The Pembina Valley's newest discipleship program, School of the Kingdom, graduated its first students earlier this year.

"We had never done something like this before," Student Leader Michael Franz says, adding they weren't initially sure what to expect.

"But overall it went so, so well," he says. "We had a lot of fun, saw a lot of transformation, saw God do some amazing things, not only in the lives of our students but also in the people we encountered on outreach."

Located at Rock Lake, just West of Pilot Mound, the school saw 13 students take part in the six month program. School of the Kingdom begins with a three month teaching phase with guest speakers, followed by a two month outreach phase where students leave for a major North American city, before returning to base for a one month debrief to process what they've learned.

With a full year under their belt, Franz says he's excited to build on the foundation they've laid.

"Everywhere we went our vision and our heart was just to share the love of God and have people encounter that," he says.

He notes they've seen the overwhelming community support for the school as well.

"Without them there's no way we'd be doing what we're doing today," Franz says.

The next school year begins in October.

The first year of staff and students at School of the Kingdom, located at Rock Lake