"Please help us to be Christ’s men and women from head to foot."
If you spent any time with Tom Raley, you heard him pray those words. You also know that God answered that prayer in Tom’s life.
So it is with both great sadness and joy that the Young Life family says goodbye to Tom Raley. We mourn the loss of our dear friend, coworker, mentor and spiritual guide, but we rejoice knowing that he joined Jesus in heaven on Feb. 3, 2008.
Tom’s Young Life involvement began 63 years ago as a high school kid in east Texas. In his 1963 book Young Life, Emile Cailliet called Tom Raley a "wild and undisciplined teenager." But a Young Life leader named Add Sewell got to know Tom and introduced him to Jesus Christ.
A few years later, Jim Rayburn brought Tom and his wife, Recie, on staff. Over the years, the two served in Dallas, Texas, at Woodrow Wilson High School and in Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., San Jose and Vienna, Austria. For the last 25 years, Tom served as minister-at-large in the North Central Texas Region, leading the spiritual development of staff there.
Tom and Recie's impact on the mission is deep and wide. Thousands of kids know Jesus because of them, and hundreds of staff members credit Tom and Recie for encouraging and strengthening their ministries, marriages and their relationships with Christ.
"Tom modeled Jesus to me in so many ways," said Tom Pruden, regional director for the Gateway Region. "He modeled what it meant to follow Jesus by his commitment to meet daily with Jesus. He modeled what it means to love my wife by the way he loved Recie."
At 80 years old, Tom attended the 2008 All Staff Conference where he and Recie continued to encourage and challenge staff. John Vicary, senior vice president for the Southern Division, remembers calling Tom to the front to pray before the divisional dinner at the conference. As the crowd stood and applauded Tom, "there was an awkward moment during the applause when Tom looked at me as if he didn't quite know what to do," said Vicary. "So he did what he's been doing his whole life. He stepped up to the microphone and drew us all to Jesus through prayer."
Wherever he went, Tom’s commitment to his daily time with the Lord, his desire to live life in Christ, his humility and his love for his wife, Recie, left an indelible stamp on those around him.
"Many of us knew of his commitment to his devotional life," said Kevin Wood, former Young Life staffer and pastor of New Life Community Church in Burlingame, Calif. "I remember on a ski trip to the Mountain Lodge, getting up early to start breakfast at 5:00 a.m. The light in the kitchen was on, and there was Tom reading his Bible and journaling. I asked, 'Why so early?' His response was, 'So that I won't miss any opportunities to be with kids and leaders today.' I love him. I am inspired by him. I will miss him."
"Tom wasn't about getting the credit and the glory, but was about lifting up the One who deserves all the credit and glory. He pointed us to Jesus," said Meredith Reed, WyldLife director in Dallas.
Tom Raley was truly "Christ's man from head to foot" and we are thankful for the opportunity to have served with him.
Reflections about Tom Raley’s Life and Ministry
"As a Young Life intern, every week I had the privilegeof listening to Tom speak about his life and Christ. I remember him saying three things which made a profound impact on my life: it's your goal to know Christ, to be like Christ and to be all that Christ has in mind for you." – Michelle Fieker, former Young Life staff, Dallas, Texas
"I remember opening the Scripture in what became known as the 'Raley Room' at Saranac for staff Bible study an hour before breakfast each day. When Tom led a Bible study, his heart, mind, soul and strength were engaged. He loved God’s Word. And he wanted you to as well. All of us learned to relish the Scripture, the value of teaching it and engaging it in our lives. We learned to believe it." – Tom Hammon, senior regional director, Young Life, United Kingdom/Ireland
"I am a 1981 graduate of Leland High School. Tom and Recie ran the Young Life club that I was privileged to grow up in. I came to Christ through Young Life and through the presence of Tom Raley. Most of my friends also met Christ in those years and Tom's legacy lives on through us all. Tom Raley was like a compass always pointing us to Christ." – Alan Smyth, regional director, Young Life, North Los Angeles County
"I've been so thankful for the thousands of kids and others who were touched by Tom. His joy in living and clarity in proclaiming Christ made it fun to be around him and such a living testimony to our new life in Christ." – Janie Sutherland, former Young Life staff and current committee member, El Dorado County Young Life
"Few have impacted the lives of so many like Tom Raley. We were privileged to know him as a friend and will forever be changed because of knowing him. He called you often by your name and there was something about the way he said it that made you feel special, important, valued. He looked at you as Jesus would look at you. He saw the good in you and he believed in you." – Tiger and Leslie Dawson, executive vice president, Leadership Network and former Young Life regional director
"Each week I would print out and mail my Monday prayer note to Tom. (He never did get the hang of computers.) He wanted to know how he could pray for me and how to pray for Young Life in Latin America. Yesterday, we lost some critical prayer cover. May the Lord raise up a few more prayer warriors for us!" – Joe Walters, vice president, Young Life Latin America
"The Lord graciously used Tom Raley to introduce me to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in Germany 45 years ago! I remember it like it was yesterday. Tom was visiting for the weekend and read My Heart Christ’s Home to all of us from Frankfurt American High School’s Young Life club, standing outside on a rock at a youth hostel. I very specifically heard the call of God from Tom's lips. I have followed Jesus ever since." – Ann Hartsock
"Our family lived next door to the Raleys in McLean, Va. Tom and Recie suggested that I go to a Young Life camp. It was there I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Tom and Recie also led my mother and father to the Lord." – Melody Ruhe Walczuk
"Tom was the real deal. Tom's heart for Christ and continued desire to know Him more was inspiring and motivating. Tom had so many people to pour into, but you always felt special when he talked to you. He never acted like there was any other place he had to be." – Dan and Barbara Johnson, Young Life Quad Cities
"I'll never forget Tom's passion for the Word, for Jesus, for people like Henri Nouwen and Eugene Peterson, whom he read from often, his discipline of being with Christ every morning, his desire to connect with us and mentor us." – John Wagner, senior vice president, Young Life, Eastern Division