September Newsletter

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

By Randy Spencer, Elkton, MD Champion

As we close out our 2nd year of Kicking Bear Camp I reflect back to the first time I met Ray and how I got to where I am today. In 2010 I was invited to the Shot Show in Florida where I heard Ray’s testimony at a Christian breakfast and little did I know how his story would impact me and that  I would one day be involved with this organization. 

It took 4 years for me to reach out to Ray and discuss Kicking Bear and how our church could get involved. I was involved in a lot of things in our community including being a business owner and I loved the idea of this program and wanted it here in Maryland. So I talked it over with some close friends and we sat out on the task of raising money and holding camps here in MD. Our first fundraiser was a huge success and we raised over $50k and were able to purchase all the supplies to be self sufficient and have the camps at a local farm on the Bohemia River. Our first camp we had just over 300 people in total and what an exciting two days to watch God work. Kids and adults had smiles that could not be wiped off their faces.  The community loved Kicking Bear and everything about it.

While I loved the mission and giving back to the community, I was not leading the best life. Being a successful business man at a young age lead me to things that seemed fun at the time but was not a Christian lifestyle. I loved Jesus but I loved a lot of other things too.

In 2014 Jesus had his hand on me and pushed restart for me! I filed bankruptcy in June and lost everything I had or thought I would ever want. I was living a generous life not a God-lead life. I will never forget walking out of my attorneys office in Baltimore Md with tears running down my face it was like an elephant was on my chest, I could not breath I was anxious. My life was crumbling in front of me and I was not in control. I stopped and prayed and asked Jesus to bring me through this and I would give everything back to Him and committed to focusing on kids. The next year and a half was full of ups and downs. I realized we are not in control and it’s all in his timing.

In 2023 Ray’s brother in-law reached out to me and asked if I would consider being involved in Kicking Bear and becoming the MD chapter leader. I was super excited and could not wait to call him back to discuss. In 2024, we held our first banquet at same location we did in 2014. Roughly 230 people attended and it was a success. Our first camp was held that summer and it rained but still had over 100 attendees and we are gaining traction.

Our 2nd year our commitment to our community was to add a free event every year for families to attend. Our banquet had over 400 attendees and we are blown away by the work of our GOD. We were able to hold our first cat fish tournament and 90 people attended in June. Our second camp, we had just over 150 attendees and what a day it was. So many people came out and supported this event and can’t wait to do it again. To watch Ray interact with these kids is a blessing, he is truly a disciple of Jesus! I had interviewed some families as the day was coming to a close, I asked a mother what her favorite part of the day was, her response was I watched my son say the Lord’s Prayer and an hour later we baptized her son along with 7 other kids.

I have left the best story for last! I have a 6 year old son that keeps me going. Truth be told I love doing Gods work and setting an example for my son. This boy loves Kicking Bear and Ray and Kevin, he always talks about them. You have heard the story it’s not about what you have its about the legacy you leave behind. Weeks leading up to camp Levi and I were talking about being baptized and want it meant and he said dad I would like to baptized, tears of joy is all I can say. On August 16, I was able to baptize my son, as the tears flowed down my face I could not pray out loud but boy my heart was screaming for joy! 

THIS MY FRIENDS IS WHAT LIVING FOR JESUS IS ALL ABOUT!

Take time to listen to people and their stories it may just change your life and thousands of others. Ray’s testimony at breakfast touched my life and here in MD, through Kicking Bear we have touched just at 700 people this year alone. This coming year we have a goal to talk to 2000 people in our community about Jesus!  

Mathew’s website! https://mathewsinc.com/

Also, check out Mission Archery at

https://missionarchery.com/

2025 KICKING BEAR CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

We have given away even more great prizes this month for the 2025 Kicking Bear Giveaway. Purchase your ticket/calendar now and have your number entered into September’s monthly drawing. The main drawing will be held on Friday, October 10th, live on our Kicking Bear YouTube channel. Our 50/50 Raffle is already over $6,600!! Our #1 seller is the Platinum Package ($125) that gets you into all drawings throughout the entire 2025 year. 100% of proceeds will go directly to the Kicking Bear Ministries and help us continue our mission. For more information or to purchase tickets please CLICK HERE (www.kickingbear.org).

Check out updates on our next events and catch pictures, videos and highlights of our past mission work on our social media platforms and website!!

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