Creach Family, Missionaries at the Flying H Youth Ranch

07/07/2024

It's been 2 whole years since we moved away, but we have been blessed to come back and serve at each of the biannual Resolve weekends since we left. We don't usually take many pictures, but my sweet little helper ran off with my phone after the puppy and got a few candids from our most recent weekend. Please continue with us in praying for this ministry, the staff who followed the call to serve here, and the at-risk youth and their families that they serve.

06/20/2022

This past weekend we participated in our 22nd and last Resolve as Staff at the Flying H Youth Ranch. Up through 2019, we knew these biannual weekend events were integral to the program here, and, thanks to the pandemic, we found out in 2020 just how much of a difference it makes!
Not only is it an opportunity for us as staff to host a student and his parent(s)/legal guardian(s) and get to know them on a deeper level, but the parents get a chance to see how loved and cared for their sons are in this boarding school/Ranch community, and that they’re not alone- there are a dozen other parents who know and understand by experience what it means to have a child that pushed them to the point that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to change the trajectory of the course their son’s choices were taking them on. These parents come, feeling like failures, like they weren’t enough, guilt ridden, and wondering if they made the right decision. They leave reassured, understood…seen.
When the whole world shutdown, we continued on due to boarding schools being exempt from the order, and we “socially distanced” as a community. We skipped our normal June Resolve, and in the Fall attempted our usual weekend via Zoom meetings. While far from ideal, it was far better than nothing, but we as a staff started to notice as we brought new students into the program, we were struggling to gain the trust of the newer parents at the level we were accustomed to. Our own level of service and commitment hadn’t changed, but the parents were not getting to experience our camaraderie as staff or how we relate to their sons.
We were very thankful to host an in person Resolve in June of 2021, but had to again move to Zoom meetings that Fall when half our staff were hit with the delta Covid strain.
So, even as we Creaches pack up and have begun the process of moving our earthly belongings to Northeast Washington, we were determined to finish strong, and attend this very special weekend here at the Ranch, from beginning to end. And boy were we blessed! We got to celebrate with one young man and his family as he completed our Ranch program and goes home a completely different person than the angry, sullen young man who started in our program 18 or so months ago. And we were able to rejoice as 5 of our students chose to be publicly baptized, not to mention the countless times we were able celebrate the big and small victories of nearly every single young man who has decided to entrust himself to the hands of Jesus. Even as we go, we will continue to think of, pray for, and hope to come back and volunteer for the Flying H from time to time.

06/01/2022

It’s a bittersweet season of Goodbyes for us- a couple weeks ago we said goodbye to our last Mentee as he both graduated high school and completed the FHYR program. There was a Ladies Tea to honor Autumn and our dear friend Tricia Hunting whose family is also transitioning out of full time service at the Ranch. We were also honored with the Huntings as well as the Gillespies who are retiring after 32 years of service. Now we’re just finishing up the “lasts”- last shifts, last baseball game of the season for our older two boys, last days of school, last well checks for the kids. Then we’ll dive into some serious weeks of packing up and purging all the things before attending our last Family Resolve weekend as full time staff at the Flying H.

04/21/2022

One of my (Autumn’s) favorite parts of serving at the Ranch these past 11 years has been finding my niche with desserts. After trying out making a chocolate espresso cheesecake then sharing it with fellow staff members, I was asked to teach the Ranch students how to make them once a quarter in Culinary. Then one of the students asked if he could have cheesecake for his birthday dessert, and I ended up taking on making each young man’s special birthday treat (as long as he wasn’t on discipline hours, but it was good motivation for quite a few to work off their hours). Whatever the birthday boys wanted (within reason) and the equivalent of 5 scoops of cookie dough, I told them I could Google a good recipe if it was something I hadn’t made before. Various cakes, giant cookies, brownies, ice cream cookies and cakes, and giant peanut butter Reese’s cups with white, milk, or dark chocolate (even one with 100% cacao unsweetened 😳), along with a slightly healthier request for zucchini bread and honey butter. All homemade, and so much fun to be apart of making a birthday away from home a little easier. This is something I’m going to miss considerably as we go 🥲

03/11/2022

Here it is- Our long-awaited Spring Newsletter!

09/21/2021

Please be praying for the young men in our program!

08/21/2021

***Schneider Springs Fire Update***

Morning devotions looked a little different this morning but we are holding fast to His promises.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matt 6:33

Do to continued evacuation orders for the ranch and surrounding areas we have made the extremely difficult decision to request that parents come and pick up their kiddos for an unscheduled one week leave with regular programming to hopefully resume on Sunday, August 29th.

