HISTORY AND VISION

Freedom Lake was born out of a vision God put on Tony Cash’s heart while he was still incarcerated. After serving more than three decades in prison, a combined twenty of those years was spent in solitary confinement, Tony decided to finally surrender to God and the call to serve Him. Battered, bruised, and scarred, he had experienced one harsh environment after another and Tony had come out on the other side of it all, ready to spread the Good News and to live in the peace that only Christ can offer.

In June 2017, six months after his final release from the prison system, Tony met the woman who would become his wife, and in September that year Tony and Kim were married. The following year, Tony and Kim felt the calling to serve God full time and they began their ministry work serving inside a Substance Abuse Program (SAP) at a local low-security prison (known as a halfway house in Kentucky). Since they began their ministry in 2018, they have discipled over 1700 men and baptized over 550.

Once Tony and Kim started serving inside the facility – Phase 1 of the ministry – it was clear to them that they were needed to serve more frequently and they also felt the need to continue to walk with the men upon their release. The time the men spent with them in their voluntary discipleship program at the facility was not enough time to allow the men to grow spiritually mature and for them to be fully prepared to face the temptations of the world upon release.

Tony and Kim were granted permission by the director of the facility to bring their discipleship studies and fellowship activities inside the facility five days a week. On the sixth day, they are privileged to take men from Phase 2 of their discipleship program inside the facility to church. Tony and Kim also began praying for property in a rural area – away from the distractions of the world – to serve the men upon release so they could help those men further their walk with God, find their identity in Christ, and to seek His will for their lives – to find their God-given purpose.

In 2019, God revealed the property He had chosen, but it was a “not yet” time. While Tony and Kim waited on God’s perfect timing, He provided them their first ministry location they would call home; a three bedroom, two and a half bathroom house in 2020 through the gift of a generous donor. In June 2021, they opened their ministry home to the first three men post-incarceration and since that time seventeen men have come through their home in their journey. 

At the end of 2022, Tony and Kim had five men living in their home and, in March 2023, God showed up in a BIG way and prayers were answered. Now with two locations to serve the ministry, we are blessed to serve a faithful God who always provides exactly what we need when we need it. The new location provides the full scope of Phase 3 of the discipleship experience: on-site jobs for the men while pursuing biblical training, one-on-one discipleship, group training and mentorship, service opportunities, developing new life skills, leadership development, challenging adventures, accountability, and peer support.

At Freedom Lake we are dedicated to our calling and pray you will partner with us inside and outside the prison system as we provide the men the opportunity to develop a stronger understanding of who they are in Christ, to continue to mature in their faith, to seek His will and direction for their lives as they train to be a disciple who multiplies wherever they are called to serve.