The LORD showed me...
The Vision God gave to me in 2005:
Ever since I was a little boy, I have always had in my heart to become a missionary. Also part of becoming a missionary I wanted to become a missionary pilot. Even before I was 16 years old I was trained to fly an airplane. I had gotten so close to receiving my pilots license that I was a day away from it. God knew it was not time yet, so the day I was to take my check ride the FAA examiner got in a car accident and broke his leg. He could not fly for 6 months. In that time my written exam expired and I was discouraged. Years later I had the chance to become a pilot again, but God was not ready for me to do that. He had other plans, more molding was to be done before I would be able to do what He put on my heart many years prior. Many trials, and many tests later I am here writing this so that people understand that this was on my heart for many years. God's timing is a bit different than ours. I know I would have never learned of the things I know now if I were to be a missionary pilot before now.
Here I am now with a vision that God has been planting in my heart for over 20 years. I really understand now what it meant in Luke 24:47b NKJ (“...should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem”). The Great Commission is a command from Jesus Christ. From His mouth it was said. I always saw that as going OUT to the mission field, but God had other plans for me. He has shown me that He can have a mission field here in North America. The numbers of today are sad for this country, there are more Christians outside of U.S.A. than inside. Maybe because we here in the U.S. do not have persecution and torment for our belief. At least not enough to push the gospel here in this country. We as Americans send more missionaries out to other countries than have in our own country. I guess we as a country think that we are safe just because we have “in God we trust” on our money?
Now that God has placed a base of wisdom into my life about my surroundings and what is necessary for a change of mass quantities, I am ready to go full force into His plan. This is what He has planned for me here on earth where His Kingdom may be furthered.
There is a piece of property in Northern Idaho, USA that is extremely remote. This piece is just as remote as most tribes in Africa. God wants me to have available a place for people to encounter Him one on One in His creation. This property has no man made sounds, and will have no modern technology to buzz in the ears of the people attending. God has shown me that the majority of the people attending will be children, because Jesus said (Matt 25:40NKJ) ... “Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” and (Mark 10:14NKJ) ... “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the Kingdom of God.” Understanding that children are just as important to God as adults, and also understanding that children will become adults, and share with others what they learned as children. God has shown me that His Kingdom is of children. Yes we are all His children, I have also taken this to a literal meaning of words. So one of our focuses will be on children, mostly children who have never seen God's true creation otherwise. Most of these children will come from inner cities where the only nature they know is the pigeons eating garbage on the streets. I want to have a place where there is no “man influence” only God influence. Starting with the building of the structures on this property they will be built by hand and every piece of timber or material laid will have prayer attached to it. Every tree cut down will be cut down in prayer and used to build the structures by prayer. This will be the place, for people all over the world, to come and enjoy the presence of God and His Holy Spirit. This will be known as Agape Ranch. Where you come to experience the Love of God through His body of believers. As much as this place is for the children it will also be a haven for those in ministry. At any time a pastor or someone in leadership in the body of Christ wants to get a taste of what life is like outside their busy life they are welcome. This place will have the Fathers Love abounding throughout its remote setting. Without the influence of man, there will be no distractive internet, electronics, television, or anything else that would be considered of this world. Just as Paul writes: (Romans 12:2NKJ) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
This retreat will be built specifically for that purpose. I know that most pastors and leadership personnel usually serve their congregation, they are very rarely served spiritually. They can end up burning out due to their serving always and never being served. This retreat will serve those who come to enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit. They will be served as they are needed to be served spiritually. This day and age is so fast paced that pastors, leaders, and children get the last on the priority list. No longer will we conform to this world and keep the legacy of those last on that list. They will be first on our list to be catered to.
Now a little about the actual property. This property is situated south of Lake Pond Oreille in Northern Idaho. It is approximately 134 acres and surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of wildlife preserve. This land around it will never be developed or sold as private property. The north side of the property consists of the Lake Pond Oreille. The lakes elevation is 2000ft. Where the property starts is approximately 4000ft in elevation. This is all within 1800ft of the shore line. The property is in a slight valley with two lakes and a river on it. It has no man made sounds, no modern man made items. The power needed to run this retreat will be powered by nature. I like to think of it as powered by God. He created the sun, wind and water. So we will use these to power this retreat. We will be separate from this world almost completely. The only chord that connects us into the world is basically the people we bring to it. The property will have a short runway. This will be cleared by hand and the cut trees will be used for the structures within this property. The structures on the property will consist of 8-10 small cabins, a dinning hall and kitchen, a chapel, and a residence cabin with offices and a shop. The runway will be our main way of bringing in people and supplies. The nearest large town is Sandpoint, ID or Coeur d'Alene, ID. These are small towns which we will use their airports as a base hub for our operation. We will have a small produce farm, we will grow most of our vegetables, some fruit and raise chickens for their eggs and meat.
Our on site, leadership will consist of gifted members of the Body of Christ. They all must be certified in CPR and 1st aid, there will be at least two paramedic trained leaders and two EMT trained leaders. Those who apply to be apart of our team will answer a questionnaire, have a background check and a credit check before being considered as leaders. We want to make sure their heart is where God's heart is in this situation before applying them to our team.
For the children, we will have fun activities that involve Christ and education. Our goal is to allow the children to enjoy themselves and have Christ as the center of their fun. There will be no outside influences allowed. They are to leave all electronics and worldly possessions at home. Only clothes, notebook and pen, and a Bible if they have one. If they do not have these items, we will provide them with what they do not have. They will partake in Christ centered activities that also will train them responsibly. They will learn teamwork and other life tools.
At Agape Ranch we want to be a vessel to share the Love of our Heavenly Father with all who come to enjoy the untouched land of our Father.
Our Mission statement:
Agape Ranch, as an organization,
wants to share the Love of the Heavenly Father
through camp services, in nature created by God, to all
children in all walks of life, we also want to be a place of
solitude and spiritual renewal for all ministerial staff and
missionaries alike.
This is just the beginning of what God has planned for Agape Ranch to further His kingdom.
