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The Place of a Thousand Angels |
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The Place of a Thousand Angels became a second name for Big Springs Ranch on the Frio one day in March 1996 when Gary Priour, who had accepted the challenge of building a second children's home on the historic ranch, went looking for a place to start. Gary had seen the master plans of other organizations who had brought engineers and architects to the area over a ten-year period, considering what they would do. But on this day he laid those aside, and told Oma Bell Perry, who had lived on the land all her adult life, that he was going to spend the day wandering her 7,000 acre ranch in search of a spot to start, hoping he would find an angel perched in an oak tree telling him, "right here, begin here". He wanted the Lord's leading. Priour spent the entire day walking the ranch, looking and praying, searching with his son Michael, hoping for guidance. From morning until late afternoon they walked. At one point he mused with Michael that the angels were being quiet that day, except for the babbling of the river. Late in the afternoon, about to call it a day, he turned back toward the river from a hillside on its east bank, and was suddenly awed as he viewed the sunlight, sparkling on the waves of the Frio River, reaching remarkably high, like dancers. He called to his son Michael, "Look, Michael, a thousand angels dancing on the river. This is it. We will build here." It was a sense of God's presence, like the one he had sense 25 years earlier when he first felt called to work with abused and orphaned children. Gary was excited. He rushed to tell Oma Bell who lived about a mile upriver. As he described the spot, Oma Bell also became excited. "We call that Mud Springs," she told him, "and where you were standing, next to the old fence post, was the very spot where this area's original pioneer homestead was built by Jack Haby in 1896. Not 50 feet uphill is the old hand-dug well that still had water in it when we moved here in 1930. It's perfect that you would start there, building homesteads for a new generation." |
No photos can do justice to the breathtaking sights and sounds of Big Springs Ranch on the Frio, aptly known now as "The Place of a Thousand Angels". Suffice it to say it is an enchanted landscape, and one where God's presence is easily and often felt. Above, the angels dance on the water in the afternoon sun, and below, a morning mist rises from one of the many waterfalls.
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Big Springs Ranch Brief History of Big Springs Ranch
AKA: The Place of a Thousand Angels ~~~
Above, the headwaters of the Frio River rush from limestone caves out of the hillsides on the Big Springs Ranch in four locations. The healing qualities of these special places is now available to the state's most wounded children and the adults who care for them. The Ranch is peacegiving to all who visit, and a Retreat House is available to Ranch alumna and all the angels who come to help.
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work began . . . and the angels came "Get to work, and they will come," is what Oma Bell Perry said to Gary Priour as they pondered the enormity of what lay ahead, when, back in 1995, Gary had finally conceded to help her with the project, after turning her down four times. Gary had cautioned Miss Perry that the Youth Ranch in Ingram was a non-denominational, one-campus ministry with limited resources. It would take many new angels coming to help, in addition to the friends they already had. If they were going to do this, would she pray with him before they started? Yes, she said, and she did, gladly, on that very day. It was December 5, 2005. Soon after, they got to work, and angels previously unknown to either of them began to arrive, asking how they could help. |
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Dedication Day at Davenport Homestead, April 30, 1999 Above, about 400 well-wishers attended the dedication of the first children's residence at Big Springs Ranch for Children (BSRC), Davenport Homestead, on April 30, 1999. The children’s residences at BSRC are called "homesteads" in honor of the arrival here about 100 years ago of the first pioneer family to live in this part of the Frio Canyon. In 1901, Jacob Haby brought his family to the very spot on which the first homestead is constructed. Haby built a house, dug a well 40 feet to spring water, and began to ranch. The nearby creek is named Mud Springs after its tendency to keep the ground soggy all the way to the river. The original road from Leakey to San Antonio came along the river bank just below the site. New pioneers live here now, at the very spot where the first pioneers had lived a hundred years earlier..
The Youth Ranch Choir sang at the dedication ceremony for the Davenport Homestead which is located next door to the first Grandparents' home, the Turner Grandparents Cottage. On that day, Texas' first intergenerational village was launched. Over a ten year period of building, a village emerged, with six grandparent cottages, six residences for children, an educational, agricultural and recreational complex, and other facilities that make BSRC a well-rounded village, capable of providing for education, healing, and community. Tours of the Big Springs Ranch can be arranged by calling 830-367-2131. We're always looking for a way to share our dream! It's a big one, and it will require the help and participation of many. |
Ed and Trudy Brune, shown below at the site of the foundation work for Brune Haus Homestead #1 in 2002, heard about Hill Country Youth Ranch and Big Springs Ranch for Children while visiting one of the Ranch's thrift stores in February of 2002. They had themselves long dreamed of getting involved with a children's home. They called and asked for a tour. After seeing what was being done, Ed and Trudy decided to join other angels who had come to help, and devote themselves to the project. Since that time, they have built a high school, a middle school, a dining hall, a gymnasium, two general stores, an administration building, a grandparent cottage, and two children's homesteads. "To God be the Glory," they are both fond of saying. Trudy, who loves to quilt and write poetry, has also become the Ranch's decorator and is currently finishing color selections for a new building.
A former teacher and coach, Ed gives motivational talks to the children at special ceremonies, and both have become involved in all aspects of Ranch life. If you want to get involved, come take a tour and find a way. There is always lots to do, and whether you give time, money, or a special skill, it will be appreciated. After all, it's the place of a thousand angels, and there's a spot for you.
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