I hope you had a glorious Easter! It’s the day we celebrate Jesus’ proof of new life, new beginnings, and never-ending grace. Conquering death is the ultimate pronouncement of His love for each of us… as He promises, through Him, we can conquer death, too!
Through your help and God’s love, we also see new lives and new beginnings at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. I think of them as “mini-Easters.” Children have an opportunity to heal from the traumas of their past. They can begin to plot a new future. They can move from surviving to thriving. They can find and become their best selves.
This week, I had a delightful phone call with a man in his early 30s who had been at the Ranch for almost three years as a young teenager. After his parents’ acrimonious divorce, he became alienated from both as the hatred they showed for each other poisoned his sense of safety and self. He started “being on his own.” He drank, used drugs, hung out with a much older crowd, dabbled in petty theft, and got into every fight he had the opportunity to start or join.
Then he found himself at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch.
Not only did he find safety and acceptance… he found the Lord was waiting for Him! He told me in our phone call, “The Ranch was my first real home where people cared about me and thought I was an okay person. They told me God loved me and made me as His child, and I believed them. I still do.”
Life hasn’t been perfect or easy for him since he left the Ranch. Whose life really has been? But, it has been a life of faith and self-direction. He is doing work he loves, for people he respects, and he prays every day.
As we ended our call, he said, “The Ranch didn’t make me who I am. God did that. But, the Ranch believed in who I am… and showed me I could, too.”
Please keep our children and staff in your prayers.
In His love,
Joy Ryan, President/CEO
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch
Sign up today to receive ministry updates and stories about our precious kids directly to your inbox!