Alva Church Helps Ranch Give Boys Hope and a Future
ALVA, OKLA. – “I’m so excited I get to have a dad for the first time,” one young man told Michael Simpson, president of Freedom Gates Boys Ranch.
Founded as a nonprofit in 2014 in Hazelton, a small town in Southern Kansas, Freedom Gates Boys Ranch grew out of a vision shared by several fostering families. Their goal was to support their boys on a long-term basis while keeping Christ at the center of their new lease on life.
Simpson described the ranch as a home for kids from hard places. “Our mission is to bring living hope through family living, Christ-centered education, therapy and farm and ranch work,” he said. For more than a decade, the ranch has served families in deep need. “We work directly with families who see the struggle and trajectory of their sons’ lives and are willing to do whatever it takes to get them help,” Simpson adds.
Simpson and his family—as well as many ranch staff and boys—attend the Alva Seventh-day Adventist Church, located 33 miles south of the ranch. Despite having only 30 members, the small rural church remains the ranch’s largest financial supporter. A weekly potluck offers opportunities for fellowship, and members regularly participate in ranch workdays and provide meals for the boys. Ben Burkhardt, pastor of the Alva church, travels two hours each way to hold monthly Bible studies with the group.
“When we started the ranch, we knew the most un-Christlike thing we could do was refuse to help families because of their financial resources,” Simpson said. “So we made a covenant with God that we would never turn away a family for lack of funds. We provide all necessary services for our boys and their families, relying totally on God to supply our needs. We trust that He is a true and faithful Father who does not delay in keeping His promises.”
Boys ages 11–17 live at the ranch for up to 18 months, depending on individual and family needs. “During this time,” Simpson explained, “we guide them through the healing process of past hurts, train them to bear the weight of responsibility that comes with biblical manhood, and teach them that their true identity and value are found in Christ.”
While living at the ranch, the boys attend Freedom Gates Christian Academy for a Christ-centered education that focuses on reading, comprehension, handwriting and mathematics. Weekly Christian therapy takes place on-site, and the boys can work on the ranch, where they mow lawns, train horses, care for cattle and build or repair fences.
The young men come to the ranch for many reasons: broken homes filled with trauma, behavioral struggles or overwhelmed single mothers trying to raise sons of honor. Simpson says that generational trauma, abuse and neglect are often present. “Every reason mentioned can find its healing in Christ,” he affirmed.
Simpson is enthusiastic about the ranch’s future. “We have seen God work so many miracles to make the ranch a place of safety and hope for many boys and families,” he said. In 2021, the ranch broke ground on an 8,000-square-foot Freedom Gates Campus Center to expand education and services. “God moved us to get started even though we only had $1,000 in the bank,” Simpson said. “He finished it in 23 months with no debt.”
With more houses under renovation to welcome additional boys, the need remains great. “We currently turn down three families per week because we don’t have room,” Simpson said. “But we know God will be faithful, as ‘He cannot deny Himself,’” 2 Timothy 2:13.
Currently, less than 9 percent of the ranch’s operating costs come from parents. “Stepping out in faith is the most solid place we can be,” Simpson said. “We are grateful for all who make this ministry possible and ask for continued prayer for our boys, our team and our expansion, and pray that God will send us more laborers.”
By Caroline A. Fisher
