From the desk of
JOHN BRADSHAW
®
December 2024
Dear Partner in ministry,
Finding Ray would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Ray had no faith background and had never been a church attender. But one day while he was flipping through the channels on TV, an It Is Written program caught his eye. He watched, called the phone number to receive the free offer, and accepted the offer of free Bible studies. Days later, church members who went to Ray’s address to deliver the Bible studies found that Ray lived in an enormous apartment complex—and they didn’t know which apartment was his. Finding Ray would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But the couple felt prompted by God to enter the apartment complex, believing that, somehow, God would lead them to Ray. Before long they spotted someone sitting on an upstairs balcony. “Maybe he knows who Ray is,” one of them said to the other. As slim as the chance was, they felt there was no harm in asking. As it was a cold day, the man on the balcony was the only person outside braving the temperatures. “Excuse me,” they called to the man on the balcony. “We’re looking for a man named Ray Brown. You wouldn’t happen to know where he lives, would you?” The man looked surprised. “Ray Brown1?” he asked. “I am Ray Brown!” And so began a series of Bible studies. Ray and the couple from the church became fast friends. After several weeks, he accepted their invitation to attend church. And a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of baptizing him. 1
Name changed for privacy.