OUR HISTORY

Pearl of Grace Ranch was founded by Matt Gellenbeck, a man with a deep commitment to serving those who are hurting and in need of hope.

Early in his marriage to his wife, LouCinda, the couple welcomed a Hispanic family with several children into their home. As they cared for the family, Matt encountered the diﬃculty of ﬁnding appropriate placement for one of the girls.

He quickly realized that safe, nurturing spaces for girls in crisis were limited—and that something needed to change.

This experience ignited the vision for Pearl of Grace Ranch: a place where girls can ﬁnd safety, healing, and the support they need to rebuild their lives. Today, Matt continues to serve on the Ranch’s board and remains actively involved in its development.

His dedication, along with the support of a passionate team, continues to shape Pearl of Grace Ranch into a refuge of grace, growth, and purpose.

OUR MISSION

Pearl of Grace Ranch will model Christ’s love, cultivate transformative relationships and help teen girls build character to make responsible life choices through daily discipleship, equine assisted learning, quality Christian education, and individual counseling.

At Pearl of Grace Ranch, we are a Christ‑centered ministry dedicated to helping young girls in crisis ﬁnd healing, hope, and a renewed sense of purpose. While we recognize the profound impact early trauma can have on a child’s ability to navigate life, we ﬁrmly believe that true and lasting healing comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are not afﬁliated with any speciﬁc denomination, but our foundation is deeply rooted in biblical truth. Our greatest desire is to introduce each girl to Jesus—the Great Physician—who restores broken hearts and gives new life.

Through consistent love, intentional discipleship, and the daily example of our staff, we seek to model a life surrendered to Christ. Our team is handpicked to reﬂect God’s grace and to walk alongside each girl as she discovers her God‑given worth and unique purpose in His Kingdom. At Pearl of Grace, we don’t just offer help—we offer hope rooted in God’s unconditional love.

Meet the STAFF

Toney Samons

Brother Toney and Sister Jeanie are our resident grandparents. They moved to the ranch parttime in 2016 to help Matt Gellenbeck restore the property and get it ready for occupants. After two years, they stayed on, Toney helping with the operations and Jeanie being responsible for decoration, preparing for events, and both working with families. Toney continues to serve on the Executive Team and Jeanie mother’s the staﬀ and helps where she can.”We love working with a ministry that helps troubled teen girls ﬁnd hope and help in Jesus!”

Amanda Elwell

I came to Pearl of Grace Ranch 7 years ago. I was looking for an opportunity to serve the students I saw slipping through the cracks in my public‑school classroom. I served in the school for two and a half years before transitioning to a role as a house team leader. In November 2024 I returned to teaching full time. I also currently serve as the interim executive director and program director along the other members of the interim executive team. I have been blessed to do life with the teen girls at Pearl of Grace in every role I’ve been privileged to hold and look forward to more years of serving our girls and families.

Andrew Young

Andrew is from Oklahoma and joined the team as facility manger in May of 2023. He enjoys seeing the ranch improved and maintained to serve teen girls and their families for years to come. He also enjoys helping out with general operations of the ranch and serves on the Executive Team. His sweet wife Jennifer enjoys hosting work groups and helping at the ranch any opportunity she has. They are blessed with two girls Angelica and Adalee. “We love being involved in helping broken, hurting girls, ﬁnd the Great Physician!”

Janita Burkholder

Janita grew up in IN but lived in PA before coming to the ranch. She came to Pearl of Grace Ranch as a mentor in the fall of 2021. In the fall of 2024 Janita transitioned into supervision as a House Team Leader. She is passionate about helping build healthy relationships with our teen girls and staﬀ. Janita loves to travel and experience other cultures. She has lived in Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. She loves to spend time out in the wilderness, hanging out with friends.

Brianna Weaver

Brianna Weaver from Lebanon, PA, joined the ranch team in 2022 as a mentor. After mentoring for 2 1/2 years, she entered into a supervisor role in 2025. Some of her favorite experiences have been, building a Covered wagon and going on a six week Covered wagon trip. Getting to do multiple equine trips, along with school, canoe and hiking trips. She loves the outdoors, and is passionate about showing God’s love to the teen girls at the ranch. One thing that is really amazing to her is getting to experience the power of inner healing prayer and how healing it can be for each and every girl or staﬀ!

Beth Kennell

Beth joined the team at POG from Joliet, MT in the fall of 2024. She worked as assistant everything till she became mentor March 4, 2025. She spent some time at SMBI ﬁrst as a student then later as a cook for 2 years. She loves the outdoors, adventure, and sports. She has a lot of fun watching the girls bloom and see what God created them to be.

Allyson PEight

I came to the ranch in May 2024, after I was strongly encouraged to pursue being a mentor here. I never envisioned myself mentoring but God had other plans. As a mentor I really enjoyed seeing how God can change lives, drastically sometimes and other times very gradually. This summer as I take a break from mentoring and work on some more training and personal things, I do a little bit of everything to keep myself busy; this includes cooking,cleaning, and helping in the school.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann is serving as head Cook. She came to the ranch on Jan. 31 2025. She first heard about the ranch from a friend in Aug. 2024 & thought, no way, not Oklahoma. But God kept bringing it to her mind through little things, then opened doors & her heart. She kept taking steps & asked questions & here she is. It has definitely been different for her but it’s a new adventure for this season of life. She did catering for about 15 years before coming. Started when she was 16. She has a dog & 3 cats back in Ohio with her parents all which she misses. But was time for a change. Hobbies are road trips/travel, taking walks, reading, horseback riding(rarely), jewelry making, volunteering at a local humane society, (really enjoy animals) & whatever else she thinks is worth trying in the moment. She likes trying new things & visiting places. Favorite thing to live by: Always try something new once, if you don’t like, it never do it again, unless it’s going to put you in a life or death situation. Use the brain the good Lord gave you. Choose life.

Rena

Rena came from Morrison Ok in August of 2022 to join Pearl of Grace as the Equine Director. She grew up working with horses and still enjoys learning about them. She has her bachelor’s in Sociology, and has worked at an equine therapeutic riding center before working at POG. In her time at the ranch she helped bring in seven new horses to the ranch. She also helped Agape Crew go on their first equine trips. She enjoys being with the girls and helping them grow in relationships through equine assisted learning.

Destinee Stoll

Destinee came from Abbeville SC in March of 2024 to join POG as the equine assistant. She grew up working with horses and as she got older developed a heart for teen girls. In her time at the ranch she helped the Agape crew go on a six week covered wagon trip. One of the things she enjoys most about her job is observing the way that the horses mirror the girls behaviors and relationships.