Ray Family Update from May 2022

Dear Praying Friends,

We are just days away from our annual Bible conference. There is still so much to be done in preparation, but God has so blessed us with some good folks at Antioch who are willing to take on so much of the work as to make it possible. Our church is small and we are few in number, but we have been blessed with some of the hardest working people I have ever known. In all fairness, pastors tend to get too much credit. This is true when things go wrong, but it is just as true when things go right. In my case, and probably in every case, there are good men, women, and youth behind the scenes sacrificially giving time, money, and strength to make things happen and usually with too little acknowledgement from people. Thankfully, our God is not unrighteous to forget their labour of love (Hebrews 6:10).

Speaking of people labouring for the Lord in the shadows, we are happy to announce that our newly rebuilt website, LearntheBible.org, has launched. This has been a long time coming and we are thrilled with the new layout and look of the site. We have to organize the existing content within the site and, at the same time, add new content. Thankfully, we have a large amount of content already written that has yet to be published online, but I also hope to have the time to develop new content. In order to continue to make time available for me to do such things, we are asking God to provide a way for Brother Jonathan Judy to focus on church ministry full time. Currently, he works part time for the church and has a second job driving a bus for the local school system. Please pray with us that God will open the door, should it be His will, for Brother Jonathan to be able to take on more at the church. Brother Jonathan is not only willing, but this is his desire to be able to spend his days in the Lord’s work.

On the home front, last time I wrote, I requested prayer for my wife Lula. One of the greatest benefits of the new birth is that it puts you in a large family with others who have access to our loving and Almighty Father. While we do not know all who took the time to pray on our behalf, it is obvious some did. It is no exaggeration to state that God moved mountains to get Lula from one doctor to the other in unusual time. The rheumatologist was amazed how quickly my wife was able to get an appointment and expressed as much to us. In the end, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and they have already started her treatment. Going forward, we beg you to pray that the side effects of the medication would be minimized and that the success thereof would be maximized.

Before I close, allow me to give thanks to God in your audience for a couple of other things He has done for us. In my last letter, I commented that Sara was interested in acquiring a cello to play in the church orchestra. Almost immediately, the Lord used a precious couple to provide the cello and Sara has already played it in church. We could not be any more thrilled, both for God’s provision of the cello and for the ability He has given Sara to play it. We had also been praying for quite some time for our son Noah and his wife Julie and their desire to have a child. Well, the Lord has answered, and Julie is with child!!! The baby is due in early January and we could not be more excited for Noah and Julie (and for ourselves). Please pray for the health of momma and baby.

In truthfulness, our family is no different from most. We have our share of struggles and troubles. Yet, we are so thankful for our sons and daughters (son-in-law and daughter-in-law included). We are grateful for all of God’s richest provisions, not excluding that He has provided us with a place with enough land where our grown children can start their families in spite of a crazy housing market. The Lord sure has been good to us!!!! With all His benefits, how could we ever regret having trusted Christ as Saviour and deciding to follow Him to the best of our abilities?