Matt & Jenni Cox

Matt and Jenni Cox came on staff in 1992. Matt has served as Farmer, Program Director, Director of Equine Ministries and now as the Executive Director. Matt teaches multiple classes for the School of Discipleship. Jenni serves as his secretary and has homeschooled all of their five children, three of which are out of the house now. Their two eldest are married and they have five grandchildren. Jenni also assists with the “Marriage Dynamics” class. Both Matt and Jenni are School of Discipleship alumni.

Cox Chronicles

Spring / Summer 2026

What is rest anyway? It’s something that we’ve never been good at, and I’m pretty sure I’ve written about it before. Rest is a verb, so it’s something that you actively do. You just have to be deliberate about it. God has recently walked us through a season of purposefully trying to slow down, but this comes at a challenging time with summer camp here. I’ve decided to take a season off of triathlons and I’m only running with one fire department now instead of two. But we’ve discovered that it’s very easy for any free time to get filled back up again. We are trying to be careful in what we say yes to, but this comes harder than we thought as there are needs all around us. (And we both admittedly have a hard time saying “no”.) I’m sure some of you can relate. We’re being encouraged by the board to set the example of taking a sabbatical. This is something that has never been a policy at this ministry despite the fact that we have some of the longest staying staff in comparison to most camps. Matt will celebrate his thirty-fifth year on staff this fall. We’ve had to take a good hard look at our lives even in preparing for the idea of stepping away for an extended period of time. As we look at this opportunity, God has been showing us many areas that we need to practice letting go of. We have wonderful and capable staff here, so we know that everything will be well taken care of in our absence, but mostly, we serve a God who is the sustainer of this ministry. Due to the various seasonal demands of the ministry, it was established that this fall would be the best time to step away.

These are some of the goals of our sabbatical: To visit our Texas children and grandchildren and spend time with them not surrounding an event or holiday, to catch up on desired reading and correspondence, to focus on our marriage and just enjoy times of study and rest together. And perhaps, if funding allows, to do some sight seeing. The MMR board is asking us to step away for close to a 90 day period, which is financially challenging. There has been an account set up to enable others to give towards this goal and we’ve had some offers of discounted or free places to stay, but travel and food will still be an expense. If you would like to give towards our opportunity to take a sabbatical, you may do so through the ranch as a tax exempted gift, just label it towards our sabbatical. Our greatest need though is your prayers. This has been a challenging season in our lives and God has been graciously addressing issues that have arisen from an extended period of pushing through stress and difficulties over the years. We have enclosed a letter of appeal written by our Board of Directors. Initially we thought we would connect with many alumni while on the road, but we were counseled to set aside this time to let God minister to us in the quietness. (AFTER we visit the grandkids!)

Here’s a quick recap of the past 6 months!

As every year, teaching our Marriage Dynamics Class is always such a blessing and a wonderful time of getting to know the students better. The two students assigned to us this year, Taeven and Trenton, are working in Operations and Media for the summer. We’ve enjoyed getting to know them and work with them over this past year.

We welcomed our newest granddaughter, Caitlyn Joy Wallace, into the family on January 17th. She was born to Megan and Simeon and is enjoying the warmth of southern TX as a newborn. Her big sister, Seersha, is very excited to have an up and coming playmate. We were so happy to be able to make a quick trip to Brownsville, TX in February to meet her. She has already changed so much from that newborn phase to an interactive, chatty baby. We love getting videos from TX.

Jonathan had a wonderful time on the Mexico Mission trip and felt really challenged and impacted by the work they did and the people they interacted with. It has served to feed his desire to do more mission oriented service. Due to some last minute circumstances, Matt did not end up going this year but hopes to next year. The funds we raised for him went towards helping others who were still in need of funds and sponsoring the cost of the trip in general.

Emily and Josiah moved out of their temporary home in the nurse’s station and into their new home in the south end of camp. They are finally enjoying the opportunity to “nest” and open wedding gifts that they just didn’t have the space to enjoy before now. With each move of staff, we have been able to address some of the maintenance needs of the units.

Garrett was in the middle of his busy showing season so Hannah and the kids traveled up to the Ranch and surprised us all at our Open House on Memorial Day! They came to us at a very busy time with a board meeting, camp starting, and Jonathan graduating, but they were also a huge help in shouldering the load in preparing for the grad party, planting the garden, and painting the nurse’s station just to name a few projects! Lydia also made the trip in from IN and was able to stay for a week and dive into the chaos.

Jonathan graduated from High School just days before staff training started. He will be working in our Media department for the summer. This has been a stretching experience as he learns how to utilize the different technology of being a videographer. He plans to take a gap year and save up for a vehicle while working in town.

Lydia has been asked by our Camp Director to come on staff this fall in the programming department. After much prayer and consideration, she has accepted the position and is now in the process of raising support and closing up her commitments in Indiana. She has loved getting to know the community there and serving in various capacities, but is excited to follow God in this next step in her life. Please pray that she is able to find a sub-leaser to fulfill the rest of her commitment at her apartment in Lafayette.

We were blessed by the donation of a F150 truck out of Texas to replace our suburban. The truck has a great body on it and we were able to sell the Suburban to fully cover the expense of putting a new transmission in the truck. Since our family has shrunk in size and the Suburban’s body was in rapid decline, this transaction answered many prayers!

Prayer requests:

• For health and stamina for us and all the staff through the busy summer season.
• For discernment in meeting Nana Pat’s needs while we are away at camp for many hours.
• For wisdom, organization, and funding to prepare to leave on Sabbatical this fall.
• For a new mattress as our backs now decide when we get up instead of our alarm clocks.
• For Jonathan as he searches for a car and a job in town once his summer job here concludes.
• For Emily and Josiah as they settle into their new home.
• For Lydia with the transition from IN to PA in August and safety in the move. (We plan to make a quick trip out to IN to help with this process.)
• For Megan,Simeon and family as they live in Brownsville, TX. and build their community.
• For Hannah and Garrett as they raise their family and look for clients in Whitesboro, TX.

This summer we’ve had the fun of watching little foxes play and hunt around the barns and our house. They are a joy to watch and not nearly as skittish as we would anticipate. Sadly, we have to make sure that they don’t become a nuisance to the camp program. (Or our chickens!) As I watched a small one the other evening, I was reminded of the verse Song of Solomon 2:15. “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vine….” It’s hard to comprehend something so little causing such destruction, but they don’t eat at the fruit of the vine, they chew at the roots and allow disease and death to come to the entire vine. Little, insignificant things, the small sins, can creep into our lives and wreak great havoc and destruction. I’ve witnessed this in my own heart and life. We easily justify small things not realizing how they grow into larger issues until the damage is done. We know that Satan is the author of lies, but we underestimate his subtleties. Praise God that we can personally know Him as our great restorer and redeemer when we’ve let sin damage our lives.

We want to thank you for all of your prayers and support over these many years. We would not be able to be here without you and the sustaining hand of God. We look forward with anticipation to what the days ahead will hold as we look to Him.

In His Service, Matt and Jenni Cox and family