2025 Impact Report

2025 Leaders Following Christ NewsletterLeaders who follow Christ bring Him their biggest ideas, trusting that God can shape them, grow them, and use them for His glory. When we surrender our influence to Him, He turns bold vision into meaningful impact—strengthening churches, transforming communities, and advancing His Kingdom in ways only He can. This newsletter celebrates leaders who offered God their creativity, calling, and courage—and the remarkable impact He brought through their leadership this year. 2025 MAJOR GRANT RECIPIENT: FOUNDER’S TABLE NETWORKIn 2025, LFC made a major investment in entrepreneurs—partnering with the Founder’s Table Network to disciple business leaders and help them live out their God-given calling as Kingdom-builders. The Founder’s Table Network is a small-group discipleship curriculum for entrepreneurs, run by the local church, and designed to help business leaders integrate faith, work, and influence for lasting Kingdom impact. The Alignment of Missions: How OUR Origin Story Prepared Us for Partnerships Like Founder’s Table NETWORKOUR BEGINNINGS:In 2010, Leaders Following Christ began when founder Dan Babcock helped bring a Franklin Graham crusade to his hometown of Binghamton, New York. Local churches were eager to host an evangelistic event of that scale but lacked the resources and infrastructure needed to partner …

LFC Awards Major Grant to Founder’s Table Network: Guiding Business Leaders Toward God-Given Purpose

Leaders Following Christ is proud to award a significant grant to Capacity to Serve to help expand the Founder’s Table Network, a small group discipleship program for entrepreneurs that is run by the local church. We’ve invested in this mission because Founder’s Table shares our passion for helping entrepreneurs grow in their God-given calling and for helping churches lead people towards maximizing their impact for Christ. Their program embeds directly into the church, unleashing growth that impacts not just the entrepreneur, but their leadership, business, family, church, and the community around them. The Need for Churches: A Leadership Gap Hiding in Plain Sight Across the country, pastors are praying for more leaders, more vision, and deeper connection to their communities. Churches feel the need for people who can take initiative, solve problems, and help move ministry forward. The leaders churches are searching for are often already among them—faithful, gifted, and unnoticed. They’re entrepreneurs—builders, creators, risk-takers, and innovators with God-given gifts that shape workplaces and communities every day. But many of them don’t feel like they fit anywhere in the church. The Missing Piece for Business Owners: When Your Calling Doesn’t Have a Home Entrepreneurs often carry a fire that few …

Leadership Spotlight: Kennedy Owade

At Leaders Following Christ, we have the honor of partnering with pastors all over the world through the Pastor Circle—an online community for ministry leaders committed to growing in faith and impact together. This year, our entire team is thrilled to highlight Pastor Kennedy Owade of Ruga Village, Kenya, for our 2025 Leader Spotlight. Kennedy is a powerful example of the kind of God-honoring leadership every follower of Christ can learn from. He approaches ministry in a deeply holistic way—sharing the hope of Christ to transform souls, while also meeting the physical needs of his community through clean water and education. Every part of his work points back to one thing: giving God the glory. Meet Pastor Kennedy Owade Pastor Kennedy Ochieng Owade is a humble and dedicated preacher from Ruga Village in Homa Bay County, Kenya. He serves as the lead pastor of Ruga Church and director of Spring of Hope Christian School, where faith and education work hand in hand to bring hope to his community. Kennedy earned his bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies from the Kenya School of Preaching in Kisumu and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Christian Arts through The McGarvey College of the …

Philippians 4:8 Mindset

Let’s study Ecclesiastes 1, where King Solomon helps us understand what has true meaning in life as we pursue purpose and happiness.

