C (3:13)

Right.

A (3:14)

We're secretly taking them into bedrooms and doing things that people of decency can't even imagine. We're talking about children that have been locked in dog cages, that have had their hands held on tops of stoves as a form of discipline. Kids whipped with bicycle chains and two by fours. Some of these kids have seen more by the age of six than most adults can even dream of at the age of 60.

C (3:38)

Yep.

A (3:39)

And this place, Whispering Ponies Ranch, is the place that God ordained this year for these children to have those confessionary moments, those moments of purging trauma opening up. And for the first time ever, talking to one of our staff or one of our volunteers or members of the royal Family kids Camps. Nita, you as well as many of the people that follow this ministry know last year was one of our most difficult seasons. It would have been the first summer season post having lost our co founder and our father, our hero, our mentor, our moral compass, the late great Dr. Thomas Horn, who built with you Whispering Ponies Ranch. And we then ended up losing our insurance. It's a whole story. Not because of a claim, not because of anything that happened at our campground. Actually part of a mass purge. Insurance companies across the nation were dumping anything that resembled overnight camping with adults and children, adventure camps with adults and children, young people, Boy Scouts, Girl Scout esque type programs and ministries, and especially at risk kids. We were one of thousands now in line at the very last minute trying to find a policy that would allow us to have camp. I'm not going to re litigate that. There are archived video episodes that explain that massive dilemma. But it was one of the most difficult seasons of all time. Now, by the grace of he opened up counter doors, we had other campgrounds see us as a form of refugees and took all of our camps with the exception of one. And we still had camp anyway. And God still showed up and touched the lives of those children, regardless of the fact that we felt the enemy had tried to take our model down. But now I want to start by saying we took that as a declaration of war. And let me tell you something, we galvanized. This ministry is moving Forward. We're going to be obedient to whatever God has. And we didn't feel a release. This was not God saying, it's time to change the model. It was time to go to war. This year, our viewers, our supporters, our staff members, we felt more galvanized than ever. We were marching the ground, man. This is holy ground. Whispering Ponies Ranch like never before, anointing it in prayer. And by the time those children arrived, we had counselors and family members showing up saying the atmosphere is different than ever before. It was a declaration of war. And so the whiplash, I was saying it in videos earlier this season during the camps. You can go back to our YouTube channel and find those moments where I'm saying, this was a fatal misstep of the enemy to have tried to take Whispering Ponies Ranch down. We had supporters show up like never before. They're like, oh, yeah, you're gonna cancel the model, huh? Now we're really gonna get on our knees for these children. Nita, let's talk about something that happened this year. What was a moment that you experienced that you'd like to share with our viewers?

B (6:23)

I wanted to just take a minute to say thank you to our supporters as well. Because I think it's important they understand it isn't just you that's very grateful. It's all of us. It's our staff, it's our studio audiences here today that are supporting us. It's every single one that has gifted or given a moment of cleaning the grounds or anything that's involved in this ministry. And I just want to say thank you for, for helping to support that. I would really love to follow up with what became the boutique started out very, very, very simple. And what started it is that these groups, they all have like a tea party or a dress up night. Sometimes it's a birthday party, but the girls get to select a dress of their choice. And these ladies were having to bring dresses, let the girls pick, and then they had girls have to give them back. And then they would bring the same dresses next year.

A (7:13)

You have to understand that a lot of these little girls have never had a chance to up, pick, play, dress up, or wear something that looks like a. A princess from a cartoon. They've never had lavish clothing or options.

B (7:23)

Some of these little kids have not ever had a birthday on the lawn. An opportunity to put on a beautiful dress.

A (7:28)

Right? The little girls look forward to this like crazy.

B (7:30)

It's crazy. So a while back, I had requested, you know, if you've got Any formals laying around, please send them our direction. We'll.

A (7:37)

Dresses you're not using. Yeah, they're in the closet.

B (7:39)

Prom dresses, whatever you've got that you feel. And so we got this cardboard box. I went, wow, okay, great. We got a cardboard box, you know, and we opened it. It's full of dresses. And then a few days later we got some more. And. And I'm thinking, okay, that's kind of interesting. A few days later we got more. And I'm thinking, wow, these people were listening and they are sending it in. So we ended up having to recruit Dustin and his wife Ashley. Ashley's the one who actually manages it and she's here somewhere. Ashley, we are grateful to you. Thank you so much.

