Marvin Walton –
“My name is Marvin Walton. Currently, I live in Holly Springs, North Carolina in the United States. I serve at Faith Community Church in Durham, North Carolina, where my Pastor is Ronnie T. Northam, Jr. I serve in a number of roles, including Courtkeeper/Usher, Audio/Video Coordinator and Choir Tenor. I came to know the Lord early, at the age of 10 at the former Mount Olive Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, close to where I grew up. As time went on, I drifted from God, but eventually repented and returned to the Lord. In recent years, I even had a prophecy spoken over my life that I would be a “preacher or teacher” at some point. Years later, my younger brother asked if I had considered going back to college to pursue ministry. That led to my enrollment in Christian Leaders Institute.
“My ministry dream is to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially to young believers who are in need of a road map of how to live the life that Jesus commanded us to live. More often than not, I see people saying, “I’m saved … now what?” I have a desire to disciple and help guide people through the process of transformation – so they may live a life that pleases God and reach their destiny in God. If I had to identify myself, based on what I described, I could be a small group leader. I have a heart for speaking to people about the things of God, praying them through difficulties, and seeing God’s abundant harvest come forth in their lives. The key experience that triggers my belief goes back to my childhood. While I got saved as a preteen, I felt like I didn’t have a real road map of how to navigate being a Godly child, especially while going through adolescence. This is especially key for me, with knowing I didn’t (at times) have good, consistent Christian male role models at times. I didn’t have that “go-to” to ask when I had questions about how to live a life as a born-again child – so I drifted from God. Thank God He preserved me long enough to return back to a relationship with Him.
“My local church, especially my Pastor and leaders, have been instrumental in encouraging me to keep walking with God. Being that my family has teachers in it, the natural progression was to keep learning about the things of God and show others (as well as be encouraging to them) about living a life that pleases God. A lot of younger Christians (between ages 25-44) don’t think that living a Godly life is “fun”. While it has its challenges, it’s nice to have a relationship with God, and all of the benefits that come with having the Holy Spirit residing on the inside of us.
“My family has been nothing short of wonderful when it comes to this path. My entire immediate family, in some shape or form, has influenced my current path with God, and with Christian Leaders Institute. From my father’s encouragement to heed the Word of God preached and my brothers giving me encouragement to pursue a higher calling in God, to my mother’s fervent prayers for all of her children … I have no doubt that all of those had key factors in my current walk with God and the calling on my life to teach and minister to others.”
Marvin Walton Receives a Scholarship
“A scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute would mean a great deal to me as I pursue my calling in Christ. I plan to be a beacon for Christ on so many levels. Being in my upper 30’s in age, I want to let people know that whether you are age 10, 30 or 60 … it is never too late to pursue your calling and to (as Paul said) finish your course in God. I want to show people of all ages what it is to walk with God. I want to show them how a man of God looks, and that being a born-again Christian is not a destination alone … it’s a journey.
“In reference to solicitation of prayer, these are the areas I would request prayer for …
- Please pray for the salvation of my extended family,
- Please pray that the Lord will show me His more excellent way day by day in all things, that I might live a life that causes Our Lord to be proud of me,
- Among many gifts, I’m also an author. Please pray for me that I may be expansive with my gift to write and teach.
- Please pray for my church, that we may continue to effectively grow and spread the Gospel, and take the East Coast for Jesus Christ!
- Please pray for my finances to multiply so that I may not only bless Christian Leaders Institute in the coming months and years for others to be blessed in learning more about the things of God!
“I thank you for considering this letter and the prayer requests. By faith in line with Romans 4:17, I’m thanking God right now for my scholarship with Christian Leaders Institute. God bless you!”
When Marvin Walton came to God, he quickly realized that there weren’t many strong male figures in his life to instruct him in the way of the Lord. Without the godly guidance that comes from such figures, Marvin Walton drifted away for a season, but God, ever faithful, called him back. Now, Marvin Walton wants to serve the Lord by providing that mentor figure that he never had to others who are young in the faith. In an age where the Christian life is often seen as mundane duty, Marvin Walton seeks to teach young Christians that following God can be a wonderful experience. To achieve his ministry calling, Marvin Walton has been led by the Lord to Christian Leaders Institute.
