Mary Elizabeth Whitlow has a dream to change her rapidly declining community and plans to enlighten, enrich and empower her neighbors by Building Community Faith Through Ministry at Christian Leaders Institute for free and completely online! Here is Mary’s Story…
Building Community Faith Through Ministry – Mary’s Story
My name is Mary Elizabeth Whitlow and I live in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. I have lived in this small city on the shores of Lake Michigan for most of my life. Even when I have left, I keep coming back because my heart and my calling are here. Muskegon has a bit of a reputation in West Michigan. It is too urban, too poor, too demographically mixed, too crime ridden, to fit in well with the small tourist towns around it. I think maybe this place has a lot in common with another place dear to God’s heart, Nazareth. When Jesus began His ministry, their were many who said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I believe God loves the Muskegons and Nazareths of the world because He loves to exalt the humble and despised places as showcases of his glory.
I grew up in one of the tougher neighborhoods of Muskegon. The longer we lived there, the more the demographics changed to poorer, more rundown and rental properties, and more minorities. I was raised in a small church of visionaries and prayer warriors who looked toward a future when Muskegon would be a “city on a hill” shining God’s light across our state, country, and world. However, I grew discouraged by the daily struggle of living in an impoverished, hopeless place. When I left for college, I wanted to be done with inner-city ministry and racial reconciliation. Couldn’t I serve God in some nice, clean, suburban place where people looked like me and I understood the rules?
Circumstances kept bringing me back to Muskegon and back into inner-city, cross-cultural ministry. One summer I spent a month in Detroit, helping to run tutoring and Vacation Bible School programs. My struggles relating to those of other cultural backgrounds led to some misunderstandings that left me deeply wounded and discouraged.
Then, I attended an Urbana missions conference and found myself in a session about racial reconciliation. God showed me clearly that choosing to turn my back on Muskegon and my minority brothers and sisters meant turning away from all He had for me. My journey since then has lead to a year in West Philadelphia with Mission Year and two years teaching in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I am now back in another inner-city neighborhood of Muskegon, praying for God to “move into the neighborhood.”
My particular passion is for teaching the Word of God. I want to light a passion in Christians of all ages to read and study the Bible. So many of our young people in this country stop going to church or following Jesus when they leave home, if not before. Very few of them have any personal devotional life or understanding of what they believe. This is not surprising, since most of their parents do not have these either. My dream is to have multi-generational Bible studies where everyone from elementary students to octogenarians are studying and discussing Bible passages together. I have always wanted to study the Bible more deeply myself and CLI is an open door for me to do this.
I also long for the day when Muskegon will be that “city on a hill.” I want to be part of bringing this about through teaching the Bible, being reconciled, and an instrument of reconciliation, to my brothers and sisters of all cultures in this city, and being part of raising up leaders here from all backgrounds and walks of life. I would love to be part of starting a mentor center in downtown Muskegon…and then another…and another…until God has raised His standard here.
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Enroll Today to Start Building Your Community’s Faith!
Student Cheryl Selby receives Free Confidence Building Ministry Education at Christian Leaders Institute and plans to utilize her education at CLI to minister more confidently and without error. Here is her story…
Free Confidence Building Ministry Education – Cheryl’s Story
I am a wife and the mother of a beautiful daughter who has blessed me with two beautiful granddaughters. I live in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, USA. I have owned several businesses over the years and have come to a season in my life where I know the Lord wants my undivided attention. I originally asked Jesus to be Lord of my life when I was 14 years old. I was listening to a radio program and prayed with the man on the radio. After that I didn’t move any further in my walk with the Lord because I didn’t know anyone who knew Him. When I was 32 years old, I met a woman who knew Jesus. She started witnessing and ministering to me. She convinced me to do a home bible study on Jesus to help me understand who He is. I remember being quite moved by the scriptures that talked about Jesus. Several times I told this lady that I was ready to pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart, but she kept turning me down! She told me that I wasn’t hurting enough yet, and that I needed to be in a place of hurting before I could pray and it would “stick.” Then one day I found myself in a place of hurting and called the lady and she consented to pray with me. That day the Lord did several miraculous things for me. I had an empty void inside of me that I knew was there, but didn’t know it could be fixed. Jesus filled that void in the moment I prayed and although I have never experienced that void since, I remember it well. Praise the Lord it’s gone! Also, that same day, I opened my Bible to read it. Prior to praying, reading my Bible was the same as reading any book. The words were dull to me and most of it didn’t make sense. After I prayed, the Bible became alive! When I opened it I could feel the presence of God. When I read the words they were life! It was an incredible experience which continues to this day. The other thing God did for me at that time was He made the gas in my car miraculously last many miles beyond what it should have lasted so that I could get home without having to stop and without having to spend the few dollars I had left in my pocket. Glory to God! That day was the beginning of my new life in Christ Jesus and it has been quite the ride with Him all these years!
