Ivan Kent Steinke

Grace Ranch has been such a good experience. I've learned so much from Brother Richard and Sister Ann, not just through their words, but through their kindness, wisdom, and maturity. They are some of the most remarkable people I've known. Brother Richard is truly called of God. Not only that, but he has been around the block as a pastor, and has so much wisdom from his experience, if a person can just listen to what he's trying to say. Sister Ann, in her support of him and the people he ministers to, is the absolute embodiment of the words "helpmate," and "hospitality." These folks are down to Earth. They are real. They are Christian ministers, in the best sense of the term.

As much as I could say about them, however, I want to tell you about someone else from whom I've learned vast lessons while here.

Here at Grace Ranch (in Texas) we have a mule named Chester. As a foal and then throughout his life he was severely abused on other ranches, even beaten with the blade of a shovel. Eventually he was sold at auction, and came here, to Grace Ranch. He is still shy, and doesn't want people to get too close- will probably always be that way a little.
However, he knows that he is in a place where he is loved. One time (before I came here) this ranch was going to sell Chester. He saw the trailer pull in, and then the people looking him over. He wasn't going to have any of it. Now that he'd found a home, he'd determined he was going to stay here. So here he'll most likely live out his days. I've learned a lot about ministry and life and dealing with people from Chester the mule.

In ministry, as in life in general, I am so good at being a controlling, manipulative person, and thinking that I am doing good for others, when I'm really doing what I think needs to be done, rather than what God wants to be done, and what those people really need.
Chester loves being around people, but because of his abusive past he doesn't want you to come within a certain distance of him. He needs his space to feel safe. My natural inclination would be to go up and hug him and love him and pet him and make him feel "safe..." . If I were to be bold and try to force Chester to communicate with me on my terms, it would only hurt him. It wouldn't be good for him, only for my own feelings that I have "ministered," besides the fact that Chester would never have any of it anyway. However, if I recognize Chester's past, and where he's been, and have compassion on him, and deal with him according to his own language and needs, if I'm willing to give Chester his boundaries, I can be part of helping to make him feel more secure and loved. Maybe if enough people do that, some of his brokenness can be mended. The same principle applies with people.

In this world there are so many human "Chesters," who just need Jesus Christ, and who need us to empathize with them and the world they live in, in order to help them find healing. It breaks my heart to see what abuse was done to this poor animal. Should it not break our hearts even more to see what sin has done in the lives of people?

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