James is a TUMI student who was delivered by the Lord out of a radical lifestyle of drug abuse, homosexuality, and homelessness. He is now a deacon at his church and will graduate from The Urban Ministry Institute this month. Recently, he shared his story with us:
In March 2011 I started my TUMI career – the timing was perfect. I had recommitted to Christ, I was praying for strength and I knew my freedom was in Christ but I still had strongholds and footholds that were impeding me from really living out my identity in Christ.
TUMI has really equipped me with solid Gospel knowledge to be a leader in the Body of Christ. God has lined up nearly every module with what was going on in either my own faith walk or in my positions in the church, many different ministries and even serving on the mission field.
In the beginning I needed to really understand the Holy Spirit and Christ’s witness in the New Testament and His Kingdom. The course on “Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare” came at the time when the enemy’s fiery darts started to really strike me after a long period of sobriety. When I was asked to be involved in a compassion ministry at church – sure enough God’s timing and TUMI was there with the course entitled “Doing Justice and Loving Mercy.” Then later, when I was asked to pray about going through the process of discerning a calling to become a deacon in my church, God brought “Conversion and Calling” into my life.
As I was being further equipped in leadership “Practicing Christian Leadership” couldn’t have come at a better time! And now ”Focus on Reproduction” is helping me as my church is moving toward reproducing itself through a second service and a separate 50I (c) (3), practicing what the Church did in Acts – to multiply, make disciples and evangelize (Church Planting)! And only after this course do I understand the importance of it for the Great Commission!
TUMI’s four subject areas have served to be my training program: Biblical Studies, Christian Ministry, Urban Mission, and Theology and Ethics. These courses have been the source of my continued faith walk, molded my leadership and equipped me with the tools to serve God and His Kingdom! TUMI has been one of the biggest accomplishments in my life because it’s saved my life!
Thank you for making James’ testimony possible. Please pray for James that he would finish strong for his graduation this month!
Read more from The Urban Ministry Institute students and leaders.