Since 2010
From a Handful of Bible Studies
to a Working Ministry
Every ministry begins somewhere small. Balanced Life Ministry's story begins in 2010 — not with a business plan or a building, but with a handful of people gathered for Bible study. Those simple gatherings, rooted in Scripture and shared conviction, planted the seed for everything that followed.
In 2011, that seed became visible: The Outpost opened its doors as a general store on Pickwick Lake. What started as a place of commerce quickly became something more. The Bible studies that gave the ministry its start didn't stop when the doors opened — they grew, in time, into a full church community, now known as CrossRoads Community Church.
"Many individuals who fall are simply looking for a chance to stand again."
That single idea — that people need a chance, not just a program — has shaped every decision the ministry has made since.
The Original Vision
Before The Outpost ever opened, the founding vision was already forming: a place where people rebuilding their lives — particularly those coming out of addiction recovery or incarceration — could find honest work, real community, and a faith foundation to stand on. Early concept work described a "Missionary Park at Pickwick Lake," imagining the lake itself as a gathering place for ministry, recreation, and discipleship, long before the land or the funding existed to build it.
That concern is exactly what Balanced Life Ministry set out to answer: a real off-ramp from the cycle where people leaving incarceration or treatment, without support, end up right back in the circumstances that put them there — not just another closed door.
In Jay's Own Words
Founder James "Jay" A. Harrison Jr. has described this work as growing out of his own soul-searching journey through a difficult season — one that led him to the waters of Pickwick Dam and gave him the strength to rebuild. That experience became the basis for his book, Special Delivery, and it continues to shape the ministry's conviction that community, faith, and second chances can bring people back from the bottom.
Get Special Delivery on AmazonA Legacy Carried Forward
The Refuge Chapel
In December 2013, the ministry's founding family lost a son — Colby Harrison, twenty-one years old. Out of that loss came two lasting commitments: The Refuge Chapel, part of the Pickwick Lake Master Development, is being built and dedicated in his memory as a place of worship and reflection. The Good Samaritan Scholarship was also established in his honor — a $3,000 annual award given to a graduating Hardin County High School senior, chosen by their own classmates for a spirit that looks out for others without being asked.
The Refuge Lodge
The Refuge Lodge carries a second legacy forward, dedicated to the memory of Grant Johnson — honoring a spirit of fellowship and generosity that lives on in every guest, camper, and retreat group welcomed through its doors.
The Vision Today
What began as Bible study in 2010 has grown into a working ministry with a full economic and physical footprint: The Outpost as an operating profit center, the Men's and Women's Transition Homes offering a real path back into society, and the Pickwick Lake Master Development Plan carrying that same founding vision into its next phase.