Ray Family Update from September 2024

Dear Praying Friends,

When the battle gets fierce, consider: you may have arrived at the front line. These were the words of my mentor and pastor, David F. Reagan. Through the years, these words have been both my counsel to others and comfort or consolation for self. All things considered, it would seem that we may be approaching the front line. The Lord looks to be doing some wildly encouraging things in our midst and yet it is not without battles and difficulties. Truth be told, if the blessings require the battles, we welcome the struggles to experience the victories. Along these lines, pray that we will be good soldiers and endure whatsoever hardness comes our way.

One of the great blessings we have enjoyed has been the influx of visitors in our services. One of our young men who recently started working at Chick-fil-A has been quite vocal about the Lord, and a coworker (Josh, along with his girlfriend and family) came to check us out. It turns out that he had gotten saved (not baptized), but his girlfriend had not. After I had several conversations with them, the young lady (Keisha) reached out and my wife was able to lead her to the Lord and the following week I was able to baptize both of them. On top of this, we have had several individuals (one of which is a fourteen-year-old young man who is tired of the doctrinal and practical corruption at his old church and wants to attend somewhere that aligns with the Bible) and families be with us on numerous occasions. We NEVER take for granted our faithful church members, but it sure is an extra dose of encouragement to have visitors. On the church member front, we got to see two great things happen in the Beaman family with one daughter following the Lord in baptism and another daughter trusting Christ as Saviour. We are also thrilled that God used Brother Hollingsworth and his wife in two separate missions’ conferences during the past two months (more to come on this soon). All of this said, we have not even scratched the surface of what the Lord is doing. Internationally, God is greatly using the ministry of Antioch Bible Mission under the leadership of Brother Brad Lane; and on another front, we were able to assist Pastor Adam Summers with books on his recent mission’s trip to India. The pastor there told Pastor Summers that this was the first time someone brought them NEW books and that students are already lined up to check them out. What a blessing!

Looking ahead, we are making a push to close out this year prayerfully and purposefully asking God to increase our practical and provisional participation in reaching the world with the word of God. In this vein, we hope to have our first missions’ conference on November 11th-13th with Pastor Tim Crotts preaching. Our prayer is that we will be stirred to purpose in our hearts to give to the Lord’s work. Furthermore, we are closing this year with a project to raise 25,000 quarters to put a gospel tract (via the post office) in 25,000 homes at the opening of 2025. Honestly, all of this is too big for us. As such, we acknowledge our need for God to do it!

On a personal front, our family seems to be doing well. We are not without our own struggles and battles, but the Lord sends grace to help in time of need. Our daughter, Sara, turns sixteen this week. This just does not seem right. Our three children at home are doing well in school and serving in the church. Our two who are married (and their spouses) are doing well and very involved in the work of the church. Noah and Julie (our son and daughter-in-law) are happily expecting another girl (Sutton Drew). We are BLESSED!