13 Jun Laura: Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children – Part 1 – The Guys

North Texas – Early into our Texas stop we had a group of special visitors from the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children. Three young men, Shane, Josiah, and Patrick, and their sponsors Jim and Don, made the trip to experience the prime cutting weather with us! In other words, they got to experience some sweltering heat, but were great sports!

This is our second year getting the privilege to work with the youth from the Boys Ranch Town in Edmond, Oklahoma. They are a sponsor of the All Aboard Wheat Harvest program again in 2018. The Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children offer many services and you can learn about them here, but for the purposes of this post, I will focus more on the Ranch since that’s where our visitors were from.

Boys Ranch Town sits on 145 acres inside Edmond, but in a rural setting. Boys life in “cottages”, in a family style, Christian environment, with married house parents and up to eight other boys.

On the ranch there are opportunities to work with the animals and develop positive habits that will benefit them in the present and future. Young men are encouraged to be active outside the Ranch in their local schools, 4-H, sports, etc. Boys may be in the OBHC program for several months or years if necessary. Support is available for qualifying individuals once a young man graduates high school to ensure a successful transition into his next stage of life.

The young men and their sponsors arrived in time to watch the crew service the machines in preparation of the day. Our crew spoke to them about why maintenance is important and how the machines work. Each boy had the opportunity to learn about technology in the cab of the John Deere combines and learn how the Shelbourne stripper heads operate. The boys also were able to sit in the trucks and try their hands at opening the hopper on the trailer.

Thanks to OBHC for providing us the opportunity to meet your youth and sponsors as well as providing the crew with ice cold drinks on a cold day! Thanks to our crew for sharing their expertise with the young men!

If you are interested in supporting Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children, you can click here for information about their 10 Acre Challenge. 10 acres is a suggestion, though they welcome all gifts no matter how large or small. Gifts of time, talent, and prayers are also appreciated!

Matt teaching about servicing the combine. (Photo credit: Laura)

Matt discussing how a combine processes the wheat. (Photo credit: Laura)

Seeing what’s inside the head of wheat. (Photo credit: Laura)

Adam teaches about the GPS. (Photo Credit: Laura)

Climbing the ladder to learn about technology in the cab. (Photo credit: Laura)

Learning the parts of the combine. (Photo credit: Laura)

Leigh demonstrates how to open the hopper on the trailer. (Photo credit: Laura)

Giving it a try! (Photo credit: Laura)

Sitting up in the cab. (Photo credit: Laura)

Watching wheat being loaded into the trailer. (Photo credit: Laura)

Adam explains the header. (Photo credit: Laura)

Learning about the tractor and grain cart. (Photo credit: Laura)

Don was impressed with the size of the wrench! (Photo credit: Laura)

Ryan discusses harvest with one of our visitors. (Photo credit: Laura)

The crew from Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children. (Photo Credit: Laura)

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Laura can be reached at laura@allaboardharvest.com.