The last thing Jesus said before His death on the cross was: “It is finished.” But when Jesus said that, He didn’t mean the story wasn’t over. What was finished was His role in coming to Earth that included – but not limited to – three things:

1) teaching God’s people how to live a God-honoring life;
2) to select and to train His disciples who would then do the same and;
3) to die on the cross in the perfect sacrifice so that we may be reunited with the Lord.

When Jesus died on the cross it was the end of a chapter but immediately led to a new chapter in the continuation of God’s plan.

Freedom Lake is like that. With the acquisition of the property that will be home to Freedom Lake’s Disciple Training Center (DTC) getting closer to being finalized, it is easy to think that this story is over. That is not the case. The acquisition of the property will end a chapter in the Freedom Lake story but there are many chapters yet to be written at Freedom Lake.

The next chapter to be written in Freedom’s Lake story will be the men who come to study here as they continue their discipleship journey, learning to become men on mission wherever they go and be disciples who train disciples to make disciples.

One of the things we will instill in the men who study here is that they belong here, God wants them here, and that – no matter their background and life experiences – they are the men God has called to be disciples and disciple makers. Many of these men we mentor – like a lot of people – may feel as though they are not qualified or worthy of being someone God can use and/or of being a disciple maker.

But they are, as we are, as you are. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Praise God for giving us the ability to do His will as we seek to serve Him with our lives.

Who has He called?

He calls imperfect people like Moses, Job, Elijah, Gideon, Samson, and Rahab…to name a few. All of these people may have felt unworthy, unprepared, and just plain unqualified to do what God had asked them to do or felt they were too damaged as people to be of any use to God.

What we all should remember is that there is nothing from us that God needs except obedience. And that is one of the foundational pieces of our training at Freedom Lake is obedience-based discipleship.

If we are obedient and trust God to go where He calls us and do what He asks of us, that is all He needs from us.

Right now we’re seeing men who are trusting God. It has been our experience thus far that the men who will be the first students at Freedom Lake are feeling a very clear message from God that this is where they need to be (not have to be, NEED to be, and they have to WANT to be here) and they are being obedient to God’s call.

These men who come to study here will be the beginning of Freedom Lake’s next chapter. They will stay here, study here, spread their wings here.

As with our experiences as students in school, these men will graduate and be ready to be men on mission wherever God leads them, whether that is across town, across the country, or across the world. But that won’t be the end of the Freedom Lake story.

In the years to come, Freedom Lake will see the addition of other accommodations, learning facilities, and meeting centers for short-term stays for believers. Short-term stays could be week-long training curriculums or weekend retreats for groups, individuals, or couples who are looking for spiritual nourishment, recharge, or a deeper dive into discipleship training.

And even that won’t be the end of Freedom Lake’s story. The next chapter after that will be to expand training opportunities and facilities on campus in addition to helping other missionaries like us to plant Freedom Lake campuses in their states.

Our prayer is to see a Freedom Lake campus in ALL 50 states. 

The acquisition of a single property where Freedom Lake will call home is not the end…it’s the “What’s Next”? And it’s a what’s next that Jesus commissioned us all to do thousands of years ago – go out and make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

God is far from finished!