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.
Ben D. Gonzaga was born in 1981 and the only child in the family due to the early death of his father when he was only 8 months old. Ben sufferes from chonic illness but that does not hold him back. Despite his chronic illness, the Lord has gifted him with many skills like carpentry, electrical related works, masonry, plumbing, cooking, driving, animal raising, art craft and many more.
Ben is married to Shim Rose and they have two lovely children, Shiloah and Jephthah.
His conversion to Christ was a slow one. He was converted at age 18. Immediately, he began witnessing to his friends. He was called into ministry at age 21.
Ben began his studies at Christian Leaders Institute in 2014. He has completed over 120 credit hours of classes. He was ordained as a commissioned minister.
He is willing and ready to mentor new CLI students in the Philippines. He will also help with Ordination.
Benedict Simiyu Perekuni is the co-founder of a young ministry known as Healing and Encouragement Church. He is married to Betty Simiyu since 2001. They have three children, Esther born 2002, Alex born 2004 and Kalvin born 2006.
His mother has been a devoted Christian who raised all her children in the Christian way. He father was supportive of his growing faith as well.
Benedict came to personally know God as my Savior while He was in a high school. He received a calling to ministry. He began Christian Leaders Institute in 2015. He was ordained in 2018. He is willing to mentor CLI students in their ministry training and ordination with the Christian Leaders Alliance.
Benny Musarurwa is married to a Godly wife and they have children together. He heard the gospel when he was sixteen years old. He was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit and he became born again. Over the years has been more and more convicted that he should preach the gospel.
Benny started Christian Leaders Institute in 2014. He was ordained as a commissioned pastor in 2016. He is willing to mentor Christian Leaders Institute students and graduates through their ministry training and their ordination process.
Bernard W. Deslandes is married for over ten years and has two sons. He was part of a Christian family from youth so the love for God was planted in him at an early age. The decision to fully commit his life to Christ came in August 1994.
He has sensed the call into ministry from a young age. He began acting on that calling in January of 2005 when he entered full-time ministry.
Being introduced to Christian Leaders Institute in August 2014 by a good friend was like a dream come true as he was never able to afford formal theological training due to the enormous costs associated with attending a religious college.
He was ordained as a minister in the Christian Leaders Alliance in 2015. He is willing and ready to mentor Christian Leaders in their ministry training and ordination.
Bernardo D. Caballero was born in 1968 on Colon, Matanzas, Cuba. He did not come from a Christian family. His parents, however never denied the existence of God. He grew up having faith in supernatural beings, and the wrong ones at that. Their family believed in the syncretism of African religion and Catholic influence which started with the slave trade during the Spanish colonization.
From childhood He was involved in rituals and the offering to unknown deities, mainly out of fear. He never felt peace or truth in that! In communist countries governments forbid the worship of Almighty God. He grew under the atheistic philosophies Karl Marx, Frederick Engel and Vladimir Lenin. He was taught that materialism was the only true.
Bernardo I escape Cuba on 1994 in a raft, was capture in Key West coast and was sent to Guantanamo Bay refugee camp, in Cuba. He spent almost a year at the camp. In July of 1995 He was sent to the continental United States.
In his first years, Bernardo pursued the American Dream, but not God. But he was saved into a relationship with Jesus Christ in 2005. Then he was called into ministry.
Bernardo has been encouraged over the years by many Christian leaders to study and pursue the pastoral ministry. He had been hesitant knowing the responsibility and demand that God places on those who teach and lead. For many years, economics and family accountability have been his main reason for not pursuing a ministerial vocation. He and his wife have three children. He saw no possibility of being able to go to a seminary and prepare. The Lord opened the door for Christian Leaders Institute.
Bernardo has completed the courses to now be ordained as a commissioned minister. He is senior pastor of his church and is willing to help other become ordained with the Christian Leaders Alliance.
Bhekinkosi Jaconia Ntshangase is a husband of one wife, eight children and ten grand children. His wife was instrumental in leading him to the Lord.
In 2011, he sensed the call to ministry. He began Christian Leaders in 2013 and was ordained in 2014. He is willing to mentor CLI students and graduates through their studies and ordination.
Brian has completed 74 credits and has a Diploma in Ministry.
Brian’s Testimony:
I am a South African citizen living in a beautiful world-renowned city of “Durban” in South Africa. South Africa boasts of a culturally rich and diverse ethical atmosphere, and is better known as the “Rainbow Nation”. Peoples of every nation and tongue connect here on our home soil. Religious practices of every kindred are respected and encouraged to flourish within their homes and communities. Christianity like all other religious movements is respected and tolerated equally well here. I hail from a community steeped in idol worship. My small village “Illovo” which is situated in the lower South Coast of Durban has three idol filled temples and two small churches. Everyone is happy and peaceful here. There is rarely or hardly any evangelism done here. On the bigger scale, Christianity is well rooted in South Africa. Both foreign and local ministries (Multi – Denominations) flourish here on South African soil.
Christian Leaders Institute has helped pave the way for me to receive a sound world-class biblical education. The presentation of the study and course material by professional teachers is highly commendable. I have experienced many positive life-changing moments as I pursued my studies here at CLI. Both the study material and the CLI faculty have challenged me in my thinking and in the way I do and perceive things. My mind has been greatly renewed; my understanding of scripture has taken on a new scriptural and biblical dimension. I would strongly recommend any sincere individual, who is serious about God and the Holy Scriptures, to come and study here at Christian Leaders Institute. I am greatly indebted to CLI. Christian Leaders Institute has made it possible for me to be successfully ordained as a pastor.
Carl Thelemaque was born in Central Haiti, but grew up in the metropolitan area of Port au Prince.
Carl broke away from my home when he finished high school. He had the opportunity to come to America. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration, a bachelor in Psychology.
A turn of event changed his life forever. While he was on vacation in Haiti, he was with a long time friend. When looked up the skies and he stated, “The skies appear as if something terrible is about to happen,” he did not take him seriously because they joked around a lot. Two days later, the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 killed hundreds of thousands and he nearly lost my life. At that time, the one word that kept ringing in everyone’s ears was the name of God. There everything became clear to him that he had another purpose on this earth. he quickly engaged himself to rescue and help those in need. He opened up his home which became an operation center to help victims. He spent days not resting or sleeping but it was as if I was being fueled by some other type of energy. God is working!
Carl faced many changes. But a calling to ministry was developing. Carl started Christian Leaders in 2013. He was ordained with the Christian Leaders Alliance in 2014. He now is a key Alliance leader in Haiti. He will mentor those that need help or ordination for ministry.