From Healing to Ministry
My name is Tracey Mixon and I’ve recently moved to a small town south of Houston, TX named Webster. I am married with 3 children, 2 step-children, 2 grandchildren and a dog. I am currently a registered nurse and I am in graduate school studying to be a nurse practitioner. I also have a calling for art. I’ve been a portrait artist for 16 years. I originally grew up in Georgetown, TX.
I had been married 18 years to someone who didn’t have an interest in the Lord. We experienced an extremely messy divorce that caused me to lose everything but my faith. A year later, I met a man who was the youth minister at our sister church. He helped me through his prayer and counsel to put my life back on track. We were recently married and he continues to support me in my calling to ministry. In 2014, I discovered an opportunity to be an ordained minister through Universal Life Church and ministry training through Christian Leaders Institute.
Having been in the medical field for 25 years, I am very drawn to the aspect of healing. Reading about how Jesus and his disciples went through the land healing with faith amazes me. In 2010, I was miraculously healed from chronic lung disease after dedicating my life to Jesus at an alter call. My dream ministry would be to be able to make people whole again by healing them in mind, body and spirit just as I was. I would love to glorify the Lord and be able to heal those who were told that there is no cure for them. The desire to heal had prompted me to pursue a medical career and being healed had prompted me to pursue ministry.
I am a member of a local non-denominational church by the name of Restoring Hope International Fellowship Church. The pastors of this church are highly motivated to mentor me. I have begun leadership orientation; I serve on the intercessory prayer team and the art ministry team. I can see myself as a small group leader because of my calling to heal. I believe transformation occurs best in small groups where you can focus on specific topics and be more personable with the members. I have no desire at this moment to run the business of an entire church. In the area, I live in there are so many churches to choose from of all different denominations including non-denominational. Growth is a huge challenge in this environment.
I pray that a scholarship with the Christian Leaders Institute could teach me how to deepen my relationship with God so that I could help others do the same. I hope to learn the Word and be effective in teaching. I pray to learn what it means to be a minister and how to conduct myself appropriately. I pray that this course will guide me to the necessary spiritual maturity needed to glorify God. Please pray for my success in ministry training and the healing ministry I plan to pursue.
Planted a House Church
Blessings and Shalom – My name is Corinne Benefield currently living in America, in the state of Tennessee; which isn’t my birth place of Massachusetts. The two states are so different in many ways and quite different when it comes to the things of God. I am a young 56 year old, retired from the Air Line industry of 27 years. Married to my soul mate and a mother of two grown sons. Corinne and her husband have ministered in many capacities over the years. They even helped start a House Church in Tennessee.
My story – I did not grow up in a Christian home, but started to attend church at a young age through a bus ministry and vacation bible school. I’m thankful for those dear saints that reached out to my family and their dedication to serve our Lord Jesus.
One of the many blessings I received was to attend our church summer camp when I was a teen. My dear second grade Sunday school teacher sent me anonymously; which I learned of in my twenties. It was there that I accepted Jesus as my savior.
Not long after this time my parents would divorce, my dad would disappear off into the sunset. I would not see, hear from or speak to him for seven years. This would have a major impact in my life, my image of a father would be one of abandonment.
When I turned sixteen I walked away from the Lord and became very involved in the things of the world. Drinking and drugs would become away of life. Around the age of twenty one there was an emptiness and a longing to be loved. Jesus was the farthest thing from my mind. I would come to meet a man, who was much like my dad and married him. We then moved to Florida.
When we were expecting our first son, I started my walk back to God. This would be just the beginning as I began to build a new relationship with the Lord. During a time of prayer the Lord said to me, …”there is more to me than what you have been taught.” More Lord? What does that mean? So my quest strengthened to search out for more of Him.
Growing up I was told that the things of the Spirit were no longer in operation. Those things which were spoken of in the book of Acts were no more. Within me I needed to know the truth. Were these things dead? Was the Holy Spirit alive and helping people today? If this was to be true I wanted it! Life continued on and there would be many storms and it wasn’t all ‘pie in the sky’. My husband and I would move back to New England. It was spiritually very dry for me there and I began to drift again back to old friends and their influence. At one point I’d had enough and wanted to take my life but I knew it was wrong and couldn’t. I got angry, really angry, at God. I yelled and screamed out to God, “If you really love me then why am I going through what I’m going through? Why Lord?”
One day, not long after that, I saw a guest speaker, a messianic Jew. He began the service with the ‘blowing of the shofar.’ I would not be the same from that day on!
As I sat there the Fire of God consumed me! It started in my feet and like a thermometer’s red fluid going up. As the temperature rose up; up the fire went. From the soles of my feet to the top of my head. I sat there and I prayed… I was being consumed by a Holy God; everything else had to leave. So on July 23, 1995 a line was drawn for me. A line of demarcation. Jesus was no longer just my savior but now he was my Lord.
Over the next ten years I would encounter many major storms. Two failed marriages, hostile work environment and a son that was in trouble with the law. I have good news though! God can use anyone and He is the God of restoration! God has blessed me with a man of God. Together in unity we seek to minister, and love the one in front of us, bringing Christ’s love to the world.
One of my dreams was to be able to do mission work. With my retirement from the Air Lines that door has opened. Using my benefits to minister in other countries and being Christ hands extended.
