Shirley Windham Jay’s face lit up as she navigated her golf cart through the tall grass on the Moundville property she and her husband bought after they felt God leading them to sell their house in Northport and open a ranch for rescued horses where children can come learn about Jesus.
A “God-sized” dream
Jay laughed as she explained how she and her husband Chuck uprooted their “comfortable lives” to start turning their “God-sized dream” into a reality.
“We can’t seem to escape it, so we gave in and said, ‘Okay, Lord, have your way,’” Jay said.
The idea for SonLight Ranch is now more than a dream. The couple hopes to build a hospitality building for praise and worship nights and spiritual retreats for groups to enjoy.
“When they come to a spiritual retreat or a praise and worship night, they learn that it’s all about relationships, about your first-and-foremost relationship with God and with other people,” Jay said. “In the hospitality building, I want a big sign that [says], ‘People need community like horses need a herd.’” Jay envisions packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, having storytime and doing crafts with children in the hospitality building.
Jay spent 38 years in the classroom as an elementary school teacher and reading intervention teacher, so children have always had a special place in her heart. Students often told her about their home lives and family struggles. She said she thinks kids deserve a place to escape and to not only have fun, but to also learn about their true worth in Jesus.
Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch
One day as Jay drove home from work, she heard Kim Meeder on the radio telling about starting Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch. Jay recalled the way Meeder bonded with a horse after familial tragedies as a little girl.
“I hear that radio show, and it’s like a dream just got planted inside of me,” Jay said. “I had grown up with horses, and I love horses and I never thought I would have a horse again.”
In October 2023, the Jays attended the IGNITION event at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch where they learned more about starting their own ministry.
“With God, life can be such an adventure,” Jay said. “There’s so much He wants to do, but He needs willing vessels.”
Illuminating God’s love
Shirley’s husband, Chuck, is a solar designer and installer and he often buys items through SonLight Power, which is a missions-minded organization. The couple contacted the company and received permission to use “SonLight” in the title of their own ministry.
“Our vision statement is ‘to illuminate the love of God that He demonstrated through His Son, Jesus Christ, and to populate heaven,’” Jay said. “We want people to come to know Christ here.”
The couple were baptized together in the pond on the property about a month after moving to Moundville. They hope other baptisms will follow.
Impeccable timing
Jay now has two horses and one pony that a friend gifted her after Jay helped care for them one summer.
“God knows us better than we know ourselves,” Jay said. “God’s timing is impeccable.”
The Jays have been living in a small camper on their property since July 2025. The couple’s new house is almost finished being built. Jay said they added an upstairs loft area to their new home for college students to be able to spend the night during retreats.
Finding the right place
A few years ago, the couple drove around looking for land to buy, and God provided the perfect place when the timing was right.
Jay recalls lying on the couch with COVID in April 2024, wondering what she and Chuck were getting themselves into as she got the call saying their offer on a 65-acre property was accepted.
“We believe we’re actually doing this for a couple of younger couples probably one day because I’m 62 and he’s 68.” Jay said.
A nonprofit ministry
The couple’s prayer is that the ranch experience will be completely free to the public, so they are in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status to become a nonprofit ministry. This would allow donations from supporters to be tax deductible.
“We don’t want anybody to not get to come, you know, because of money,” Jay said.
Providing help, speaking to hearts
God continues to make a way for SonLight Ranch to become a reality by constantly sending people to the Jays.
“He has shocked us already so many times,” Jay said. “We were believing He will put it on people’s hearts and actually, He already has.”
Teams from Builders for Christ, God’s House of Hope and West Alabama Mechanical, a mechanical contractor in Moundville, have cleared trees and built fences on the Jays’ property.
Jay said she also prayed for God to provide the ranch with saddles and bridles. One man who serves on the prayer team alongside the Jays at their church told them God woke him up at 5 a.m. to tell him he needed to give the couple his saddle.
“I was just blown away,” Jay said. “And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been praying for saddles.’”
Jay said her husband also wanted a tractor for the ranch. Her cousin’s husband heard God tell him to give his tractor to Chuck.
“God wants our lives to be an adventure,” Jay said. “There’s so much He wants to do. He just needs willing vessels, but you’ve got to ask Him so you’ll know what to do.”
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