My name is Nana Kweku Bennie, born in the year 1981 and I live in Ghana; the country of my birth, and currently residing in a town called Asankrangwa in the Western Region. Fortunately for me, I was born into a Christian home. My parents were very devoted Christians so it was a matter of course that my siblings and I had to attend church every Sunday morning. Thankfully, that upbringing stayed with us and when I graduated from the children’s ministry into my teens, I gave my life to Christ. This took place on 16th November, 1996. On the day, I stood before the entire congregation and prayerfully said the sinners’ prayer. On the 24th of December of the same year, I received the Holy Spirit baptism. Hallelujah!!!
Well it is a well-known fact that Ghanaians are very religious and Christianity is the dominant religion here. Since Christianity is the dominant religion, there is minimal religious or political opposition to church activities. There are lots of cooperation between the various Christian denominations here which actually creates a conducive environment for ministry. We have a very high illiteracy rate and this affects peoples understanding of issues. With low or no education, it becomes difficult to incorporate modern ideas which usually is a break-away from the status quo.
My dream for ministry is to stay on the course that the Holy Spirit has been leading me on ever since I sensed a calling upon my life. I have graciously been gifted with a wonderful teaching ability and understanding that in the coming years, my desire is to write books, journals and write ups explaining key biblical truths to the Christian community both locally and internationally. My prayer also that during my teaching services, the Holy Spirit will manifest His power to deliver, heal and encounter people in exceptional ways.
I tend to identify myself as youth leader because I love to work with the youth. Most of my activities in my ministry has been centred on the development of the youth. I hope to continue in that line even if I progress into other offices in ministry.
The bible makes me understand that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing is established. There have been more than three prophecies concerning my work as a minister of the gospel during prayer meetings. Before these prophecies, I have had dreams where I see myself ministering to people in diverse ways.
In Africa, one key challenge to effective ministry is witchcraft and black magic. These present strong battle grounds in the spiritual realm. If one is able to engage an effective spiritual warfare to defeat these spiritual hood hogs, you will have a successful ministry. The other challenge is ministry training. If you ever wanted to upgrade your knowledge in ministry, you have to leave your post and enroll in a bible school and stay on campus. This serves as a big barrier for further studies.
I have the backing of my Senior Pastor who has been a constant source of encouragement to me. Also since I will not need to travel before undertaking this course, my team of executive and stud group are excited about the course and after completion, others have expressed interest in enrolling at CLI.
By the grace of God, I have been married to a woman who has been my prayer partner for many years. She is really interested in my ministry and this phase presents a new opportunity for ministry.
Enrolling at CLI has really actualized the adage “killing two birds with one stone.” Once I secured a scholarship at CLI, I have been relieved from the burden of having to make a savings of a specific amount for at least five years in order to enrol in a bible college. In this way, my family’s finances have not been affected much. However, if I need to stay on campus to undertake my course at the bible college, it means I have to stop working altogether. In short, a scholarship from CLI has helped me realize my dream of ministry training and at the same time working along the way to support my family.
I will need prayer support to stay strong and focused in accomplishing whatever the Lord has commissioned me to do.
Thanks
My name is Pat VanderKolk and I live in the United States
I was born and raised in West Michigan and have continued to live in the same small town my entire life. While growing up my family attended church regularly but it was not until after I was married and in my early twenties that I was prompted to intentionally study the Bible. I realized that even though I practiced church traditions I did not have any real understanding of the Bible nor did I comprehend what experiencing God truly meant. I stopped reading short daily devotions and started concentrating on reading the Bible from start to finish. I also prayed that the Lord would give me my own unique testimony of who He is. This first step of obedience has provided me with personal stories of God’s complete love, grace, mercy and supernatural power.
My husband and I spent many years participating and leading in youth ministry events in our church. We went on a number of short term mission trips that involved building relationships with our own students while trying to help those in need throughout the United States and Mexico. This setting gave us confidence to speak about our faith journey and to be open with the young adults in our group. The things we learned on these trips changed how we viewed ministry and the value of deep honest relationships. We learned that you need to earn the right to speak.
We also were given the opportunity to visit with friends who lived in France and North Africa. This experience taught us about international travels and we became more aware of the cultural differences that countries have and some of the distinct difficulties between various religions.
