A New Adventure

Welcome to our new support team website! Our goal with this new site is to keep you updated on news that pertains to our ministry here at New Life Ranch, and to share the great things that God is doing through NLR in the lives of all types of people. Check back to keep track of us as our family and ministry grow here at New Life Ranch.

THANKS
First of all, thank you to those of you who have been praying for us as we have transitioned so much in the past month and a half. Since the end of November we have welcomed Peter into our lives, moved 800 miles, and Luke has started a new position at New Life Ranch. All the changes and random schedules have been tiring, but we are finally getting into the groove here at The Ranch and know that your prayers have made a difference during this exciting time. We want to be sure to send a special thanks to Marla's dad and brother (Bob and Eric) and also to Ben and Beth West, all of who helped us with the big move from Ohio to Oklahoma. You all were such amazing helpers, and we don't think we could have done it without you.

JOB NUTS AND BOLTS
Making the transition to Oklahoma has been exciting for a few reasons besides the stress of a new baby and move. We are really excited about My new role as the Outdoor Ministries Assistant at NLR. I am loving being able to focus on my primary responsibilities of managing the challenge course and adventure ministries, and helping with Outdoor Education programs. These areas are passions that I have had to put on the back burner for a couple of years, and it feels great to be able to give all my attention to them.

It has also been great to be welcomed into the community of The Ranch. The group of missionary employees is an amazing team to be a part of, and really look out for each other. The office here is full of collaboration each day, and the other folks are always willing to lend a hand if someone needs some extra help. Today we needed help unloading railroad ties at the ropes course, and soon there were six guys out pitching in a hand.

One stretching part of making this move to New Life Ranch is that we will be developing a team to support us with prayer and finances. This is new to us, and is both exciting and a little scary. We are excited to build a prayer team that will remember to regularly lift us up and ask for God's protection and blessing, and excited to see how God will provide for us on this journey. God has blessed us in the past with jobs that have met and exceeded our financial needs, but we really felt the call to take this step of faith and come to a place where we raise part of our salary. The nuts and bolts of how our employment and missionary support work together is included in a link from this website titled "What is a Missionary Employee?" Feel free to check out that link. The document you'll get really helped us to understand the importance of New Life Ranch being supported by charitable donations and how it multiplies the impact of our ministry here.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW...
I thought it was important to include the following statment from New Life Ranch on this website. It captures the spirit of what we will be trying to communicate through this site and how we want to partner with supporters.

FUND RAISING POLICY:
It is the policy of New Life Ranch to honestly and accurately share with interested friends the challenges and situations we face in all areas of our ministry. We make known needs and potential solutions so friends can consider partnering with us through prayer and/or sharing financially as the Lord leads and enables.
We believe motivation for all true giving comes as God moves the hearts of people. Our part is to inform and give opportunity without imposing undue obligation or pressure.

Ice at The Ranch

Well, we've made it through the ice storm (I think). NLR was without power for about two days, but the power crews have gotten us back on line. We're hosting about 50 untility workers this week as they restore power to the region. It is good to be able to provide a place to stay for the people who are helping those around the ranch that haven't had power for awhile. Some people haven't had electricity for several days, and that is hard on people in this rural area of Oklahoma.

Marla, Peter, and I have fared well without power. Our new home has a wood burning stove, so we stayed warm and toasty during the chilly nights. It was almost like our first family camping trip, except with couches and running water. While the ice has caused damage and been an inconvience, it is beautiful to see it still covering the trees. When the sun comes out all the trees across the valley from our front window sparkle and shine like a fantasy world. God's creation is amazing!

Outdoor Ministries Assistant

So what excatly is an "Outdoor Ministries Assistant" and what do I do, and why is it important? If you're considering teaming with us in our missions at New Life Ranch these are probably important questions for you as you decide how to pray for us or how to invest your finances in a way that impacts people in tangible ways.

In short, my ministry at NLR is to manage our challenge course (there is a great link that explains what a challenge coure is on this page), create and lead adventure programming, and invest deeply in our college age staff and any participants that we have in our programs. The mission of our challenge ministries at The Ranch is "Growth Through Experience" and really directs everything that I do on the challenge course and in all the other programs that I lead. This means that I am an experiential educator that seeks to help people develop their relationship with God through creating situations and obstacles that spur on growth.

This could look like a group coming out to spend a day on the challenge course for the purpose of developing the communication between team members, or leading summer camp leadership groups on a backpacking trip to teach responsibility and servanthood. Hopefully you'll get a good idea of what we do for groups and individuals in Outdoor ministries as I post updates of challenges we are facing and what we are working on. For now, I've posted some pictures of some experiences we've facilitated in challenge ministries here at New Life Ranch. I think these will help give you the flavor of the ministry we do. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. My contact information is located on the New Life Ranch website, www.newliferanch.com.

Summer Leadership Program campers on a caving trip.

Team building participants on the Challenge Course.

Backpacking at the Buffalo River in Arkansas.