Life Coach Ministry Certification Journey

My name is Evangelist Dr. Carolyn Skinner. My parents were Saint Mother Erma Skinner and Saint Deacon James Erie Skinner Sr. I am the seventh child of my mother and third or fourth child of my father. One child died at birth so I am not quite sure today which place that one held. Both of my parents have passed away.  Thank God my father was able to give his life to our Lord and Savior before his passing. I was truly concerned about him because of the life he was living and the ungodly things he had done. My mother told me later in life that God told her that I was blessed and would preach his word.

I was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Harvey, Illinois. Today my permanent home is in Hernando, Mississippi while my temporary home is in Memphis, Tennessee. After the completion of the adoption of my biological niece and nephew, I hope to return to Mississippi unless God says differently. I have learned through many trials, storms, and hardships not to attempt to set my plans in stone. God, I’ve learned, is well able to crumble the stone into sand and powder if it is not a part of His plan.

My Family History

I have four brothers and four sisters. One sister has passed on and thanks to God, she was reconciled to Him before her passing. She had been raised in holiness then as she grew she become a Muslim. Once again she gave her life to Christ after my mom’s passing. We had been estranged until my mom’s passing. When she found out that God had called me into the ministry, she and I spent long hours talking about God. Then He took her home. God showed me my sister’s death in a dream prior to her passing.

My father suffered many things after my mother’s passing. I suffered many things at his hands. However, in the end God saved him and repaired our relationship. My father passed knowing that I loved him and me knowing that he loved me and my children.

At present, I am estranged with most of my living siblings and relatives because of my stand for Christ. This is hard at times.  God has granted me with my children, my spiritual family, and a few close friends. I am one who does not trust easily because of the trials and safety net I needed for me and my children.

God has blessed me to obtain several degrees. I have a Ph.D., MSSW, MBA, BSW, AS and several certificates for business. Also, I have earned a Biblical Certificate in Biblical Studies and am an ordained Evangelist for God. However, I hope to also gain the ordination from Christian Leader Institute. I feel that this is a very important step in my ministry pursuit in the school and life’s work for Christ.

Early Life and Conversion

At the age of eight years old I was water baptized. Even then I didn’t want to do anything that would displease God. I wanted to be a vessel of honor and not dishonor. I had remembered hearing or reading that in God’s word. As a child I prayed for this.

At age nine years old I asked God to save me. I really didn’t understand the acceptance of being baptized with the Holy Ghost. However, I knew I wanted God in my life. I needed somebody to talk to other than my mother. My father was not saved at the time, which put us at odds with each other. I didn’t involve myself in sinful behavior which my other siblings had no problem being a part of.

My mother received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and was water baptized when I was 7 or 8 years old. My youngest brother and I were baptized with her. I believed this changed my mother and my own baptism changed my life that day. My mother used to spend two or three hours with us after church in the car going over scriptures and talking about God. My mother taught all of her children to sing. We used to sing as a group visiting churches with our pastor during special services.

At age nine my mother changed churches. We became members of Old Landmark Church of God Holiness In Christ in Chicago. It was under the leadership of Apostle Robert Lee Mitchell, the founder and overseer. This is still my home church today. God has at this time stationed me at Foundational Rock Holiness Church. It is under the watchful care of Elder John A. Harris in Memphis, TN. I am grateful to my home church for my foundation in God. At age 21 God baptized me with the Holy Ghost. I became of legal age in the United States and I became a new creature in God’s Heavenly kingdom.

Growing and College Education

My parents decided to move to the South my last year in college at Governors State University. I was studying to complete my Bachelor’s in Social Work. My parents rented a townhouse after selling the home I had been raised in.  It was one of the worst times I had ever experienced in my young adult life. I walked around for a year feeling that I had no ground underneath me. I felt I had no home. Constantly I thought about a book I had read as a child which had a poem in it that said:

“No sky above; no ground below; only a land of snow”

The place I knew as home for 12 years had been sold. The parents that had always been there were now 550 miles away in Mississippi. All I knew of that state was acts of the Klu Klux Klan and oppression of black people. We are black.  My parents had purchased five acres of land in a predominately white neighborhood and I feared for their safety. But I knew I had to trust God. My mother was saved and well educated. Our father was an intelligent man even if not saved. My adopted sister was with them. God was going to take care of them. He just had to. I was scared. I was to the point of crying often but knowing I had to push on. Phone calls and periodic visits from my mother or both parents made the separation less unbearable.

