Not a whole lot out there in terms of news 'bout the place, though I did find the following piece. Lots of magical thinking going on here...
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IndependentMail.com ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINACouple's leap of faith brings youngsters hopeBy Heidi Cenac
Posted June 29, 2007 at midnightMARTIN, Ga. — Price Road's pavement turns to dirt not long before you reach
Shepherd's Hill Farm.
Morning fog hides the mountains in the distance, and the traffic on Ga. 17 is far enough removed that the only audible engine is yours.
A wood sign marks the dirt and gravel driveway into the Christian wilderness program's main campus.
The buildings are simple, but seem like paradise surrounded by rolling green pastures spotted with hay bales.
The office, the owner's home and the cafeteria -- an old Jiffy Burger restaurant -- are all located in trailers.
A church in Burke County, Ga., sent members to build the bathhouse; the other cement-block building is an auto repair shop where the owner is sharing his love of race cars with the students.
An old barn has been turned into a pavilion.
The former farmhouse is now a schoolhouse. And the chapel is located above the stables where horses provide equine therapy.
Owner Trace Embry recently started putting the story of Shepherd's Hill on paper, in hopes of eventually publishing a book about the transformations they've seen, aptly titled "The Miracles of Shepherd's Hill."
Shepherd's Hill itself is a miracle. When Trace and Beth Embry discovered this property, it was an abandoned drug den.
Like many of the students who live here, the property had been discarded because of its past. But with the Lord's help, troubled teens now come here from around the world to discover his saving grace.
"...the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." Psalm 33:11 (NIV)In the early 1990s, Mr. Embry and his wife sensed that God wanted them in ministry, so the couple sold their business and belongings. What didn't sell, they gave away. With the money, they moved their family from Chicago to Toccoa Falls College, and paid for the first three years of Bible college.
When they were running low on cash, Mr. Embry, a roofer by trade, would return to Chicago to work on the weekends — sometimes driving through the night to make it back for class.
At the time, all the Embrys knew about their calling was that they would need land and that they weren't starting a traditional church ministry.
So they spent their free time driving around northeast Georgia, looking at land.
"When we first saw it, we thought this is it. This is where God wants us," Mr. Embry said.
There was one problem. The property wasn't for sale. As the site of a major drug operation and brutal murder, it was tied up in the state's legal system.
But the Embrys never gave up, and in April 1994 they noticed a "For Sale" sign at the end of Price Road. The land they picnicked at and prayed over for nearly two years was finally available.
The couple found a phone booth and called the number to get someone to show them the property.
Mr. Embry explained that he knew he was supposed to buy the 80-acre property, but he wasn't sure how he would pay for it. His wife was earning minimum wage, he was a full-time college student, and they were raising three kids. All he could give the seller was a bad check for $200, to hold the land for a week.
The seller agreed, and they met again after a week. But Mr. Embry still didn't have the money.
When the seller asked Mr. Embry what he hoped to do there, Mr. Embry explained his dream: He wanted to build a place where kids could come to know God.
The man sent them to a bank in Lavonia, where they repeated their story to a banker. When they finished, he asked a few questions and told them they would close in a week.
"My wife and I looked at each other and said, 'What just happened here?' " Mr. Embry recalled.
The seller paid a down payment and covered the survey costs. The Embrys sold the trailer they were living in; other people "came out of the woodwork," they said, to help them raise the $4,000 to $5,000 they needed to make the deal work. They continued to pay small amounts until the property was theirs.
"...Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." 1 Timothy 6:17 (NLT)Long before the wilderness camp at Shepherd's Hill started, the Embrys were challenged in their own ability to rely on God's provision.
They moved into a farmhouse on the property with no running water, bathrooms or electricity. Federal agents had pulled the walls out looking for hidden drugs, so the family lived in a 14- by 14-foot room for most of 1994.
"There was nothing there," Mr. Embry said. "It was a shell of a house."
Friends from Toccoa Falls helped them make it habitable. Mr. Embry got a temporary job at McCord-Winn in Lavonia and his wife worked in the admissions office at Toccoa Falls College.
Between the house expenses and the kids, money was tight. At times they would sell old farm equipment for extra cash, but they never missed a mortgage payment, no matter what the circumstances.
"It was like the fishes and loaves. You didn't know how it happened, but it happened," Mr. Embry said.
Almost immediately members of their church started using the land for an equine therapy program. The Embrys also held day camps, taught classes and hosted outdoor music events at Shepherd's Hill.
