Many students come to Christian Leaders Institute to help them become pastors, youth leaders, or other leaders in the church. Others, like Tammy Wilson, join because they want to learn more about the gospel and how to become a better believer. Here is Tammy’s story.
Growing up I lived according to my family’s culture, we just lived for the each day no structure. Our mother spent a lot of time searching for love from men and trying to take care of her household. She
never married any of our fathers.
We left with our grandfather in a one bedroom cottage that had an outside toilet no shower; we had to heat water to take a bath in a tub. We move when it was time for me to go to high school the place was much bigger and we had our own room (me, my sister and brother). My older sister went to leave with my grandmother at that time.
We moved again into another two bedroom house until my mother just picked up and took my sister and brother to New Jersey to leave for about a year or so. I got my own apartment at the age of 19 year the landlord turned on my lights as I was under age at the time. I was working full time at the Bank, so I was able to take care of myself.
I used to have to take care of my sister and brother all the time as my mother worked late hours. I had to cook dinner and make sure the homework was done and make sure that where ready for bed before she got home. My father and I were never that close only because he drank and I wasn’t happy to see him most of the time. I loved him though; just wish that he lived to see my daughter. But know I know that he has seen her and has given her the name Starr. As this is what he called me when I was young.
I lived according to the way I was raised. I worked two jobs and was able to purchase my own car by the time I was 21. I partied with my girlfriends and enjoyed the worldly life. I got a boyfriend and lived to please him and after several years, I found myself pregnant with my daughter and things got hard for me then. He was seeing other women and they told him that my child was from someone else. He has treated me very bad, but I found that God gave me this child and I loved her some much. At this time I started to go to church and started to build a relationship with God.
I found that once I got home with her I had to move in order for me to be free from the problems that I caused for my life. I moved in with my uncle for a while until I got my own place where we could be comfortable. At that time I put my focus on caring for her and myself. I was still looking for love and feel in to a lot of hurt ship along the way. But I always got up and keep moving. I was able to purchase my own home and I feel good that I have been through these trials and tribulations that have allowed me to grow.
But one day I woke up. I was driving the car with some of my daughter’s friends when I cursed, and one of the girls said, ‘your mother is always cursing.’ At that point that I knew it was time to change my life. We were inviting to New Genesis by a co-worker of mine. The first time I went God spoke to me and I have never stopped going to church and believing that God loves us.
Know my daughter is on the praise team and I’m and usher and we are enjoying our time with God.
The reason I took this training was to enhance my knowledge of God word and be a better believer and leader.
Christian Leaders Institute is ready to help you become a better believer for life change. Check out stories of others who are growing in their faiths. To become a better believer you must have a commitment to humble yourself before the Lord and to become discipled like Tammy. Check out more stories at our Facebook page. Please like our page and share it with your friends.
Hello my name is Yvonne Adams from the United States of America. I am developing my ministry gifts at Christian Leaders Institute.
I am a native of Brooklyn, New York and a graduate of William H. Maxwell Vocational High School. I have made my home in Harrisburg since 2002. I am currently a Clerk Typist 3 for the Center for Community Services in PA’s Department of Community and Economic Development. I have been a commonwealth employee for more than 10 years.
I attend Grace & Mercy Church founded by Pastor Florence Abdullah where I teach Sunday school, serves on the Praise Team and as an Usher.
I grew up in the church and my grandmother would take me with her. Bible Study, Prayer Meeting, Revivals etc. As a young teenager there was something that touched me and I was persuaded to sing on the choir. Then I became the Sunday school teacher and eventually the Choir Director of my church in Brooklyn, NY. Of course like most teenagers I then wanted to experience what the world had to offer. I stayed that way until 2002 when I moved to Pennsylvania.
How I came back to the Lord was in 2005 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in my left breast. At first I was angry and couldn’t understand how I could get such a dreadful disease. I mean here I was in church serving as an Usher and singing on the praise team. When I asked God why me His response was why not you? He took me to the book of Job. In reading Job I realized that God sometimes allows Satan to attack us to see where our faith is at. I really started praying and reading the word and for the first time I really understood that I could count on His promises. I started to quote that by Jesus stripes I am healed. Now in 2014 I am 8 years cancer free. Bless His holy and magnificent name.
I know that I am called to perform a great and awesome work. I am not sure what it is yet but I know that it has something to do with Teaching. I enjoy teaching the word of God so much it really makes my heart smile. God has really been helping me to grow up in the salvation.
I sit up under a wonderful Pastor Florence Abdullah founder of Grace & Mercy church. We get a fresh word from her and it is truly God inspired. Since being under her I have been able to understand that I am not just here for my own selfish benefit it is to raise up other’s in their walk.
