The Potter’s Ranch


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It’s been over 30 years ago that the Lord first planted the vision in our hearts. A vision of one day having a ranch where hurting children can find restoration and love.  In 2008, the Lord made a way for the purchase of 108 acres of beautiful ranch land, located about midway between the towns of Arriaga and Cintalapa. Since then we have built 2 of what will be a 20 home village for orphans.

We are pushing towards the goal of making the ranch self sustaining. We currently have over 30 milk cows, 200 laying hens, sheep, milk goats, rabbits, and over 1,000 fruit trees. So very exciting. We just recently sealed a deal to add 33 hectares more to the ranch, that would give us a total of 188 acres.

The family continues to grow.

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 Horseback riding is great therapy for children who have been abused.

Horseback riding is great therapy for the kids

       

Short Term Team building a playground

The Vision
Our aim is to have a fully functioning ranch and children’s village established for up to 200 orphaned and abandoned children. Engineers from EMI (Engineering Missions International) spent two weeks surveying, and making architectural plans for the village. The aim is to have twenty small homes, housing up to ten children in each home with house parents. A school and vocational training facilities are in the plans as well.

Progress
Short term teams have been a great blessing in many ways. Folks who are willing to sacrifice precious free time and finances to come and help us advance the Kingdom of God in Chiapas. In the above picture is a group that have come every year to serve in Arriaga. On this occasion they were helping us do some heavy lifting and landscaping.

 

Suizo Americano Cows

 We want to share a special thank you to those of you who helped us buy milk cows a few months ago. We were able to purchase eight beautiful Swiss American milk cows. We have a local rancher in our church that is also a veterinary. He made plans with Bill to either bring a bull out to the ranch or artificially inseminate the milk cows. For all you green horns out there, the cows have to get pregnant and have a calf before they begin to give milk. ☺ Well, much to our surprise five were already pregnant! The seller didn’t realize this or he would have charged us a much higher price. So, we got a special double blessing! We now have the eight cows plus five new calves. Daily, our children are now enjoying fresh milk and cheese. Yum!       

From the cow comes the milk, from the milk comes the cheese, yipppeee. Were making progress

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As the Ranch construction continued and the substance of our faith became a tangible reality, our family also continued to grow. We’ve made great leaps of accomplishment in infrastructure, establishing livestock and orchards, and constructing the bunk house and a couple of the children’s homes. However the finances were not there to complete enough construction for our large family to move to the ranch. With practical issues like schooling and providing separate living quarters for the boys and girls, the family move to the Ranch seemed to be years away

When suddenly, God.

What looked like would take years to accomplish happened within weeks.

By the favor of the Lord and the generosity of His Kingdom-minded children, we were given a twelve acre property that provided the facilities our family needed. This property, what we now call “the Base,” is located just ten miles from the Ranch! The Base is equipped with five houses, a church, two sets of dormitories (sleeps 100), and a two story clinic building with dental facilities.

We encountered some trials in the process, but remained victorious, and soon the children’s school was moved to the Base, along with the girls, little boys, and our handicapped children. The older boys were able to move to the ranch and are driven daily to the Base for school. In the afternoons, they are returned to the Ranch to help Bill with the animals and projects.

As construction continues at the Ranch, we are now closer to the fulfillment of the vision than ever before.  It is amazing to see God accomplish the impossible that He planted in our hearts years ago. Through Him we can truly do all things.

The Clinic The Clinic

The church at the BaseThe Church at the Base

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Learn more about the Ranch and the Base in our General Brochure:

Download (PDF, 4.39MB)

Our Family at the Base

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