Hello everyone, my name is Francis (Frank) Duarte and I live in a small town south of Albuquerque, NM called Los Lunas. I live here with my wife and kids. When I was very young I attended a Catholic School and church and thus baptized Catholic.
Unfortunately, after leaving the school, I drifted away from the church and God. I grew up and hardly ever went to church. I ended up getting married two other times and never realized that nothing was working out for me. I didn’t have God in my life. This last marriage was a little rocky at first and eventually realized I needed God in my life. In December of 2013 I got my bible out and let God back into my life.
I started going to church every Sunday and have been reading the bible religiously, anywhere from 20 to 30 hours a week. I felt a calling from God telling me to keep on doing what I’m doing and spread his word.
I spent countless hours on the internet trying to find free education to become a pastor at some point and I found CLI. With there help my dreams of becoming a pastor and spreading His word will be realized.
Sometimes Proclaiming Peace is Not Easy
I grew up in church and from the age of seven; I fell in love with Jesus. I wanted to be his helper when people persecuted him. I wanted to fight for him. I was too young to understand how important Jesus was to become in my life and how GOD would become active in my adult life.
My mother and step-dad bought every book they could find on “The Life of Jesus Christ” and “ALL” characters of “The Bible.” I read everything I could get my hands on. Then Mom died, my family broke up and my life went straight downhill. I began to hate myself; because somewhere inside; I “KNEW” GOD was not happy about my lifestyle. And through all my pain, injustices and abuse; I “STILL” talked to GOD. He was with me the whole time.
In the County Jail; Jesus came into my cell. I “KNEW” it was him. The cell got warm and comfortable and I could “ACTUALLY” hear him speaking to me. After that encounter; I sat up on the floor from my prostrate position and began to question my sanity. A guard came to open my door for dinner and she said, “My goodness, there is so much peace in this room. Have you been praying?” I burst into tears and told her the whole thing.
After that “EVERYONE” just wanted to sit outside my door and feel the “PEACE” Christ had left there as I was proclaiming peace to everyone. A few days later; GOD sent me to a convent for treatment and in that “Blessed House”, my Salvation and Deliverance began. GOD picked me up and changed my life. I was being prepared to for my life mission of proclaiming peace in the name of Jesus.
I am an evangelist and ‘Christian Leaders Institute”, is where I was directed. I was so nervous about taking these quizzes because I thought I would disappoint GOD but He held my hand through the first installment of “My CERTIFIED” walk for him. I am still a little nervous but; you know what?…GOD has reassured me that I have “NOTHING” to fear.
You see…I have got to let people know,”What an awesome GOD he is and why it’s so important that everyone form a “REAL” relationship with GOD! I told my family that I was going to become a Doctor of Theology (years ago) and look where GOD has placed me. I look forward to learning more and more and more about “The GOD” I serve. GOD Bless Christian Leaders Institute and everyone who reads this story.
Editors Note: Proclaiming Peace is a might calling. If you are interested in a ministry that specializing in proclaiming peace in the mists of various relationship check out Peacefire.
My name is Anthony Clark, and I live in the United States of America. In this country, we have the opportunity to practice the freedom of religion which is part of our constitutional rights. Ministry is such a challenge everywhere, but because it is so many things to keep you distracted here in the United States it can be a bigger challenge than some may expect.
I have known the Lord since I was a young toddler. I was raised in a Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On my birthday, August 26, 1984, I gave my life to Christ. I join the military 5 years later (6 month after graduating from high school) and stayed in for twenty years. I have backslid in my adult life. I was an adulterer, and did many things that were not right. However, by God’s grace I was able to make it through. In 2010, I was remarried and decided to rededicate my life to Christ. Five years later I am on fire for Christ. I have been active in the Church, but I am most excited about my personal relationship with God. It has grown so much over the past 5 years that there is not a day goes by that I do not read my bible, pray, and speak to Jesus frequently. I know I have come a long way, and I will not turn around.
My ministry dream is to become an Ordained Minister. I do not want to become Ordained for a title, but I want to be able to be equipped since I have been appointed by my Pastor to be the Chief Operating Officer for my Church. I am also involved in the Men’s Ministry, and I know with the more knowledge and experience I get, I can be better equipped to do Kingdom business.
The word that best describes me is simply Minister. I cannot say that I will be in one area, but I do know that I have a heart to serve in many areas in the ministry. I want to be able to witness to people on all levels and spread the good news to everyone I am able to come in contact with. If I had to pick one word for now it would be Elder
The key experience in my life that prompted me to pursue ministry is when my Pastor came to me and wanted me to help him start a church. I was so honored that he looked at my walk and wanted me to be one of the founding members. The Pastor had someone that he had placed as an Assistant Pastor, but the individual did not commit to the ministry. That is what made me want to pursue becoming ordained so I can be better equipped for the church. This is how I found Christian Leaders Institute, and I am so glad I did.
Some of the unique challenges in my area is that so many churches are stuck in tradition. It is something that many of us have experienced, and we know that in order for God to work in us the right way, we need to not be distracted by religion, and build the relationship that Jesus wanted the church to have with him.
My family is involved in my ministry calling. My wife is supporting me and we are active members in the church. My son is also involved ushering and helping with the collection of tithes and offering, and he is only 8!!! We are starting our devotional studies at home thanks to CLI and the Walk with God ministry.
A scholarship at CLI is so important to me because it would allow me to fulfill my dream to become an ordained minister and be able to go out and make disciples. I am so excited about the Walk with God ministry. I have already told my Pastor that this is something that we need to implement to our members so that they can teach their families at home what we are teaching them at church. The scholarship would help me accomplish this and in return allow me to start giving donation to CLI and be able direct others with a call for ministry to CLI.
CLI can pray that my ministry will continue to grow. We have started a church on 3/7/14, and we want to continue to grow. Please pray that our Pastor and all members keep focused on the Kingdom of God in all that we do. Please pray that we continue to increase so that we can start to donate to the school regularly because of the good things that the school is doing to help those that are called to minister. The name of the church is called Word Covenant Christian Center, and is an extension of World Changers International and World Covenant Christian Center out of Atlanta. Our church is in Orlando, FL and we want to have a fruitful and prosperous church. In Jesus name, Amen.