Daniel and Cherish Benedict
Daniel and Cherish both graduated from the School of Discipleship and then joined our staff team in 2019. Daniel is the Assistant to the Director of the School of Discipleship. He is involved in teaching Bible classes, helping with school admissions, and assisting the students on a daily basis. Cherish serves in the office as our part time Receptionist and Registrar. Her job entails answering phones and emails, registering people for retreats and summer camps, and assisting in finances as needed. They have one daughter, Caroline.
News From The Benedicts
Spring/Summer 2023
Dear friends and family,
We are jumping headlong into Summer Camp season here at the Ranch! Summer Staff arrived on June 11th and are engaged in staff training. We are blessed with the team that God assembled for this summer. Our first camp is called Buckaroo Camp which is a three day camp for 6-9 year olds. There are 82 signed up to attend this first camp and they are bringing tons of energy with them! The rest of the summer will be week-long camps of 150-175 kids each week. We have just over 1,200 kids signed up for the whole summer! Our theme for the summer is “Walking in the Light” taken from 1 John 1:5-10. Please pray for the staff as we minister to each child that comes to camp.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
Backing up a little bit to what has been going on since our last update…Our retreat season was well attended this past spring. We had our Youth Winter Blast, SALT (servant attitude leadership training), Men’s Retreat, Family Fun Weekend, Photography Summit, Father Daughter, Mother Daughter, Father Son, Horse Lover’s, and our Open House which had over 800 people in attendance for the day! Our annual Mexico Trip also happened during the two weeks surrounding Easter. Daniel and I were not in attendance this year, but our team drilled many wells for the Pima Indian village and taught a women’s Bible study along with a children’s Bible school.
Caroline is now 10 months old and has brought so much joy and laughter into our family. Daniel is still in seminary and will be graduating in 2027. He is grateful for a small summer break from classes before the next semester begins. During summer, Daniel will be meeting with our Counselor In-Trainings each day along with mentoring one of our programming staff each week. I have three summer staff girls that I will be mentoring throughout the summer as well. Daniel is also busy with recruiting students for our school program this fall. We have spots still available so if you know of any high school graduates who are unsure of what to do next, encourage them to check out our website (schoolofdiscipleship.org)!
A major change that is happening this coming fall is that one of our staff member families, Chip and Sandy Hungerford, are leaving to work at a camp in Tennessee. The Hungerfords have been on staff for over 30 years and have been a tremendous blessing to the ministry. With them leaving it has left some positions open that needed to be filled. Chip runs our office, handles all the Ranch’s finances, and handles all networking. Daniel is taking over the networking side of things and is being trained in that area. I am taking over most of the Ranch’s finances along with overseeing all registrations. Caroline comes to work with me each day and loves causing trouble in the office!
We are looking forward to the many opportunities this coming summer and fall to serve those attending camp and retreats. Thank you for all your love and support. We appreciate you so much and would not be able to serve without you backing us with your prayers.
Serving our Lord together,
Daniel & Cherish and Caroline
Prayer Requests:
- Daniel as he is in seminary, and as he preaches throughout the summer for various camps
- Daniel and I as we take on a few more office responsibilities
- The staff as we minister to the ranchers and volunteers each week
- Finances for us as staff members and for the ranch as a whole, that God would continue to provide