Wow, I can’t believe we’ve finished our first two weeks here at Teen Challenge. (or that I haven’t posted anything in so long!) We’ve enjoyed some ups and downs with the weather – today it’s damp and cool – I have our little heater going. But on Monday it was almost 80 and the weekend was just gorgeous. But, no snow – and that’s a good thing!
Just a little about where we are – and what we’ve been doing….
Teen Challenge Boys Ranch is “a faith based and Christ centered military-style program for boys ages 11-17 with life controlling problems. Young men find new direction through discipleship and training on (their) 100 acre farm.” Lots of young men in camouflage marching around or standing at attention. Quite a sight, I assure you!
We’ve settled into our routine here. Gary and the guys on our team are rebuilding a large porch that was blown off during the hurricanes. It’s a big project and they’re doing a great job. The “girls” and I start the morning off in the kitchen. We started with trimming, cleaning and blanching bushel after bushel of collard greens. There is a HUGE garden here – that not only feeds the school, but also supplies local markets. None of us had any experience with greens, so we can now add that to our skill list! Other fun kitchen projects have been PB&J sandwiches (220) for lunch on Thursdays, making 220 muffins, preparing salad for a couple of meals, and other sundry food prep chores. After about an hour three of us move to help at the school. There are about 85 students, all doing independent studies (ACE). We’ve been helping with correcting papers and tests, along with doing some reading tutoring. It’s been good to have a chance to interact with the kids and to see first hand how God is really changing lives through this program and these people. We’ve been blessed at their chapels and by getting to know the staff and other volunteers here.
Here are the guys working on their porch –

And here are the girls, not only making the PB&J’s (and being pretty silly) but also anticipating those collard greens. Many hands make light the work, right?

Last weekend we traveled back to Georgia – both to visit our friends Drew & Francis Gahagan and also to help out with the Chicken BBQ that was being held at Faith Christian School, our first Sower’s project. It was a fun weekend reconnecting with folks! Maybe this weekend we’ll get to see some of the more local sights – I think there’s a Spring Days Festival up in Dothan (AL). Might be fun!

Oh – speaking of seeing things – this is the view out our front window.

Gotta love this life!

We’re getting settled here at Teen Challenge. After a week or so of dry camping (no hookups) it’s nice to be hooked up to “real” utilities (as opposed to our self contained/generated ones!). The other Sower couples (there are five couples here on the project) have all arrived safely and we are busy making new friends! It was an exciting weekend here – besides it being Parent’s weekend and graduation for about 14 of the 85 students, there was also a golf outing and banquet on Friday night. The worship service this morning was very Spirit filled as the graduating students shared how Christ had been working in their lives. It’s very exciting to be part of this ministry – even if it’s only for three weeks!
We did a little exploring over the weekend. Bonifay is about 70 miles north of Panama City and Teen Challenge is only about 5 miles south of Alabama. We are saving Panama City for a later time, but we checked out Dothan, AL (lots of great murals) and had a lovely drive through the countryside. This area is so very different than the rest of Florida. Even though the weather here is mild all year around, everyone is pretty excited about the coming Spring. It was 70 plus over the weekend, so it seems pretty spring like to me already!
We had lunch today at Mom’s, a great little spot in Hartford, Alabama where I had grilled chicken breast w/broccoli and baked potato all for $4.99. I think we’ll be back there before our three weeks are up!
We report to work tomorrow – after a tour and orientation of the property and program.
The adventure continues!
Steph

Heading West – at Last!
Yes, friends, we’re finally in the West! OK, so it’s only west Florida, but hey, it’s WEST! Actually, we are about as far west as we’ve been on this trip – with the exception of our quick stop in Elkhart, Indiana last September. This area of Florida is quite different from our other stops in Florida. It’s a little hilly, with leafless trees (it’s been hard to remember it’s actually winter!) – and it kinda remindsus of home. Before we settled in here at the Teen Challenge Ranch, we took a little side trip into Alabama. We’re pretty close, and wanted to pick up some literature about things to do and see. It will be fun to explore both north to Alabama and then south to the Emerald Coast. We’re looking forward to our time here!

I’ve been taking some windshield shots along the way, just to get a feel for how the landscape changes as we travel about. Here’s a shot as we headed north on Tuesday – just a typical truck (among the quadzillion we travel with).

As we got closer though, it seemed like a truck we’d do well to pass!

Poison – Corrosive -Dangerous -Flammable -Inhalation Hazard – Dangerous when wet – Oxidizer – oh, and by the way, it makes wide turns!