My mother had told me that I had to stay and finish college because where they had moved would not be good for me without my degree. She was right, of course. I faced many racial prejudices at work and at the church we began to attend. I was from the north, black and a female.

Saint or Sinner

Surprisingly, to me, however, were the reactions from black males and females. To them I was either usurping authority because I had an education which put me over the black males, or I was making the black females look bad because they didn’t work like me and I shouldn’t either. At church, I was told I was stuck up because I had an education. People felt I thought I was better than others. It was not my fault that I had earned my degrees and followed my mother’s instructions.

However, I found that the whites (Caucasians) were easier to deal with and at times more friendly though there were still some prejudices. I ended up with more white male friends because of the way I carried myself. Up north, I had more black male friends because of the way I carried myself. I would presume it was because we lived in a predominately black community. My mother stated once that the men saw me as one of them because I was not going around flirting with them. I was nice but I was holy and did my job. I could hold my own.

My belief is that God sees two types of people-saint or sinner. If we belong to God he sees only the blood of Jesus no matter what the nationality. We are his adopted children. The sinners are those whom the Bible says are asleep and need to be awakened. I am to be a witness to them. Having a social work background gives me the people skills to persuade people or just walk away.

A Song in My Heart

It was hard however for me to leave the North. All of my friends, brothers and sisters (saints and biological)lived in the North and Mississippi was the unknown environment. God in his mercy gave me a song in my heart to help me understand his desire. And it went something like this:

The safest place in the whole wide world,

It’s in the will of God.

When God says go__

You better, you better, you better go___

For it’s in the will of God.

For three weeks after graduating and all while relocating to Mississippi, that song was running through my mind. I had turned down a prominent social work position offer at Aunt Maratha’s Youth Center because I knew that I had to follow God’s leading. My life was ending in Illinois and was to begin by God’s command in the South. I don’t know if it will end here. I’ve only seen glimpses of what God has promised and I don’t know what state or country that will be.

The Call To Ministry

I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and body. It is my desire to do his will. I have often prayed to God to give me an agape love for him. I wonder why I didn’t see the calling of God on my life. So it amazes me and I smile when I am asked to give my testimony of how I chose ministry or became a preacher of God’s word.

My testimony is that I didn’t choose ministry. I had no desire to preach God’s word. What I didn’t know was that God had created me for that purpose and has a calling on my life to preach his word.

While working with my mother in our woman-owned commercial construction company, I began to have a zeal to truly seek God. God had told us to search the scriptures. Enoch was righteous. There were giants in the land. There’s a book called Jasper. I couldn’t turn my mind off. I needed to know and the answers weren’t coming over the pulpit.

Surely there had to be more for women to do in God’s kingdom than sing in the choir. There is more than being a nurse, usher, missionary and even raising children. The Holy Ghost lead me to II John 2:1-3 concerning the “Elect Lady”. I went through my Mathew Henry’s Commentary to understand this. I had not heard of her in the way she was described in this book.

The Holy Ghost lead me to The Lost Books of the Bible. I then found books called Why Not Women?, Women, God’s Secret Weapon, and Apostle Paul and Thecla, A female Apostle. I still didn’t want to preach. I just wanted to be a well-informed member sitting on a pew in the church who knew if the preacher was teaching right.

God lead me to the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. I would finish work on Friday, eat dinner and start reading this series starting at 6pm and not stop until 7 or 8 am the next day. My weekends were filled with studying these books. I looked up every scripture they gave using my Bible, Matthew Henry, and Strong’s Concordance. I prayed as I did.

