Ray Family Update from May 2023

Dear Praying Friends,

Conference time is officially here! As we finish our final preparations, it is astounding just how much time and work goes into a few days of meetings that vanish swifter than a few dollars at a grocery store. Perhaps the swiftness of the week is what makes it so precious. It is a temporary glimpse of what it will be like when all of God’s people gather round His throne to sing of Him and offer Him praises. This little taste of heaven is truly a highlight of our year. Pray with us that the same will be true this year.

Upcoming Travels

As many of our visiting preachers board planes or get in their cars to return home, our family will load up in the car and head north where I’ll be preaching at Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. I will be preaching Friday and Saturday evenings on scriptural music. On Sunday, I will preach all services as the Lord leads. After that meeting, our family will take some time off in preparation for an extremely busy July and August. During those months, we will be back and forth to Michigan (two times), Canada, and Virginia.

Upcoming Projects

After conference is behind us, we will again turn our focus to completing several new publications. We have a children’s book (The Little Maid Who Saved a Captain) that is ready to go to the printer and we have received the quotes for printing. Truth be told, we have booklets and tracts needing to be reprinted at the same time so we could sure use some help on the initial printing costs (just over $3,600) to get this book across the finish line. A little bit further down the line, we have another book nearing completion as well as several works that will be made available digitally.

On the building front, we have temporarily paused renovations. This is in part because of the Bible conference, but we are also praying in and waiting on the remaining funds to complete phases two and three. We could not be happier with what has been accomplished thus far and we are now looking forward to the future phases that will include audio/video equipment, pews, and flooring. Pray with us concerning these matters.

In our local outreach, we are designing a mailout that we hope to get into every home within a certain mile radius of our meetinghouse. As the Lord provides, we will send this into thousands of homes in the Knoxville area. We continue to knock on doors and do our public ministry, but we hope this approach will get the word into homes that otherwise would not receive it.