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I saw the sheer delight on the children’s faces when they arrived at the ranch by van this morning. Watching them run up to the staff members and Mexican youth who lead, seeing their excitement to be coming for activities, I understood that the ranch is a very special place for them. Many of the kids have very difficult home lives, many come from trauma, but in the ranch they find belonging and acceptance. It’s clear the leaders know the kids each by name and love them dearly. In devotions yesterday, a youth said, “The ranch is like a fortress of God. It’s a safe place.”
This morning we were treated to the buzz of controlled chaos that is Kids Club. Every Saturday morning, vans go out from the ranch into the nearby low-income suburbs (colonías) and bring a few dozen kids back to the ranch for a full morning of Bible story, crazy fun, and a hearty lunch. We joined right in as kids danced on the basketball court carrying cups full of water; when the music stopped, whoever was still moving was soaked by everyone else. Of course the first to be caught was a leader, who conveniently “tripped” to show the kids it’s okay to be the doused. Activities are developed by a skilled PE teacher to build belonging, trust, self-confidence and social skills, but as one girl said, it’s “fun and it’s about God.”
In everything that happens at the ranch, they aim to build people, not buildings; point people to God; and equip people to lead and tell others about God. Activities are run by a host of impressive Mexican youth who have been coming to the ranch since they were kids and who, according to one missionary, now have the expertise to run the whole ranch. As they say here, even if the missionaries had to leave, even if the ranch property was no longer available, the work of God would still go on in these communities.
As we return home, how might we invest in people? Programs come and go; instead, I hope we continue to focus on relationships, within the church and beyond it, that point to the goodness of God.
