When we read accounts of God’s servants in the Bible we are privy to – for the most part – the beginning, middle, and end of that servant’s role in God’s design.

One of our goals within serving our role in God’s design is to be transparent in our journey because we don’t know how the story of our journey develops and how the story ends. That lack of knowing is what faith and trust in God is all about. We want to share our experience so that you may know that whatever happens, it is not about what Tony and Kim Cash have done but what God has done through Tony and Kim.

As you may recall, we have felt led by God to find, secure, and develop a property that would be a place of refuge and spiritual growth for a select group of men inside the prison system who want to continue on their path of discipleship upon release. This endeavor is known as Freedom Lake and we believe we had found the property and facility God had in mind.

However, things took an unforeseen turn. 

Recently, the property we had under contract with Freedom Lake fell through. I felt disappointment at this turn of events. That is until Tony and I were invited to visit another ministry that has a beautiful house for women and children in crisis in the Portland (KY) area. The Executive Director shared the story of how God revealed this particular house after closing the door on another piece of property. The story was clearly about it’s all in God’s timing. She even told me God said to her, “Are you trying to own this property?” WOW… what a powerful reminder!! Though it is never our intention, sometimes it can feel like that.

When we left there, it became clear to me that God may have something else in mind other than what we might be thinking.

Sometimes what we think is God’s plan isn’t His plan at all.

We’ve been praying and seeking this property, a place for the men we disciple to go to upon release, since 2018. Each time God allows us to go so far, and then He pulls back the reigns and we have to ask ourselves, are we trying to go ahead of God because we want His plans to fit our speedy timetable?

We are all so used to moving fast. We live in a nanosecond world. Most often, we expect God to move just as quickly. Personally, I run at the speed of sound and the Lord blessed me with a tortoise. Tony often reminds me of the pace of Jesus. But there are instances when it’s not about the pace but instead the timing of God.

When Jesus lived on earth, His seemingly slow pace sometimes disappointed His friends. We can think of instances such as the death of Lazarus or – more on point – the wedding at Cana when Jesus said to His mother Mary: “My time has not yet come.” 

We see instances throughout the Bible about God’s timing, not ours. However, it is also in God’s nature to give us a preview of coming attractions (i.e. the prophets and the teachings of Jesus) that may not always be clear to us at the moment but gives us an indication of what is to come. As people we need reminders that in serving God, it is about His will and not our own. Occasionally, He will put things in our path to make sure our focus is in the right area and on the right entity – the Lord.

And that is what we believe the property that fell through is – a preview but not the actual property. God wanted us to see what we would need to carry through and what the property and home-like setting needed to have so that when He shows us what He has in mind in His timing, it will be unmistakable. We also know that as eager as we were to find that property, there is also the matter that the funds required for any property are not yet realized.

We ask you to pray this prayer for us and for yourselves: Lord, thank you for reminding us that your timing is not our timing. We pray for discernment so that we act according to your will and your timing, not our own.

As a result of the realization of God’s timing, our disappointment has turned into focus.

Our relentless pursuit of seeing every man we disciple being released from the halfway house where we serve succeed under God’s perfect plan is stronger than ever. We are visiting other houses in our area. Taking a look at what they do, their programs, their processes of onboarding and offboarding those that reside in the houses, and then how they are helping them graduate to the next phase before sprouting their wings and heading back into life as we know it.

In what ways will we be communicating God’s plan for ex-prisoners in the future?

We don’t know, but we do know that we need a permanent home. That’s our vision, a discipleship house called Freedom Lake, which will take our ministry and impact to the next level – where more resources can be created, developed, and distributed to men in need of a safe place to go after incarceration as they seek God’s direction for their lives and be better equipped to live God’s purpose for their lives.

We hope in sharing this story it is an encouragement to you in your walk with God but also in your support of our ministry. Though Freedom Lake is not a reality yet, we are convinced now more than ever it will.

In order for us to be completely ready for that day, we are humbly asking for your financial support for the property and for our continued work with the incarcerated.

To find out more about our ministry work with Team Expansion and the Freedom Lake project, click on the links in the box below for more information and consider making a monthly gift or one-time donation.