took a toll on me even though I didn’t think so for the longest time.
I ended up resorting to partying, and doing /taking drugs, and all the other bad things that come with the territory of a teenager who just wants attention and to be cool. Through the years of partying and bouncing from house to house, I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun due to a drug deal went wrong. Though I survived it, I began drinking to the point where I would throw up in my sleep. My parents were disappointed in me, my friends were disappointed in me, and I was disappointed in me as well as scared that I would never amount to anything.
I had a Christian friend that attended Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, PA and I called him up one day and made plans to visit him for five days in which I did a few days later. Through the whole experience of just getting away and meeting new people and experiencing the Christian culture and feeling the Holy Spirit working on me, I declared that Jesus was my Lord and Savior in November 2012. My partying did not stop there, but I did end up attending Baptist Bible College in August of 2013 for one full academic year. Through that experience, I met a lot of great people, played soccer for them which was Division 3 NCAA, and learned a lot about Jesus, and how to study God’s Word.
I could not attend the following year due to how expensive the tuition was at school. Though I’ve had my ups and downs since then, I have always tried and stayed on the path of Lord. I have always felt that God has wanted me to do something with the youth as well as sports, but also to be a church planter and a Christian leader of some sort, but I just could not identify where God is leading me. So my ministry dream I believe is to start a sports ministry, but as well as be a Pastor and or be a Christian Leader/Speaker. Sports was a big part of my life growing up. I can interact with the youth and the constant telling from my peers that I should do something with youth ministry. God has laid youth pastoring on my heart. The challenges I face here is that I am in the mountains of the Poconos and everything is just too far to walk too, so it makes it hard for people to just show up to an event of any sort, or to do anything.
The church I attend currently, Community Church, I have just started going to, so I don’t know many people yet, but they are encouraging in me becoming very active. The church also does not have any sport ministry or anything to do with sports, which for me is a good thing, because it opens a door for a possibility for someone, meaning me, to try and start something up at this church. The possibilities seem endless here!
This scholarship is so important for me, because I have tried over and over again to try and attend school not only just to get an education, but to learn ministry, and God’s calling for me, but I have not been able to do so, because I just have no financial backing to actually attend school.
Ministries, churches, and organizations want to see that you have some experience and degree to back you before they put any trust and responsibility on you, so that is also another reason why I want the CLI scholarship. Learning more about God’s Word and how to minister to others is something I’ve wanted to harness ever since I became friends with Jesus.
Church Media Ministry Training
Gary McAdams – I was born in Houston in 1972, and have lived the majority of my life in Texas. I was born to a Christian mother and a father who, to my knowledge, never came to a faith in Christ before his death in 1989. The experience of losing a parent and not knowing their eternal fate, gave me a burden to insure that my children never had to ask those questions.
In February of 1996 I met Caroline, the love of my life at an MLM business development event and we were married four months later. While attending a small church in San Antonio, TX, my wife volunteered her “techie” husband who enjoyed messing around with computers to help run PowerPoint for song lyrics. While I grumbled at the time, this experience led me on a path to discover a true passion for church media. I have spent the past fifteen years in both volunteer and paid roles in multiple churches helping create environments for people to have an encounter with the living God.
I am still seeking the Father’s direction as to what His dream is for my future in ministry, but I feel strongly that He is calling me to a ministry leadership role. I believe that my love of technology and media, along with a desire to build up volunteer teams for service, will be used for the Kingdom. I am currently serving on a team at a small church plant that sets up and tears down the meeting room every week. I also have been working with the tech team, working towards creating a live web stream of our service, for those who are unable to attend.
While America is the most blessed nation on Earth, our successes have lead to a self-reliant attitude amongst a large majority of the population. It is a very common belief in the US that since we have so many opportunities to provide for ourselves, there is little need to seek God for the desires of our hearts. It can be challenging in a country with so much abundance, to help people see their need for God in their lives.
CLI offers me Church Media Ministry Training – Not so much the media techniques but the content the help me serve my church better.
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Veteran Ministry Training
My name is Bob Pilkington. I reside in the State of Nevada, USA. I currently speak with the elderly, usually in hospice care, and veteran’s who need assistance in coming to terms with their mortality or their accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. It can be difficult because most of the people I talk to are at the end of their lives and realize that they need to get right with God before they die. It is hard sometimes to convince them that they are getting right with God, when they are not getting any physically better.
I started going to church on a regular basis when in my teens and continued through my 20’s. I got very sick with Crohn’s Disease at the age of 29, and instead of asking the Lord for guidance and help, I tried to take on the sickness by myself. Life expectancy for someone with Crohn’s Disease is at 15 years. A little more than 21 years later, I got sick again asked the Lord to help me, and within weeks, I felt healthy. That was 8 years ago and according to my physician from the results of a recent physical examination, I have no symptoms of Crohn’s Disease and my health is A++.
About a year ago, I had this overwhelming feeling that I should get training and become a Pastor. It took several months and me to lose my best friend in the world (who happened to be my blind dog) – but here I am – at Christian Leaders Institute, getting some of the best spiritual education I could find – and it is all on me to get it done and become a pastor.
My ministry dream is to continue to help those at the end of their walk through this world find the Lord before they pass away.
Pastor: Because I have a certain demeanor about me that I did not know I had, in comforting those at the end of their lives. It is not something I ever studied – or really ever wanted to do – but I am good at it and I enjoy seeing people get their spiritual house in order before they pass away.
I don’t know what actually prompted me to become a pastor: I just woke up one day and had the feeling that I wanted to help people who were elderly and sick get right spiritually.
Living in a rural county, ministering to the outlying parts can be challenging regarding time. Usually, people want to talk to me just before they pass away – which time and distance have created problems. Living in a small town; EVERYBODY knows your business. Until August, 2015, I wasn’t always the “ministering” type. I was a drinker and someone not to be trifled with and had a very low tolerance level for nonsense. Since my calling to the Lord, I no longer drink and I have become a very patient, caring, loving and understanding man. I don’t get angry, and those who used to be afraid of me, now enjoy my company.
My local churches support my efforts. They want to see me succeed in my education because of me, my life and how they have all seen me change from what I was to who I am.
My wife supports my wanting to become a Pastor. She is probably to most happy to see my life what it is now.
Without Christian Leaders Institute, I simply could not afford to go to Seminary school. This Veteran Ministry Training is a big help. It is that simple. I have the time, desire and wherewithal to go through a program, but I am retired, on a fixed income and do not have the ability to take that much money from our retirement to pay for school – for someone that will probably never pay it back.
Pray that I can help EVERYONE get right with God before they pass away. It is my goal to see every senior citizen in hospice care and every disabled veteran and veteran who needs help.