Ministry Training Ordination

Ministry Training Ordination

My name is Susan Malone. I am 46 years old and I am on a ministry training ordination journey. I live in a small town in Illinois, USA. I live with my youngest of four children. He is almost 18 years old and is a senior in high school. I have another son who is 26 and two daughters, the youngest is 21 and the oldest who is born of my heart is 28. I love them all so much. Their personalities are so different and unique from one another. That’s how God intended them to be, unique. Their life circumstances helped shape them into who they are today. That is their testimony. This is mine…

I grew up in a town of 400 people, Kinderhook, Illinois. I went to Sunday school when someone would take me. When I was 19 years old, I went through the process of having suppressed memories resurface. Due to the lack of time I’m giving you the quick version. It took 3 years of counseling, but God healed my mind. I knew that if God didn’t intervene there would be no way I could overcome everything I had remembered from my childhood. He was faithful and was with me through the whole process. I knew by the age of 21 that God would one day have a ministry for me and a ministry training ordination. I understood that the attack on me, in regards to my childhood, was more spiritual than physical. If the enemy was working that hard in order to put a stumbling block in my path, then God must have something great in mind for me!

At the age of 24, (1991) I was married to my high school sweetheart. He had given his life to the Lord and things were good for many years. Then in, 2011 we began to have marital issues. My husband had back slid a few years prior and had just been walking the fence since then. In January 2012, we separated, and he had a relationship with another woman. I was crushed.

In March of 2012, I had back surgery on disc L5 that lead to MRSA staph infection which lead to a major surgery in April 2012. In the meantime, my husband decided he wanted to come home. So I agreed. The infection had killed part of my back muscle and had eaten a hole in my Dura which allowed the infection to leak in around my spinal cord. My treatment was three months long and the IV antibiotic I was taking was attacking my white cells. So after three weeks they had to pull me off of that one. Instead of eight weeks on the main antibiotic, I was only on it for three. My infectious disease doctor couldn’t offer me any hope for survival. But God had other plans for me! By the end of the three months, I was able to come off the oral antibiotic with no signs of the infection! PTL!

Then, in September of 2015, I was diagnosed with Epidural Fibrosis Arachnoiditis (EFA). Scar tissue that had grown from the damaged area of the Dura was beginning to attach to nerve endings on my spinal cord. There is no cure, no treatment other than pain management. Even what they could offer for pain management couldn’t relieve enough of the pain to keep depression from knocking at my door. Even with everything I had dealt with from my childhood in my early twenties, I had never battled depression. Marriage issues, never depression. I worked through the depression. EFA gave me an uncertain future and I knew that. In the Spring of 2017, after many months of praying, I ended my marriage due to another act of adultery just before my diagnosis. After telling my youngest daughter, she and her husband told me they didn’t want me in their life because of my decision. This was overwhelming. Needless to say, I think the enemy was working overtime on me.

One day God used a worship song to speak directly to my spirit. “So let it go, my soul, and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name!” I could see a shaft of light in my mind’s eye shooting through my spirit. Immediately all the burden I was carrying was gone! Suddenly, I didn’t care anymore about my future with EFA. God has helped me focus on today. I miss my daughter immensely but I trust God, that He will bring restoration to our relationship.

God has propelled me spiritually. He has led me to start a Bible study in my home for the past three months. It’s going great and I love it! Taking classes at CLI has just made it more exciting. I live in a small rural community and I believe that God has rescued me not only from the abuse of my childhood but also from a deadly infection later in life so that I could reach others with a message of His undeniable love and mercy. That He is able to bring emotional and physical healing to those who believe. I also hope to speak at events/churches. I know that CLI will give me the ministry training ordination I need to have a good foundation of knowledge. I see myself taking on the role of pastor and starting our town’s only non-denominational church.

A scholarship through CLI is important for me to fulfill my ministry training ordination calling because I’m not able to work due to my diagnosis. So paying for a student loan is out of the question. CLI is an answer to prayer! I would ask that those of you on staff at CLI join with me in praying that God keeps the enemy from prohibiting me from these classes. I’m ready for a break! : ) God Bless!

Learn more about ordained minister study programs at Christian Leaders Alliance.