Horse Ministry Spends Part Of Year In Goodman

COURTESY PHOTO B.J. Jordan of Crossroads Horse Ministry makes his way through the herd looking for sick animals that need to be tended to. The ministry spends part of the year in Missouri and part of the year in Colorado.
COURTESY PHOTO B.J. Jordan of Crossroads Horse Ministry makes his way through the herd looking for sick animals that need to be tended to. The ministry spends part of the year in Missouri and part of the year in Colorado.

B.J. Jordan operates Crossroads Horse Ministry, based out of Walden, Colo., and Goodman, Mo.

He founded the 501(c)(3) in 2008. He spends May through November in Colorado and the rest of the year in Missouri.

Jordan said, "Our ministry is a combination of evangelism and discipleship. The evangelism takes place primarily in the winter months where we travel across the U.S. speaking at churches, helping people with their ranch roping skills and horsemanship."

On the evangelism side of things, he said, he likes to use word pictures using animals involving a relationship that has one leading and one following.

Jordan uses the ranching culture to minister to those who may have separated themselves from organized religion or may have never been exposed to religion at all, he said.

"Even though that ranching culture is our mission field, it's not to draw people away from organized religion; it's to reach the ones that aren't coming at all, to educate them about what the Christian faith really represents," he said.

He continued, "The discipleship side is pretty unique in its approach. Most people would hear of ranching and internship and think of a program to help troubled young men. That is not necessarily our call. I feel there are good young men, even raised in Christian homes, that aren't causing any wakes in society. They're not getting anyone's attention. Because of that, there are no programs for that kid. I believe that one of the important stages in a young man's life is when he leaves home and personalizes his relationship with Jesus Christ -- that's no longer through his parents or grandparents.

"We live in a culture that doesn't seem to be welcoming God; it seems to be pushing God out of everything, whether it be sports, school, etc. We want to use our summer months in Colorado when we're taking care of 3,000 to 4,000 head of grass cattle to use that as a platform to actually do life with these young men every day and teach them the importance of seeking God daily."

He said they start each day, five days a week, with a Bible study at 6 a.m. before catching horses.

"We spend the rest of the day caring for cattle the Lord's allowed us to take care of and teaching the young men everyday aspects of being a herdsman while looking to encourage them in their relationship with the Lord on a daily basis," he said.

Jordan added, "I don't believe a program is the key to changing a young man's life. I believe a culture and a way of life is the way to change a young man's life through consistency. Our approach to ministering to young men is to create an atmosphere that exists every day in order to show them what vulnerability looks like, problem solving, good work ethic and self-worth."

He concluded, "The ministry in and of itself has helped me realize that ministry doesn't have anything to do with a 501(c)(3) but everything to do with every minute of every day."

General News on 03/21/2019