A Desire for Deeper Learning

The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I could hardly wait for the next book to be published. While reading the series, I went to church one Sunday morning and an African preacher (Minister Smith) was there. I had never seen him before. After preaching, he told the people that he was only going to pray for the people with whom God had a star upon their head. There were six people with whom he prayed for and I was one of them. (Praise God).

That evening we returned to the church because we were in a revival service. As this same minister began to pray for the people, he walked over to me and asked if he’d prayed for me that morning. I answered yes. He began to smile and tell me that I was so blessed. God was going to take me places that I have never been.

He said people were going to look up to me. God was going to be with me and he prayed for me again. I really didn’t understand the other, but just to know that my God was going to be with me. That made my heart glad and I was thankful. I knew God loved me. That same night an evangelist in the church came and told me that God had a work for me to do. He would show me what it was. I must have shown unbelief because she repeated it and told me to just wait. God would.

I went back home and back to studying. One evening during my reading of the Left Behind series, I asked God to help me understand the book of Revelations. The series was dealing with this book and I couldn’t seem to get a thorough understanding. It was as if immediately blinders fell from my eyes and I could understand the book as plain as day. I then asked Jesus to please allow me to come back with him to fight when he comes with the 10,000 of his saints. Immediately after I said it, I heard God say, “If you want to fight there, then fight here.”

What God Promised…and Didn’t

I really didn’t understand that until years later in my trials and preaching God’s word. God didn’t promise me that I would come back with the 10,000 saints. He instructed me to fight for him here if I have that desire. My interpretation is I may be a little off but, God knew what I was to do for him on this earth. He said fight. I was to fight for his kingdom. This reminds me of the scripture that says, “Heaven suffered violence and the violent taketh by force.”

I had run all my life. Any time anyone attempted to get me to speak or teach a topic at church, I ran. I always had somewhere to go or something to do. I refused to allow a man to put me up because I knew if a man put me up, he could take me down.

One day God let me get hurt moving some furniture at home. When I went up for prayer and one of the elders told me that he heard “Evangelist” when he touched me. In turn I asked him to pray for me concerning this.  I prayed as well. I didn’t want to go that way but I wanted to do God’s will. When I got to where my mother was, I informed her of what the elder said. She told me that she already knew. God had told her that I was special and blessed even as a child.

I asked her why she didn’t tell me about the ministry? Her answer was that a few weeks before my going to prayer that she had tried. But I didn’t understand so she knew it was not her place to tell me. She did, however, tell me that someone in our family ancestry had to have carried God’s word. Now the mantle had passed to me. In 2017 I did a family tree research with my children dating back to 1725. There are so many preachers in our ancestry. Praise God! I am so humbled by this fact and thankful for being chosen.

I told my mother that evening that God knows how stubborn I am especially about the things regarding him and how stiff-necked people are. Maybe I am really not the one for the job. My mother told me to pray on it and allow God to speak to me. Needless to say, I cried for almost a week. By Thursday of that week, Thanksgiving, I was as “Mary” saying, “Lord, let it be unto me as you require. I am your handmaiden.”

Encouragement from Unexpected Places

We had a visiting Bishop who was also a long-time family friend. I had known him since my early childhood. He had come from Chicago, IL for our special Thanksgiving Service. After preaching the second night he began to pray for the people. When he got to me, the first word out of his mouth was “PROMOTION”. He asked the saints to repeat it and they did. Then he told me that “PROMOTION” does not come from the East or West but from above, and began to anoint my hands and pray for me. At that point, the Holy Ghost began to move upon me.

The next day this same Bishop and his family came to have dinner with my family. I got a chance to spend time alone with him. As we talked, he began to tell me how God had dealt with him concerning me. He began to tell me what God was going to do in my ministry. God was going to put me over a large ministry.  I needed to make sure I tell the people the truth because many people are going to go by what I say. They may not read God’s word for themselves. I need to study God’s word well.

That summer I went to my home church’s Holy Convocation in Chicago. One of the nurses came up to me after I sat down and said, “God bless you, Evangelist” I asked her how she knew.  I had just gotten into town and had not even told our Apostle. She told me that God told her to get up and greet me that day. She has ever since. I was still struggling with having been called by God to such a great work.

