More About Us

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It all began with "So, how are you?". Justin was 18 and I was 19 when we met, and this was Justins opening line (and it was way better than some others I heard at the time lol). It wasn't really his words, it was his sincerity, his genuine caring at a time when I was feeling pretty uncared for, that got me interested. Casually chatting at church led to friendship, which led to spending time together, which led to falling in love. So began our greatest adventure; building a life together. Through the years we have been many things together: church leaders, worship leaders, youth group leaders, small group leaders, business leaders, parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, special needs parents, caregivers, volunteers, and partners, but the most importantly thing we have been together is friends. We pursue each other, we stay on the same team, and grow together as we grow individually. Laughter is the soundtrack of our lives. Wild Hope was an idea and dream, and then after many years a reality. Justin is my very best friend, in 19 years of marriage I have realized I am much better with him by my side. Although I am the most visible part of Wild Hope, it is not "mine" it is 100% "ours". We are excited to do some programs together this year! We have 3 children: our two sons Jeremiah (17) and Zayden (13) and our daughter Sabrina (an adult living in Wisconsin with her partner raising her own family). Choosing to become parents and then to raise children from hard places changed us in ways we can not fully describe. Becoming trauma informed and understanding brain chemistry was a way to survive at first, and then a way to help ourselves, and then a way to help others. We started Wild Hope as a means to share the hope we have found, this life is full of wild purpose, wild healing, wild hope, and wild fun!! We want to make that accessible to anyone that wants to join us in pursuing it. We are real human people, please don't come here expecting perfection, but please do come expecting open hearts to meet you where you are at and journey forward together. I hope that gives you a little glimpse into who we are :) 

Lots of love!

~Linds 

We have horses, pigs, goats, chickens, a rabbit, dogs and cats living here on our 35 acres of prairie! They each have amazing personalities, we adore our herd and work hard to provide humane, fulfilling, healthy lives for each creature♡ 

Speaking of our animals, WE ARE NOT A RESCUE. Some of our animals have a rescue in their story, but we are not operating an animal rescue non profit. We are a hobby farm seperate from the non-profit, and occasionally we personally purchase more farm animals!!  We do sometimes personally offer a home to animals in need, but we say NO to many, many animals. Our animals (pets and livestock) are all owned by us personally, not by Wild Hope Ministries. Any non-profit funding through Wild Hope Ministries including general donations will NOT go to or pay for any of our personal animal expenses unless specifically stated for a purpose that benefits Wild Hope Ministries programs. Transparency is very important to us, if you have questions about animal welfare on the ranch or donation distribution and our non profit operating budget please feel free to ask!!

 All of our animals contribute or give back by being available for anyone participating in Wild Hopes programs or sessions. This picture is of our pig Wilburette loving on her (then) new baby pig companion Pablo Pigcasso, he is now almost as big as she is!! 

At Wild Hope, we are an affirming, inclusive, Christian ministry. Lets unpack that a little bit:

First of all we are a Faith Based non profit. We identify as Christian, meaning we believe in Jesus Christ, that he was both divine and a real historical person and we follow his teachings. We believe the Bible is God inspired and true and can change lives for the better. Our mission is to be an affirming and inclusive Christian ministry providing the opportunity for anyone to experience wild hope, wild healing, and wild fun with us.

We are a ministry. To us that means we are focused on caring for needs. The spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health of kids, teens, and adults matter to us and our programs are built with this in mind. Our goal is to minister to people and meet any needs we can to help them be their healthiest selves. 

We are Inclusive: That means anyone can receive care through our programs. We believe all are worthy of our love; no matter what their faith beliefs are, what they look like, how they were raised, how they identify, or what their relationship status is. We will do our best to love them and meet any needs we can. We will be respectful and kind, and compassionate. We use preferred pronouns, preferred greetings, and make as many accommodations as we can to include everyone, because we believe God's love is BIG enough to include everyone.  Further, we believe that by its very nature Love does include everyone! 

*However, If a person is not safe to be around people or animals we will find a way to include them while maintaining distance and boundaries. Two of our dogs are stranger averse, for safety we do not include them in programs. We don't love them any less, but they can not be around new people safely yet, so we maintain distance between them and new people. In the same way on the ranch we use boundaries to provide safety for all.*

We are affirming. To us that means we embrace and respect all people. Every sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic condition, all refugees and immigrants, all physical and mental abilities, all household compositions, all people of all diverse political and theological backgrounds and beliefs. Yes, ALL. Welcome! Journey with us; let us break bread together and call ourselves friends. Let us love and serve one another as best we can. That is what we mean by affirming, and it is what you will find here. 

We are here to connect. If you have questions, comments, need clarity or have other feedback please get in touch with us, we will respond as best we can♡ 

Please keep in mind we are two real live people parenting and caregiving and living on a ranch and responses can occasionally be delayed.... We don't love you any less, we just are probably repairing fence where the goats got out, again....Or tending to Zayden and unable to respond immediately♡