"I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then." Joshua 14:7-11

Dear Friends and Family,

The longer I live (which admittedly is only half as long as some reading this newsletter today) the more I realize that the Christian life isn't a quick sprint up the mountainside, it's a cross-country marathon to the summit. The climb begins at spiritual birth, and ends when the Lord calls His child home. The terrain for the Christian may change, and the climbing pace may slow a bit, but the climb continues on for the faithful servant of God.

Retirement is a very American concept, but it is not a biblical one. If we want to change occupations, stop working for a secular employer, or don't need as much money as we once did, that's great. Praise God for that! However, nowhere in the Word of God do we find permission to retire from our service to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our service may need to be modified as agedness takes its toll. We may not be jumping out of planes into a mission field anymore. We may not even be able to walk very quickly into a mission field, but we're not permitted to abandon it altogether.

When I think of finishing well, I think of a man like Caleb. While he never did make it into the biblical "Faith Hall of Fame" in Hebrews chapter eleven (although verse thirty-eight may refer to him), look at his endurance, conviction, and consistency at age eighty-five! He is still climbing the mountain, and he's still looking for the summit.

How many Christians have hung up their climbing gear before they have been given permission to do so? How many have bought into the lie that "it's the youth's turn to go for the summit"? What the youth and middle-aged need more than the opportunity to climb the mountain of faith single-handedly is the example of other more mature believers summiting the mountain and summiting it well. How many have started the climb, moving at a good strong pace, and for one reason or another, at the height of their potential, usefulness, strength, wisdom and resourcefulness, have became disillusioned and disgruntled, and decided to pitch their tents in the plains? They decided retirement was a viable option and traded in the Christian's Call to service for the civilian affair. What a waste!

There are many reasons why we don't finish well. The main reason, I'm convinced, is because in order to make it to the summit, we have to let go of a lot of stuff, and we're not willing to do that. Many, when they find that they cannot make the summit with all that they hold in their hands, let the summit go and pitch their tents in the plains. And the plains are sadly, very filled with tents. The cry from Caleb, coming down through the centuries is...let go of the baggage and go for the mountain top!

Making disciples for Christ is more than just getting a profession of faith, putting a notch in your bible leather, and moving on. It's about nurturing, developing, shepherding, teaching, exhorting, rebuking, loving and training. It's a long and (at times) painful process. However, it is a worthy and obedient one. It is our goal here at TFR to stay the long course of making disciples, not just to heal the wounded for a year and send them adrift. However, sometimes that does mean handing off these precious women to others who will continue on where we left off.

Recently, we received a letter from a very grateful father of a former TFR student. This is what he had to say: I often think about each of you and the ministry you are doing for our Heavenly Father and for the girls who come to The Father's Ranch. I am so blessed to be able to daily see the results of the work that is being done there in the changed life of my daughter. It's been more than five months since she returned to me from your care and she continues to do well. She is still living with me in this community of 5000 people. She is involved in a weekly Bible study group with six or eight other young people her age, she helps with our church youth group, and is now working at the local day care and taking some educational upgrades by correspondence. She is preparing to go to college to study sign language. She has always had the desire to be involved with early childhood education and specifically, with deaf children. I always look forward to your newsletters so as to keep up to date with the happenings at The Father's Ranch. May God continue to bless His work there and guide you in all of His plans. In Him, a Grateful Father.

This young woman came to us addicted to methamphetamines and other drugs, involved in horrible satanic practices, and drawing dangerously close to the gates of death physically and spiritually. Today, she's following Christ and is a beautiful new creation! That's one reason why the Lord raised up this ministry called The Father's Ranch, and that's why we are praying for increased capacity as we offer the hope and healing found only in Jesus Christ.

We continue to have a "full house" here at the ranch and with it, very full plates. One tremendous need of ours is for people to come up alongside us and help. Help takes many different forms, and we can use them all! We are all in need of prayer and encouragement, financial support, service, counsel and love. Without you there is no way we could continue on in this front-lines ministry of rescue and restoration. Please consider how/if the Lord might be calling you to lock arms with TFR in this work of rescuing and disciple-making.

Well, spring is here and with it comes all the ranch activities that we've come to know and love...no, really! The gardens are being planted and the irrigation systems set up. A group from a north Seattle church is coming in late June to plant a large privacy hedge across the front and down the driveway of TFR. We've already planted one thousand ponderosa pines this spring that were given to us by a valued brother in the Lord. Most recently, the ground has now been broken and leveled for the construction of a 30 x 60 foot greenhouse! (As a side note for prayer, TFR doesn't have all of the funds needed to complete this greenhouse yet.) It will be a vital and fruitful part of our horticultural activities here, but it doesn't come cheap, with a price ringing in at about ten thousand dollars from start to finish. Would you please join us in prayer for this one? Thanks.

