James
1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Ray’s Testimony
Ray Howell’s youthful years were filled with boyhood dreams of hunting and fishing. Due to being fatherless and having to work daily on his foster parent’s farm, Ray never thought these dreams could become reality.
Being without a father, he didn’t have a role model to teach him about hunting and fishing. However, Ray’s social worker, Tom Poukey, decided to take him under his wing. Tom took Ray on his very first white-tail deer hunt during his high school years. He eventually harvested his first buck when he was 20 years old. He was hooked!
Ray went on to travel the world hunting big- game animals with a bow in his hand and was an icon of the hunting industry. This was made possible from three successful businesses that Ray had owned, starting when he was just 23.
His competitive nature carried over into fitness where he became involved in powerlifting. Like archery, he trained hard and was able to successfully break several drug-free, national and world records. Everything that Ray’s mentor Tom had told him as a boy was coming true. He later took first place in the open class, master’s and ultimately was awarded the best overall lifter trophy.
Ray has successfully harvested many P&Y white-tails. Following his boyhood dreams had taken him to the frigid cold and snow of the Arctic, the wilderness areas of Mexico, throughout the forests of Canada, the remote regions of the Yukon, and in many of the 5- states on his quest to harvest the 29 North American big-game animals. Travels to Africa has allowed Ray to harvest a variety of plains game, which has also been a dream come true for him.
One day, Ray was outside practicing with his bow and no matter the distance or the difficulty of the shot all his arrows hit their mark. It was almost as if he could not miss. He began to wonder where his shooting ability came from and at the same time reflected on his prosperity. For the first time, Ray realized that everything that had happened in his life had happened for a purpose. His troubled youth his business success, his success in powerlifting, and hunting were not coincidences. Ray says it best,
“There was an overwhelming burning in my heart–so overwhelming that I went to my knees. I realized with my bow in one hand and arrows in the other that the Lord had been the one who had been guiding my arrows long before I knew who He was. He is the one who has given me all of my abilities. I also realized that these abilities were given to me for a purpose and that purpose is my calling here on earth. That calling is that nothing else matters, except to do God’s will. He is the One who has opened all the doors in my life according to His plan. At that moment, that’s when I let Jesus into my heart and knew that there was no other path to follow but His. I hold all of that truth in my heart and have been guided by His Holy Spirit ever since.”
Realizing his boyhood dreams have not only enhanced his love for the sport of archery and bow hunting, but have also provided him the means to start a program for underpriviliged and at-risk youth throughout the United States. Kicking Bear Ministry has allowed thousands of kids to learn about God through the sport of archery and the outdoors. It teaches kids that God has a plan for everyone and his plans are for good.
