Ministry Dream

I am a Digital Missionary as well as serving a local nursing home with visitations and chapel. I hope someday to get a degree through CLI

Ministry Journey

My name is Neale Bacon. I live in Penticton BC. I am happily married to a wonderful woman named Bev and we just celebrated 40 years of marriage. We have 2 kids and 5 grandkids.

I call this Testimony of a Dummy because, for most of my life, I was a professional ventriloquist and magician, but also had many opportunities to minister to many denominations with this unique gift. In between my performances, I also worked in Vancouver's Down Town East Side, known as the poorest postal code in Canada. There I worked at shelters and ended up as director of The Salvation Army Crosswalk which was a shelter as well as a drop-in centre. It, unfortunately, closed in 2001 due to funding cuts.

Church wise - As a child, I was SENT to Sunday School, as there was a church across the street. In 1968 my family moved from Richmond BC to Smithers BC. Later as a teenager, I met Reverend Ken Miller who was the first gospel ventriloquist I had ever seen. He taught me ventriloquism.  I attended a Christian coffee house in the 1970’s, and there I made a commitment to the Lord, but none of my family were Christians and so the flame quickly dimmed. It lay dormant until I came back to the Lord at the age of 19 after graduating and moving back to Vancouver BC, and spent a lot of years church hopping. The Lord brought me to The Salvation Army where I did some volunteer work and eventually came on as staff. Long story short  I said to her I had a good experience with the Salvation Army. Why don't we try the local Salvation Army? This led to the Army being our church home since 1993, though I had been around the Army since 1979. We were soldiers in the Salvation Army in New Westminster BC. I am also the Corps Sergeant Major. This is kind of like a lay leader or lay pastor.

I retired (or tried to) in 2020 and we moved to Penticton from Burnaby to be closer to our daughter and her family.

I had gotten tired of driving hundreds if not thousands of miles doing shows. While I am still able to, I wanted to serve the Lord more and to that end took a part-time job at our Salvation Army church as an outreach worker, ministering to families, youth and children. The church has been working with a lot of new immigrant families in Canada. That contract ended but that's ok as God has put another call on my heart.

God has been encouraging me to come off the road, and use my gifts for him. As the Corps Sergeant Major, I got to preach regularly, I got to minister at a local nursing home once a month. I worked with some of our immigrant and refugee families who had come through our volunteer programs and are now part of the church.

My biggest spiritual dream since moving to Penticton is to be able to reach out to children around the world with the gospel. I have a YouTube channel where I share videos for both kids and adults. These are now seen in 23 countries – mostly countries closed to the gospel. I also minister at a local nursing home where I do visitations, chapel services and now and then call the occasional bingo game.

I am ordained as a Commissioned Minister with CLA and a member of the Christian Ministers Association of Canada. We now attend Bethel Pentecostal Church in Penticton.

I was never able to go to college because as they say, I was born with nothing, and still have most of it. I am so grateful to CLI for these courses as I enter these silver years (gold is a way off yet) and focus on my work for my Lord.

It is a new season of life and I plan to make the most of it for my Lord.

Herb Marr lives in New Maryland, New Brunswick, Canada. He is over 60 years old and has retired from a career in the Canadian Armed Forces where he served in the Army and then the Air Force.

Herb married Lynn in 1989 and have raised three sons. Lynn is an administrative assistant working for the New Brunswick Government.

Herb was trained as an Evangelist in a three-year course graduating in 2002 and have worked as a Chaplain and minister in his community.

Herb's faith journey started as a child in Sunday School, but his faith became real to him after I fell away and was caught up in the disease of alcoholism. During my early days of sobriety, He was invited to attend Chapel by two fellow soldiers and soon after turned his life over to Christ.

Herb began Christian Leaders Institute in 2017. He has completed his deacon minister ordination, and he is willing to mentor others and guide them through the process of ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.

Joseph has been a student at CLI since 2017 and since then has completed 73 credit hours with us, earned his Deacon ordination and several awards.

A father of 4, a former corporate professional, published author, and talk radio host, Joseph brings experience in the areas of marriage, divorce, infidelity, addiction, online pornography obsession, and depression, as a certified professional counselor and therapist. 

He has served as a spiritual counselor to the elderly and as a street evangelist and street minister to the homeless.  In addition to his diplomas with Christian Leaders Institute.

Joseph has multiple certificates with Harvard University in Christian Studies and has undergone formal training in Deliverance Ministry.

Joseph spent 30 years researching various false religions, reading books such as the Writings of Buddha, the Koran, The Baghadat Gita, and others, before he had his very own "Road to Damascus" experience, and unconditionally gave himself exclusively (with all of his heart, his mind, and his strength) to Christ, recognizing Jesus as "The Way, the Truth, and the Life."  Not just 'a way', but 'The Way'.  

Read Joesph's Testimony in His words

I came to know God through my family, our attendance at Church, and by attending Christian school from Kindergarten to Grade 12.  However, I did not truly realize my walk with God until late in life.  This was inspired by a culmination of life experiences both good and bad.

One day, while struggling with a very unfortunate human event, I gave myself unconditionally and fully to Christ.  Immediately, I was given the strength and wisdom to persevere and overcome.  I realized that prior to that moment, I enjoyed knowing that Christ was there, but I had neglected my faith and had made God the least of my daily priorities.

As I think of my future ministry, the word that comes to mind is a pastor.  I believe that my attributes, experience, and passions, will serve Christ best in this role.  I am enthusiastic and fulfilled at the very thought.  In terms of key experiences that prompted me to pursue my ministry studies, I cannot name only one.  It was a culmination of experiences, and in hindsight, I recognize how over the course of my entire life, God has been preparing me.

I recognize how over the course of my entire life, God has been preparing me.

Connecting to the Bible has transformed me by validating for me all that I had believed previously, but had taken for granted.  I had diluted my faith placing God as a fixture on the periphery of my daily existence, but I had not recognized and realized that he was always there front and center.  Connecting to the Bible has made me realize this.

Joseph is willing to help and serve other CLI students!

Lawrence started CLI in 2017 and has completed 13 credit hours with a Deacon minister ordination.

Lawrence's Testimony:

My name is Lawrence Carpio, born in Marikina City, Philippines. I am raised by my parents in a Baptist Church and Christian since February 1993. I graduated as an Electronics Engineer in our country and been working in Biomedical Engineering Field for 15 years. My life change when God used me in the church and ministry from Saudi Arabia to Canada.

I accepted Jesus Christ when I was a Teenager but I committed my life to Christ when I worked in Saudi Arabia. My life is transformed when I serve God and met my beautiful wife who is very supportive of my ministry. It started when I was assigned as a member of the Dance Ministry then appointed as a Head Servant. God gave me an opportunity to serve not only in the Church but in my home. We started to have a bible study in our home with my wife and mother-in-law. The opportunities continued when I was ordained as a Cell Group Leader in our Church and assigned to handle a Bible Study Group in one company. With my best friend Mario, working also in that company, we shared the Gospel and then started the Bible Study once a week. The church also assigned me as a member in Evangelism Ministry. However, several years enjoying serving God, I was ordained as a Deacon, Trained as a Cell Group Leader and finished the Evangelism course.

In Canada, me, my wife Flowela Carpio and two sons, David and Daniel found a church that can continue to fellowship with Christians last October 2013 and then started a Bible Study for the Filipinos live in our town last May 2014 until now.

My wife and I have the same goals are to share the Gospel and win more souls in our town and near to us. After a couple of months, we met Sister Grace a Filipino Christian who committed to our Bible Study and assist me as a BS Teacher. Then Valeza and Dupra family helped us in this ministry.