Growing up I always kept a diary. After accepting God’s calling on my life, he allowed me to go back and read through the pages. I was amazed how he had been letting me write. He was calling me at a young age and I didn’t even recognize it. Again, I cried, feeling so humbled and honored that God had chosen me. It was just like my mother said as a child. God is so AWESOME. I’m overwhelmed with love and appreciation of him each time I remember what he has done.

I didn’t begin to preach soon after God called me. I knew I had to study and allow God to mold me. Calling to ministry means to listen more intently, pray more often and study much more in-depth.

My Ministry Journey

In 2001 unbeknown to us, my mother became ill. She had left our family home deciding to divorce my father. He had joined the church we were in but unfortunately had taken on an unhealthy spirit. The verbal, emotional, and mental abuse my mother suffered at the hands of my father was tremendous. He had also began to have relations with an evangelist at the church whom we later found out dealt in witchcraft.

I didn’t learn of the possible divorce until she came back at my request.  Sometimes, I wonder if I had just let her stay where she was if she would still be alive today. I lost my best friend and at times it still hurts. My mother started having back problems to the point she could not stay up very long. The constant abuse my father committed and allowed my youngest brother to do towards her was shameful. It started being a battleground in our home because I refused to allow my father or siblings disrespect my mother.

In 2001 my mother was diagnosed with small lymphoid cancer. The doctors couldn’t figure out how she developed it. Today I know it was the stress and various abuses she suffered at the hands of my family. I took my mother to  Indiana where my mother and I were loaned my second oldest sister money to buy a home. My mother and I suffered much from her hands. During our stay in Indiana, my father and youngest brother learned how much money my mother and the company had in the bank. They kept calling trying to get the money from her. When they found out that I was her power of attorney, I became the target of insults from them. Hence, my second oldest sister refused to help my mother.

Journey with My Mother

In March of 2003 the doctors allowed me to take my mother home to Mississippi for a week to rest from treatments. My youngest brother physically assaulted me while my father stood by and refused to help. He was angry that I would not call the car shop and have them release my mother’s car to them.  My mother had told me a year before that my brother and I were like Cain and Abel and I must be careful around him.

I had let my guard down caring for my mother. I saw her heartbreak a little that day. It seemed that my mother’s heart was constantly breaking a little more each time she was around my father and my siblings. She seemed to be giving up on life. Mine broke as well. That time my mother should have been seeing God move in the life of her daughter as a minister of God. Instead, she was sick and having to battle her husband and her children.

My mother and I felt as though we were on one side of a drawn line and the family on the other. We could not bow down to the devil to have unity in our home. It didn’t feel like I was blessed. I felt forgotten by God or cursed for something I couldn’t remember doing.

The Letting Go

My mother began to talk about her passing. I didn’t want her to give up. She was all I had and I wanted and needed her. She was the only one I had to share God with and the only one I felt truly loved me. Pastor Benny Hinn was in Memphis at that time and I told her that we would go and see him. Let’s see if God was going to say that we should not give up.

That night we did go as planned. The Lord sent a word to me through an elderly woman. She came and sat down beside me and told me that God told her to tell me “He was going to complete his perfect work in me.” But there was not a word for my mother. She seemed unconcerned and happy at what God had told me. But I needed my mother. All my life I had come against great obstacles with my family. My father led the pack. Mother was the wall between us.

My mother went into a coma about a week after we returned to Dyer. The morning before then, I told her that I loved her and she told me that she knew it and loved me too. Then she began to say that I would have no one when God took her home. How right she was about my natural family until my father truly got saved.

The night before I sang her every spiritual song she had taught me. I didn’t know it would be the last time I would hear her voice or be able to sing to her. When I stopped singing, she asked me to sing them again and keep singing. I sang until I knew she was asleep. That next morning I could not wake her. She was taken to the hospital.