During all of these events I began moving into a deeper level of prayer. I started to understand the importance of prayer and also to practice “listening prayer”. Sitting quietly before the Lord and waiting for His still small voice. I became intrigued by both the biblical stories of dreams and visions along with present time stories of how the Lord revealed Himself through dreams. I also began asking about the use of spiritual gifts and how they are used today. It became clear that I was missing out on the power of the Holy Spirit. Again, the Lord put people in my path that could give me truthful instruction on using the gifts of the Spirit and encouraged me to continue seeking out those gifts.
In the fall of 2004 while on a Biblical study tour to Israel, I sensed the Lord calling me to participate with Him in a deeper relationship and also to prepare for an upcoming ministry experience. I didn’t totally understand what was going to take place but I knew that I had to be open to His calling and that it would fit with my past experiences. The Proverbs 3:6 verse says it best. “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths”.
Each step in this journey has brought about new and exciting understandings of God’s faithfulness and His patience. His timing is always perfect and He always reveals the next step to take place. He also factors in my fear, stubbornness, and even procrastination. The Holy Spirit convicted me of past and present sin. He taught me that there really is full forgiveness and we can be set free from sin that has held us in bondage.
In 2011 a friend spoke prophetically over me regarding becoming trained in pastoral care and even being ordained in some form of ministry. I laughed at this because I had limited college education and it didn’t make sense at age 54 to invest the time or money into additional education. My work, volunteer and family schedule would not fit into a classroom type program and furthermore I didn’t think I was smart enough to participate in high level seminary classes. Much to my surprise in 2013 I was introduced to Christian Leaders Institute by a church member. Each area that I listed as an impossible reason for me to receive ministry training has now become possible because of CLI. My fear of failure was terminated after taking the initial introductory class.
The CLI on-line classes fit perfectly with what I needed to succeed in ministry training. The Ordination class will allow me to fulfill the necessary role to move forward in additional ministry opportunities that I will be stepping into. I am still waiting patiently and watching for events to unfold.
I am continuing to encourage lay-people to consider CLI as a form of training and discipleship. This is just another example of experiencing God’s provision.
Pat VanderKolk
My name is Rameeka Saunders, I live in North Carolina, USA. Three years ago I relocated here because I knew that God had something greater for me in North Carolina.
I was born into a Bible believing family and since infancy, was raised in a Baptist church. As a child I always loved to hear about God because I had dreams where Jesus would visit me in the night. As a teenager I gave myself to the Lord and was baptized in Jesus name. As a young adult I left that church because I felt that there was another church for me to call home. I began to search visiting many churches but in my heart, I was not able to call any of them my church home. God was speaking to my spirit as I prayed, He said that He would lead me to where I was supposed to be. It was then, that I was guided to North Carolina. Shortly after I found my church home, the one I dreamt about as a child. Since becoming a member I have rededicated myself to the Lord and have found my love for Him has grown tremendously.
Back in 2010, before I moved to North Carolina, I had what doctors called a simple procedure, but in the recovery room I stopped breathing. They worked on me for two hours trying to get me to breathe. To me it was as if I was dreaming, a feeling that you would have to experience to fully understand. I had never been to or seen this part of the hospital before yet I saw it clear as day. My spirit sat up as my body laid asleep and standing in front of me was what I believe was my guardian angel. All white and faceless yet I knew it was looking at me. I began to hear my name being called as my guardian angel walked away, and as I woke up one of my nurses said to me that she had prayed and prayed that I would return. I was in disbelief at first and wondered if my experience had been real, but as I looked around and saw everything in the exact place I saw it before, I knew it had been real. I haven’t been the same since.
There have been occasions where people (strangers) have come up to me and just told me their problems or asked for my help. I started asking people why they chose to say something to me and their answers began to sound the same, God led them to. I am a true believer that things happens for a reason, so I began to search and pray that God would reveal what he had in store for me, and I was lead to the CLI website.
I would like to start my journey as a small group leader and grow from there. Hopefully, this will give me the confidence I need to speak in front of a larger audience. My goal is to connect with people who don’t know about the goodness of Jesus and to spread the word of His goodness and mercy to them. My father has been a Deacon in his church for as long as I can remember and my siblings and I were taught about the word of God. There are several pastors and ministers in my family, I feel blessed to be apart of such a Christ-centered and supportive family.
A CLI scholarship is important to my ministry dreams because I feel that I am called, but I don’t have the funds to pay for schooling. I really appreciate the opportunity that CLI gives to its students. CLI is a blessing to me and other students like myself, who want to advance their walk with God but don’t have the funds to do so. I ask for prayer that God would continue to guide me and others to do work that is pleasing in His sight.