Josiah and Emily Gross

Josiah Gross serves on staff as the Program Director. He facilities and helps lead retreats and events at the ranch, as well as assisting in the marketing department, summer camp program, and SOD programming department. Josiah enjoys serving God through his work at the ranch and in the Corry Community. Emily grew up here at MMR. She currently works in town, but she helps out here in many ways when she can.
Josiah & Emily were married in September of 2025.

December Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

2025 has been quite a year!

In April, I proposed to Emily Cox. We met at the Ranch, as her parents work there as well. We got married on September 14th! The wedding day was incredible, and we were truly blessed to have so many loved ones with us that day. We were able to have our ceremony at a grove of trees right next to our Fort Wilderness building. The leaves had started changing color, and the sun shone through the trees perfectly! The faithfulness of God was evident in the midst of the day, and we truly loved every part of it.

This summer looked different for me than normal, as I was in Virginia for the majority of it. As many of you know, my mom unfortunately passed away in July after battling against her cancer. I’m grateful that I had the flexibility to be there with my mom and family during that time. Emily and I were both able to go down and spend some time in Virginia for the week of the funeral. My family was very thankful to have love and support from so many during that time.

Married life has been a great blessing! We have enjoyed adjusting to the new routine of life together and getting to serve in ministry as a married couple. Emily is currently working at a Credit Union in town, but when she’s able, she helps with different retreats and events we have. We are currently living in the Nurse’s Station in camp while we wait for a house to open up as many of the staff families are moving around. The space we have currently has been wonderful, and we were able to get our first Christmas tree in it!

We welcomed a new group of School of Discipleship students back in September! Emily and I are not advisors this year, but we have enjoyed getting to know the students when we can. Our retreat season has slowed down for a little bit during the holidays, but we have several guest groups coming in next year, as well as our winter retreats starting up in January!

I am continuing to serve on the CCCA cabinet, and it has been awesome to work alongside and fellowship with other Christian camps in our area. Emily and I have also been continuing to attend Harvest Community Church, which is in the town of Corry, right next to the ranch. We have enjoyed getting to know the people there and love the community of believers that comes with a healthy church body.

Prayer Requests

• Miracle Mountain Ranch is raising money to improve houses and trailers at the ranch, build new bunkhouses, build a new playground, and build a new bathhouse at the Fort Wilderness site. Pray that God will continue to bless our ministry through financial support!
• For Emily and I to continue to raise the missionary funds needed to work at the ranch.
• For my family back in Virginia, that they continue to draw on the Lord through the difficulties we have gone through recently.

I am so thankful for the support, encouragement, and prayers that I have received over this past year. The Lord has blessed me immensely over the last few months, even in this busy time of life. Emily and I are so excited to see how the Lord will use us in this upcoming year!

In Christ,
Josiah and Emily Gross