Dig Deep for Durable Solutions

Ministry Leadership ChallengeApril 2025 Ministry Leadership Challenge: Dig Deep for Durable Solutions We all know the feeling: you glance out at the lawn, and it’s getting a little long. You think, “I’ll get to it later.” But what happens? It doesn’t magically shrink; it grows longer, tougher, and eventually becomes a much bigger, more frustrating job to tackle. The longer we delay the real work, the harder the task becomes. The same holds true in our ministries. We see the emerging issues, the underlying tensions, the systemic weaknesses, and we might be tempted to just trim the edges, hoping they’ll go away. But just like that unkempt lawn, these core problems only grow more entrenched and more difficult to resolve in the future, often manifesting as recurring conflicts, stagnant growth, or persistent burnout. This month, the Leadership Challenge: Digging Deep for Durable Solutions isn’t about finding a quicker way to mow an overgrown mess. It’s about getting to the roots – understanding why the weeds are growing so vigorously in the first place. It’s a challenging invitation to resist the urge to procrastinate on the fundamental issues and commit to the hard, necessary work of cultivating a truly resilient and …

The Focused Flame Challenge: Refine your Fire

Leadership Challenge As entrepreneurs, we often possess a vibrant, burning passion – a flame that drives us to create, innovate, and build. However, without careful tending, this flame can become scattered, flickering in many directions, leaving us feeling drained and unfocused. ‘The Focused Flame Challenge’ invites you to refine and direct your entrepreneurial fire, aligning it with God’s purpose so that it burns brightly for His glory. What fuels your fire? Imagine your passion as a flame. First, we must discern the true fuel that feeds our flame. What are the core values and God-given talents that ignite your passion? Take time for deep reflection and prayer, asking God to reveal the specific purpose He has placed within you. Journal your insights, identifying the projects and pursuits that truly resonate with your calling. Reflection: To truly flourish, we must identify the life-giving, God-honoring currents in our lives. Once discerned, we are called to channel our passions, those fiery gifts within us, into these fertile grounds. This isn’t merely about finding something we enjoy, but about aligning our innate drive with divine intention. When we pour our energy into work that glorifies God and nourishes our souls, we find a sustainable, …

Romans 12 Entrepreneurs

Let’s study Ecclesiastes 1, where King Solomon helps us understand what has true meaning in life as we pursue purpose and happiness.

Leader Spotlight: Joel Semwezi

This month, we spotlight Pastor Joel Semwezi, a leader whose dedication to Christ and His people is truly contagious. Joel leans into the biblical principle of being a shepherd, humbly and faithfully caring for his community. He is a living testament to the faithfulness and fulfillment that comes from knowing our good Lord, and he’s passionate about sharing that transformative truth. Pastor Joel is a member of The Pastor Circle, our online community for pastors in the Leaders Following Christ network. He contributes to our virtual gatherings with genuine encouragement, wisdom, and prayer that constantly inspires us all. We hope Joel’s words will also be an encouragement to you! Join us as we learn more about Pastor Joel and glean wisdom from his heart for serving Jesus and guiding others to the abundant life found in Him. Meet Pastor Joel Semwezi After serving as a youth pastor and executive pastor in his home country of Uganda, Joel is now a seminary student serving as a pastoral intern in Columbia, South Carolina. He and his wife, Phiona, have been married for four years. Phiona is a constant source of encouragement and a steadfast ministry partner, reminding Joel daily of God’s faithfulness. …

Leader Spotlight: Emmanuel J. Watkins

We are shining our leader spotlight on Pastor Emmanuel J. Watkins, whose heart reflects a genuine sincerity for discipling people to find victory in Christ. Anyone who knows Emmanuel as their pastor, leader, family, or friend can attest to the impact made by his Christ-centered relationships. Emmanuel is a driven and passionate leader, deeply committed to his faith and ministry. Seeking continuous growth, he joined the Pastor Circle, our online community for pastors. Here, he’s not only received valuable support and mentorship from fellow ministry leaders but also actively contributes by sharing insightful perspectives, offering prayer, and encouraging other members within the circle. Emmanuel’s success highlights a powerful truth: “Winning seasons require winning circles.” The impact he’s making and the remarkable growth he’s experiencing are a direct result of the supportive community he’s built around him. He’s intentionally surrounded himself with individuals who offer unwavering prayer, encouragement, and honest feedback, especially during challenging times. Most importantly, he has rooted himself in his relationship with Jesus who is his heavenly father and ultimate support. This begs the question: Does your circle position you for success? We invite you to learn from Emmanuel’s journey and intentionally cultivate a “winning circle” of supportive …