|
Tears of Joy and Sadness
Every time one of these groups of kids come to the Ranch, I hear the heartbreaking stories of the life some of these kids live. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, hunger, no running water all are common stories of the children here. We have had kids here under 15 who are prostitutes, mothers, drug dealers, drug users and a 14-year-old mom who shot her cheating boyfriend 5 x point blank when he stepped in the door... Kids who don't have a mirror in their house, a shower or even running water and didn’t know how to turn on a water faucet! Never seen stars at night, never seen clear water in a creek... Never seen a creek! One kid colored a cow green because he had never seen one and didn't know what color it was in real life. Another said she never smelled such fresh air. IT'S SO QUITE OUT HERE! Adults tell us they can see the Love of God just looking at the way the Ranch is taken care of but above all they feel the tangible presence of God in this place. The missionaries who stay here are often sad they can't come back sooner or stay long enough when they do!
So, when we see these kids here smiling, playing, being marveled that their hands are clean, no one screaming at them, and eating 4 plates of spaghetti for dinner because they aren’t sure if there is going to be another meal tomorrow... or a 7-year-old bagging up 4 sacks of tangerines because the dad shyly asked if there was more... because they had no food at home. One girl’s dream was just to ride a horse and we made it happen!
I don't know whether to laugh or cry! But I mostly cry... I KARE.
Kids At Risk Expeditions
We want to do these camps 4 times a year and we need sponsors for 5000 USD for each camp.
The 15 weekend tent camps are about 1700 each
The Trails of Wisdom day camps cost 1200 each.
| 
