My heart breaks for this troubled 'ministry' because the lost and broken men (and women) who end up here are rarely truly found or mended. Many are only housed simply because they pay the bills with state welfare income, without any program type structure, true Christian teaching, accountability, or concern for their background, life or future. On two separate occasions when I was in need of help I visited for multiple months and was blown away by the lack of true Christian love, compassion, charity, and encouragement that comes from the true gospel of Jesus Christ and through those who genuinely know Him and serve Him, with the exception of a dwindling number of outside ministers who visit the Ranch. I have spoken to three specifically who have made the choice to stop ministering there due to the unchanging nature of the leadership and the men who have lived at the ranch for many years, revealing the true underlying environment of a corrupt so-called Christian ministry.
What I did see was horrid living conditions, bed bug, and other rodent infestation, men actively using drugs and alcohol with little or no discipline, harsh treatment of ranch animals/inbreeding, unsafe equipment and vehicles which are often driven illegally for a variety of reasons including revoked licenses, no insurance, etc. Many times I would drive up to 15 men in vans that were unsafe to drive. There were reports of leadership, including Pastors/Owners using alcohol or drugs or getting DUI's. None of this is stuff I would hope to hear from any ministry claiming to represent the Lord if I were seeking help, looking for a program for my loved one, or one I wanted to work for, or sadly enough, with as a partner or supporter unless things turned around MASSIVELY.
Lastly, I recently chose to leave the Ranch while on a "ministry" trip to Sturgis, South Dakota during the very controversial (because of COVID-19) Biker Rally, which left me homeless and stranded, but I could no longer remain a part of the madness that is the Ranch. During the trip, under the guise of a Christian ministry serving at Sturgis, men battling addiction and other afflictions were subject to working in bars, provided with free tobacco by the ranch, seeing nudity, listing to profane music, and all of the darkness and rebellion that goes on in Sturgis, especially this year when it was publicly known that they were throwing the rally in defiance of the rest of a country and world who is in the middle of fighting a deadly pandemic.
The night before I left Sturgis to escape I watched a man I care about who spoke of nearly dying of alcoholism be removed from camp after relapsing on alcohol as he "served God" with the ranch's Sturgis Crew, working around alcohol the entire time. The ranch supports itself largely with similar secular events where drugs and alcohol are present, subjecting lost and broken to absolutely nothing good, minus reading Proverbs out of the Bible right before they send them out to the wolves. Many have fallen on these trips. Possibly even your son, brother or your friend.
No matter how hard I try I can not see any of this fitting in with what is stated on the Ranch's website:
"The Lords ranch is dedicated to allowing men to decide which path to follow. The path we show them is the narrow one of Jesus Christ. Many disciples have tried many institutions and rehabilitation programs and for some even prisons or mental institutions... with repeated failure. Our course of recovery is the simplest and most basic."
Please do not choose the Lord's Ranch course of recovery, even if you are at your bottom. The population at the Ranch today are mostly men who embrace and participate in the ungodly program environment that I have listed and who have no desire to live any other way, including leadership, and from what I have seen, even the owners of the Ranch who claim to be Pastors or Shepherds. I fear for them. The evidence of their ungodly leadership is listed in this review.
I pray more people will speak out about this. Lives are at stake.
The Lord's Ranch Reviews
My heart breaks for this troubled 'ministry' because the lost and broken men (and women) who end up here are rarely truly found or mended. Many are only housed simply because they pay the bills with state welfare income, without any program type structure, true Christian teaching, accountability, or concern for their background, life or future. On two separate occasions when I was in need of help I visited for multiple months and was blown away by the lack of true Christian love, compassion, charity, and encouragement that comes from the true gospel of Jesus Christ and through those who genuinely know Him and serve Him, with the exception of a dwindling number of outside ministers who visit the Ranch. I have spoken to three specifically who have made the choice to stop ministering there due to the unchanging nature of the leadership and the men who have lived at the ranch for many years, revealing the true underlying environment of a corrupt so-called Christian ministry.
What I did see was horrid living conditions, bed bug, and other rodent infestation, men actively using drugs and alcohol with little or no discipline, harsh treatment of ranch animals/inbreeding, unsafe equipment and vehicles which are often driven illegally for a variety of reasons including revoked licenses, no insurance, etc. Many times I would drive up to 15 men in vans that were unsafe to drive. There were reports of leadership, including Pastors/Owners using alcohol or drugs or getting DUI's. None of this is stuff I would hope to hear from any ministry claiming to represent the Lord if I were seeking help, looking for a program for my loved one, or one I wanted to work for, or sadly enough, with as a partner or supporter unless things turned around MASSIVELY.
Lastly, I recently chose to leave the Ranch while on a "ministry" trip to Sturgis, South Dakota during the very controversial (because of COVID-19) Biker Rally, which left me homeless and stranded, but I could no longer remain a part of the madness that is the Ranch. During the trip, under the guise of a Christian ministry serving at Sturgis, men battling addiction and other afflictions were subject to working in bars, provided with free tobacco by the ranch, seeing nudity, listing to profane music, and all of the darkness and rebellion that goes on in Sturgis, especially this year when it was publicly known that they were throwing the rally in defiance of the rest of a country and world who is in the middle of fighting a deadly pandemic.
The night before I left Sturgis to escape I watched a man I care about who spoke of nearly dying of alcoholism be removed from camp after relapsing on alcohol as he "served God" with the ranch's Sturgis Crew, working around alcohol the entire time. The ranch supports itself largely with similar secular events where drugs and alcohol are present, subjecting lost and broken to absolutely nothing good, minus reading Proverbs out of the Bible right before they send them out to the wolves. Many have fallen on these trips. Possibly even your son, brother or your friend.
No matter how hard I try I can not see any of this fitting in with what is stated on the Ranch's website:
"The Lords ranch is dedicated to allowing men to decide which path to follow. The path we show them is the narrow one of Jesus Christ. Many disciples have tried many institutions and rehabilitation programs and for some even prisons or mental institutions... with repeated failure. Our course of recovery is the simplest and most basic."
Please do not choose the Lord's Ranch course of recovery, even if you are at your bottom. The population at the Ranch today are mostly men who embrace and participate in the ungodly program environment that I have listed and who have no desire to live any other way, including leadership, and from what I have seen, even the owners of the Ranch who claim to be Pastors or Shepherds. I fear for them. The evidence of their ungodly leadership is listed in this review.
I pray more people will speak out about this. Lives are at stake.