Ray Family Update from April 2024

Dear Praying Friends,

It is hard to believe how swiftly time is passing. While it does not even seem that it should be 2024, it is already well-nigh halfway through. This time of year tends to be pivotal for us where Bible Institute classes are coming to a close and conference preparations go full steam ahead. It provides little space and time for a break, but we always try to squeeze one or two small breaks in between now and the resuming of Institute classes for the next semester. I must confess, I do not know if I have ever been as continually tired as I have been this year. With taking on of an Institute class this semester (in addition to the weekly preaching), I have not truly had a day off or free of ministry since the year began. We hope to remedy that this month. At the risk of sounding carnal, please do pray that we can get away for a short trip before conference time.

Speaking of our conference, we are truly excited to see what God has in store for us this year. It would appear that the number of people in attendance will be a little lower than usual, but we remain convinced that the preaching, singing, and fellowship will match or surpass previous years. We have some pieces that still need to fall in place, but the major preparations have been completed or are, at least, set in motion. We still have space for you if you would like to be at the conference in person. We will feed you well and the meeting can be expected to leave a lasting impression on your heart. If you would like to attend, let us know. If you cannot attend, we still ask that you pray for everything to go as God would have it to.

Some time back, I reached out to our church family, local and extended, and let it be known that our finances had taken quite a hit. Sadly, the situation is not rectified. We held our own for a couple of months, only to see another significant dip in the month of April. We know that the Lord can provide and we trust that He will. If nothing else, we are having to learn the hard lessons of budget cuts that most households face on a frequent basis, but we are also having to learn the great lesson of faith in God’s provisions and God’s timings. We remain committed to ministering to the lost with the gospel of Christ and to the saved with the word of Christ.

As a family, we decided to do some things to try to start a small business in hopes that it will one day take some of the pressure off the church of supporting us fully. In the initial phase, as expected, it involves far more investment than it provides gains, but we are confident this venture will turn the corner and that God will use it to be a blessing both to our family and to our church. If you are curious, the small business is called Prairie Chicks Hatchery. My wife and children handle most every aspect of the startup and it is, no doubt, teaching my family much about life and business. Unfortunately, we had somewhat of a personal setback this week when my wife was involved in a single-car accident. Someone coming the other direction was partly in her lane and she swerved to miss them only to end up going off road (from a ditch to an embankment and back to a ditch). We do not yet know what is going to be done with the vehicle. The officer that came to the scene was surprised to see my wife escape with only hitting her head on the sunroof, but he felt as though the car would likely be totaled. Needless to say, we are thankful for the minimal damage to my wife, but we are anxiously awaiting some news on our mode of transportation :-).