Video Transcript: Why is credibility important and how do you get it?

Why is credibility important and how do you get it

Henry Reyenga: This is our last presentation in the Getting Started class part 2 - the programs class, we often think about it as.

Steve Elzinga: I hope it has been encouraging, and I also hope it has been a little challenging. 

Henry Reyenga: It's like, you've got ministry training for Christian leaders in this class.  That's just the Getting Started class.

Steve Elzinga: Right. And a little bit of guidance in terms of what to do next. And if you still haven't figured out what to do next, you can hardly make a mistake. If you go into something and it's not the direction you should go, God will let you know. And there are plenty of other options. 

Henry Reyenga: There's a certain curiosity in a walk with God and a curiosity even here at Christian Leaders Institute, Alliance, and College. Because the classes are free, you can take a class and then not do that.

Steve Elzinga: Yeah, because at a regular place, you've got to invest all of this money into something and go--

Henry Reyenga: "Oh, no," because I'm spending $399 a credit hour or $500 a credit hour. We're super excited for you.

Steve Elzinga: So, we want to talk about credibility. Our goal with our training program is to help you become competent. Often, in order to have an opportunity to make use of your new competence from your ministry training, you need recognition. If people don't recognize your competency, then they won't let you do anything. So, you need credibility. And then, finally, as you gain experience in your ministry as a result of your competence and credibility, you gain confidence. 

So, we want to talk about that middle one - credibility. How can Christian leaders help you become more credible?

Henry Reyenga: Well, one way is that it's having a greater and greater impact where now over 400,000 students have enrolled in over 190 countries with more than just English - five languages. And the college graduates, for instance, are recognized by many graduate schools. And that's to mention things we mentioned before - businesses and ministries. In the early days, Steve, it was more difficult. It seemed like people were like, "What's this all about?" 

Steve Elzinga: We had six students that first year, so, "I go to Christian Leaders Institute."

Henry Reyenga: "I never heard of it."

Steve Elzinga: Yeah, no one heard of it. "Well, how many?"

"We have six."

"How many alumni?"
"We have zero alumni." That's a lot harder. But you're a part of something that has a track record and people can go look and see it.

Henry Reyenga: Yeah, over 20 years now. That's powerful.

Steve Elzinga: All right. Christian Leaders Institute provides ministry awards, certificates, and diplomas. We talked about that earlier. Christian Leaders Alliance - again the Alliance is like a denomination for those that need a denomination. It's run by its own board. 

Henry Reyenga: It's sort of a parent church ministry, a supporting ministry to denominations that don't have good boxes for local ministers. 

Steve Elzinga: Right. But sometimes people join the Alliance even though they're part of a denomination.

Henry Reyenga: Or an independent non-denominational church.

Steve Elzinga: So, things like ordination, license, those kinds of things are under that category. Then we have Christian Leaders College. Christian Leaders College provides associate and bachelor’s degrees. So, again, how is this all possible? First of all, it's online. It's supported by donors and students and alumni support. We can't really emphasize that enough.

Henry Reyenga: Well, if this concept is going to work long term, we are all in this together. And so far, the Lord has blessed this concept and this opportunity.

Steve Elzinga: Right. Now, this program will go on regardless of what anyone does, but we're going to keep working as hard as possible. But the breadth and scope of the ministry really depends on people seeing the ministry and wanting to be a part of it. So, really, we're not trying to guilt people into money. We never try to guilt people in the money, force people to give money. Because we want partners. We want people that are actually believing in the cause and want to do something. It's not just money, but getting other people involved, helping. We have a volunteer program, where people volunteer to do all kinds of work for these three different entities. So, if you see yourself part of it, welcome.

Henry Reyenga: And we want to be careful to ask you. Will you consider becoming a Vision Partner? Will you consider it? Maybe not today; maybe check us out a little bit. That's fine too. See that it's real. See the impact on your own life. But will you consider, if the Lord allows you the opportunity to do so, to give forward to others, that they too might have this confidence and this credibility to explore their calling? So, we do ask you to help.

Steve Elzinga: Yes. And you've only experienced a little bit of Christian Leaders, but we hope you've experienced enough that you can be a part of it. So, we have student and alumni support through Vision Partners. There are optional products that we have that people can buy - from supporting materials to credentials, shirts, and all these things.

Henry Reyenga: We have our shirts on right now.

Steve Elzinga: Now, we just don't have the money to just give away all the free shirts. 

Henry Reyenga: We wish we could.

Steve Elzinga: So, we do it with the training. But we have to print out and make sure the diplomas are personalized.

Henry Reyenga: And connect the standards of the accreditors and all of that. 

Steve Elzinga: So, the things that we charge fees for are things like products and things that require extra effort. Otherwise, the classes, all the teaching, this thing that we're doing right now, it's all free. And so, we have these things. We even have coffee. We have a guy who gives us wholesale coffee, and he says, "I want to bless you guys, and I want to bless your students. This is top-quality stuff." So, we have all this stuff, but all of it is to support the ministry.

So, Vision Partners really combines the giving and the optional products together. It allows the students to be an active part in bringing quality, higher Christian education to a world where 80% do not have the opportunity or access.

Henry Reyenga: That's powerful. So, again, if you consider yourself a partner, we ask you to prayerfully look at that. And we're excited about what God is going to do to raise up more Christian Leaders everywhere.