A (8:10)

Yeah. And for context, if you don't know. So these groups that come in, they do these formal events where the little girls get a chance to pick out a dress, but in the past, they had to return them. There was a limited number of dresses. And so my mom did this appeal, I think, on Facebook a couple of years ago. She said, if you've got old dresses, send them in. They ended up sending so many in and continue to that now these little girls are actually taking the dresses home with them on Friday instead of having to return them.

D (8:39)

Yeah.

A (8:42)

Now tell me about this, because it's gone full blown. This is no longer just a little tiny array of dresses. This is like a walk in super mall now with shoes and mirrors and hats and bonnets, Right?

B (8:55)

Yes. And so Ashley has had her work cut out for her. She has sorted everything, dresses, purses, jewelry, and everything into size, shape, and color so that the girls can match all of this together. Recently, one of the ladies that came as one of the counselors saw these little girls putting on dresses and decided they needed a full length mirror so that they could get a look at themselves, which we haven't had a full length.

A (9:20)

Right, right, right.

B (9:21)

And so she bought this beautiful full length mirror for these girls to look at themselves.

A (9:26)

It's pretty spectacular.

B (9:27)

Oh, it is. It's like standing in Cinderella's dressing room. It's just gorgeous. Anyway, so we're very thankful for that. And these little girls love these dresses and they're thrilled to take them home because before, yes, like you said, they used to have to give them back. And some of them would cry, no, I want to wear it all day. I don't want to take it off. But when they find out that, you know, you can take it off, you

A (9:46)

can take it home. Right?

C (9:47)

Yeah.

B (9:48)

Okay. So now they're going to take it off so they can go swimming. But some of them didn't want to take the dress off because they thought they had to give it up. So now they get any of this. They want to shop. Earrings. Whatever the ladies are sending in to donate, they get.

A (10:00)

You guys have it set up like a little boutique strip out of a mall. I'm serious. I seen it just the other day for the first time in, like, the season, and I was like, wait a minute. What happened to the little row of, like, dresses on one hanger? It's, like, got layers, and then there's hallways, and you go down this way, and then here's the other spread. And of course, I'm man viewing this, so I don't really get it. But the little kids, you see them, they're picking little things.

B (10:22)

So on the spin of that, there is one group that does this where the boys will escort the girls to their seat, and then they all have their birthday party. So the boys now get to dress in a little vest with a bow tie or a little tie. And we just don't have enough of those.

A (10:39)

Oh, you're going to do it now, Nina?

B (10:41)

I'm doing it again.

A (10:41)

Ashley, get ready for boxes.

B (10:44)

Ashley, get ready.

A (10:45)

So wait a minute. You're doing the official appeal now? You're asking people?

B (10:48)

I am.

A (10:49)

Okay.

B (10:49)

And you have to understand that whenever you send these in, it's not a matter of size, because some of the ladies dress up, some of the men will dress up, and they will escort these.

A (10:58)

Yeah, we have adult counselors that will

B (11:00)

also put on size, A tie targeting

A (11:03)

all sizes, but mostly the children, mostly the little boys. So you're talking suit coats, bow ties. Think resurrection Sunday.

B (11:11)

Right? Right. Exactly.

A (11:13)

We never have enough time in these short episodes to cover it all, so I'm gonna move very quickly. Juanita, you gotta tell us about Asher.

D (11:20)

Oh, my gosh. This little boy, he was just a firecracker, that kid. We did zipline on the second day, and I was sitting on the chairs, letting the kids go up the stairs to the CR and managing the line and everything. And his older brother was there the previous year, and me and him were kind of, like, messing with each other. Like, he was my little buddy. And I'm like, is this your older brother? He goes, yeah. I'm like, oh, okay. Well, since I'm friends with your older brother, can we be, like, friends? He goes, I guess. I mean, if it has to be that way. And I'm like, well, I would love to be Your friend and I'd love to get to know you and stuff. And then as the week ends up went by, we started getting closer and closer. And every time he saw me, he had to come give me a hug or he just wanted to be with me. And to have a kid like that that's been through so much grows, like, such a good connection with you. It just made me feel so honored. I'm like, he really chose me. He really chose me to be his best friend. I'm like, I'm so honored. This group always has, like, this big ceremony when they get back to the church on Friday when they leave, and they always invite us. And so we went. And when he saw me, his face lit up. He goes and runs to me. He runs to me as fast as he can. He goes, I didn't know you were here. I didn't know you were here. And so he gives me a hug, and he goes, is that chair taken? I'm like, no, you can come sit by me. He goes, yes. And so he sits by me. And the big ceremony was over. And so whenever he came back from getting his little award, he, like, showed me or whatever, and he took his name tag off. You gotta show this precious little name tag off.

