It is Always a Joy To Connect With Donors and Update Them
Dear Friends of Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch,
It amazes us each time we think of you, and how there are so many that live so far away that we will never meet, but you faithfully pray for us and send in support so we are able to serve kids, meet needs, and meet the ultimate need by sharing Jesus with them. Here is a bit about what’s been going on during the last three months.
School year wrapped up for Harvey, finishing Kindergarten at Tri-County Christian School. He made so many friends and loved learning how to read and getting to do science experiments. His love for science has carried over to home life, and he is always wanting to test out different ideas and theories he may have.
Not long after school wrapped, work groups began. Each year has looked different for us in roles and responsibilities; Ryan went from primarily shooting video and photos to leading a crew each week on various building projects. Kimber went from making meals and watching kids to leading several groups around our house with painting, landscaping, and some light cleaning, on top of still making meals to feed hungry volunteer workers. I think our favorite night was when we were able to host a group and make homemade Chinese food from scratch, from Ryan’s former restaurant days!
Bike riding has always been a theme at our house, and this last quarter was no different. Ryan had some crazy ideas to try and jump over a huge hay bale! Gibson learned to pedal straight from his balance bike with no training wheels, and even Baylor has moved up to a real balance bike. Our family was able to take a quick getaway to Bentonville (Northwest Arkansas) and ride for a bit earlier in July, and then toward the end of July the boys on site started working on some of their own trails in the woods with Ryan.
It is always a joy to connect with donors and update them on what is new on the ranch and field any questions they may have. We were able to connect with some donors who have been supporting Shiloh for nearly 20 years while we were in Arkansas. They recommended a nice little restaurant, and we enjoyed a pleasant evening hearing their story about how they heard about Shiloh through a church presentation so many years ago. It was shocking to us that they had never made the trip up to visit the ranch site when they only live about 5 hours away! We told them they have to come up and visit us later this year!
By the time you are reading this, our VBS videos have been released and viewed at many churches across the nation, and our updated general video should be live on the website and coming to a church near you! It is good for us to be able to use our gifts and talents through video to produce content to share with our donors, the families of children who are placed here, or those seeking to be placed here.
Thank you for spending a few minutes reading our article and seeing how God is sustaining us and leading us during this season at Shiloh. We are grateful for your prayers and support and we hope you make the trip to come visit the ranch if you haven’t yet! Seriously, come visit!!!
Ryan, Kimber, Harvey, Gibson, and Baylor