Ministry Calling Training

Ministry Calling Training

My name is Robert Donaldson and I am receiving my ministry calling training at Christian Leaders Institute. I live near Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. I feel blessed to live in the USA, especially in the southeastern region. I live in an area known as the Bible Belt. The church is a major part of life, where I live. Even as a public educator, I can openly talk about my Christian faith with other teachers. I am actively involved in a church who truly demonstrates the love of Christ by reaching the lost, serving the least, and raising up future leaders. In addition, we have the motto One Matters, which means since one person matters to God, they matter to us. I believe it is this environment that really sets up an effective experience for my call to ministry. We have over 500,000 people in our immediate area that do not know Christ.

At the age of 5, on the way home from my Grandpa’s birthday celebration, I told my parents I wanted to get saved. My parents walked me through the sinner’s prayer and soon after I was baptized in my home church. My pastor said I was the youngest person he had ever baptized. My excitement carried over into my school as I told my teachers and classmates I was saved. Over the years, I have rededicated my life to the Lord.

My key ministry dream is to spread the love and Good News of the Gospel to those in my community. Ideally, I want to do this through officiating weddings and funerals, in addition to offering premarital and marriage counseling. I am open to entering vocational ministry full time if I feel God is calling me in that direction.

Over a year ago, I felt God calling me to the ministry. I knew I needed to pray on which direction that would be. I spoke with both of my parents, my wife, and my pastor. My dad was supportive and offered to pray for me. My mom said she knew at an early age God had called me into the ministry and was excited that I felt the call. My wife was supportive of this decision but kept me grounded so I would not just jump into the first type of ministry that popped into my head. My pastor counseled me through this calling and encouraged me to stay in prayer about it. He did say that being called into ministry did not necessarily mean vocational ministry.

Although the call was still there, I was not actively seeking ordination. Recently, I felt God prompting me towards becoming a wedding officiant. Upon further research, I realized I could easily become an ordained minister with a few clicks on the Internet. I did not go this route because it was not Christian based and I wanted my faith to be the foundation of this. Additional research led me to other Christian organizations, which would ordain me, for a small fee. Although this seemed attractive, I did not feel that this would prepare me for what it takes to be a minister. It was at this point I discovered Christian Leaders Institute and knew that this was the path to take. I was immediately impressed at the quality education offered at no cost. Even during the first class, I knew that I will come out of this educational experience better equipped to answer the calling God has placed upon me. When this ministry calling training is completed, I could see me identify more with being a Pastor or Evangelist. However, I am open to that changing as I become more trained with the help of CLI.

I believe through the support and encouragement from my family, my church, and CLI, I will truly find my calling during this process. My family prays for me and understands the time commitment needed to complete my ministry calling training. They are making sacrifices for me. My pastor has offered to serve as my mentor and to have the conversations needed to grow in my class to ministry. CLI is providing the training and education needed to better answer my call to the ministry. If this scholarship was not available, I would not be able to afford a more formal seminary training. My wife and I are both educators and we have four children, a 16-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old triplets. FInancially, this scholarship will truly be viewed as a gift from God with through the help of those who generously give to CLI.

I would ask anyone reading this to lift me up in prayer for God’s guidance throughout the process. Pray that I do not get discouraged or distracted, as Satan is known to do, during my training.

Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.