Video Transcript: Introduction to being a Christian leader

Introduction to being a Christian leader

Henry Reyenga: Hi. I'm Henry Reyenga, and with me is Steve Elzinga. Welcome to Christian Leaders, whether it's the institute.

Steve Elzinga: Or the alliance. 

Henry Reyenga: Or the college. 

Steve Elzinga: Right. We'll talk more about the three different kinds of Christian Leaders organizations that you're a part of here. 

Henry Reyenga: We're Henry and Steve. You're probably wondering who we are. Well, we go back 30 years. I remember it. We were at a church planting conference.

Steve Elzinga: I remember the first time I met you, you gave me a headache because of all the ideas that you had. We were both church planting.

Henry Reyenga: I'm a tense person. Everyone says that.

Steve Elzinga: We were up all night talking about things, and I was supposed to go to sleep.

Henry Reyenga: We had a lot of dreams, a lot of hopes, a lot of thoughts.

Steve Elzinga: We had a lot of dreams. We planted churches. We daughtered churches. We sponsored conferences. We had people coming from all over the country. We joined The Bible League. We traveled all over the world. But it really wasn't until Christian Leaders was born that I think we hit our stride. 

Henry Reyenga: Yeah, 2001, September 11th, going through that whole experience in Manhattan, New York, which I witnessed.

Steve Elzinga: Right. You were there.

Henry Reyenga: The Lord put on my heart that it's about Christian leaders.

Steve Elzinga: Right. And so, you're really joined in after 30 years of working at this. And it really has benefitted thousands and thousands of students all over the world. We're in, what, 191 plus countries?

Henry Reyenga: Yeah, 190 plus country codes.

Steve Elzinga: We've had over 400,000 enrolled. And so, you're joining something that God has used.

Henry Reyenga: It's been around for 20 years. And the Lord has blessed this. Welcome to Christian Leaders.

Steve Elzinga: So, maybe someone asks you to be an officiant at their wedding. 

Henry Reyenga: It's one little thing, and you want to do it right. You want to get training and get licensed. 

Steve Elzinga: And we have a program for that.

Henry Reyenga: We do.

Steve Elzinga: We have the courses that you can take, and you'll know what to do. You'll be equipped, and you'll do a great job. Or maybe you just want to learn more about Christianity. We have people that stumble onto our site that are curious about Christianity, and it's a great place to learn what it's all about.

Henry Reyenga: The free courses that you just registered for might be all you'll ever journey with us through, and that's fine with us.

Steve Elzinga: Yep. We have courses so you can become a Bible study leader or a pastor, or a youth pastor.

Henry Reyenga: Church planter, a women's planter.

Steve Elzinga: A men's or women's chaplain.

Henry Reyenga: Life coach, life coach minister. We never dreamed 30 years ago that it would have all these opportunities, all these programs to take your next step as a Christian leader.

Steve Elzinga: Right. We have certificates. We have awards. We have degrees.

Henry Reyenga: We have a lot to talk about in this class. We are not going to take long to talk about it.

Steve Elzinga: No. Or maybe you just want to be a better father, a Christian father, or a Christian mother.

Henry Reyenga: Or a homeschool mom or a homeschool dad.

Steve Elzinga: Yeah. We have three-credit courses, two-credit courses, and one-credit courses. We have mini-courses that take, like, three hours to do from top to bottom. So, hopefully, we have something--

Henry Reyenga: Some, I think, are five hours.

Steve Elzinga: Yes.

Henry Reyenga: Just some expectations. 

Steve Elzinga: Yes. Well, it depends on how often you go over it too.

Henry Reyenga: But we have, also, college classes. They actually looked at that in the registration stuff, so they know you know the classes here. They're all over for you.

Steve Elzinga: So, what will you learn from this class? You will learn what it means to become a Christian.

Henry Reyenga: I thought everybody who came here would be a Christian.

Steve Elzinga: Maybe you are, but you really don't even know why you are or what that even means.

Henry Reyenga: Actually, quite honestly, many people sign up, and they are not Christians yet. And they become Christians through Christian Leaders Institute. So, if that's you, welcome aboard.

Steve Elzinga: Or you just want to learn about it. You haven't decided yet. You will learn to assess your personality type, your spiritual gifts, and your leadership style. You'll begin to sense your calling from the Holy Spirit to ministry through assessing your inner call. Maybe you don't know what that is - we'll explain that - your interests and your opportunities, the things that are happening around you.

Henry Reyenga: Hold it a minute. The church has been around for 2,000 years, and leaders are born through an inner call - hence, the calling.

Steve Elzinga: The calling. And maybe that call is what brought you to Christian Leaders in the first place. And you didn't even know what it was.

Henry Reyenga: And then you saw free ministry training, and you were curious. And then you started, and you registered, and here you are.

Steve Elzinga: Yes. You will learn why you need a mentor and how to get one. Number five, you will learn to assess which one of the three leadership options Christian Leaders can help you prepare for. If you're a volunteer and you just want to volunteer somewhere, we have programs for you. If you want to be part-time in ministry or if you want to be full-time, we have a track specifically for you.

Henry Reyenga: You will learn to assess which learning track might be best for you based on your gifts, your interests, experience, personality traits, leaders of styles, opportunities, and of course, your station in life.

Steve Elzinga: So, in a way, I think this course will take three, four hours at tops. And what we want to do is help you figure out what to do next - what track, what courses. By the time you're done with this, you will have it figured out. 

Henry Reyenga: And then the work of taking your next step begins.

Steve Elzinga: Yes. Seven, you will learn how to start leading yourself, your spouse, and your children in the Christian life.

Henry Reyenga: In some ways, that's the most important - that you learn how to walk with the Lord and reproduce that walk in your own family.

Steve Elzinga: In fact, it's the foundation for all the other ministries. Maybe you have a dream of ministry already. But if you're not making it happen in your own family, then sometimes it's hard to make that outside ministry happen.

Now, I think, Henry, some are listening to all of this, and they're a little intimidated. They stumbled onto here, and they're not sure that they're capable. They've seen other people that are really talented, really gifted, and then, "Is ministry for me?"

Henry Reyenga: Here's what I say. Do not disqualify yourself until you've explored and discovered and checked out the various programs and seen what the Holy Spirit puts in your heart. And see what that next step could be. Dream a little. That's what I like about me and you 30 years ago is that you would dream, and I would dream of a world where Christian leaders could be reproduced and mobilized. And that's one of the things that I'm excited about for you - and each of you - as you take that journey.

Steve Elzinga: I think so. So, welcome aboard. I think we're going to have an exciting little course here with you.