Luke Friesen
Executive Director of Operations
Meet Luke
I joined Watermark staff from the business world, having worked as a corporate performance improvement consultant for seven years after school. I studied business in undergrad and grad school, so I thought I’d be working in industry for my entire career. But to my surprise, the call to full-time vocational ministry came while trekking through a Haitian village in late 2012. I had been a Watermark member for five years before coming on staff, serving in the young adult ministry, and during my first five years on staff I worked on the Community and Young Adults teams. Since late 2017 I’ve had the opportunity to lead our Operations department, which includes the Finance, HR, Facilities, IT, and Technology Development teams.
God blessed me with an incredible family and Christian heritage. Both sets of grandparents were full-time overseas missionaries, and my parents planted churches in Japan for nearly 20 years. I was born in Japan and lived there until I was 15, before making the monumental shift to life in Kansas for high school. My parents were faithful to proclaim the gospel to me when I was young, and I trusted Christ when I was 8.
I married my wife, Chelsea, in 2016, and we have two sweet and feisty young daughters. Jackson, our golden retriever, rounds out the family. I enjoy lapping White Rock Lake on my road bike, hitting trails on my mountain bike, and sweating to a CrossFit WOD. Sushi makes me nostalgic, and I could eat it every day. As a word nerd with a minor in journalism, I love a well-turned phrase, nuance, and witty dialogue. Konichiwa!
