The old man always sat in front of the five-and-dime, begging nickels, dimes & quarters from those who passed his way. The folks who saw him weren't sure how he got there most mornings because he didn't seem to have a soul who cared.
Saturday was the day the boy got to come downtown with a few friends and watch a black & white movie at the movie house on Main Street in Jackson, TN
The old man was ridiculed by most of the kids because he was so pitiful. "Hey Boy" the old man yelled on that first Saturday encounter. It scared the boy half to death. Because he knew the old man was talking to him.
Ivan Raley passed through small towns in Tennessee, South Carolina and the mission fields of Venezuela, Mexico, Belize and Africa on his journey to the ends of the earth. Ivan says he is forever on his way to the ends of the earth and his stories simply reflect that journey.
The story of how the old man picked Ivan out of a crowd is just one of hundreds that have unfolded on his journey; but perhaps none is more powerful, especially the way he tells it.
When you are able to communicate a story as powerfully as "the boy" can, people like me wonder how in the world he does it. The preacher boy is now Dr. Ivan N. Raley. On his way to the ends of the earth there have been several stints of overseas missionary duty to some of the poorest people on the face of the earth, and for the last 65 years he has been able to do the job he loves best: pastor a church. The stories are warmly & wonderfully woven into the sermons he shares. 1
Read more about the old man and what he wanted from the boy; and many more stories from Dr. Raley on his journey to the ends of the earth.
1 excerpt taken from Bob Hurley article in the Greenville Sun, October, 1997.
It was a Friday morning in August 1953 when I knelt at the front on the sawdust floor at the open chapel at Camp Linden. I said to God in front of my friend and mentor, Jim Allen, "I will do whatever you want me to do, go through any door, and be whatever you want me to be." Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would spend my life in His service; serve as Vice President of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home for 12 years; and as an old man, continue to pastor & preach (as I have for the last 65 years) and love each moment of the journey.
After completing my education in the public schools of Jackson and Union University, I entered the United States Navy and spent my first two years in school at San Diego. While serving in the Navy I also served as Associate Pastor of the Balboa Park Baptist Church.
Only God could open the doors that would lead me to be a guest of the congressional speaker at the National Day of Prayer in the Cannon Office Building in our nation's capital. And to be a guest Chaplain at the United States House of Representatives; as well as opening the session with prayer and spend time with two different Speakers of The House.
After completing my service in the Navy a church in Tennessee called me as their pastor and I returned to the Volunteer state, the place I have called home for the remainder of my life. I was privileged to pastor five churches in Tennessee with at least one in each grand division.
I was also called to serve in disaster relief programs in the United States; in Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.
In 1994 I spent five months with the Southern Baptist Mission Board in Belize; and in the summer of '94 I was assigned to the countries of Rwanda and The Congo during the Civil war in Rwanda.
It was in 1994 that Carole and I joined our blended families. We were called to Brentwood where I served as Vice President of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home.
Following the disaster of 9/11 in 2001, I was called to serve as a relief Chaplin for the Fire Dept. of New York City an experience which marked me forever.
My first book, "Just a Moment" had totaled what I thought was the sum of "an old life". Yet God continues to bless and care for me. My wife and our blended family have added joy and length to my years.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
Isaiah 61:1
Ivan
inraley@yahoo.com
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