"I would just like to say the first time I seen God's love was here at this ranch that I'm the director at now."
As for the boys he serves, "They can't say, 'You don't know what I'm going through,' because I do! I understand exactly what you're going through, but it's also allowed me to have some grace and some understanding."
Steven Jones is director of the Baldwin County Boys Ranch in southern Alabama.
"It's not only a place for kids to stay, it's a place where God restores what's been broken. We are actually one of the four ranches here in Alabama. There's two boys' ranches and two girls' ranches. These are not just boys who have been in trouble. They're actually all boys who are in foster care and they come from situations they didn't choose. A lot of them have been through trauma and instability and loss. And we just try to give them consistency, structure, and love. But more than that, we try to point them towards Christ. And if I calculated correctly, we actually had five baptisms this last year, which is a huge accomplishment for us."
This year marks sixty years of shaping the lives of more than 5,000 at-risk youth through the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches across the state. The dream began in the early 1960s when members of the Alabama Sheriffs Association dedicated their time and talents to making a difference in the lives of boys from troubled backgrounds. They decided to build a program that would provide homes for troubled children before poor decisions led to encounters with law enforcement.
(Richard asks) Steven, you were actually placed at the Boys' Ranch as a teenager. What was going on in your life at that time?
(Steven) "My story is living proof that God can take something broken and turn it into something purposeful. Some really hard times. And he's turned it into something really, really awesome now that I can use. So, I grew up in a home that was ... I was born into a broken home. So, my mother had six children and she didn't raise none of them. So, she'd have them with the dad and then leave basically. And, rest her soul, she actually passed away when she was 44. But I was one of the six children. I lived with my brother in a home. We were very, very poor. I didn't have a mother there. My dad worked and he had some addiction issues himself. Food was hard to come by.
Power would get cut off at times. There would be people around that shouldn't be around as far as drug related and doing things like that. And so it was a really tough childhood. I stayed in trouble at school. I was picked on a lot just for how we dressed and things like that. And really had no stability and no one was taking care of us. And my dad would do what he could, but he lost it, which is kind of like a plague or a curse or something on our family because it's like his dad died from a drunk driver when he's 11-years-old, so he didn't have a dad in his life most his life. And then he had kids and then continued the cycle of just a broken family."
Through circumstances clearly arranged by God (you can hear about that in our podcast), Steven was accepted at the Boys Ranch at age 13.
"So, at the ranch, all the children, we all go to church on Sundays here. When I was here, it was the same way. We go to church on Sundays. I didn't want to go when I first got to the ranch. I was like, 'I do not want to go to church. I do not want to go.' But there's limited staff here, so we all go together as a family. You don't have to participate, but you got to go and you got to be respectful. So, that's what I did. And the Lord slowly chipped away at me. I kind of had a hardened heart and I had a hard time trusting just from all the things I've been through. And so, we're attending the church, the Ranch church. For about two years I go. I never get saved. I hear everything. I'm not really listening.
I'm just kind of going through the motions.
Then actually, the youth group was like, 'Hey, you want to go on a mission trip? We're doing a roof of house. We could use some strong guys to carry the shingles and all that.' And so I go and one of the mentors there, who's actually, funny now, he's my father-in-law, Donnie. He was there with me. And so on that trip we went on, we roofed a lady's house who had dementia. And so, we did that and we had a service. And then I finally surrendered my life. It was a very emotional thing for me. It was raw because it wasn't just a moment. It was a surrender. And I'd finally let go!
It felt like a truck was on me. But when I finally let the Lord in and I just got saved, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off me. And ever since that day, I have really strived to live for him in everything that I do. I'm not perfect. There's only one perfect man who walked and I'm not him, but I have really tried to strive to serve him in everything that I do. So, that's how I come to know the Lord. But I would just like to say the first time I seen God's love was here at this ranch that I'm the director at now. So, it starts in the home. And yes, I got saved on a trip, but it started with my house parents who constantly loved me even though I felt like I wasn't deserving it, but they still continued to do that."
With his troubled past now redeemed by his relationship with Jesus, Director Steven can relate to everything the kids are going through.
"Yeah, I mean, I can. And we have a special kind of relationship because I can. And they can't say, 'You don't know what I'm going through,' because I do. I understand exactly what you're going through, but it's also allowed me to have some grace and some understanding. And we've been able to help a lot of kids."
(Richard) Does any story come to mind about a special young person or something that God did in a young person that really amazed you?
(Steven) "I would say we see it all the time and boys come here angry and they start to soften. They don't trust anyone, then they start to open up. They feel worthless, then they start to feel some value, but that's not us, it's God working their lives.
But there is one boy, I won't share his name because I can't legally, but I will say that he come here as an atheist and he said, 'God would have to come down and tell me that he's real right now for me to be saved.' And we had some really tough nights where we stayed up and talked and talked and prayed and debated. And he was just like, 'I'm not ever going to believe.' And then we went to church like I did when I was growing there, and he actually went on a trip and God spoke to him and it changed his whole life.
And he was a great kid before, but now he's on fire for the Lord. And he ministers to his friends. He's a kid who has a massive amount of integrity. And not only that, he has God in his heart now. And he come home from that trip and he's like, 'I'm ready to get baptized.' He's ready for the next step. And that was just one example of a lot of boys who have given their life to the Lord here. But that stands out because it was pretty recent and he was a tough cookie and he was dead set on not believing, but here he is saved today by grace and serving the Lord."
We invite you to learn more about Steven and the Baldwin County Boys Ranch in our complete podcast interview just below:
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, each Ranch’s operating budget is funded almost exclusively through corporate and private-sector donations as well as fundraising events.