A (13:07)

But that's his camper name tag. He wears this all week, all week during the Royal Family Kids camp.

D (13:12)

And it has all his ribbons. So they have a Bible verse every week, and every time they memorize the Bible verse without having to look on the screen or whatever, they get a ribbon. And so he got four ribbons for memorizing the Bible verse. And the kids just love that because it's like, oh, my gosh, I'm actually getting a reward for memorizing this Bible verse. So it drives them to want to learn the Bible verse. And so he ends up giving me his name tag. And I'm like, dude, are you sure this is, like, your special name tag. It has all your earned ribbons. Like, are you sure you want to give this to me? And he goes, I have to make sure you don't forget me. I have to make sure you don't forget me. And I'm like, sitting there, like, trying not to just bawl my eyes out, because I'm like, I'll never forget you whether I have your name tag or not. And so he gives me his name tag and throws it on me and puts it on my neck. And he gives me one last hug goodbye. And he goes, if I don't see you next year, I'm gonna be really Sad because you are my favorite part of camp. And I'm, like, sitting there trying not to cry. And I'm like, you are my favorite part of camp, too. You are my best friend. I love you so much. And then he ended up having to leave. But one of the staff. Cause each camp does a tree ceremony, and they have each camper write a little thing of, like, maybe their past or what their favorite part of a camp experience was. And so one of the staff, she was helping Asher with writing in this envelope before they planted it, and she said that Asher put his favorite part of camp was seeing the horses and was getting to hang out with me. And I was like. And she goes, I just wanted to tell you that because it was so special to him that you were there for him all week, and he was just a firecracker kid. He just didn't want to. He just didn't want to admit how much he liked me throughout the camp. But by Thursday or Friday, he just. He had to see me.

A (15:15)

Couldn't help himself.

D (15:15)

He couldn't help himself. He had to see me. He had to hug me. And that's such an honor to have one of these precious kids that are so sweet. And I don't know what he's been through. I don't know what him and his brother have been through, but for him to connect with me much, it's just like, oh, it's such an honor. Such an honor.

A (15:38)