Please pray for our students and their families as many of them are still struggling with the hurts, habits and hang-ups of this broken world.

And now for that fire update I mentioned 🙂

The closest and most recent flare ups appear to be between 1 and 2 miles from the ranch. Fire activity has slowed but containment is still at 0%. Back burning in some area has diverted things a bit but we are still at the mercies of the wind, fuel, humidity, temperatures and of course God’s plan in all of this but WE KNOW THAT HE IS ALWAYS GOOD SO WE ARE TOO.

(If you check out the map… Eagle Rock is the rock outcropping overlooking the ranch at our entrance)

OUR PROGRAM LEARN MORE HOPE ACADEMY LEARN MORE The Flying H Youth Ranch is a Christian residential program for Troubled Teenage Boys who are struggling within their...

08/18/2021

We’re still at a level 2 “get ready” notice. Please keep praying for everyone affected by this fire, protection and wisdom for the fire crews working on it, peace and wisdom for those already evacuated and evacuating currently. Pray for containment. Pray for rain. If we had the energy to make you our decision making flow chart for this exciting time it would be pretty dizzying 🤪 Here’s a comparison of the fire from our last post to today:

08/13/2021

One week at level 2, our bags haven’t all stayed in our car, and we’re beginning to wonder where we packed a few things, but still feel ready to repack should the fire activity pick up in our direction. In the meantime, the boys and staff returned from the Survival Hike with reports of very good, bad, and downright ugly experiences. Ben and a fellow staff man were able to hike in a good meal and treats the last night to help end the trip on a high note, despite delivering news of the fire and evacuation status as well. We’ve been enjoying lots of family and cousin-time with Autumn’s brother’s family visiting from the East Coast, drawing her sister’s family up from Selah too, and we’re all thankful that Grandma’s house is just 5 minutes outside our evacuation zone. With our evacuation and contingency plans in place depending on if, when, and how long we’re evacuated, we’re operating in “business as usual,” back to our normal shifts, and sticking to our calendar of events. Today that included a program completion, honoring a young man we have thoroughly enjoyed here and near reluctantly release him back to his family. It’s easy to forget what serious issues bring boys to us sometimes, and it’s almost humbling hearing how God worked the miracle of change and healing while we wonder what part, beyond a front row spectator and cheerleader, we really played.

Please keep praising God and praying with us for:

-His work in and through the staff and students on the survival hike.

-For wisdom, safety, and the protection of the lives and property of all involved in fighting this fire and the homes and families affected by it.

-Our Administrator’s family is still awaiting the arrival of their baby boy- pray for God’s timing, wisdom and peace in all the details of his arrival 💗

08/07/2021

(This was our sunset from last night)

Thank you so much for your prayers! Today we remain at Level 2, our bags still packed and ready to go in case we reach level 3, but resuming normal life today as we wait- Autumn doing dishes, laundry, and hopefully making lasagna later, and Ben running a couple errands in town.

Praise God with us for preparations in place for the horses and livestock on the Ranch, and that each of us has our evacuation plan ready, and for our incredible community coming together and helping each other out!

Praise God for our friends and neighbor’s cat that had been missing since Tuesday night was found and brought home safe and sound last night (the thought of evacuating without him was very hard on their daughter 💛).

Thank you to each of you who have reached out with offers of places to stay 💗

Praise God and please keep praying that the weather continues to help our fire crews hard at work.

Continue praying for our students and staff and the Survival hike.

Also, please lift up our administrator’s family- they are due any day with their baby boy and have been preparing for a home birth 🙏💗

08/06/2021

We need to work on a sending out a newsletter, but this is a prayer request post:

Currently, we have a few of our staff men and our residents on a 7 Day Survival Hike in the Mountains near Leavenworth. Please pray that they would each be drawn to our Creator God in a special way!

Also, we are on a Level 2 evacuation notice for the nearby lightning-started wildfire (Schneider Springs) so we are currently preparing to evacuate if we’re upgraded to a Level 3. It started deep in some very remote and treacherous terrain a few days ago, and is 0% contained and doubled in size yesterday to 2000 acres.

I came across these pictures while looking through things, and was comforted by the verses on artwork:

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” -Romans 8:31

and

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 1:6

06/20/2021

Please be praying for the boys at the Flying H as they go home to be with their families for summer break!