Both my husband and myself were ordained in July 2013. At that time we were being sent by my home church in Connecticut to start a House Church in Tennessee. There are many churches here in the south, with many forms of religion. Everyone you meet says they are a Christian because they attend a church, but there is rarely relationship with God. My husband and I want to reach those that the local church wouldn’t even consider talking to, for it will be the love of Christ that will draw them in.
This past October the Lord directed us to a body of believers that are like minded. Sunday we were asked to be youth pastors with them. We both love the youth and desire to disciple them to be used by God for His Glory.
I can not express my gratitude to the Lord for the journey which I have taken. Though there have been many storms I have faced and God has never left me. (Thanks to Christian Leaders Institute), I am now able to better understand and capable to minister to those that are suffering and walking down roads which I have already gone. The lessons I learned are very valuable and more precious than gold to me.
I am thankful for Christian Leaders Institute and the opportunity to learn. My husband attended formal seminary training but I have not. A school of this kind was but a dream. To learn in a way which I have always desired but never had the opportunity nor time to do so.
My prayer is for God’s wisdom and revelation. That He will equip us as we prepare and walk out to the destiny which the Lord has called us. Gods love is so amazing, I pray that our lives will touch others so they will come to know Jesus personally and then will touch others for His Glory. Amen.
Trucker for Christ
Most times when you think about online ministry training, you think internet connections at a home or internet cafe. This trucker for Christ, David Pearce, and his wife study online while traveling place to place. He is a trucker for Christ who proclaims the gospel wherever he goes. This trucker for Christ has an amazing story that will inspire you:
My name is David Pearce and though I hail from the Northwest region of the United States, two years ago I had a career change after having spent 30 years in the construction industry. In December 2013, my wife joined me on the road as co-semi truck driver. With our children grown, we put all our belongings in storage and live and travel on the road every week of the year. From fellow truck drivers to waitresses to strangers we come in contact with, God has given us many opportunities to minister to those we meet in our travels.
I have a very Godly mother who has prayed for me my entire life and made sure that we attended church. I was saved and baptized at the age of 9 and though there have been challenges and the ups and downs of life, Jesus has been my Savior and source of joy and strength throughout my life. I found Him to be especially close during my six years in the military, where He began to use my photography skills and gift of encouragement to minister to fellow soldiers.
More recently, I have had the privilege of working with Pastor Phil Prietto and City Gates Ministry, an outreach to the homeless in our community. In addition to sharing Christ and praying with people, God used my photography skills once again to take photos of the homeless, add a meaningful caption, and give them the photo the following week to encourage them in their faith. These photos were also used in sharing the work of this ministry with local churches.
Pastor Phil continues to have a primary role in my life as my ministry mentor throughout my training with Christian Leaders Institute. I have an increasing desire to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word in order to be a more effective minister of the Gospel. Through the years, God has blessed me with many opportunities to develop the gifts and abilities He has given me – from puppetry to music to photography to speaking and evangelism; from hiking, scuba diving, and athletic training to a jack of all trades in home construction and repair.
My ministry dream is to use these gifts and abilities to share Christ with those who have never heard in my current job as a truck driver, on short or long-term mission trips to underprivileged countries, church planting and evangelism at home or abroad, distribution of the Jesus Film, developing a retreat center for troubled youth – the possibilities are endless. My wife and I share this ministry dream together and trust God each day for opportunities and open doors to use us as He desires. Taking courses at Christian Leaders Institute, reading God’s Word and praying together daily, our current ministry on the road, and even learning Spanish and French together as we travel is preparation for the doors God opens for us.
Because we travel for work, some of the challenges we face are staying in touch with those we share with and pray with. We provide them a “business” card to give them an opportunity to stay in touch with us on our “Faithbook” (what we call our Facebook page), by email, or by phone. We continue to pray for them but staying connected beyond our initial meeting is a challenge. We simply trust that God will plant a seed and that He will grow their faith from there. Staying connected to a local church can also be a challenge, but God has led us to local churches in the communities where we travel and we have met some wonderful Christian people who pray for us and share our excitement about our ministry. We keep our family and friends up to date on ministry news through our “Faithbook” and when we return home for visits.
My desire to be involved in ministry has grown throughout my life as a Christian. It was when my children were young and we led an eight-person puppet team that I began to experience the joy of ministry. With each missionary I heard share their ministry experience, my heart was moved with a yearning to be involved in some way to spread the Gospel to those who have never heard.
We are blessed and consider it a privilege to support the ministry of Christian Leaders Institute on a monthly basis and having a scholarship from Christian Leaders Institute will provide me the in-depth study of God’s Word and the leadership training I desire to better equip me for sharing the Gospel and ministering Christ to those in need.
The online format is especially valuable since it would be impossible to attend school in a formal classroom setting due to my vocation. My hope is that through the training from CLI, I will be able to effectively communicate the truth of God’s Word in a simple and clear way and that I will be used of the Holy Spirit to speak boldly of the hope and healing of Christ into the lives of those I meet every day. Please pray that my life will be effective in promoting Christ and His Word; that as a married couple we will grow in like-mindedness and will be strengthened in our relationship for ministry; and that we will have the clarity and courage to follow God’s leading and the path He lays before us.