My mother would not wake up out of the coma. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t come out and get better. She was stable. My pastor’s wife came to me and told me that my mother was holding on for me. I needed to let her know that I would be alright. I had to do just what my mother had to do for her mother. She also struggled to let go knowing she was needed. I went to the hospital and told her that I was in God’s hands and not to worry about me. If God wanted to take her home, go. I would be fine. My family became very upset when they heard me do this. I was obeying what the Oracle of God had told me to do.

Two weeks later my mother was in the ICU with the doctors asking me to tell them what to do concerning her. As her trusted daughter, I had to know what she wanted. Should they pull the plug on her breathing machine? I told them I needed to pray on it. At home, I prayed and talked to God. I asked him to tell me what I should do and know it it was from him. There could be no doubt in my mind.

When Mother Met Jesus

On Sunday morning , May 4, 2003, just before I awoke, God took me to the hospital in a dream. Mother was sitting up with no wires or anything else attached to her. In the dream, she told me that I needed to let her go. I asked her if she wanted to stay with me. She replied, “Baby, you’ve got to let me go home.” I immediately woke up. I was saying in my mind, “Lord, what is this. I’ve got to talk to somebody.” God then spoke to me and said, “You told me to tell you in a way that no other person could tell you so that you would know it was me.”

I cried, but I knew my mother was going home. She was leaving me for good in this life. At some point, I would wake up and she would not be there. I felt truly alone even before God took her from me. I went to church that day and talked with my Apostle. He told me not to give permission for them to pull the plug. God had already shown me what he was going to do. Let him do the work. My family was already at odds with me because my mother had made me her power-of-attorney. If I gave permission they would always say I killed our mother.

On Monday, May 5, 2003, we were called to the hospital. She was awake but her organs were shutting down. I called some of the ministers from the church to come with me for support. It was as if she knew she was taking her last looks of each of us before crossing the Jordan River to meet our saved ones on the other side. We sang praises to God until she closed her eyes for the last time. Her heart stopped beating. It was a glorious yet sad day.

My mother was buried in our church mausoleum in a suburb of Illinois. Even now it hurts to relive all of this. I pray all who read this later will gain strength and encouragement for their own journey. The righteous have a peaceful end just as Jesus Christ promised us.

I found out later after my mother’s passing that she kept telling my dad and second oldest sister that that man sitting in the chair was coming for her. Of course they couldn’t see Jesus Christ, however, he told us that he would meet us on our dying bed. Sometimes, I wonder why the Lord did not let my mother tell me. But I was having a hard time and had stated that I wanted us to die together. Then wanted to kill myself later after so much trouble with my family after her passing. I know God knows and knew what was best.

Being Tested

After my mother’s burial before I returned to Mississippi I went to see my Apostle. In that meeting, God told him to tell me that he was going to try me. That I had lived served all my life before him while my mother was alive. Now he wanted to know if I would continue to serve him.

And YES! My trials began. They were so heavy. As the old saying goes, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” Before one trial could end, another began. There were storms, tornados, hurricanes, and tsunamis. I was still considered the black sheep of my family. God was trying me. I again felt like I was cursed instead of blessed. God had many ministers whom I had never seen before give me prophecy and tell me that I was so blessed.

I was taken to court concerning the custody of my two God-given children. It was stated by my own father that I was the worst child my mother ever had. He said  I had no integrity and was a vicious liar. All this was said by my own father. I sat there in the courtroom praying that God would let the judge see through the smoke and mirrors that my family and lawyers had presented. God did just that.

The judge told the lawyers that it appeared to him that I was my family’s problem-solver and then when not needed I was the scum of the earth until the next time needed. He stated that he didn’t believe one word my father said. He wondered how could a man have a wife who is sick for six months and he leaves her with a daughter he claims to be as he described.  The judge ruled against three attorneys that day.

He Never Left Me

I have been beaten, jailed and made homeless several times because of my determination to obey God. I have obeyed him in caring for my children. We are homeless today, but not out on the street, thanks to God). God allowed me to collect Social Security due to a work accident. I broke part of my shoulder completely off and hurt my lower back. God has provided us shelter at a hotel for almost five years.

God fed us, clothed us, and provided the necessary transportation. He provided the opportunity during this pandemic to purchase another car. He provided the way to pay for our room. At one point I owed the hotel $1,800. I know it was God who kept us here.

