If Leaders Are Changed, the People Will Come

Last week we started by asking, “What happens on the Wednesday after Giving Tuesday?” In the several weeks between now and the end of the year we are inviting you to “go beyond” and take part in what God is doing through Freedom to Lead International®.

Empowered by the Spirit, Freedom to Lead is catalyzing a cycle:

We cultivate Christ-centered leaders.

• These leaders foster healthier churches.
• These churches attract new people who often become redeemed people.
• These people impact their communities with the gospel and become a fresh coalition of potential Christ-centered leaders.

In other words, the cycle begins with changed leaders, and the outcome is changed churches, people, and communities.

Which all sounds nice conceptually, doesn’t it?
So let me explain this with a story…

Who is a Person of Influence?

“Tesfaye” has been a person of influence in his community for some time. His desire, however, is to be developed as a Christ-centered leader even if he doesn’t quite know what that means. Tesfaye, however, lacks the resources to be able to do this well. Recently he was identified as a leader and invited to be part of this initiative called Freedom to Lead. For the first leadership module he traveled over 600 kilometers by bus and on foot. While there he learned what it means to be a leader of influence who desires to see others reach their highest kingdom potential and take ownership of a a common vision. He went back to his community and put into practice what he had learned. His church began to thrive in new ways. Thirty people recently came to faith in Jesus Christ. The community began to experience the impact as neighbor reached out to neighbor. And now Tesfaye has a new cohort of leaders to develop as he also continues to be developed.

Someone who is new to the FTL team recently said,

“I want to be around leaders who are investing to develop other leaders in places of great need. I want to be surrounded by those who have made it their life’s mission to see other leaders identified, developed, and set free to lead others. At Freedom To Lead International we are with these kinds of leaders.”

This blog post is part of an end-of-year series that invites you to “go beyond” and be part of the work that God is doing around the world with Freedom to Lead International.