Ray Family Update from June 2022

Dear Praying Friends,

In studying the seventy-eighth psalm, I realized that God intended for the children of Ephraim to serve Him in some great capacity. To what extent this reached, we may not know; but it is certain God had plans for them involving a greater role of leadership and the location of the place of worship—Shiloh. Seemingly, Ephraim failed to remember the goodness of God that He had shown unto their fathers leading up to the land of promise. Sadly, their fathers doubted God; and as a result, their days were consumed in vanity and their years in trouble (Psalm 78:33). While I may not be an Israelite or belong to the tribe of Ephraim, I too wonder what opportunities I could miss out on due to my doubting God. I certainly do not want to be as my fathers and consume my days in vanity and my years in trouble.

The harder part for me is discerning between God’s plans and my plans, His goals versus my goals. I am sure that there are many things I would love to accomplish for the Lord that are not within the confines of His expectations for my life. A few years back, I thought for sure that I could map it all out and see exactly what God intended for the coming years. As I sit here today, the path behind looks a little different and the path ahead seems vastly different. I am thankful to have goals and plans, but I have to learn to sacrifice all that on the altar should the Lord direct my steps down a surprising path. One thing is for certain, as long as the Lord is the director of our steps, we can have confidence that the outcome will be altogether lovely. That is where I am resting!

The last month plus has been a bit of a whirlwind. We held our annual Bible conference toward the beginning of June. It was well-attended and every aspect of the meeting was beyond what we could have asked or thought it could be. The week after is always a bit of an adjustment when all the brethren go their separate ways and we are reminded that the coming, unending Bible conference in heaven is not yet upon us. Less than three weeks after the conference had come and gone, our family ventured to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where I preached a conference on the home and the church and how the two are interconnected. While there, I had the privilege of leading the ordination for Pastor Tony Mai. The circumstances under which he assumed the pastorate were not ideal, but he has done a great work of unifying the body and the church is again starting to see some growth. It was my honour to be with them on such a momentous occasion.

As it relates to the local news (at Antioch), we too are seeing some growth. We recently had a couple join and we anticipate two more couples to follow shortly. Between the conference attendance and the slow and steady growth in attendance for weekly services, it is another reminder that we need to make some decisions and move forward on renovating our auditorium. If you have been with us for a service, you are aware that we have a bit of a unique layout that separates people in the rear of the auditorium into caves. In doing so, these folks are somewhat isolated and separated from the rest of the body. This is most noticeable in the singing. We are currently awaiting input from a sound specialist which will help us determine the auditorium’s orientation. Once we have that information, we will collect quotes on all the work needed to complete the work. The timing is not perfect when you consider the struggling economy, but the layout has stunted our growth for years. Please pray for wisdom in this area and that God will provide the need in His timing.

As for the family, we could not be any more blessed. My wife seems to be doing much better since getting medicine. She gets tired at times and a little foggy in her thinking, but she has been a trooper and gets around much easier. My oldest son (Noah) and his wife (Julie) are with child. This will be our first grandchild. Needless to say, we are overjoyed about the prospects of being grandparents. Lastly, our youngest son, Isaac, trusted Christ as Saviour, meaning that all of our children have made a profession of faith in Christ. Truly, God has been far better to us than what we deserve!