Mission Ministry Journey

Mission Ministry Journey

My name is Timothy Chandler and I am on a mission ministry journey. I am from Thorsby, Alabama in the USA. I am responsible for the media ministry at our church. I am not a leader from the pulpit. I lead behind the scenes through ministering to the worship team by making sure they sound great for the congregation and for the internet audience. Leading behind the scenes fits my personality type perfectly. As a leader, I must be prepared to answer for the hope I have in my heart just like Peter said, “[1Pe 3:15 KJV] 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

Before I was conceived, a dear sister in Christ prophesied to my mom that she would give birth to a child and that he would be dedicated to ministry. Shortly after I was born, my mom and dad divorced. At an early age, my mom brought me to a local church and the Pastor saw potential in me for the Kingdom of God. He placed me in front of the pulpit to declare a word over me. That moment was a seed planted in my heart for the call of God on my life on my mission ministry journey.

I became a member of Bell Lane Baptist church with my daddy at the age of 8 or 9 years old. I remember going to VBS every summer and learning more about the Bible and Jesus. I remember going to Sunday School classes. Right before I turned 10 in August of 1989, I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior. After this, I experienced the most painful time of my life for the next two years. It has taken years of recovery up to my adulthood to fully be delivered from the heartache of that time of my childhood.

In 1994, my life was in shambles. I didn’t get into trouble with people, I just felt a powerful sense of rebellion that controlled my life. One day, my mom talked to me about the love of Jesus and how He loved me. She laid hands on me to pray over me. As she prayed, I saw in a vision a fence and me leaning over it. I felt convicted by the Spirit that it was time to quit “straddling the fence”! I went to my room to seek God for myself. I read a book titled, “The Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey. I read Romans 7 in that book, then I finished reading that chapter in my own Bible. The Holy Spirit convicted my heart, so I knelt to talk with Jesus to tell him that I felt like what Paul described in Romans 7. Afterward, I repented and invited Jesus to be my Savior and my Lord! As soon as I did this, it felt like a light was shining down on me. God spoke to my heart. I had an increase in hunger for God’s Word and his presence! On October 3, 1994, I visited a church called the Upper Room. I went up for prayer and as the Pastor prayed for me the Holy Spirit filled me on my mission ministry journey.

The biggest obstacle to my mission ministry journey as I grew into maturity was not realizing my full identity in Christ. I constantly dealt with the fear of rejection and wanting to please everyone around me. I battled anxiety and depression for many years, went to counseling and even got on medicine to ease the discomfort of the anxiety. In May 2017, our church held a Glory Week revival. It was a very powerful move of the Spirit of God! I felt a change in my emotions as I worshipped God. The next week, I began to experience adverse effects from the medicine that I was on for anxiety and depression. I felt it was time to let my medicine go and put my full trust in God and God alone. So I stepped out in faith on May 17, 2017, and came off the medicine. Within 24 hours, everything went back to normal in my body. So, a year later I am walking daily with Jesus and He is taking me deeper into His presence!

My spiritual dream is a work in progress on my mission ministry journey. I am passionate about and have experienced the mission field four times, once in Ecuador and three times in Peru. I love to be on the mission field. My dream is to reach the lost globally, to help meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. My dream stands on three Bible passages that speak to my heart: Psalm 67:1-2, Isaiah 61:1-3, and John 3:16-17.

I found Christian Leaders Institute on a Sunday. While I was at the altar being prayed for, I felt impressed by the Spirit to be a “Global Ambassador for Jesus”. I didn’t know what it meant but as I was checking my email I saw an advertisement for CLI. I felt in my spirit to go after it. As I started my training here, I heard the phrase “global ambassador” from Minister and Director Henry, that confirmed and anchored my decision to go with CLI on my mission ministry journey.

One night I couldn’t sleep, so I used my time to study with CLI. I stayed up all night to study and pray over my specific calling. Early the next morning at 3:03 AM, I received the breakthrough I was seeking during my studies. Here is the vision the Spirit gave me: To teach and train the spiritually poor to be spiritually wealthy in God’s Word! This will involve spiritual gifts and my experience in the media ministry at church can also be utilized in this training vision. My personal Mission Statement is: By God’s grace, I am a person full of compassion and mercy, and He has called me to become a teacher of His Word globally in the body Christ.

With the help of CLI’s free training, I can continue to develop and nurture this vision for my calling. This free training is vital because without it I simply can’t move forward with my current finances. I am praying that CLI will expand to a Masters and Doctorate degree in ministry as my dream is to achieve a Doctorate in Ministry.

Learn about minister ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.