God told me that he had given me these two children and he would hold me accountable. I told God that if he would be with me and provide for us, I would obey him. I already loved them as though I had given birth to them. Of course, it was God who put that motherly love there. I have been their primary caretaker since birth. I got custody when Alyssa was four and Raymond 2 years of age. They are now 17 and 15 years old.

God has shown himself once again to be faithful despite every fiery dart Satan threw at us. On August 12, 2021 the adoption was completed over Zoom with the judge. Even during the pandemic, God granted what he promised, that he would complete our family unit. To God I give this praise.

When God called me to the ministry, he let me know that I would have a ministry of women. I love to teach in the secular world and for God. God allowed me to suffer physical abuse at the hands of my youngest brother. He let me become a single mother so that I would understand female trials and victories. God taught me how to network and trust in him for all things.

My Personal Life

My personal life is full and sometimes I just don’t feel like I have enough hours in the day. I love to spend time with Raymond and Alyssa. We watch TV, do devotions, play board games and chase each other around the room at times. We love to search the internet to watch religious movies as well as action, comedy, animated, mystery, and family shows. I do my best to keep them in sports. I am a soccer, basketball, and football mom. When my transportation was down, God allowed their coaches and other parents to step in.

I am thankful for the church van I used before the pandemic. It was our mode of transportation to the house of God. I was determined to be in place on Sundays to hear from God. Each message felt geared towards me. God was constantly-through prayers of the ministers-letting me know that he is answering my prayers. I remember at least three times in the past three months of 2019, God asking what I wanted him to do for me. He told me to say what I wanted and he would do it. Thank God for what he is doing. I am doing my best to stay in that windy place as I have learned at Christian Leaders Institute.

I have loved to read all my life and am a known nerd.  God has blessed me with a rather large library of spiritual books. Even though I lost clothes, furniture, and appliances, God allowed me to store my books and family pictures. I longed for a Divinity degree when God called me to it but lacked the finances. I was truly blessed by God to find Christian Leaders Institute. In August of 2019, I was asked to set things up for some of our ministers for the prison ministry. I am so excited because I have a passion for this and see a great need for prison ministry. Once the prisons reopen to the public, I can be a part of the outreach team.

I have passed Christian Leaders Institute information on to all those at my watch care church that are interested in working in the prison ministry.  They would be better ambassadors for Christ. An evangelist at my home church requested information once she found out that I was attending. In just the short time CLI has made a great impact in and on my life.

Moving Forward

I once believed that I was the tail and not the head in my family. They had moved on since my mother’s passing. They got what they wanted from my father weeks after my mother’s passing. I was jailed and black-balled. I tried to conform to some of the things my family wanted. Again, when it came to God I could not bow. My family was infuriated with me then and still is.  But God gave me reconciliation with my dad. I realize that I am blessed. I am not the tail of my family but the head. My children and I pray for them daily knowing that their souls are the most important thing.

My siblings know my stand for God is true and therefore, I repel their unrighteousness. I must be a true witness and ambassador no matter what the cost. God will and is answering my prayers according to his will. I cannot make this journey without him. It would be futile for me to try. God has been my and my children’s Rock and Strong Deliverer. I know he will complete his perfect work in me. Part of that is my training at CLI. God has even granted me reconciliation with my stepmother and I truly thank him for that as well.

I truly believe that God knows what I need.  Formal training is the key to helping lead his people in holiness and eternal life in Christ. I pray my testimony will help someone realize God is not only helping us through our spiritual journey but pulling us out of the devil’s hands.

Becoming a Wedding Officiant

I am so excited to have finished my Wedding Officiant Skills Class here at CLI. It by far has been the most interesting class I have taken here. Not because many of the other classes have not been interesting, but because I learned how to do a wedding message and ceremony. I learned the history of what I and many other leaders think, are Biblical facts. Husbands and wives don’t really understand about submissive wives and sacrificial husbands. I truly believe that if more leaders would teach this the way Dr. Feddes taught us in “Wedding Officiant Skills,” that there would be less divorce. More marriages in America and other countries would succeed.

