Bishop Street Bootcamp Ranch

This Ministry began in October 2014 in a two bedroom house on Bishop Street. The Director, Bryan Pilgrim, was addicted to drugs for many of his 47 years of life. He was set free from addiction to drugs when he was introduced to the love of Jesus Christ in a jail cell. This journey has not always been an easy one when temptation is around every corner and media offers immediate access to so much evil. As a result of his past struggles and the freedom he experiences today through the love of Christ it is his desire to share that with any man who is plagued by the multitude of addictions out there today.

This Ministry was birthed with a mere $50.00 in his pocket, a cell phone (with the bill) and a house rented for $1,200.00 a month. Four men came with him the day he opened the doors of Bishop Street. No food or furniture, no bedding or toiletries, no pans nor dishes just the bare shell of a house filled with the hope and love of Jesus Christ and the determination of a man who had experienced deliverance. Within days of occupancy the house had furniture, not trash but nice furniture and the cupboards were full of food. It was amazing to watch God work out all of the details necessary to keep this Ministry going. He provided lawns to be mowed and houses to be cleaned to afford them an income. Each month the bills were covered almost to the dollar and never was there a time when no food was available. God is our provider and He does not hand out second best.

For one year men came to stay in that two bedroom, two bathroom house with the desire of being set free from their bondage of addiction. Around 40 men passed through those doors during that first year and today we have reports of at least one man who lived there in the beginning that is doing amazing, working every day and providing for all of his needs. He is still actively involved in his local church body and all relations with family have been restored. Not every man who comes through will be saved but if they come with a willing and wanting heart the Lord will show them the way! As you might guess the quarters were very tight and this occasionally caused men to leave too soon so we moved to the country in February 2016.

We currently live on 17.9 acres in a three bedroom, two bath home. We have had up to nine men at a time living in the home with us. This brings its own set of problems when each man has much baggage and behavior issues of his own. During our time in the country we have had over 80 men stay and sit under the teaching of the Lord God. Not all have made it but we have seen families restored and men leave here without that same addictive behavior they came in with. We can honestly say that every man who enters the doors of Bishop Street Bootcamp Ranch are introduced to the saving knowledge of Jesus and experience love that can only come from Christ Himself. Even so it is time to move again. We have outgrown our current Garden of Eden and have found 15 acres where we can build a 24 bed bunkhouse for men to be given the opportunity to sit before the Lord for at least 120 days before they are released back to the work force.

The plans are drawn, the pad is set and the building is ordered. We finally have electricity on the property and hope to have a water well sometime very soon. Now we are in the fund raising mode. The building will cost approximately $350,000.00, will offer full wheelchair access and each man will have a little room to breathe. The reason the word Bootcamp is in the Ministry name is to let each man who enters understand there is work to the healing of Christ. The work is developing a personal relationship with Jesus and then implementing that knowledge into everyday life.