October Newsletter: A Season of Growth, Gratitude & Looking Ahead

As we wrap up our first season at Mercy Reins Farm, our hearts are full of gratitude. This year brought growth, new friendships, hard work, and so many moments that reminded us why we do what we do. We are incredibly thankful for every family, volunteer, donor, and prayer warrior who helped make this season possible!

Celebrating Our Students

We recently wrapped up our sessions for the year and celebrated three students who graduated from the Mercy Reins program!

Our graduation day was a wonderful way to close out the season. While not everyone was able to attend, those who were had a special afternoon spending time with their favorite horses one last time. There were plenty of smiles, memories, and, of course, lots of horse time!

We are so proud of the growth we have seen in our students and are grateful that Mercy Reins can be a place where kids have the opportunity to build confidence, develop resiliency skills, and experience healing through relationships with horses, the people around them, and Jesus’ faithful love.

Coming Up at the Farm

Even though our regular sessions have ended, there is still plenty happening at Mercy Reins!

Farm Work Day — October 3

We will be gathering volunteers to finish our drainage project! This project will hopefully allow us to begin spring sessions earlier, with less of the mud that typically comes with New England springtime. Our goal is to be able to start sessions in May instead of June next year!

If you enjoy getting your hands dirty and helping make the farm a better place for our students, we would love to have you join us.

Mercy Reins Harvest Festival — November 7

We are excited to host our first annual Harvest Festival, a family-friendly fundraising event for Mercy Reins!

Tickets are $5 per person and include admission and game tickets. We’ll have plenty of fun activities for families, along with additional fundraising opportunities, including:

·       Family photos with a horse

·       Bake sale

·       Scheduled games and events, including a three-legged race

·       And more fall fun!

Tickets are available on our website, so gather your family and friends and come enjoy a fall day at the farm while supporting Mercy Reins!

Christmas Photo Shoot Fundraiser — November 21

We are incredibly excited to offer family mini christmas photo sessions as a fundraiser for Mercy Reins!

This is a wonderful opportunity to capture some special Christmas memories while supporting the work happening here at the farm. More details and sign-up information will be available soon!

Ways You Can Pray

As we look toward another year, we have several specific ways we would love for you to pray with us.

Pray for future mentors.

We are looking for volunteers who care deeply about kids and want to help them grow in resiliency, discover healthy avenues for healing from adverse experiences, and simply have a safe place to be still. We want Mercy Reins to be a place where both kids and parents can slow down, breathe, and experience the peace of the farm.

Pray for our farm-hands workdays.

We are thankful for the volunteers who help us care for and improve the farm. Please pray for continued volunteers who are willing to come alongside us for workdays throughout the year.

Pray for our financial and fundraising team.

We are looking for someone who would be willing to help with the week-to-week financial side of the farm, as well as volunteers interested in fundraising and grant writing.

Pray for next year’s students.

We already have nearly 10 children on our waiting list for next year’s sessions. Please pray for each of these children and their families, that God would prepare the way for the right opportunities and resources to meet their needs.

Giving Thanks for God’s Provision.

Above all, we want to take a moment to say thank you, Lord, for providing for Mercy Reins in so many ways this season.

This year we have been blessed with an incredible number of donations and provisions, including the donation of Coal, a new trailer, countless other supplies, and the construction of a new run-in shed for Cass’s paddock.

Our final paddock is also nearly complete and should be ready for spring turnout!

These may seem like simple things, but each provision makes a meaningful difference in our ability to care for our horses, serve our families, and continue building a place where healing and growth can happen.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed, donated, volunteered, encouraged, worked, and believed in the mission of Mercy Reins Farm. We could not do this without you.

We are excited to see what God has in store for the coming year!