When one thinks of a Boys Ranch, they might think of a place where boys are locked up or kept in a room and controled by medications. This Christian-based organization believes in allowing boys a second chance in a structured farm family type of environment. Our belief is that Jesus always forgives, no matter what you have done in the past.
LUC Boys Ranch is located in the heart of the Ozark Mountains in Southwest Missouri. We are changing the lives of at-risk boys in our Christian residential treatment program. Through the use of Biblical counseling and applying Christian principles in their lives, we are re-building broken homes and family relationships.
Our Mission is to not only change a young man's life, but impact him while he is here by teaching him the values of hard work, respectfulness, responsibility, honesty, and Christian values through our actions as staff members. We teach by being a loving example and modeling how the Bible can change anyone's life if we obey the Lord's commandments and do the things he has taught us to do. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but our Father in Heaven helps guide us through his Word, and we can find hope and love through Him if we do what he asks us to do.
Boys are able to find purpose and develop their talents by acquiring various trade skills, excelling in education, and feeling a part of the LUC family. Please join with us in helping these boys find lasting changes in their lives by becoming a donor, volunteer, or staff member. Please browse our web site for more detailed information on how we can work together to accomplish many goals! Come join us for a meal, call and schedule your appointment 417-779-5374. See for yourself!
Letter dated April 30, 2023
Vocational Training is one of our key components allowing boys to learn various trade skills. We feel grateful for the volunteers who come and pass along their expertise and skills with hands-on training. We've added some new vo-techs such as Upholstery and Beekeeping. The boys are enjoying learning the new skills required for those trades. In Upholstery, Brody learned how to reupholster a chair and explained the detailed process very well during his presentation. One of our boys, Ezra, is experiencing what it is like to be in a teaching role as he leads the Beekeeping vo-tech with the assistance of a staff and volunteer.
A few of the boys have discovered a love for hunting as one of the staff members spends his off days taking the boys hunting for deer and turkey. While the boys do not seem eager to wake up early for school and work jobs, they tend to seem very eager to wake up early for hunting. One of the young men has been fortunate on both of his hunts to shoot a deer in the fall and a turkey in the spring. Each time, he has been excited to share the food with the rest of us.
The boys experienced a real-life math lesson recently as they headed off-Ranch for dinner. Equipped with McDonald's gift cards they received as gifts, each one carefully strategized to order what they wanted with their allotted amounts. Jesse seemed the most surprised as he realized that his love for extra bacon and mayonnaise could seem quite costly and limiting on the amount of food that he could order.
Each night at dinner, we have devotions together. A long-term volunteer Martha recently shared the story of how the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. She told of the great power of God and described how even the various parts of nature obeyed god. She highlighted the fact that Scripture tells us that the Israelites crossed on dry land which meant that even the mud obeyed God…yucky, dirty mud. We were reminded that since we are smarter than mud, maybe we should be obedient to God as well.
For over 40 years, we have been blessed to have hundreds of volunteers help us with all kinds of projects. They have built buildings, repaired machines, tractors, dozers, lawnmowers, cooked, painted, put up rock walls, did landscaping, planted 100s of trees in pots, built an RV park, put in a phone system, etc. During April, we have 7 couples from SOWERS and SOWERS on Assignment who are helping us build a solar collector on our auto body repair shop and doing some remodeling on some of our staff housing. Since our volunteers live, eat, and worship with us, they are able to get to know our boys and staff and even visit or call back to check on them. It is amazing to see God send us just the right people to take care of the responsibilities of the Ranch.
Several Ranch graduates have called recently. Josh reported on how much he enjoyed his job working in a prison. He was thanking me for how LUC Ranch prepared him to be on the outside instead of the inside of the prison. Another Josh thanked the Ranch for the good work habits he acquired while at the Ranch and is now a professional bull rider. Chris is building houses and is active with his family in a church.
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