God Will Make This Trial a Blessing

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Mike Ray, a Pastor in Napa, CA writes about his father,Tom Ray. He follows his path from the Dixie Mafia, organized crime, raqueteering, money counterfeiting, bank robberies, and alchohol abuse to a devoted Christian life, truly a miracle story. This story has been dramatized on "Unshackled," the radio program of Pacific Garden Mission. Tom Ray testified in 20 trials against the mob and lived! An encouraging read for all Christians.

Part of security in a child’s life is to find out his roots and family history. Dad felt like I did not need to know much of this story until later. He is very ashamed of his past. It is much like the old saying, “If you are living in the past, you have no present.” He has decided to live for the future yet uses the past to be a blessing to others.

I encouraged Dad to let me put this in print. I believe it will encourage Christians who are trying to win the hard case loved ones. Furthermore, I believe it will encourage those with colorful pasts wondering if there is hope for them.

This book is not intended to glorify evil. Many details have been omitted because of the Biblical command, “Be simple concerning evil.” I will leave much up to the reader’s imagination.
During this generation in United States history, Louisiana state crime was at its pinnacle. Governor Huey Long was one of the most powerful leaders in America with a great possibility of a presidential nomination…until he was gunned down in the state capitol building. At this time in Louisiana, just about anything was possible without consequence as long as a person had the political contacts and money to pay for his crimes.

An important fact must be kept in perspective throughout this testimony: much of the story transpired in the years 1960 – 1975. There were no cell phones, eight tracks, cassettes, CD’s or computers. Minimum wage was $1.50 per hour. A great salary was $200 per week! Our first house payment was $53 per month. These circumstances should be remembered as extreme dollar amounts are referred to throughout the book.
All facts contained in this book are valid and verifiable. Stories and accounts are not embellished or elaborated. Facts that did remain in these pages went through a rigid inspection process. If Dad or I felt a story was more of a vague memory or could not be backed up by multiple witnesses or documentation, it was omitted.

Dozens of stories have also been left out and many names altered because of confidentiality in court cases. This has been the advice of law authorities and judges who were hesitant about this story being in print – even though the events transpired almost forty years ago! Because of this concern, details are not footnoted and no newspaper archive appendix has been included.