Student James Saunders was brought to Christian Leaders Institute by friends, mentors and pastors in Scotland. He enrolled to help fulfill his calling of Revival in Scotland and formal ministry training that he could afford! Here is his story…
Revival in Scotland – James’ Story
Greetings, my name is James Saunders, I am fifty-four years old and live in a rural village outside Dunfermline, Scotland. I have been married to my wonderful wife for twenty-four years and we have a son who is about to turn twenty. He is currently in his second year of engineering as a junior officer in the merchant navy. I am working with a Christian charity now after spending many years in the British Armed Forces.
I come from a family who did not and still do not attend church; I, however, took myself to my local church when I was 12 years old. I know now, that after a difficult upbringing, I was looking for a family and the loving Father I did not have at home, and indeed I did find the most loving , forgiving father there is ! My family tells me that I always expressed from a young age that I wanted to become a minister, I do not know why or where this desire came from,but, I did not follow my heart and let life and growing up get in the way. I have experienced much happiness and tragedy in my life, and after a serious car accident that left me with a chronic neck and back injury, and finished my career I again began to focus on God. During my recovery, I became very aware of the blessings in my life and felt obligated to follow my heart and serve Jesus the best way I could.
I still have it on my heart to become a Pastor and have a calling to minister to the forgotten and ignored, the sub cultures and outlawed in our society. Scotland has become very secular and people chase a false dream of wealth thinking it will make them happy. They seek spirituality, but, follow and idolise celebrity and greed. Our organised church is failing and dying, preaching and teaching off scripture and doing more harm than good.
I belong to one of these so called sub cultures…. I am a biker; I have two main passions, Jesus Christ and motorbikes. I have a passion for putting these together for the glory of God and have been drawn to minister to people on the fringes of our society. This can be difficult and at times dangerous. I hope to lead and minister a church that will be different and relevant from our established church, to reach these good people and take to them our Saviour Jesus Christ, give them good and scripturally correct teaching, to set them on a path with a solid foundation and encourage their training.
I have discussed my calling with my church, Viewfield Baptist Church, Dunfermline, ho are very supportive and keen to help.
I also feel that to equip myself for this task I need to receive quality training to enable me to serve in an effective and lasting way, living on a pension I am unable to afford to pay the full cost of theological training locally. I was recommended to use CLI by a friend who is doing this course, I have also been encouraged by my Minister who has offered to mentor and assist me.
I also have the full support of my family and friends who believe that this is my calling and wish to see me succeed.
It is only because of CLI offering these courses that myself and other brothers and sisters in Christ are able to get quality training that will enable us to make a lasting difference in peoples lives!!
I ask you pray that our mission to bring Christ to those cast aside by society, to save and change lives, to bring about revival in Scotland and do this for the Glory of God and in Jesus name !! God bless you.
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