News and Encouragement

When I was 8 years old, I was walking out of my bedroom, passing my mother’s room down the hall. I could see the lights on in the kitchen. I heard a very strong man’s voice coming from her room, and he said, “Evan, I love you”. I stopped, cold, scared and frozen. I turned, and nobody was there. In a very short time, it was dismissed as my imagination. It may have been but I can still remember everything from that moment in time. I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. My

Buffalo Trail Land Purchase Last week, A Ray of Hope closed escrow on 12 acres of land on Buffalo Trail, in the hills above Somers, Montana. It is about 25 minutes, door-to-door, from our existing shelter in Kalispell. Our acreage abuts 720 acres of state land, providing our residents with hiking and recreational opportunities. This is the culmination of a five-year search for acreage to replace our Helmville Retreat Center. The Helmville property worked well while Bob and

I am Joseph Pein, Son of our Father, Jesus Christ. I am the father of two, Declan Joseph, our son and Ella Grace, our daughter. Thank you, Jesus, for these blessings. I was born in La Grande Ronde Hospital and raised in Union County, OR. I came from a broken home, and I was born with a sinful nature. I chose the world over God. I medicated with drugs and suffered from lust, pride, anger, loneliness, and SIN! I surrendered my life over to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord

The Primary Duty Of Being Happy In The Lord The following is a quote from George Muller, a Godly man of faith in the Lord from whom I have learned a lot through reading biographies about him. He was the founder of five orphan homes in Bristol, England, in the mid 1800’s that served over 10,000 children over the years. It is inspiring to study his life, as he was a man of strong faith and a close relationship with the Lord. “According to my judgement the most important poin

I wanted to write a story, a true story. One that would speak to the world. A story that will draw everyone to Jesus. A story depicting the mountain highs, valley lows, intense drama, frightening moments and an explosive climax. Just as it occurred. In truth, my story is the testimony of a man who came to a point in his life, realizing he had so little value he up and gave his life and died. “This is a true story!” The next day, he did the exact same thing. He gave his

The Double Standard We Live As you can imagine, with those who show up at the doors of A Ray of Hope, there are some who are bitter at God over the circumstances in their lives. If they have serious hurts, certainly God could have prevented them and God is to blame. This is a discussion I have very often. Let’s take a closer look. God, in His beauty and love, created us with a mind and will and, thankfully, He also placed within us His truth and wisdom as a guide in our

My name is Stephnie. I am a 47-year-old single mother with 9-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. I was born and raised in Sheridan, Wyoming. My parents divorced when I was 6 years old. They both were alcoholics, and as a result, I had to grow up quickly. I started drinking and using drugs at a very young age. This led to a life characterized by all the typical circumstances that you might assume. I lost jobs, had two failed marriages, both of which were extremely toxic and abu

We Can Tell Where The Wind Bloweth Joh 3:1 “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, H

Hi, my name is Juliet. I was born and raised in the Flathead Valley. I grew up loving the Lord and wanting to live my life for him, but ended up down the wrong path in high school. I’ve been fighting a serious drug addiction for almost half of my life. I’ve had some good periods of sobriety over the past several years, but never really was able to find a solid community. After a year or two, I would find myself isolated and end up making the same mistakes. At the Ray of Hope,

Help A Person To “Become As Little Children” Mat 18:1-6 “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children , ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of hea

Hello! My name is Daniel and for the past 5 ½ months, I have been a guest of A Ray of Hope. I thought that for those who might be interested, I would share some of my story on my journey from rock bottom to salvation and hope. I was born in South Georgia to a very loving mother, rest her soul and unfortunately, an absentee, alcoholic and drug addict father. My parents divorced when I was 6 or 7 and my mother was left to do her best to raise my brother and I alone. Thanks to

One thing I have found over the years of teaching God’s Word, is that I need to define words or principles, because satan likes to distort things. Success is found in God’s Spirit and Truth, and our failures arise from deviating from God’s ways. God designed and created our universe and He advises us on how to walk and live it. Let’s face it: we live in a fallen world, through no fault of our Creator, but of our own doing. God is gracious here, continually seeking us out

In 2018, I was living in Washington headed for a not-so-bright future. I was in and out of jail and my son (10 years old) was living with my mom while I was in a tent nearby. In April 2018, I was incarcerated and my son's dad decided to come from Montana and pick him up. 4 days later, my mom died. It took me the better part of the month to realize that I was no one without my son, so I moved to Montana. With only a backpack full of clothes and nowhere to go, I just knew that