Well, friends, I have to take this occasion. We've done something we've never done before and we may never do again. And even if we do, it will certainly not be these sections of rope. You have an opportunity to partner with us as a ministry, to help us continue doing the good work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ not only throughout the entire world, but in places where countries don't have the ability to support us. We need your support so that we can continue reaching those countries. 93 million worldwide. We're in over 55 countries. Some of these places are not able to participate in our book offers. They're not able to send financial support, but they pray for us, and our content means the world to them. They've said, you are our church. We're not allowed to meet here or there, but you are our church. I've gotten emails that have had to be transcribed because I can't read them. They're from other countries, people that are counting on you to help us stay here on the air. So what we're doing this year, we're offering you an opportunity to own a piece of our ministerial history. I wanna show you something here. What I'm holding in my hands is the Reaching for Hope shadow box. Our staff are making these out of 12 inch sections of the rope that came from the rock wall that was active in ministerial service between June and August of 2021 and 2023. And friends, I gotta tell you, this is the rope that you will see in the background of the entire Rescue Us six part television series, which by the way, just won telly awards for independent documentary series. This rope would also be the rope at the rock while holding children as they reach for hope throughout the last ministerial years of my father's executive run as the CEO over Whispering Ponies Ranch. And let me tell you what's inside each one of these shadow boxes. Not only does it include one foot of the rope that was used during those ministerial seasons, but it also comes with its own numbered certificate of authenticity signed by a member of my family. So this is going to include Kate, my mother Nita, myself, or my beautiful wife Catherine. But each one of them will come with its own certificate of authenticity signed and dated by one of the members of our family. And inside each one of these shadow boxes, next to the section of rope that would be yours, there's a caption and I'm gonna bring this up on screen and I'm gonna read it to you. It says, this piece of rope once helped a child climb toward healing, hope and the heart of God. Because of your support, Little hands reached higher toward freedom, restoration and the future he promises. And then there's a reference right below to a very special verse that reinforces this. Jeremiah 29. Friends, when you donate $150 or more to help Skywatch TV continue the ministry work that we're doing, not only will you receive both items in the Reaching for Hope shadow box, but 100% of the donations raised goes towards helping Skywatch TV continue reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Including countries and regions that may never have the means to support us financially. This isn't just about fundraising. This is about outreach. This is about reaching the world in the places that cannot support us. Ensuring that no one is left unreached simply because they cannot give. It'll help us continue to underwrite the expenses associated with providing specialized services to campers, including around the clock supervision during camping season. You guys know this is a lot of work and it takes a lot of bodies maintaining activities and equipment year round, food, service and everything else needed to take a Whispering Ponies Ranch. Camp and make it the most healing, unforgettable experience in the life of a hurting or abused child. These kids have experienced trauma and you can't imagine the positive self esteem supporting inspiration of this unique camp becomes an important part of their recovery. Campership donations are the core of support for these traumatized youngsters. And I'm going to tell you something. Go right now to the app store. We have a Skywatch TV mobile app. It makes donating monthly so handy. We have people setting up an auto deposit so that they don't even have to think about it. We've got an email saying, Joe, we love what you're doing as a ministry so much that we've actually decided since we don't attend a weekly church inside of a building and you are our digital church, we're just paying our tithe to the ministry of Skywatch TV. When you look at a 12 inch section of rope and you say to yourself, Joe Horn has lost his mind. $150 or more. We now know that he's insane. You gotta remember, friends, this is not money that Joe Horn receives. This does not go to a private jet fund. This doesn't go to a lavish vehicle or my own family's personal vacation. 100% of this goes into the reserves at Skywatch TV, the ministry, so that we can do what we've done because of your support this year. We picked up two brand new television networks in 2025 reaching over 8 million new households because of. So this is what I mean when I say outreach. When you support Skywatch tv, realize that we live very humbly in the service of the king. And this money goes directly to what we're telling you. It goes to and it is to outreach our digital presence online throughout the nether regions of the interweb and also satellite distribution. But then the heartbeat of our ministry. And you know this if you've watched us for years, what we do with children at the Whispering Ponies Ranch. So friends, one more time. The Reaching for Hope shadow. Bo, I need to tell you right now there's a very limited supply of these. I only had so much rope that we are retiring and these could be gone by the time you watch this episode. My apologies if you got excited and they're already gone. We have approximately 250 of these, so they'll be gone right away. If you want to own a piece of history, these ropes are irreplaceable. Yes, I'm keeping one. It will be in a shadow box, probably in my office as well. As the certificate of authenticity signed by one of my family members with the date and each one of them numbered. So if that's something that you feel you would value having as an heirloom or having as a keepsake, get yours right away. For your donation of $150 or more, go to the skywatchtvstore.com website right away. With just a few minutes left on the clock, there is a couple of extra things I'd like to share. I had a moment at the zipline where this little boy comes up. This is not about the zip line. It just happened to be the activity where he told me this. He comes up, and he is so refreshed. He's even doing one of these. Like, he's just been nourished and his body's feeling good. And Jamie Woodle was there somewhere. Jamie Woodle, she'll be here next week. She's gonna share some stuff that she saw during the camps next week. But she was standing right there. And this little boy, he's just really feeling his clothing, and he's really, you know, he's just feeling it, and he's getting ready to zip. And he goes, you know, this morning's breakfast was the best breakfast I've ever had.

D (22:44)

Yes.

A (22:45)

And before I could even. Hang on, before, wait. Before I could even go, oh. I go. And he goes, you know what? In fact. And then this sobered me. He goes, this was the best food I've ever had in my life. And he had just eaten the Whispering Ponies ranch, you know, bounty that Katharine, my beautiful wife, had put out. And I said, wait, let me get this straight. You're talking about this week at camp, or you're talking about, like, your entire life? And he goes, no, in my entire life. And I said, well, what did you eat that exceeded all expectations? And he goes, it was a big waffle.

