A final week at Charis Hills as SOWERS was again awesome, but this project went WAY too fast!

This week, the men put together mop bucket closets for some of the high-maintenance areas. They also made signs and washed signs.  the ladies painted the signs, and finished cleaning wherever it was needed. 

This week we also had a major storm go through that spawned over 30 tornados in Texas. Two his 10 and 6 miles from us, and nobody was seriously hurt in any of them; Thank GOD!    We love Texas, but we don't like the storms. 

This week, the guys finished up the worship/dining hall with new thermostats, and the ladies painted some signs and packed craft boxes. We also cleaned up the chicken coop and built a new water platform.

A youth group visited the camp and helped with fence painting and power washing. During the week of work, Mark received permission to hold a Science Night, so we did! I handed out glow sticks, and Mark showed them Uranus, Orion Nebula, Sirius, and the moon!  The kids loved it, and it was fun working with the youth again.  :-)

This week's goal: To ready the dining/worship hall for some visitors coming next week! We had a LOT to do!
- Putting up the sound deadening panels
- Replace smoke detectors
- Wash blinds, curtains, windows, tables & chairs
- Replace wall hangings, dust/clean decor
- Remove, sand, stain & poly the window sills
- swept & mopped floors, then stacked tables & chairs..

It was a great week of work, with a great couple (Rob & Helen) and a SUPER host to work with!

We have finally arrived to the camp we'll be working for 3 weeks, but not without incident. It's obvious that the Lord is keeping us safe!  On the way here, we had two VERY scary things happen.  
1) A very large chunk of rubber hit us in the middle of our windshield! We expected some serious damage from this, but after inspection, there was NO evidence of it even hitting us! Praise God!
2)  We were approaching a truck that suddenly decided to make his left turn in front of us!  Mark slammed on the brakes and God opened the path, because there were NO cars anywhere else in the intersection! Mark was able to maneuver around the passenger side of the truck and avoid this potential head-on collision! Disaster averted thank's to the many prayers from all our friends and family. THANK YOU GOD!!
- Also, thank you for the dash-cam Nate.. We were able to get the truck number and report the driver!

Finally arriving at Charis Hills Camp, we met our GL's (Group Leaders), and had a tour of the camp. Charis Hills is a camp for autistic kids, and they have a LOT of wonderful activities! We LOVE our GL's (Rob & Helen), and can hardly wait to meet everyone else and get to work!

​Saturday church also proved to be full of Devine appointments! This church had 3 autistic kids, and we were able to tell their parents about Charis Hills!  The musicians were AWESOME,  and by the time we left church, we made several friends, AND Mark is on the schedule for special music next week!  PRAISE GOD!

Needless to say, this week, and especially these past few days, have been FULL of praises! We are are VERY Blessed!

WOW! What a wonderful & eventful week to this fantastic project!  We have become very good friends with the maintenance staff at the ranch, and we have worked extra hard to make sure they have what they need done. We have had devotions with these guys every morning, and have come to know them, their families, and their prayer needs. How awesome that New Life Ranch has these people to work with them, and we have been very Blessed to get to know everyone.

Anyway, this week we just finished up our projects.  The men continued to work on finishing the stain on the chapel, as well as re-structuring the sound booth. Mark also joined me with painting needs at one of the staff houses, and Katie & Ann finished up sewing curtains, then later joined us with painting in the house.

We were offered a trail ride this week too, so we took one! Wow I forgot how tired I'd be afterwards, but we had a wonderful time! Thank you NLR!

We also invited our host boss (and family) over for dinner and science!

Of course we couldn't leave without our group photos, so we all had a last evening of fun & fellowship together before heading our separate ways.

New Life Ranch is an AWESOME place, full of wonderful people, TONS of activities, and beautiful modern structures. If you have a child to send to camp, want to hold a retreat; wedding; or have any special group event, I would HIGHLY suggest giving them a call!

During our 2nd week at New Life Ranch, we completed a variety of tasks in order to get the needs met for the camp. The chapel was being used this week, so the men worked on spray washing and staining the staff housing. I (Jeanette) masked up the windows, then began painting the doors inside the horse barn. Mark began mudding some drywall inside the staff housing, then helped me with painting. The other two ladies continued working on mending & altering curtains for housing throughout the ranch.

A major storm didn't keep us down, and through prayer and faith God would keep us safe, the tornadoes moved north and south of us. We were safe in the shelter watching the beautiful displays of lightning while the storm passed. 

The rest of the pictures below are of the ranch itself and some of its beautiful amenities.

Now on to our last week here and to finish up some of the larger projects!  :-)

** Thank you Burneall Ekberg for some of the photos..

Arrived at our first SOWER project in October, ready to work 3 weeks for New Life Ranch; a Christian horse camp that holds many activities throughout the year, including camps for youth, and retreats for adults. The ranch is absolutely gorgeous, with a LOT of amenities for visitors. That also means there is a LOT of work to be done, and they rely on their volunteers to fill the gaps.

For our first week, Bruce (our leader), took us on a bicycle tour through the camp and showed us what needed to be done. During the week, the men power sprayed, then stained the chapel. The ladies labeled merchandise, sanded & prepped a fence for painting, masked the areas the guys needed to stain, and sewed curtains. 

As SOWERS, we planned a dinner night and game night during the week, and had a wonderful time. We have really been Blessed with this team, as we all have plant based diets and work and get along well. However, after a week of work, we are all ready for a relaxed weekend to recover.  :-)

Stay Details:  New Life Ranch; Colcord, OK
Notes: NLR holds summer camp, retreats and day camps for mostly youth, but also adults. They also hold leadership development conferences and horse camps. They have speakers, activities, chapel, and a lot of activities including horse back riding. As volunteers, we have a spot on the far side of camp in a private area beside the river. The horse fences are nearby, and the camp has provided us full hookups as well as a laundry barn next door.  

​I would highly recommend that if you live in the vicinity, this ranch is a GREAT place to send your kids, grandkids and hold retreats. 

If you would like to volunteer, contact the camp directly. I'm sure they would love your help.

There has been a change in our schedule, and SOWERS has graciously let us switch projects to accommodate our needs.

We will now be working at OK-230 project which is in Colcord, OK at the New Life Ranch. We are very excited about working this project, and look forward to meeting and working with other SOWERS.  

We are so very happy to announce that have been approved to work our first project in September as a SOWER.  We have chosen a project in Massachusetts in that takes us near our sister Ruth in New Hampsire. The work required fits us perfectly (Carpentry, landscaping, maintenance, gardening, office); RV sites will be on the project site, and pets are accepted!  We are VERY excited about serving our Lord and seeing what He has in store for us at Mission E4 (MA-486).  

UPDATE: We are now on the waiting list to work at OK-230 for October instead. We are really hoping a GL signs up for the project as well. Our jobs will be similar to what is listed above, but will be held at the New Life Ranch.

When embarking on our new adventure, we desired to continue to be in ministry as we traveled. After much research and suggestion from friends, we decided to choose SOWERS Ministry (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready). 

We submitted our paperwork, background checks and referrals on January 1st, 2021.  Our phone interview was held on January 15th, and we were ecstatic to know that we were accepted into their ministry!  After receiving an orientation and reading materials, we were well on our way to searching for our new project.  May the Lord guide us in this decison and may He take us where He can use us to His Glory..  :-)