Retiree Ray Strange had fallen behind on payments for the Country Junction Mission building on Ind. 42 in northern Owen County, and the food pantry and outreach mission was in danger of losing its home. But since word of the crisis got out, folks have been pitching in to keep the mission going. Staff photo by Chris Howell

CUNOT — Ray Strange believes in the power of prayer.

But he believes even more now than before, after a stunning answer to one on Monday afternoon that he calls a miracle.

Strange is a retiree who runs the Country Junction Mission on Ind. 42 in far northern Owen County, after managing the Manna Mission in downtown Martinsville.

At one time he was an alcoholic and drug user who ran a cleaning company and a bar in Cloverdale.

That, he said, was until the Lord got hold of him several years ago, set him on a new course and turned him into a man with two missions.

One was to help other folks, especially the poor and those who are down-and-out the way he was, to find what he'd found.

"God saved me," he said. "Took me out of alcohol and drugs. He changed my whole life, and I'm trying to help others out. There's a lot of poor people around here."

The other was his Country Junction Mission, the combined food pantry, soup kitchen and spiritual outreach effort that is his way of carrying out mission No. 1.

Until Monday afternoon, though, he was in danger of losing the second mission.

For two years, Strange has been operating the ramshackle mission out of an old former grocery store. Food, clothing and other items for his mission never have been a problem because people donate those freely.

That includes big boxfuls of packaged sandwiches provided regularly by Modern Vending, and a truckful of food sent by the Third Phase Mission in Noblesville every Saturday for the 50 or so families that rely on his mission to make do.

No, Strange's problem was paying for the building, which is crammed with clothes, food and other household items, with his bed tucked off in one corner.

After first renting it from a woman for $200 a month, he commenced buying it at terms of $500 per month plus an annual $2,000 payment. But to do that he was using his meager pension plus his Social Security checks, and they weren't enough to cover it. He steadily fell behind.

People have been coming to the aid of the financially strapped Country Junction Mission on Ind. 42 in northern Owen County. Staff photo by Chris Howell

As of this past weekend he hadn't made the first two annual $2,000 payments, and the owner gave notice that if he couldn't pay by April 30, she'd have to take back the store and move him out.

"I don't blame her at all," he said.

His plight had gotten recent attention from local newspapers, then a feature Sunday night on WISH Channel 8 in Indianapolis. And as of 2 p.m. Monday afternoon, the nearby Cunot senior citizens' center had said it hoped to help him out on a monthly basis.

But he still was in a big hole.

"I know if God wants me here he'll make a way — and if he doesn't want me here, I sure don't want to be here," he said as he discussed the situation.

Still, he admitted he was a little down about it all. He also suffers from diabetes, and had lost all his toes to amputation from the effects of the condition.

He and a visitor talked for a time about the power of prayer, and miraculous answers to it. Strange asked the visitor to anoint him with oil in keeping with the biblical command and to pray for him.

The visitor obliged, anointing him and offering a short prayer asking Jesus to meet both Ray's physical and financial needs, if it was his will to do so.

About five minutes later, a woman walked in, gave Strange an envelope and left.

When Strange opened it, he could hardly believe his eyes. There was a wad of $50 and $100 bills. He counted them. They totaled $2,500 — more than enough to cover one year's $2,000 payment for the property.

The woman's card, unsigned, read: "The Lord told me to give this to you. I know that when he speaks as clear as he has to me on this, it is what I am to do. This is from him. God bless your work in Christ."

That still left a lot of debt to cover. But then, the day wasn't over yet, either.

Later in the day, a farmer came in and said he was planning to get a number of well-to-do farmers he knows to support the mission.

Then a lawyer came by and said she knew people with more money than they knew what to do with, whom she thought would be willing to support his mission.

Strange is taking donations to the mission at P.O. Box 37, Poland IN 47868. But he thinks God is already answering his prayers.

"I know what God can do," he said, "and if he is for you, nobody can be against you."

Reporter Kurt Van der Dussen can be reached at 331-4372 or by e-mail at kvd@heraldt.com.