Summer 2021 was one for the books. We feel more encouraged than ever and thankful for all that God is doing here at Wildwood. It’s truly incredible how each year just gets better and better. God’s promise rings true that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…” Philippians 1:6. He is faithful and continues to work in the lives of our staff and students. One of our staff members, Katie Sullivan, summed up the summer well…
“The past 10 weeks at Wildwood Hills Ranch have been indescribable… but I’ll try anyway. The challenges have been many, but the moments of sheer and honest joy have been more. This place does awe-inspiring work for the youth of Iowa. You have no idea until you watch it firsthand.
I had the pleasure of teaching Creative Arts and leading worship at the Ranch this summer. Every night I got to hear 75-120 kids sing out to God despite whatever back story they might be walking in the door with. They made friends. They processed their hardships with our team leaders. Some struggled and some fought. They swam, planted flowers, danced, sang, painted, ran… most of all, they experienced God’s love.
And the PEOPLE, y’all. The precious friends I made this summer are unbelievably committed to God’s Kingdom and it was the most refreshing thing to be around. The best team. The audio clip in this post is from our staff retreat bonfire worship night — the sound you hear is a group of hearts eager for God to move (*see Facebook Post for audio clip). There is no greater sound than that.
I can’t say enough about Wildwood and the impact it has made on my life… but witnessing the way it impacted the 8-18 year olds this summer has been the true treat. Thanks, God, for Wildwood Hills Ranch.”
We are over-the-top thankful for all that God did this summer and also very eager to see what He continues to do at The Ranch. Summer programming has concluded for this year but we are looking forward to starting our fall programming and kicking off our monthly leadership retreats where we focus on team building, writing/resume workshops, woodworking/welding, cooking/hospitality training, financial literacy, job skill training, and so much more.
Stay tuned for more stories of the of students, staff, and youth at The Ranch – we love giving you a glimpse into the exciting things happening here!