My training in the Word of God has been primarily through books, tapes, television and the last several years through the internet. I have longed for years for the opportunity to attend a Bible college. I prayed the other day asking God to guide me in the direction He wanted me to go. The next day I found your website. I am hoping to receive three things through your training: 1. To be well grounded in the scriptures; 2. To be disciplined in the scriptures; 3. To have an in-depth understanding of God’s order in ministry. I have known for years that the Lord has called me to ministry, but I have always shied away from it because I felt I lacked proper training. The one thing that burns in my heart for others is to help folks understand how to let the Lord have His way with them. For years I lived my life with one foot in the church and the other foot in the world. I couldn’t figure out why things kept going awry in my life. It took years in the “desert” before I could see that I needed to take that foot that was in the world OUT of the world and keep both of my feet in the Kingdom where they belong. Jesus promises that when we give ourselves fully to Him, He will take care of everything that concerns us. When the Lord says I’m ready, I would like to step out into ministry for the purpose of teaching others how to develop a close personal relationship with the Lord and trust Him through the process of surrendering every aspect of their lives to Him.
I’ve always been a leader and pioneer. I believe the Lord is going to use me to plant churches. I am “wired” to create organizational systems, teaching systems, and all the necessary mechanics required in building an organization. Folks have lovingly referred to me as “Mother Cheryl” because it is my nature to look after the needs of others. I care about people: what they are feeling, what they are fearing, what they are needing. My vision is to build churches where people are encouraged and uplifted and schooled in the ways of God.
I am also very excited about your vision to build mentor centers! I think this is a marvelous idea and I am hoping the Lord’s plan for you in this project includes me!
A scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute will give me the confidence I need to step out in ministry to serve Jesus. I am most fearful of teaching and ministering something in error. I believe your school will give me the foundation necessary to keep me from error in serving others. Thank you for blessing me with this opportunity. I pray the Lord bless you richly for your work and that all whom He has called find their way to your website.
Steven Scott enrolled at Christian Leaders Institute seeking the education to Become A Better Chrisitan Leader, and further dedicate his life to his Walk with God. Here is his story…
Become A Better Christian Leader – Steven’s Story
My name is Steven Scott. I am 43 years old, married and have five children. We live in Dixon, Illinois, a town of about 16,000. This is my second marriage and has been 12 wonderful years and counting. My first marriage ended abruptly, after only two years. It was in the year 2000 and the darkest time of my life. I was in a deep depression and drinking heavily. I honestly thought they made me feel better, but instead, it distanced me from all of my friends. I was working in an auto repair shop at the time, and a coworker invited me to church. I was ready to decline until he told me his pastor’s name. It was the same pastor I had as a kid when I used to go with my aunt and uncle to church! Well, I couldn’t pass up a chance to see him again after all these years. It was like connecting with an old friend, and he knew that there was something bothering me. How awesome the holy spirit is! I started attending regularly and got asked to take a half hour slot in a 24-hour prayer vigil. I agreed. When I relieved the person ahead of me, they showed me a list of things to pray for. 5 minutes later, I was wondering what now? I sat down and started talking to God about my problems. Within minutes, I felt his presence and peace for the first time in my life. I knew then that I wanted to be a follower of Christ. I talked to the pastor and was baptised after I dedicated my life to the Lord in the front of the church.
Me, my wife, and kids were living in a small town where we could not find a church that worked for us. So there was a time that we didn’t go, and my relationship with Christ dwindled. We decided to move to Dixon to be closer to where I worked at the time. One day, we got a door hanger, inviting us to a new church that would be meeting at a hotel until a building was found. We decided to give it a try and found it to be the perfect fit for the whole family.
My dad passed away in October of 2005. My mom said I should have one of his guitars. I didn’t want just to hang it on a wall, so I decided to get online and learn some chords, and eventually I was strumming simple songs. My pastor invited me to sit in on worship team practices, to see if it helped me learn. Within an few months, I became a member of the team! At the beginning of this year, I was made the worship team leader of our church. It amazes me to look at how far God has brought me, and all the work he continues to do. My hope is that CLI training will help me to become a better leader, and help me grow in my walk with our Lord.