“He has blessed me.” Ray said at least ten times. But he doesn’t mean that financial windfalls have come his way. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred. After a back injury several years ago, Ray has been fighting for disability for the past 5 years. Yet he faithfully calls and gives to ARMS each month. He is considering selling his home and moving in with friends, yet he still calls and gives.

What’s his motive you ask? We wondered too.

Ray, age 45, grew up with an abusive father. He knew it could be a cycle and tried hard to break that cycle with his own family. After his divorce, one son pulled away from him. Ray praises God that his oldest son is beginning to allow a rebuilding of the relationship. He maintains a loving relationship with his youngest son and his two-year-old granddaughter. Ray, who also is a recovering alcoholic, had a co-worker who attended ManKind. And then, 6 years ago, a friend who had been through Her Journey took him to an ARMS banquet.

“God spoke to me there.” Ray says, “ARMS is doing a wonderful thing and they needed my support. God told me that I was to give my tithe to ARMS.”

And no matter his financial situation at the time, he has been doing so ever since.

What about the difficulties? He leads a life of pain, surgeries and the inability to work. When told how generous he is and what a difference he makes, he states that all the credit goes to God. “I am a selfish man. But God has given me a family, best friends of many years who help me, a wonderful granddaughter. I live simply, but I have everything that I need.”