Mike Rayson who posts here at times is ministering over in England. He is suffering from a bad cold / flu which has given him a sore throat which is causing havoc in regards to his singing.

Please lift him up in prayer as he has ministry commitments to make, that he is able to fulfill those commitments, that he will be fruitful and effective in his ministry and that God will provide for all his expenses.

Thanks craigb

Prayers for Mike’s health and the fruitfulness of his minstry ascending.

Indeed - prayers ascending...I heard him on the Radio over the weekend
Gill.

In the August/Sept issue of “Alive” magazine, there is a 3 page article about our friend Mike ( whose 11 year old son died in an accident in May 2007 ) :

“Death where is thy sting ? one man’s story”

“Mike Rayson pastor and musician, lost his 11 year old son in an accident recently. How would any of us cope if we lost a child ? Vic Campbell talks to this father about where he believes God was in this tragedy and the ‘why’ questions that he asked of the Lord........”

I’ll just add the closing paragraphs :

Despite feelings of abandonment, loss and despair, Mike maintains a strong belief in the power of God to heal broken and damaged human hearts.

“When I take off my pastor’s hat, when I stop trying to intellectualise everything that’s happened, I’m not fond of the person that I see. I see someone who is still angry, who is still mad, who is still upset, who is still broken,” he confesses.

“When you go through seminary and you train - and people prepare you to be a preacher and a pastor, you are taught in a way never to show that side of yourself to the world. People don’t need to see your pain; they need to be helped in theirs,” Mike shares. “But I think that’s one of the worst lies we can ever teach people; that’s one of the worst things we can use to prepare pastors for ministry.

“In reality, all of us live in deep, dark brokenness, if we care to admit it.”

Mike Rayson continues to learn from this terrible time in his life. He continues to look to God for strength, for solace and for guidance. “I am a very weak and broken person. The only reason I can get out of bed in the morning and function is because I serve a God who, in that weakness, chooses to be my strength and chooses to be my hope and chooses to be my faith.”

I was moved by such honesty. Too often we try to ‘put on a brave face’ - whilst inside we are suffering from “broken and damaged human hearts”.
I feel challenged to keep praying for Mike and his ministry. This article certainly spoke to me.

[ “Alive” articles are not available online - but copies are on sale at most Christian bookshops.  A free sample copy ( not necessarily the current one ) is available at :  http://alivemagazine.com.au/ ]

Thanks for posting the article extract, Kevin.

Mike, if you happen to be reading, my prayers are with you that you will continue to both know and show God’s grace through your life and ministry.

Mike does check in here every now and then so may well respond himself. But just in case he’s too busy right now .....

If anyone wants to keep track of what Mike is up to then check out Mike’s web site

And if you want more of his pastoral honesty, his blog site is always direct from his heart.

One thing I know he’d appreciate prayer for at the moment is the process he and his family are going through to get permanent resident status in the US. It’s complicated, expensive and time consuming.

Well Our God is able to keep him in perfect peace him whose heart and mind is fixed on Him. We lifting fragrance of prayers to God that he may wax Mike strong and healthy through out the entire mission. God Bless.

Thx for the update.