BLOG/NEWS
Foundations Matter
The Ranch recently laid five foundations for our new cabins. They are strong, stable and ready to be built upon. The role the foundations plays for a cabin—a steady base upon which to build that will hopefully never fail—is like…
Outlets of Des Moines to Host Charity Preview Night Event Oct. 19
DES MOINES, IA (Sept. 19, 2017) – Outlets of Des Moines will host a sneak peek shopping night October 19th, the night before its Grand Opening. The “Open Doors. Open Hearts.” Charity Preview Night will provide guests an exclusive first…
Fruit is born
Earlier this summer we shared a story about seeds planted at the Ranch—seeds of confidence, faith, love, trust and forgiveness. Slowly growing and maturing over the years, and by slowly we mean sometimes it feels like watching paint dry, we…
Where do you find your identity?
“Stupid.” “Poor.” “Idiot.” “Liar.” Danisha listens as her peers yell out words in the Gathering Hall. Then she contributes her own: “ugly”. It is Monday night’s assembly and the speaker, Lydia, has asked students to shout out words that they’re…
Family is like a tree
A group of 10-year-old boys gathered for small group time after Wednesday’s assembly. Matt, our Executive Director, had just shared how family is like a tree. It got the boys thinking: what are the roots of my family and what…
Spiritual Retreat
Serving students at-risk nearly every minute of every day for the better part of a week can be an exhilarating, although exhausting, position. Jesus taught on the importance of rest for the soul and our team leaders are no exception. Restored and refreshed leaders…
How do I get that? (Holy Spirit)
It was Wednesday and during my morning break I prayed, crying out to the Holy Spirit for more opportunities to talk about Jesus with the students on my team. I asked God to help me show the kids His love…
National Leadership Academy lessons
Seven of our Leaders for Life, students in the final phase of our Next Steps Program, attended the National Leadership Academy (NLA) last week in Denver, CO. NLA is an intensive 4-day Academy for high school students, focusing on developing heart-led leaders through compassion to others and…
Planting Seeds
Sometimes the stories that come out of a week of programming aren’t harvest—meaning huge, mind-blowing stories of transformation. Instead, it is a week of smaller stories where many seeds of faith are planted. When you add up all of those seeds, it’s BIG. God promises that these seeds will…
Made on Purpose
It was her first day at the Ranch and Zoie was done. Longing for home she said, “This place is stupid!” Our staff members suggested a walk first before calling home. Faithe and Kaitlin walked with her to the dining…
