My name is Gilbert Vivas and I am from Louisiana originally. I live in Chicago now so it’s amazing. However where I am from it can be hard. For example, my home church has been without a pastor for 2 plus years now. I have been blessed with an education from Christian Leaders Institute and I want to share how.

My childhood was harsh. My Mom was not overly kind to me. I did have a wonderful great-grandmother and grandmother that was grounding in the Word and believed in going to church. My Mom sang in church but still being a mother at 20 isn’t easy, especially when you have a child that is ADHD.

I always loved the Lord and had some would say had a bit too much faith. If I told you the story you would understand. At around 20, I was told that I would be in the ministry, however, I was still fighting and lashing out, so sadly that went on until I finally gave it all to the Lord and found through him a beautiful Godly wife and an education from Christian Leaders Institute.  Now, here I am building upon what I can to fulfill the ministry role God called me for ages ago. Thank God it’s never too late.

I always knew the Lord but never truly let him in. I think this is a trap many people get into. Now that I have, if I could ever figure out a way to help others know how much better it would be with God than trying to do it all yourself, I would scream it from the mountaintops. The children , the youth, young adults many are running after the world when they should be running after the Lord. Once you learn that, then the rest will fall into place.

I have had a dream and in my dream is a centralized building. When a meeting is called, two representatives from each Christian belief come and the body of Christ which is the church, has come together. They still have their differences and still agree to disagree however in this dream, there is a unified body of Christ and what is decided in the gathering is decided and carried out by all. It’s a big dream, one that would see us all unified like the Jews. I will start small and if that is something God wants me to tackle later on, we shall see. Until then, I have to prepare and make myself ready for whatever path God lays before me.

I had to overcome negativity. I don’t want to go into it too much as it might seem like I’m talking down about others, which I’m not. I love my family and I love people. I think the negativity was God’s tool that was used to show me just how much He is needed in my life. He was my Father for I had no father in life.

Nothing humbles you more to wake up one day and everything you fought for and everything you wanted for your life just falls through your fingertips. I look up to Heaven and give it all to God, confessing that I am a sinner and I can’t keep fighting. For me that was the turning point of my life. I never would kill myself. The only other option was true surrender which I did and I will never ever regret.

God has always been real to me, as early as I can remember. I was just stubborn and hard-headed and wanted to do it my own way.

I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior as a teenager and my great-grandmother impressed on me greatly the importance of God. For awhile in my late teens I would spend near 7 hours a day in the Bible. Once you start down that path, your life changes even if you think it doesn’t and even if it takes a few years to happen or decades.

I hope to use my Christian Leaders Training to grow in a ministry that in the first part of my life was used selfishly on me. I would like to dedicate the rest of it to the Lord trying to shed light on truth and love for others in Christ Jesus. The Life Coach Minister program interests me because it gave me a personal insight on how things could have been for me years earlier had I met someone that had this training.  It’s so hard to get out of a dark place when you can blame everyone else. However if someone shines a light and helps you see a path that might lead you out, then there is hope and with hope. the greatest of fires can ignite for God.