Ray Family Update from March 2024

Dear Praying Friends,

I hope this update finds you faithful in your service to God. There is no doubt that we have a greater need for labourers as we draw closer to Christ’s return. This is no time to quit or withdraw from the race. If you are not running, start. If you have slowed, pick up your pace. We need more people praying, not less. We need more people reading the scripture, not less. We need more people witnessing, not less. We need more people giving to God’s work, not less. We need more faithfulness, not less. We need more people glorifying God in their pursuit of Him, not less. We need more people striving for holiness in heart and deed, not less. If you are not all in, get in!!! For what are you waiting?

Several great and effectual doors have been opened for our church over the last few months and have served as reminders that there are still people all over the world who are hungry for the truth of the word of God. While we often face troubles in our own country and churches with individuals who get nitpicky over the color of carpet or the friendliness or lack thereof of particular people within the congregation or the loudness or quietness of a service, etc., we are reminded that there are people in other parts of the world that would give anything to have the opportunities and privileges we have to congregate together each week. I will not mention names for the sake of security, but some of our men are currently ministering each week to nationals in India and Pakistan. We just established another contact in Kenya. The opportunities for ministry vary from email correspondence to preaching via WhatsApp. One of our men has a video conference scheduled with pastors and deacons from seven churches in Pakistan later this week. We truly hope this is just the beginning of a larger ministry that we see developing. My burden and heart is that the vast majority of our men would be preaching, teaching, or corresponding with people in other nations on a weekly basis. Please pray with me about this!!!

On the local front, we continue to witness to people each week. People rarely respond and when they do it is typically with empty commitments to attend a service. This can be discouraging but we are reminded that the fruit is not on us. We are merely to do the telling; God works in the hearts; and people have to decide whether or not they want to know and walk with the Lord. Please pray that we will get more engaged in the business of telling people about their need for Christ! It truly seems like we are on the cusp of something really great in our church and we just need to press forward in faithful service and yielding to the Lord.

On that note, I have spent much time over the last few months pondering the subject of stewardship! While we tend to think of this narrowly as giving, it is so much bigger than that and so much more important in the living out of the Christian life than we can comprehend on the surface. Stewardship involves the faithful oversight of an individual of that which belongs to another. That pretty much sums up everything to do with Christianity. With that in mind, we established stewardship as the theme for this year’s conference in June. It is something we really want our church family to understand and grab ahold of, but we think it would be good for those who will visit with us as well! If you plan to attend, please let us know at your earliest convenience. We are finalizing plans for the meals and necessary facilities and the sooner we know how to plan, the better.