Indian Ridge Farm

RISEN RIDGE MINISTRY HAS A NEW HOME!!!!!!!!

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Yes, you read that right! Praise God!!!!!

Heads up - this is a rather lengthy story!

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Here are the facility details...

The farm is located at 1853 Indian Ridge Rd in Stuarts Draft. It is called, Indian Ridge Farm. It is owned by Simon Kinsinger. Simon's son, Thomas, reached out to me and made the connection. He came out to Risen Ridge a few years ago with the Trail Life Troop to install the fire pit.

The farm itself is a huge, 250 acres. A large part of it is leased by a farmer to grow crops and some of it is used by a neighbor for his cattle and sheep. There is plenty of pasture for the horses and lots of room to grow as we also grow.

Years ago, one of the family members was into western riding, team penning to be exact. On the property, there is a level, round area where a round pen used to be and an area with lights and a judges box where an arena used to be. People would come from all over and trailers would fill the area around the arena to participate in team penning competitions.

There is a small building near the barn that is currently being used as a storage building. It is very well suited to become an office, two bathrooms, and a room for something else - prayer, art, bible studies??? The possibilities are endless. Attached to this building is also a large, concrete slab where we can see a grill, maybe some seating, and possibly a pergola structure - and of course, string lights - lol!

The barn itself is HUGE!!! It is a beautiful old bank barn that has been mostly used for cattle. It is a blank slate for us to create an amazing facility. It needs a good bit of cleaning out, some fixing up, and a lot of construction to create a safe and functional space for the horses and a welcoming environment for our guests.

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Here is the God story...

Back in November, Chris and I felt that having an open-ended departure from the Miller's was leaving room for the enemy to come in with confusion or doubt. We didn't want that for us or for Trell and Cynthia so we proposed a date of March 1, 2024, that we would be out of their facility. We hold board meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. For most of December, I was able to lay the whole thing down and focus on our family. It was such a blessing! But when Christmas was over, the heaviness of the unknown began to set in again. The last week of December, as I began to think about our upcoming board meeting, I realized that it had to be a planning meeting. With no location presenting itself, we would be planning on how to end RRM. The thought of letting go of what I KNOW God has called me to and our 4 horses was pretty crushing.

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But God...

On January 1st, I received a text and a phone call from a number I didn't know. I had left my phone in the car while I fed the horses so I missed it but I texted as soon as I got back in the car. The text I received read, "Hi Jen, do you still need a farm for Risen Ridge Ministry?" So I answered, "Yes, we do". I didn't get a response. However, on Tuesday, I got another text saying that this person thought he knew of a good facility but he needed to check with some family first. Before checking with the family, he called and I learned that it was Thomas Kinsinger, whom I met when he came out to RRM with his son to install the fire pit a few years ago. Thomas' Dad is Simon Kinsinger. (If you are local and you're on facebook, you probably know who Simon is. He's a local train enthusiast, he's a huge Stuarts Draft historian, a farmer himself, and he owns Kinsinger Shop - a machine shop on Indian Ridge Rd. If you're following along, Simon is also Linda Beiler's cousin! Allen and Linda Beiler own the home we have lived in and rented for the last nearly 8 years.) Thomas had a few questions for me about what we needed in a facility before speaking with his Dad about the farm. I knew that farm!!!! I knew right where it was and I just couldn't believe that this was the property he was talking about! A few minutes later, he texted saying that his Dad gave him his blessing to show us around. Chris and I met Thomas out there the next day (Wednesday). We couldn't believe it. I cried like a baby - shocking, I know - lol! We took the board out on Thursday and they loved it, too! Thomas even came prepared with a lease agreement. Since our regularly scheduled board meeting was less than a week away, we decided to pray about it until then and discuss it at our meeting. We were all in agreement and voted to approve the signing of the agreement! We signed it on January 11th!!!

God is so good!

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Plans moving forward...

I need to purge and organize what we have. We need to pack it up. Then we need to move it over to the new place.

The new facility needs work. The first few tasks will be

*running our electric tape along the top of the fencing

*making sure the water supply is ready (there is a float waterer but it appeared to be broken)

*there is a building that we can use for a run-in for the time being - it needs to be cleaned out and made safe for horses (check for nails, that sort of thing)

*determining if there is usable footing under the roundpen spot and going from there

*cleaning out a space for storage so we can bring things over from the Miller's

The horses will stay put until we are done feeding hay. This will likely be until sometime in mid-late March.

Because we make our own calendar, our sessions will begin when we know that God is giving us the green light to proceed. Some big projects need to be completed first.

Our team will be meeting with someone who has built a lot of barns to figure out the barn construction. Once we get that part figured out, we can make a plan for construction and move forward with cleaning and work days as well as a fundraising plan. This project is no small task!

We will likely have some work days in the coming weeks to help get things moved and set up. Stay tuned for those dates!

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In case you're wondering, no, we will not be living there. While there are 3 homes on the property, they are all currently rented. Good news is, it is exactly the same distance from our house as the Miller's farm is!

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God just rained His blessing down on Risen Ridge! I hope you are dancing in the rain with us!!!! And that you are encouraged in your faith.

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Thank you for all that you do and every part you have played in this journey.

Rejoice with us! This is an answer to a big prayer! And please feel free to reach out to me with any questions!