Where We Work
South Asia
South Asia is both beautiful and complex. Of the 7,000 unreached people groups in the world, most of them are in South Asia, In the coming decades, according to mission trends, we will actually witness an increase in the portion of the population that has never had a legitimate opportunity to know Jesus as their Savior.
Persecution in this part of the world is rampant. Political ideology, government unrest, and the recent rise of religious nationalism has been met with increased aggression toward local churches. This new tightened environment has meant that governments are cracking down.
Our first and largest field, Freedom to Lead has been innovatively working with the rising indigenous church movement in this part of the world since 2010. These leaders with whom we work are laboring tirelessly to impact local communities with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite the many forces that work against them, these leaders are catalysts of God moving among the nations. In the midst of sobering mission trends over the next fifty years, these leaders inspire great hope.
The future of the church in South Asia lies in its local leaders; therefore, our commitment is to cultivate Christ-centered leaders among the people there remains strong.
Ethiopia
When Freedom to Lead expanded into Africa in 2015, we entered first through Ethiopia. The only country on the African continent to evade 19th century colonialism, Ethiopia has a largely indigenous church. Folk religions, Islam, and Orthodoxy are also strong here. A country marked with historical complexity, Ethiopia needs a different kind of leadership for the church. After completing one of the modules recently, one FTL participant stood up and exclaimed, “You came very late! You came after we ‘died,’ after we made many mistakes in the house of God. Why didn’t you teach us this earlier?”
This brother’s heart cry reflects the urgency of the task before us. FTL’s presence in Ethiopia has meant that some of those most under-resourced leaders in the world have been equipped with something that specifically gears leadership development for story-centric learners. And it’s making a difference.
Recently, northern Ethiopia has been embroiled in regional conflict that has resulted in civil war. FTL’s module on Peacemaking has been especially poignant for this region of the world as we are able to uniquely address the issues of the time. Story after story is being shared about leaders making peace in their communities.
In 2025, FTL launched a new partnership with Thru the Bible in equipping their thousands of home group leaders who are influencing communities with systematic bible studies through media tools. Our desire is to see this model replicated in other regions someday.
East Africa
As a result of the perceived effectiveness of FTL’s ministry from multiple voices in South Asia and Ethiopia, the invitation was extended to FTL from the rest of East Africa beginning in 2018. By first partnering with Lifeway Global in Kenya, we have now created a multi-national network in the region that includes countries such as South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Burundi. This expansion has resulted in an additional FTL regional hub that is uniquely situated to serve the larger East Africa region there.
One church elder from this region recently shared, “Leadership is a critical need on the whole continent of Africa, in every aspect of our society. FTL’s program is a timely one.”
French-Speaking Africa
Freedom to Lead just celebrated ten years of working in the French-Speaking Africa region. An unbiblical reliance on power-centric leadership models in this part of the world has resulted in the church missing out on leaders who could be extraordinarily fruitful. Leaders who possess the intelligence, capacity, heart, and trust of their communities to serve as Christ-centered leaders have been overlooked because they do not fit the dominant standard. Since 2015, Freedom to Lead has worked to remedy this situation in this region.
Recently, a multi-national gathering of FTL leaders took place in Dakar, Senegal. With a combined leadership experience of 725 years represented among the 30 people in the room, they exclaimed, “We’ve been through a lot of training over the years, but something is different about The Garden Project.”
The leadership program of FTL is distinctive from other programs in a lot of ways. People like Pierre in Congo from French-speaking Africa confess that the traditional power model of leadership has not worked for him and his people. In fact, it has downright failed him. But he says that The Garden Project is helping him imagine a different future.
The good news is that this way of leadership is not just for Pastor Pierre in French-speaking Congo. It is for you and me, too. It’s for all of us.
In addition to partnership with many indigenous denominations and ministries throughout the region, FTL has also entered into a partnership with Compassion International in Togo to equip the pastors who care for the vulnerable children in some of the poorest regions of Africa.
Southern Africa
Since 2018, Freedom to Lead has had a footprint in Southern Africa, a region filled with historical complexities while also witnessing a resurgence of tenacious church leaders eager to sustain the work the Lord has given them.
After experiencing a number of modules of The Garden Project, one leader from Zimbabwe said, “Here in southern Africa, we are saturated with leadership development teachings and seminars, and I’ve been to a lot of them. But this. This is the first one that speaks to actual situations in our contexts.”
In the Fall of 2024, we also began a Business Leaders Initiative in southern Africa to serve Christians in the business world who desire to influence their work culture with Christ-centered leadership.
Latin America
God is doing a new thing in Latin America. When FTL was invited to be part of the Latin America Training Hub in partnership with Mesa Global in 2024, we jumped at the chance. Today a movement has been started and we are excited to see where the Lord takes us as we expand into new territories on this continent.
“I have been a Christian for 40 years. I have been leading others for 25 years. As a result of going through The Garden Project training, I realized just yesterday that I’ve been leading like a tyrant. Last night, I phoned each of my staff and apologized. And committed to lead more like Jesus into the future.” -José, national missionary in Panama
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim is home to Frontier People Groups, which is an unreached people group that has 0.1% or fewer followers of Jesus and no confirmed sustained church planting movement among them. This is changing due to the fierce dedication
In the Fall of 2024, FTL began working with a prominent network of Christian leaders who are reaching these Frontier People Groups with the gospel. Most of them are Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) who are first in their communities to come to know Jesus. They have a fierce determination to impact these communities with the whole gospel but are vastly under-resourced. FTL is working to come alongside these leaders to help them be all that God wants them to be.
... And Beyond
In 2009, a few close friends had a dream of thousands of leaders being developed through story, symbol, and song to serve as competent Christ- centered leaders in some of the world’s most difficult places.
We never could have imagined where this dream would lead Freedom to Lead International.
Until now we have worked with local ministry partners in these regions to cultivate leaders. It has been our privilege to partner WITH YOU to engage these leaders to lead healthier churches and to impact communities with the gospel. FTL’s leadership development program – The Garden Project – continues to be in high demand in these areas.
Now, God is expanding our reach from these regions to the rest. We are seeing the dream unfold in new ways. We are being invited into new far-reaching initiatives and partnerships that have wide reach and deep impact.
Entering new areas…training new teams…equipping new fields…capturing new stories…. translating new languages.
We are seeing the dream unfold in new ways. We are being invited into new far-reaching initiatives that have wide reach and deep impact.
Please join us in trusting God to follow where He leads us next.