As I've been praying and seeking God's direction for this ministry, I've been drawn to the book of Joshua, especially the first few chapters where God was preparing the Israelites to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. In Joshua 3:3, God told Joshua, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it." What I heard God say in that verse is...

...As soon as I brought the man back to my car, the daughter got out of the car and it was obvious she had been crying. She refused to go back to their car. I asked the dad to instruct her to return to their car but she still refused. The situation quickly escalated when the dad began to fight me. As I wrestled him to the ground to arrest him, his daughter jumped on my back...

The fresh smell of being up north, the sun setting over a glass covered lake, a warm crackling camp fire...the external setting couldn't have been more perfect for God to do make an eternal impact in the lives of the children of prisoners attending LIFE Camp. Gathered around the campfire, it didn't...

Many of you have been asking how BBFK has been doing in these tough economic times. Not having received a spring newsletter may have left you wondering! As many of you are aware, we lost some major funding from some foundations last year due to our Christian stance. As a ministry...

Mentors and their young friends, along with children interested in having a mentor were recently invited to our Summer Ranch Round-Up. Despite the 80 percent chance of rain forecast that day, God pulled back the clouds just as the event began and gave us a cooling breeze, blessing us with...

Bridge Builders for Kids hosted two Coyote Ridge camps this summer for 23 children of prisoners in our program. The two camps were broken up by boys and girls. The kids enjoyed horseback riding, canoeing/kayaking, fishing, hiking and many fun games such as Wacky Olympics. Most exciting however, was to see the love of God expressed and shared with the children through...

Toward the end of 2007, I shared how we felt God wanted us to “go deeper”. At first we didn’t know what that would look like. Initially, we thought it meant God wanted us to take our programs deeper. However, we soon realized “going deeper” meant much more. In 2003, we had focused on Luke 5:1-6 where Jesus told Simon to “Put out to deep water, and let down your nets for a catch”. We felt we had done that, but looking back, we realized we had gone deeper, but not “deep”...

Coyote Ridge Christian Ranch is preparing for a summer of FUN! And just not any old sort of fun - fun with a purpose! Imagine exploring in the woods and discovering a cave or learning how to paddle a canoe for the first time or completing a woodworking project – all along side a caring adult friend who really likes you! This is what Coyote Ridge summer camp is all about! Coyote Ridge will provide a safe place where children of prisoners truly belong – where they are...

About 5 months ago, mentor matt and his mentee, LaTerryon, met for the first time. It was a typical first meeting with some nervous feelings of not knowing how the relationship would play out. Would they get along? How would the family respond? What will they learn from one another? But it didn’t take long for these questions to fade as LaTerryon quickly warmed up to Matt. Before we even left the house that day, LaTerryon was ready to hang out with his new mentor!

While mentoring has rapidly grown in popularity in the last decade there is a relatively limited amount of research on it. This makes it especially important for Bridge Builders for Kids to do a careful job of evaluating our program so that we can demonstrate and communicate its benefits. To this end, Bridge builders for Kids’ mentors participated in a focus group conducted by Wilder Research, a nationally recognized social research organization. To this end, Bridge builders for Kids’ mentors participated in a focus group conducted by Wilder Research, a nationally recognized social research organization...