This scholarship would really help me to learn more and develop my ministry gifts that God has placed inside me. I am one who is always looking to learn something new. The word of God is like a jewel that I wear around my neck and proudly display. God is continuing to work in mines and my family’s lives.
I am not really all that good with words but what I have shared is from the heart I happy to receive this scholarship for me to develop my ministry gifts to help others. I will be in constant prayer because God had a very wonderful lady who attends my church give me the name of this school so I know that God is up to something.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus offered twelve select disciples the opportunity to receive ministry training from Him personally. He didn’t ask them for any money, although they all had jobs and trades before they were called. His ministry and the ministry of His twelve apostles was funded by wealthy people in the Jewish society. For the apostles, this training was free. Or was it?
Money has become a focal point of our thinking in today’s society. Money is needed to do anything. Eat, sleep in a sheltered location, stay warm during the winter, and stay cool during the summer. In fact, money is such a central piece to our philosophy that many people look at “free” offerings and say “what’s the catch?”
I heard a story once from a friend who was trying to get rid of a refrigerator. There was nothing wrong with the refrigerator. He’d just replaced it with a newer model with more features, but the old one still worked fine. He put the refrigerator out by the curb with a large sign that said “free.”
Weeks went by, and still nobody had picked the refrigerator up. He lived on a busy enough street. There was plenty of traffic, and certainly somebody driving by who could use a refrigerator.
Finally he decided to change his strategy. He took down the sign that said “free” and replaced it with one that said “$300.” Then he went back into his house and went on with his day. The next morning, the refrigerator was gone.
When people drove by and saw “Free,” there was a thought process that has become subconscious in our modern world. Essentially, the very fact that something is “free” causes us to question it’s value. It causes us to question it’s authenticity. People drove by and, somewhere under the surface, began to think “there must be something wrong with it. If it were in good working condition he could get money for it. Why would he give it away for free if it still worked?”
But put a price tag on that same refrigerator and all those doubts are gone. Suddenly people who drive by don’t doubt that it works. They only doubt, perhaps, the intelligence of the man who left this item worth $300.00 out by the side of the curb. Most likely somebody drove by during the day, saw the refrigerator “for sale,” and returned at night with a pickup and a little help to haul it off.
The Price of Free Biblical Training
Now we return to the “free” training that Jesus offered His apostles. Sure, the training didn’t cost them any money. They didn’t have to pay for Jesus to teach them about the law or His place in it. They didn’t have tuition fees when he taught them lessons about the kingdom of heaven. Still, Jesus’ free biblical training did have a cost.
In fact, Jesus charged the highest price for his training. The money didn’t matter to Him. God created all things. He can bring a fish with a coin in it’s mouth to you at the moment you need to pay taxes. The cost of being Jesus disciple was the lives of those who became His apostles. From the time that they began to follow Him, they sacrificed everything, though they didn’t realize it at first. They gave up their hopes and dreams for the present life, their standing among their fellow Jews or friends. Everything they had was stripped away and replaced with one great calling – to be witnesses of what they had seen, of who God was. It was as Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for my sake shall find it…”
Christian Leaders Institute offers free biblical training to students everywhere, but that doesn’t mean there’s no cost. There is no money they are required to pay. There is no tuition, no fees. But there is a cost. The cost of our biblical training is the most valuable asset that people have today: time.
Our courses are free, but they’re not easy. They are developed by accredited professors with seminary degrees up to and including doctorate degrees in their fields. In order to do well in, or even pass, our courses, students have to be able to put time in – about 3 hours a week per course, and more depending on the class. This is time that they can’t spend doing other things like trying to make more money, engaging more with their family, fixing up their house or yard, or even just relaxing.
Anybody who pays money for something can be expected to put time into completing it. If any person, called or otherwise, puts several thousand into training to be a pastor, you can expect that in most cases they will do everything in their power to complete that training. However, if they don’t put money into it, only their calling and the power of the Spirit holds them to their course. If they are not called, they have no reason to finish difficult classes that they didn’t pay for, but if they are called, they will do everything they have to do to pursue the calling, by the power of God and His Spirit.
Students who enroll in Christian Leaders Institute have very specific needs. They have a calling to go out and serve the Lord in a position of leadership, but they don’t have money to go to seminary, or they have families and can’t just drop everything and relocate with no job. Some of them are already involved in leadership and know that they need a stronger foundation. All of them are willing to sacrifice their time for the free biblical training that we provide because they need to pursue God’s calling. They are willing to pay any cost because they have already paid the highest cost. They have given up their lives to pursue the calling of Christ.