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Grace Zishumba –
“My name is Grace Zishumba and I am Zimbabwean but living in Namibia.
“I grew up in a christian home, being taught to lead a christian life. I then seriously gave my life to serve and labor for the Lord in 2009. In 2012 my husband and I planted a small assembly in the town we live. In that year I was ordained as the Elder of the church.
“My ministry goal is to have an intimate relationship with God and help others also realize that there is a true God and also have a walk with Him (true relationship with God). All what I want to is to let us know who this God is and worship Him in truth and in Spirit. The challenge that I meet was opposition from some Pastors of other churches who did not want another church planted in the town. My church really supported me for I am running with the vision of the church of bringing the gospel to the communities.”
Grace Zishumba Receives a Scholarship
“The scholarship of CLI is very important for my dream because it will help me to be equipped with a skill I did not have. Where I stay there is no bible school, and I only have my mentor. The course so far has equipped me and given me that hunger to stay more in the word. It has opened my eyes to many things that I did not know.
“My family is very supportive of all that I am doing and it also have helped them to grow spiritually.
“My prayer request is that I remain focused on the Lord even as persecutions come.”
Grace Zishumba has dedicated her life to serve the Lord in Namibia. With her husband, Grace Zishumba has planted a church in her town, but she has been unable to obtain good ministry training because of the lack of availability in the area. In addition to that, the pastors in the area resist Grace Zishumba’s efforts because they are against having more churches open in the area. Now Grace Zishumba seeks a scholarship at Christian Leaders Institute so that she can be better equipped to lead the church that she and her husband planted.
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Free Pastor Training – Christian Leaders Institute is seeking to deliver high quality online minister training. For those who finish the free getting started class and are accepted into CLI, you will receive Bible School or Seminary style ministry training, but this training will be delivered online. CLI offers over 20 advanced Bible College courses. One of the courses is “Church and Ministry” Many issues of the day to day work of a pastor are addressed in this minister training course.
We ask students to write a final reflection paper in this Church and Ministry course. See how free pastor training is reflected upon by this Henry Long of Nigeria. 
Henry Long Writes:
“First and foremost, I must thank God for bringing me in contact with CLI. The day I enrolled with CLI marked the beginning of something glorious and beautiful in my life and ministry.
During the course of this free minister training, I have learned so many things and will just briefly highlight some of them:
How to effectively run a small group of volunteers. How to determine the agenda of the group and how the needs of the members of the group can be met.
How to handle grief. This was evident when a particular friend of mine was overwhelmed and she broke down in tears. Before CLI, I would have started saying words like “Don’t cry”, “Don’t shed tears”, but learning the stages of grief and how hot handle the grieving, I was able to handle the friend and at the end of her grieving period, she came to say thank you to me for the way I handle the period.
I learnt that a great leader must always train a successor so the ministry won’t die when the founder goes to the world beyond.
Also, I have realized that the most treasured gift we can ever have as a leader or pastor is the relationship that comes our way every moment, because the way we treat people is a sermon on its own.
One area that I really have great interest in is evangelism. I have personally come to understand that evangelism plays a key part in the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. I love Lee Strobel’s video on the different styles of sharing the gospel. To help me in sharing the gospel the more, I started daily blackberry devotionals that I share with all my contacts and I can say that the Almighty God has been touching souls via that medium.
My understanding of hospitality improved when I went through the Hospitality class session. I now understand that the Jesus some people will only see is the Jesus we show them through the way we treat other people.
On a final note, I feel really satisfied and glad to have enrolled with CLI to receive this free minister training. I can really say that once I thought I knew, but with CLI, I now know better.”
Free minister Training – Opportunity to Sign up Now, Click Here
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