Masters Ranch

Master’s Ranch and Christian Academy is a low-cost Christian boarding school designed just for at-risk and struggling boys between the ages of 12 and 17. Master’s Ranch Christian Academy is located on a sprawling ranch on the border of Arkansas and Missouri, near Couch, Missouri.

Boys at MRCA and their families find new help, healing and reconciliation when they had almost lost hope. MRCA boarding school offers a small family environment in an agricultural setting with a balance of discipline and training in an unmistakable atmosphere of mentoring, love and acceptance. Through education, hard work, vocational training, working with animals, recreation, family interaction and counseling, each boy is given the tools needed to regain the confidence, self-respect and spiritual footing necessary to embrace his family and his future.

The dedicated staff of Master’s Ranch is committed to helping you fight for your child’s future and to helping him rebuild the smoldering bridges of relationships with family, society at large and ultimately with God. This critical time will also allow you to re-focus on your home and your other children while we work with and help your son. MRCA’s rates are affordable, so most families can be helped in their time of need.

Master’s Ranch Christian Academy operates as much as possible like a family, rather than a cold institution. We have one major advantage over the average American family, and that is we can focus ALL our attention on your son, because that is what you have asked us to do. We use every moment as an opportunity for learning. We strive to present everything we do with a positive attitude that will benefit your son.

Masters Ranch has professional clinical-type counseling from licensed therapists as well as pastoral, group and individual counseling. The approach to counseling is informal, often utilizing the outdoors and activities as the setting, believing that teens who feel comfortable and safe will open up and share more readily while they are active. They also work with parents to bring them hope and encouragement and new tools for continuing the progress once your boy returns home.

The dedicated staff of Master’s Ranch is committed to helping you fight for your child’s future and to helping him rebuild the smoldering bridges of relationships with family, society at large and ultimately with God. This critical time will also allow you to re-focus on your home and your other children while we work with and help your son. MRCA’s rates are affordable, so most families can be helped in their time of need.

Learning to Value Hard Work through a Wide Variety of Professional Trades

Vocational education is one of the great strengths of the Master’s Ranch program. Hard work is highly valued at the ranch. The boys gain confidence, build character, and develop life skills through voluntary work projects, which are in addition to regular chores. Boys learn to use many different hand and power tools. When they graduate, they are conversant with doing “man” things around the home and shop.

The wide variety of trades includes:

• Brick Masonry
• Carpentry
• Concrete
• Auto Mechanic
• Welding
• Electrician
• Plumbing
• Computer Basics
• Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Serving the Community and Participating in the Local Economy

While at the ranch, the older boys sometimes have opportunities to work in the local economy, exercising their new skills and earning money to help them on their way once they leave the ranch. The ranch itself provides some industries for the boys, such as cattle and hay operations, pedigree dog breeding, and farming, to name just a few. The boys gain marketable skills and a real sense of accomplishment from these endeavors, and perhaps some earnings, which are set aside for them for their new life after graduation.

Building Skills for a Productive Future

Master’s Ranch offers a vocational diploma through Western Christian Academy, for those with a strong interest in a vocation or those who lack the high school credit to earn a typical diploma. Many boys in the vocational programs go on to trade schools, such as the Missouri Welding Institute or nearby Black River Tech College.

Even more important than the actual skills, the boys learn how to work. They get in shape, overcome their laziness, and discover what it means to work hard. Numerous graduates, after finding success in their jobs or earning raises, call Pastor Bosley to thank him for teaching them about work.

Master’s Ranch and Christian Academy runs a fully operational farm. We have seen the value of connecting kids to animals — some call it “animal therapy.” Teens learn responsibility as they care for an animal that needs them. Animals also help connect the boy emotionally, reflect the boy’s moods and temperaments, and erase any streaks of cruelty that may have developed. Boys at the ranch gain these benefits through therapy with horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and dogs.

All of the boys also have regular ranch chores, such as milking cows, just as they have regular chores in the dorm and the kitchen. Boys also have the privilege of signing up for extra learning experiences on the farm.

Agriculture at the Master’s Ranch also has a vocational side. They farm and sell hay from their property and raise and butcher pigs. Boys will raise, breed, and train pedigree dogs for sale. There is a full-service cattle operation, including dairy and beef. They also expanded into unusual breeds, such as the Belgian Blue bull and the Mangalitsa or wooly pig.

These activities give boys unique experiences that not only teach them valuable lessons now but that they can take with them in the future. As they learn to work hard and gain a sense of accomplishment, their attitudes improve. They feel better about themselves. They build muscle and build confidence. They sleep well at night, and problems with ADD or ADHD fade away. Every victory is one step closer to manhood.