Pastor Ray has served as a pastor for 4o years, and as a pastor to terminally ill patients (seeing over 160 deaths per year). In those years, he has learned some key truths and principles about death and families that are grieving in the midst of it. Ray offers individual grief counseling, grief classes, and leadership training.
In his 6-Session grief support classes, Ray shares the truths that he has learned. Over 500 grieving loved ones have attended these classes and found hope and healing.
GRIEF TESTIMONY: He came in breathing fire like a dragon. He was angry that his wife was gone, and that the God she wanted him to know had taken her. Despite his relentless anger, he came to the class week after week. He despised the love and talk of God, yet yearned for it at the same time. He continued to spew poison each time that he came, but the class was patient with him. They patiently listened and “loved on” him, giving him space to pour out his anger and without harsh judgment. As the weeks went by, he finally began to trust the group more and more, and allow the love of the group to tear down some of those walls. In those same weeks, I met with him privately multiple times. Anger darts flew viciously each and every time. Over time, though, he began to allow me to share about God's love in the midst of the pain. I prayed for him constantly, as did the whole class. After several agonizing months had gone by, he reached out and asked me to come to his home. I arrived expecting to hear the pain and anger as before, but immediately sensed something was different. There was a peace that had never been present before. The anger was missing. He began to share how God had overwhelmed him with His presence and His peace in the midst of the night. He shared how he began to experience the love of God that his wife had so earnestly prayed he would know. As he hungered to know more, I was able to walk through the story of the Gospel, the love and forgiveness of God. He drank in every word. That day he accepted God’s love and forgiveness, and became a follower of Christ. In the days and weeks that followed, he was a different man. He came back to the class and shared the new peace that he had found. Everyone in the class who had known him before immediately recognized the change. The anger was gone. The fire had been extinguished. There was a peace and joy like never before. A few weeks later he learned that his cancer had returned. Six weeks after finding God’s peace, he was gone. God had mercifully healed his anger, and ultimately healed his body. God had brought him into His very presence, to enjoy His peace for all eternity. (shared with permission)