Animals, such as chickens (egg layers and meat birds), pigs and goats are being added to our daily numbers, and we may even get some turkeys later on. While this keeps everyone here at the ranch very busy and helps off-set many of our food costs, it doesn't distract us from why we are here. Still, the financial costs involved in all of these projects do add up, and we find ourselves in need at this time. The Lord continues to meet all of these needs in one way or another, and we get excited as we wait expectantly for Him to do it again. We currently have a ten thousand dollar matching grant that has been generously pledged to TFR to help us complete some of the projects I've just mentioned. That means that for every dollar that gets donated to TFR, another dollar will be added, up to ten thousand dollars! This is a wonderful blessing for us. Please pray this opportunity will be fully utilized.

I am often asked what other physical needs we face here on a daily basis. Here is a quick list for the interested: We still burn firewood for much of our heat and a vertical log splitter would be a great relief to our backs, as we go through about ten to fifteen cords a year! A cement mixer would serve us well, as we wear out our wheelbarrows mixing cement with shovels. A front loader, backhoe machine of some kind would also serve TFR extremely well, as we still move every piece of dirt and manure the old fashioned way, with shovels. Lastly, any kind of gardening equipment - from shovels to rakes - is always a practical need. We just had a Home Depot move into our neighborhood, and it has been nice to be able to take advantage of this added resource.

Our staff members continue to serve in various and extremely vital capacities here at the ranch. Starting in late June, another intern will be added to our ranks. Bethany hails from the great state of Michigan and will be committing herself to the service of TFR's women for a minimum of one year. Bethany is a quality young gal and we are blessed to have her jumping on board.

As with all of our staff and interns, she will receive no salary, no medical or health benefits, and not even an occasional stipend. She currently has no financial support and will be in need of at least some by the end of June and through the coming year. Would you please pray for this immediate, ongoing and vital need? Bethany will be a missionary in the truest sense of the word, and will have many of the same needs as any other missionary going out onto the field. This field just so happens to be within our own country's borders. Thank you so much for considering this prayer request.

The Father's Ranch continues to serve hurting and wounded young women from all walks of life and all situations. I thought you might be interested to read of the most common scenario that we find ourselves facing. This one repeats itself over and over again. It starts with a phone call. On the other end of the line is a woman, twenty-four or twenty-five years old, who is suffering from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia or both) and struggling with a drug addiction as well. Unfortunately, methamphetamine is the common drug of choice for women with eating disorders because it is cheap, easily available, and an appetite suppressant that fits together very nicely with the warped and wounded E.D. mind set. By the time this woman reaches our doors, she has been through more than one secular or psychological facility, and is consequently deep in financial debt, and is unhealthier than ever. Legal yet destructive psychotropic drugs have now entered into the equation in combination with the eating disorder and meth use, and she is now discouraged and dangerously close to death. This woman is in desperate need of solid, biblical intervention. Oh, and one more thing, she accepted Christ at the age of fourteen.

Seem impossible? Not at all. Way too many Christians are living their spiritual lives this way. Oh, they may not be on death's door, but as far as their usefulness and service to Christ is concerned, they might as well be. Disregarding the bountiful riches of an inheritance that cannot be defiled (1 Peter 1:4); they scavenge the wreckage of worldly wisdom, collecting litter. As if the "riches of God's grace" (Eph 1:7) were not enough, as if "everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Peter 12:3) was not sufficient, they try to supplement the resources that are theirs in Christ. They spend their lives pointlessly accumulating sensational experiences, novel teachings, clever gurus, or whatever else they can find to add to their hoard of spiritual experiences. Practically, all of it is utterly worthless. Yet some people pack themselves so full of these diversions that they can't find the door to the Truth that would set them free. They forfeit treasure for trash. Mr. Worldly Wiseman has infiltrated this culture and is living comfortably in many churches today!

Does it grieve God when people slander Him by claiming His Word (the Bible) is outdated or isn't sophisticated enough for our educated society? I think so. Still, no matter what the "experts" are saying, Scripture needs absolutely no updating, editing or refining to become relevant. It is pure, inerrant Truth, and it is enduring and sufficient. It was written by the omniscient Spirit of God who is infinitely wiser and more sophisticated than all of the best philosophers, psychologists, talk show hosts or analysts who will pass away like a childhood parade into irrelevancy. They will amount to nothing, while the Word of God will never pass away (Luke 21:33).

Is the Word of God really sufficient to heal the wounded mind, to cure the anxious heart, to destroy the deep addiction, and to save the sinner's soul, all at once? Yes, it is. For those who are in Christ, yes it is. The women here at TFR are a testimony to this. I am a testimony to this. However, let's be very clear on one point: they are healed and made whole in spite of us here at TFR, not because of us. There is only One Wonderful Counselor, and we are not Him. We are simply sinners living in community with sinners, pointing the Way to the cross of Christ.

"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13

My prayer is that we will never exchange the fountain of life, from which flows streams of living water, for the broken pots being sold today, which hold no water. For we desperately need this water if we are to summit the mountain and finish the climb.

For His Glory,

Craig Lofthus