Category: Announcement

Administration Office Remodel Complete

8/23/2023

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Thanks to our maintenance team and several volunteers for their work on this remodel!

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Staff Introduction

8/16/2023

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Sam Walker was hired as our new Business Office Manager and joined the staff team in May. Sam has been involved with Christian Encounter since 2016, when he began volunteering at our high school teaching math.

Sam served in the Navy for five years as a submarine weapons officer. He then began working at Lockheed Martin as a financial and project manager, where he stayed for 35 years.

Upon retiring in 2015, he and his wife Liz moved to Grass Valley. They have two grown children and two granddaughters.

On his decision to come out of retirement to take this position, Sam states, “It all boils down to doing it for the kids.”

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Staff Farewell

8/9/2023

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In June, we said a bittersweet goodbye to long-time staff member Sharon Palmer. Sharon arrived at Christian Encounter in 2010 and completed nine months of internship before joining the staff as the Girls’ House Leader. Sharon served in this capacity for a year and then transitioned into the business office full-time, where she served faithfully until her departure. Reflecting on the past 13 years, Sharon shares, “There is so much grace experienced at the Ranch. As an intern I made mistakes and I was met with grace. As a staff person, in my weaknesses I was met with grace...I would define my time here by grace.”

Sharon first met her husband Chris at the Agony Ride. They got married in 2020 in Angels’ Meadow and had their first child, Caroline, in Oct ‘21. In January ‘22, they launched a custom cabinetry business, Palmer Works.

Upon her departure, Sharon says, “I’ve been thankful for the Ranch community through the different seasons. I’m thankful to still be in the area and that that community isn’t ending.”

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Girls' transition house reopens after closure in 2014

5/30/2023

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The Girls’ House first started back in 1999, but due to ministry-wide financial challenges, the house was closed in 2014.

In late 2021, a former intern offered to sell his house far below the listing price to meet this need. Thanks to his generosity, we were able to make a long-term housing investment.

As the ministry moved toward reopening the house, intern Grace Bunn was recognizing the need for a safe place for our students upon finishing at the Ranch.

The transition house is a blend of fellowship, fun, hard work, and discipleship. House residents, which can include former interns, can continue to grow in health, strength, and maturity in a known, safe community while maintaining continuity in counseling and discipleship.

Upon completion of her internship, Grace (pictured far right) joined our staff as the Girls’ House Leader. Grace is from Greensboro, AL and studied Criminal Justice at Mississippi College.

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THE 41ST AGONY RIDE

5/10/2023

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We have 61 riders committed to ride in the 41st annual Agony Ride! Among them will be four of our staff members, featured below. To sponsor a rider, visit agonyride.org.

Last year’s Agony brought in over $370,000, surpassing the previous record by over $110,000. We are so grateful for the outpouring of generosity from our riders, saggers, and donors! We hope you join us again this year.

JULY 28-29 | SIERRA VALLEY

Kevin Campbell, Business Office Assistant
Mileage goal: 266 miles

I am riding in the Agony Ride this year to extend and experience the love of God. By no means am I claiming that we must ride hours on a bicycle to encounter God’s love, but I have found in my own life, when it gets hard and painful I become more aware of the Lord’s peace and comfort. I believe the same to be true for students at Christian Encounter. I believe students all have the opportunity at the Ranch to allow the Lord to meet them in their pain, suffering, and uncertainty and to restore, heal, and give hope. If I can jump on a bike for 24 hours to give students a chance, count me in.

Paxton Fitzpatrick, Assistant Intern Director
Mileage goal: 300 miles

My favorite day of the year at the Ranch is Agony Sunday. Like so many associated with the Ranch, a personal goal of mine has been trying to get people I deeply care about to come participate in the Agony Ride. I’ve been blessed to have my family and friends get involved. It’s important to me because I just know that if they can experience the sacrificial love on display, they will forever be changed. I was forever changed coming as an intern back in 2015. I hope this year that I can be the example to the next set of witnesses to a couple of things: the students are worth it, the Church is at work, and the Kingdom is at hand. In the 300 miles that I plan to ride, pray that suffering/serving leads to real spiritual transformation in me, the students and all the participants this year.

Zach Malech, Outreach Pastor
Mileage goal: 275 miles

As I process with students about their time at Christian Encounter, they all share about the genuine love and care they received here. Love is powerful. Unfortunately, too many people exist unaware of the depths of the relentless love of Jesus Christ. The kind of love that fights for, sacrifices for, and champions His children. The kind of love that says “you matter, you have value, you are worth it.” That kind of love is transformational at its core. And when you experience it, you can never be the same. At the Agony, riders and saggers become the physical embodiment of that kind of love, and this year I want to join the riders in the proclamation of that message to those who need to hear it.

Salena Unitt, Executive Assistant
Mileage goal: 202 miles

Recently a former staff member likened the Agony Ride to a story in the Bible. As told in Joshua 6, God collapsed the walls of Jericho after the Israelites marched around it for 7 days. They devoted the city to the Lord and protected those inside that feared Him. Although we (luckily!!) won’t be riding for 7 days, I love to imagine that the Agony is a similar special event, circling and destroying the walls in our hearts of hate, trauma, depression, and anxiety. Sometimes God has crazy ideas that I may be hesitant to participate in, but He is pleased by our obedience!

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News & Stories

Administration Office Remodel Complete

Staff Introduction

Staff Farewell

Girls' transition house reopens after closure in 2014

THE 41ST AGONY RIDE

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