Andy Elliott is a follower of Jesus, husband, father of four, business owner and pastor of a new church plant named, The Beat Church, in the greater Austin, TX area.

Although he was raised in the church he turned to alcohol, pornography, and anger. He believes much of this stemmed from doors opened after having my first sexual contact at the age of 5 with an older male cousin. He praises God for a friend who brought him to a pastors house at 3 am passed out drunk in the back of his car. It was an ugly beginning but proved to be the turning point to restoring his relationship with Jesus.

He began Christian Leaders Institute in 2016. He received his Bachelor of Divinity and is now ordained as a minister of the Word in the Christian Leaders Alliance. He is willing to mentor CLI students and help them become ordained in the Christian Leaders Alliance.

Ed Butler was in Berwyn, Illinois in 1961 and raised in Joliet, Illinois area. His parents were not Christians started to attend church in Hickory Hills Illinois shortly after his birth. He grew up in that church and was saved at the age of 9.

At one point He read a book called Halftime by Bob Buford. In it he described how God had led

Christian Leaders Alliance Elder-Director gives the ordination prayer for Ed Butler.

him to spend the second half of his life in service to the Lord. He remembers thinking how that would be an amazing goal.

Ed and his family moved to Texas in 2000. He became increasingly convinced that God was working and calling me to ministry.

By 2014, Christian Leaders Institute was an answer to prayer for ministry training. CLI was a perfect fit for his lifestyle.

After graduating with his Bachelor of Divinity degree, Ed took a position as interim pastor at FBC in Quinlan, Tx. They called him to be there full time Pastor just a few months later. They have grown from around 25 at his first Sunday to averaging 75-85 most Sunday mornings in the first two year at this church.

Ed will willing to mentor any Christian Leaders Student and assist them into ordination as the Lord leads.

Francois Alberts is married to a godly woman. They have four children.

He was a software specialist that develop software in thirty two (32) languages for all platforms, but now he is a full time Counselling Pastor at Remembrance – Church of God and help to counsel patients at Helen Joseph Hospital, in Johannesburg through HospiVision.

He is kingdom minded and works with pastors all over Africa.

He began Christian Leaders Institute in 2016. He has a Bachelor Degree of Divinity. He is an ordained minister of the Word in the Christian Leaders Alliance.

He is willing to mentor students and graduates of CLI. He will assist with ordination in the Christian Leaders Alliance.

Itony Telusnord is married and has one child. He was at the university and had a great hunger to know more about God. He had a friend at the university that opened up the Word. That same friend is now an ordained leader with the Christian Leaders Alliance.

Itony works as a professional, but more and more he sensed the calling into ministry. He began his studies at Christian Leaders Institute in 2014. He has a bachelor degree in divinity from CLI. He was ordained as a minister of the Word with the Christian Leaders Alliance.

He is willing to mentor others who are studying at CLI and are seeking ordination with the Christian Leaders Alliance.

Jim Tibby lives in Clearwater, Florida with his Wife, Lynne. He was raised in the Church, and He believed in God and Christ Jesus. Growing up, Tibby had all of the head knowledge but did not trust in Jesus. As it has been said, “I missed God by 18 inches” (The distance between the head and the Heart). As a Freshman in college, Jim accepted Jesus as his LORD and Savior through the efforts of Campus Crusade for Christ while attending Arizona State University as a Music Major. He immediately began directing a choral and instrumental group sponsored by Campus Crusade called “That Certain Sound”.

Throughout the years, He has been Minister of Music or Director of Music through many Churches in Florida. He was Bi-vocational as his full-time occupation was in many aspects of the Real Estate Profession including residential and commercial sales, appraising, training, and sales management.

Just before his retirement from full-time employment in Real Estate, the Holy Spirit convicted him that I needed to pursue Ministry training. He had an increased hunger for the Word.

He began Christian Leaders Institute in 2015. He was ordained in 2017. He is a minister of the Word with the Christian Leaders Alliance. He is willing to mentor others in their ministry training and assist them through the process of ordination.

Justin Halbersma is married to a Godly woman named Emily, and as of right now, they have no children.

Justin is self-employed as well as working retail part-time. He can’t honestly say when the Lord graciously saved him in Christ, as he grew up in a Christian home. His teen years were full of confusion as he began exploring the world around me. He attended a public school, but something kept him from following the destructive paths his friends were on. While they were out partying, he was content to go to the Friday night hockey game and spend an evening playing video games and watching Hockey Night in Canada.

He became keenly aware on August 2, 1999, that God was pursuing him and he fell on my knees that afternoon and confessed to Him that he needed to be saved.

The calling to ministry came, and he started Christian Leaders Institute in 2014 and received his Bachelor of Divinity degree and has been ordained as a minister of the Word in the Christian Leaders Alliance.

