Women’s Minister Ordination Journey
My name is Karen. I live in Oceanside, California. I have been serving Jesus for about fifty years and never considered being ordained. However, I am currently enrolled in the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here) to be an ordained Women’s Minister. The classes are challenging, encouraging, and highly informative.
Serving the body of Christ has always been a part of my Christian walk. However, my service has not been at the forefront. It usually involves evangelism, teaching Sunday school, or supporting others by hosting Bible studies.
In the last three years, I branched out into something new for me. Even though I became a Christian while incarcerated, I never felt inclined to minister in prisons. When I did, I was surprised to see how God used my story. I began going to the local jail and a women’s prison about forty-five minutes from me. I either taught Bible studies or supported those teaching. This led me to Kairos, an international organization.
My Introduction to Kairos Ministry
My introduction to Kairos was a visit to Donovan State Prison. I was invited to attend a Kairos Inside Graduation there. Men gave testimonies of how God changed their hearts during a weekend of Bible studies provided by a Kairos Inside team. Their stories moved me. I decided to look more into what Kairos had to offer. That is when I learned of Kairos Outside. Kairos Outside reaches out to women who have loved ones that are incarcerated or have been incarcerated themself. After my first year working with them, I felt a tug to become a Spiritual Director. The desire has not gone away. I decided to look into the requirements set by Kairos Outside and learned I needed to be licensed or ordained. This was when the Kairos Advising Leader recommended Christian Leaders Institute to become ordained as a Women’s Minister.
With the pandemic onset, Kairos Outside National Officials ruled to support the national mandates to maintain social distancing and avoid large groups. The Kairos Outside in San Diego decided to have Kairo Outside Reunion meet via Zoom once a month. It has been reassuring. Even via Zoom meetings, we gain strength and encouragement from each other. We are in fearful and uncertain times. God always reminds us that “even though we do not know the future, we do know who holds the future.” My prayer is that God will soon open the doors for us to meet in person again. It is a longing of the entire San Diego Kairo Outside family.
Kairos Weekend Retreat
Our primary outreach is weekend retreats we put together for the women impacted by incarceration. We desperately need a new meeting place as God closed the door for us where we have met for about twenty years. Please pray God opens the door for a place that can be available from a Friday evening to Sunday mid-afternoon at least once a year. We need two showers and a place for about forty to sleep, eat, and fellowship. The council’s prayer is that God will provide a place to meet soon, so we will be ready to have a retreat when the Covid-19 shutdown is lifted.
The retreat costs money. Since we do not charge our guests, we do fundraisers. The fundraiser raises money, raises prayer support, and makes us visible to those who can benefit from our ministry. We need creative ways to do so. We pray God will give us ideas, especially with the limitations we currently face. I know we serve an awesome God who can meet our needs as we lay our ministry before HIM. I pray we learn more and more not to limit how God can provide.
Praying for Open Doors in Ministry as an Ordained Women’s Minister
Without Pandemic limitation, Kairos Outside has Share Witness Account Pray (SWAP) meetings twice a week throughout the county. This is an important part of our follow-up ministry. I do think it is a vital part of the ministry. I started an unofficial Bible study with two women from Kairos Outside. We are using a Bible Study guide to study the book of Philippians. Due to illness or babysitting difficulties, we do not always meet in person. Our desire for fellowship is so great. When we cannot meet in person, we connect on the phone or via Zoom. God is encouraging our hearts as we look at how Paul was able to rejoice in uncertain times.
With my women’s minister ordination with the Christian Leaders Alliance, I look forward to seeing how God will open doors and hearts. My prayer is that God will give me a clear word and insight when presenting a devotional or prayer with the women. I feel confident God wants me in this ministry. I wait patiently for God to clear the way for us to have retreats again.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the Christian Leaders College.
Author: Henry Reyenga
Henry Reyenga is president of Christian Leaders Institute and Christian Leaders Alliance.