With both of them working and fixing the house, they weren't giving their kids their full attention. Their vision for the property was starting to lose its shine. Mr. Embry said he felt God telling them to bring his wife home, so they could be the family example they were teaching people about.
They prayed for the faith to bring her home from full-time work, flexible hours so he could go back to school and more money to support their family.
"Overnight, God answered every one of those prayers," Mr. Embry said.
He worked as a subcontractor for the McCord-Winn plant when it ran out of money for temporary employees. The flexible schedule allowed him and his wife to home school their kids. When the factory work ran out, he started roofing houses again, traveling across eight states to work.
"We were like migrant workers," he said. The family traveled state to state, job to job, putting whatever money they earned back into the house and their ministry.
Tests from above continued to come, They battled with the Georgia Department of Transportation, which wanted to put a four-lane highway through the property. They also lost a real estate investment in Chicago Mr. Embry was counting on to fund his retirement.
When God told them to move out of the farmhouse, they refinanced the mortgage and moved into a mobile home. But there was still one crucial lesson to be learned.
The Embrys' fifth child was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a genetic error that causes malformations in most parts of the body.
The disease is estimated to occur only once in every 50,000 births; the mortality rate is about 34 percent in the first 2 years.
Most of the year 2000 is a blur of trips between hospitals, Mr. Embry said. Their son, Asa, lived only 10ƒ months and during that time, the family learned the true meaning of unconditional love.
Today, Asa is buried at the foot of a cross marking the spot where the Embrys prayed for the land, its ministry and their lives.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2 (NIV)Before Asa was born, Mr. Embry told his family to prepare themselves for blessings beyond their wildest dreams.
About two weeks after the child's death, a school in Atlanta called. Its officials had heard about the camps and equine therapy programs at Shepherd's Hill and wanted to send troubled kids to live on the property.
The Embrys converted the farmhouse into a school, and the wilderness camp was born. Among the first children enrolled was a student named Asa.
"It was like God was telling us we were doing the right thing," Mr. Embry said.
Since that first group of kids, many more teens have benefitted from the Embrys' leap of faith. Some of the youngsters struggled with drugs, others faced deadly diseases and mental illness. Some had been sold into prostitution before arriving at the farm. But at Shepherd's Hill they all share one thing: No one leaves the program the same as when they arrived.
Living in cabins they build themselves, the teens are without electricity, running water and most creature comforts.
A typical day starts with chores at 6 a.m. They attend school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; afternoons are filled with "accountability time," equine therapy, work at the camp site, or attending youth group at a nearby church.
"It's beautiful," said a resident named Charlene, 17. "The love that you get here is amazing."
(Editor's note: We are withholding the last names of Shepherd's Hill residents who are under the age of 18, to protect their privacy.)Like many of the young women here, Charlene said she never would have pictured herself putting up rafters in a cabin that has tarps for walls. But living in the woods made her appreciate what she has, and Charlene said she was shocked to hear herself tell a therapist that she has everything she needs.
"Any teenager can use this place, not just those with a troubled past," said Brianna, 17. "Any kid can benefit from this."
The girls say they can feel God's presence on the farm. Brianna added that she's never been stronger in her faith than since she arrived at Shepherd's Hill.
The love of the staff and fellow campers is what makes Shepherd's Hill so different, said Saira, 15.
"No matter how much you mess up, they're like, 'You know we still love you.' Out in the world, you don't get that."
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 9:10 (NIV)Rebecca Bombet's daughter was the third girl to enroll at Shepherd's Hill.
She was in psychotherapy to cope with signs of Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic condition that causes social problems, vulnerability to sensory overload, awkward posture and a tendency to take many figures of speech literally.
Ms. Bombet's daughter was on four medications and raging most of the time, before coming to Shepherd's Hill.
By the time she graduated, she was medicine-free, for the first time since age 6, and was making straight As in class.
When Ms. Bombet didn't have enough money to keep her daughter at Shepherd's Hill, she struck a deal with the Embrys and bartered her skills as a clinical nurse specialist.
Her daughter, now grown, has joined the U.S. Army. Ms. Bombet said she has been as blessed by the experience as her daughter.
At the end of the day, she and other staff members give away all the credit for the miraculous transformations they see at Shepherd's Hill.
"That's God running the show," Ms. Bombet said. "We really try to seek God in everything, and try to keep our egos out."
2009 The E.W. Scripps Co.