By Joy Kuttappan, Asst. Coordinator, AIU Church Communication
Dr. Ray Allen, the vice president of the Adventist World Radio (AWR), shared an inspirational story from his life narrating how God led him to ministry and to the Adventist World Radio (AWR).
The story began at a bakery! During his late teenage days, Dr. Allen worked at a bakery for a good salary. But after seeing the engineers at the bakery doing simple work and getting a bigger salary he was inspired to become an engineer so that he could become rich.
Nevertheless, his mother encouraged him to study theology at Newbold College to which Allen objected. But his mother persisted and pointed out from the scriptures how God’s blessings would make someone rich.
Finally, reluctantly he agreed to his mother’s advice and joined Newbold to study theology.
Unfortunately, even after joining the Adventist College to study theology, his mind was still stuck on the thoughts of becoming an engineer.
During his college days, a senior student who was responsible for making radio programs on campus persuaded him to be on an interview program for the radio, and that was a turning point in his life.
The next year after the interview program on the radio, he was chosen to be a student missionary for AWR in Portugal. Even at this stage, he didn’t have much interest in ministry.
Nevertheless, that journey by road in a Mini from England to Portugal to become a student missionary, without proper travel documents, changed his perspective about God and cash. Because his journey from there on was a “first-hand experience with God” that made him realize the importance of God’s blessings above anything that makes someone happy and blessed.