D (23:22)

Yeah.

A (23:24)

Then I find out later, she's got whipped cream and strawberries and fruit things. And he had built like a mountain o waffle and felt like he was the king. Right, Kathryn? Food service, you know, for people with just a couple of minutes left. For people that think, you know, food service, it's a camp. It's, you know, it's corn dogs out of a frozen tray. There's a little bit of an element of that that we've had to reintroduce because some of the kids won't eat anything that doesn't appear processed. They've been malnourished. Their parents have only left rotting food available in the Fridge or all they've had is their school lunch each day to live on. And so if it doesn't come in a little prepackaged prefab, they won't eat it. We've had little kids come up and it's the first half of the camp just trying to get them to eat because they don't trust. They don't trust. So food service, it's not camp food. We're not dropping frozen tater sticks out of a frozen bag. We will often allow those options in surplus of some bounty that you've spread. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, homemade gravy things. I mean, just wonderful food. And that was always in keeping with Tom's vision for the camp. Tell us about your summer. Was this not one of the greatest summers we've ever had?

C (24:41)

It was. And I had incredible staff this year as well. So the kitchen ran extremely smooth. Very long days for me, especially right at first because one of my main head cooks, he's actually one of the camp directors, Max Akers. So he obviously couldn't run the kitchen and his camp at the same time. So the first week of camp, I was literally pulling like 12 hour days. I'd get there at 6am and I didn't get home until like 7 or 7:30 at night. And that's not to brag. That's just what it was. That's how we had to do it and get through it. But food service is so important to these kids because again, a lot of them do get neglected. So they're watching the expiration dates, they're watching everything. A lot of the counselors are actually returning counselors because a lot of them come each year with each groups. And then with last year, us not having camp, that was a little bit of a weird thing for me because I didn't have to do food service. But a lot of the camps that were coming back and a lot of the counselors were saying, man, we missed your food last year. We really loved it. And even some of the kids were saying that or telling their counselors that. But all the counselors, like, this is not camp food. We come up here expecting to lose weight because they're gonna, you know, be chasing after kids and stuff. And they're like, we go home and we gain seven pounds. So we try to keep it the best option of food that we can, but keep it a little bit institutional just because again, the kids are used to school lunches, they're used to things out of a box kind of a thing. So we do have to dump some things out of a bag just because of what we're doing. But it's always the highest of what that food is that we can get. And then the salad bar is just incredible. We have the best salad bar, I think, ever.

A (26:32)

Yeah.

C (26:32)

It has so much fresh options that the kids can choose from. And quite honestly, it's amazing how many of the kids actually love the salad bar because they can pick the hard boiled egg or the bacon bakes or the cheese or whatever that it is that they are wanting. So it's a lot of fun though, and I have a great time doing it.

A (26:51)

Well, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately we're all out of time this week, which is why we're going to revisit all of this next week. Everybody here in studio, everybody up here on panel, thank you so much for joining us. Keep your eyes on the prize, which is Jesus Christ. We'll be back. You have an opportunity to partner with us as a ministry to help us continue doing the good work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. What I'm holding in my hands is the Reaching for Hope shadow box. And let me tell you what's inside each one of these shadow boxes. Not only does it include one foot of the rope that was used during those ministerial seasons, but it also comes with its own numbered certificate of authenticity signed by a member of my family. So this is going to include Kate, my mother Nita, myself, or my beautiful wife Catherine. But each one of them will come with its own certificate of authenticity signed and dated by one of the members of our family. And inside each one of these shadow boxes, next to the section of rope that would be yours, there's a caption, and I'm gonna bring this up on screen and I'm gonna read it to you. It says, this piece of rope once helped a child climb toward healing, hope and the heart of God. Because of your support, little hands reached higher toward freedom, restoration and the future he promises. And then there's a reference right below to a very special verse that reinforces this. Jeremiah 29:11. If that's something that you feel you would value having as an heirloom or having as a keepsake, get yours right away. For your donation of $150 or more, go to the skywatchtvstore.com website right away.