I am asking God to grant me the opportunity to teach this in my community to help men and women. I truly believe that the marriages will thrive and help children and the community grow. If God permits, I want to do premarital counseling. I believe this will be a plus in my Life Coaching at some point because people do need to examine their lives with spouses as well.

Ministry Officiant

When God Called me to the ministry, he let me know that I would have a ministry of women. I would be their teacher and example. I love to teach though as as stated, didn’t want to be in ministry. My desire was to know what the leaders knew. I love to teach in the secular world and I definitely love to for God.  He gave me that love.

I know that as a female I must get a formal religious education. It will license me but is also from an accredited institution for the following reasons:

1. Many men especially in America don’t want to accept female preachers, especially if they know more. You wouldn’t expect it in this day and age. However, I have run into several men who believe this. It is just amazing how much they don’t know and don’t want the women or men to know. These men want to use the “usurping authority” card and not understand the meaning of that term.  Many don’t even want females to grace the pulpit yet women are the major contributors in providing for the building these men are in. It is so sad that the women truly believe that these men are right. They are not reading for themselves to discover the truth that preaching is none gender specific but by Christ of whom he will.

2. God has given me a task and informed me ahead of time that I must study and teach the people right. Many won’t even open their Bibles. So I need to have a formal education and a license that says that I know what I am talking about.

3. Women are truly able to get through to other women because they share their plight. We know how to teach men who truly want to learn about God and life. Many women are single mothers as I am. A license says that not only am I a woman like them but I have formal educational and license behind me. My credentials show that I can help them with their problems by directing them to God. Coupled with my social work background, I know how to network and find the needed resources for them and their families.

4. God has granted me a position in his Five-Fold Ministry and I want to give my all. I know that God sent me to Christian Leaders Institute to gain the knowledge that he knows I need to fulfill his purpose in my life.

5. Being able to show that I am a licensed minister will open many doors around the world for me to teach God’s word. It creates opportunities normally closed to women (especially black women such as myself).

I am in the process of also finishing up my Life Coach Certification and Licensing her at Christian Leaders Alliance. I hope to continue my education to reach my ultimate aspiration of becoming a Chaplain in church, school, hospital, nursing home or even in a federal agency.

Without Christian Leaders Institute and Alliance I could not see this being a possibility. I feel much more confident and competent in my ability to achieve these goals and serve God’s people. The Ministry Officiant Class has helped empower me even the more to do the job God has given me.

Life Coach Minister Certification

I learned about the profession of Life Coach about ten years ago. It became a fascination of how it  helps people. I am a social worker and learned years ago what clients want to do concerning their problems. It’s a very new concept and not really used when I moved to the South from the North. I still believe the client needed to take control over their own lives. I used the technique of ‘yes, we dive into your past for awhile’ but we need to get them up and running. They need to control their lives and be self-sufficient.

When I read about the Life Coach program at CLI, it amazed me.  This school was teaching what I had learned at Aunt Martha’s Youth Center. To me, it is the best system. I learned the client knows best how to handle things. I could spend all day telling the client what to do. As Professor Elzinga taught, I could download all my knowledge into my client, but that is my dream and my ability. If they don’t buy into it, then they will fail and it is my fault. However, if I let them lead and learn what they want to do and put into action, they win and I win. If they lose it is their loss and not mine.

The Win-Win Situation

I love the idea of the win-win situation better though. It has always been important to me to help people. To me this is my best logical step while trying to obtain my ultimate goal. Thank God for allowing me to complete this portion of the Life Coach classes. I pray he guides me to the people he has chosen me to help.

Without CLI, I don’t see how it would have been possible to complete this dream. I am able to reach for the stars because God has provided us with great holy people who understand the need for a formal education. However, many can’t afford the high cost of such an education. I am one of them. Raising two teenagers by myself is expensive. To have an accredited education that cost very little is invaluable to me.

The word of God in 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV tells us to study and show ourselves approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The studies here at CLI help not only me but every student who attends.