He is willing to mentor others by email or in person. He will help with Christian Leaders Alliance ordination.

Hi, my name is Hercules van Wyk and I live in South Africa. I am married to a beautiful wife, and have two children. They are one of the greatest blessings of my life. Currently I’m serving the Lord in our congregation as supervisor and teacher of the children’s Sunday school and I serve on the church board. South Africa is a beautiful country that has been blessed beyond measure. The majority of the people in South Africa will profess to be Christian. The sad truth is that it is mostly lip serves.

The sad truth is that the same was true about myself. I grew up in a semi-religious home, but the message of God’s Grace did not touch my heart. When my family turned anew to the Lord, I was a rebellious teenager and went with the motions just to please everyone. Sure, enough soon even that stopped and I left the church. I then came out openly against the Lord and His church. I also started to rebel against my culture and language. During this time, I started to follow a witch craft cult and believed that all roads lead to the same god.

Mercifully the Lord had a plan with me. At the age of 28 years He finally stepped into my live. He showed me the true meaning of love and grace. His love and Grace! Praise the Lord, I listened and believed! Since then life was not always easy but with His guidance I have endured.

Since that time (2003) I have served the Lord in many different congregations. It became clear that He called me to work and guide the youth of the church. I started to do just that, haltingly and with many mistakes along the way. But where I fell short the Lord endured. Giving me the sweet knowledge that in a small way I have lived up the Lord’s mission for me.

Along the way it became clear that I need more training to pursue my mission. The Lord once again stepped in and provided that, training in the form of Evangelism Explosion 3 (EEIII). This training enabled me to share the Gospel with people easily and logically. I have completed the courses for both adults and children and teenagers. This proved to be a blessing in many ways. However, this only increased my thirst for more knowledge.

I then started doing research to find courses for theological training. There are many available. But I was held back by either the financial cost involved or the fact that it isn’t provided on a distance learning basis. Both of which was important to me. So, I gave up. A year or two elapsed, and I decided to try again.  This time I struck gold. I’ve discovered Christian Leaders Institute. Finally, I have a place who can provide me with quality training.

Having received a scholarship and started studying at Christian Leaders Institute (link) has proven to be a blessing. Not only has my scriptural knowledge increased, but I have learned so much about serving a congregation and how to respond to different situations and questions. Along the way I also learned how blogging can be a powerful outreach tool. I have started my own blog, where I have posted a post or two. Going forward I hope to continue this new endeavour. If you would like to read my blogs you can find it here (link).

Currently it is May 2019. I have completed many courses at CLI. In fact, I have earned the Associate degree of Divinity and the Bachelors degree of divinity is in its final stages. Because of what I already learned; I’m starting to think what next. That is why I’m so excited about the accreditation process taking place. This accreditation open so many new possibilities for all CLI students.

At CLI I have been exposed to many facets of ministry. CLI has well rounded courses that is available for study. Since I’ve started at CLI in 2015 the courses have added up for me. In what feels like a very short time I have come to the point where I’m able to perform the duties of a minister. This realisation meant that I had to spend time considering my calling and what is my ministry dreams.  This is an ongoing process, I know, but right now I’ve got to make a few crucial decisions.

In South Africa, my country, most main stream churches are very conservative and unlikely to change in any time soon. Church planting as CLI is teaching, is almost unheard of and even frowned upon by many. Unfortunately, there is some just ground for scepticism.  All this means that I may be limited in ministry opportunities. My own denomination, I fear will not accept any credentials from CLI. However, this means that I’m also not bound by tradition. The Lord has led me into interpersonal ministry. Whereby I’m strive to be an encourager for people. The interesting thing is that once the person’s crises is over, the next person in needs is already waiting for me to fall in step with them. In this manner I believe I am living out my commission to comfort and help the needy. In the beginning of 2020 CLI launched a volunteer program. It immediately clicked for me. It was the opportunity that I didn’t know I was waiting for. By serving as a volunteer at CLI, I’m growing as a person; helping other on their way to their ministry dream and making a difference on a global scale. What more can one ask for? I don’t know. Working and studying at CLI has shown me exactly how wonderful beyond word it is.

 At the same time, I’ve been blessed to see the need my hometown for a church plant. Should it happen there will be great opposition. This is the exact place where my ordination as an Associate Minister will come into play. The accreditation and support from CLI and the ordination will show to sceptics that I’m sincere, and not a charlatan wanting to deceive people.

The associate Minister ordination is something that will have lasting impact on my ministry. It has already started and can only grow in effect. Thank you CLI for your support and believe in High quality training.

Praise the Lord, for He makes it possible for us.