This evening shortly before 6:00 PM, our beloved Pastor Bill slipped very quietly and peacefully into the presence of his Savior and Lord.
Please be praying for his dear wife, Ruth, and his daughters, Jan, Karen, Judee and Cherri, as well as their husbands and grandchildren.
Times and locations of the Memorial Service will be posted on the blog as well the Keswick website: www.americaskeswick.org.
Your comments on the blog will be a wonderful encouragement. Thank you for praying along with us during the past six weeks.
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32 comments:
A life well lived, and a great supportive family.
Bob Strodel
Dear Mrs. Raws & family,
We are praying for all of you...
Thank you Ruth & girls for sharing Pastor Bill with ALL of us, we are blessed that he was a part of our lives. We will miss him dearly!
From an earthly perspective we are sad that he will no longer greet us in the Raws building or around Keswick... but as our 5 year old son, Joel, put it in his prayer tonight... "we're glad we'll see Pastor Bill in heaven!"
In heaven indeed & we know he's there rejoicing with HIS KING!
We will continue to lift you all in prayer during this difficult time!!
Love,
Brian, Donna, Jesslyn, Julia, Joel & Jeremy Bitler
Dear Mrs. Raws & family,
We are so sorry for your loss. We will keep you all in our prayers.
Faith & Andy Castillo
Dear Raws family,
How difficult it can be to have our heavenly Father holding one hand of dear pastor Bill, and then for all of us having to let go of the other. Our family is praying for God's peace and comfort to flood your hearts at this time. We share in your loss and yet rejoice in Pastor Bill's heavenly healing.
Our love and prayers continue,
Bevan Greiner and family.
Praise God for His mercy in bringing Pastor Bill home to heaven, that his suffering has ended, and the celebration in heaven can begin. I bet Pastor Bill and Lindsay-Bear will make quite a pair up there.
Melanie Lyons
NJ
Dear Ruth and family, We were deeply saddened on the one hand at the news of Bill's homegoing. On the other hand we cannot but give thanks that he is with the Lord whom he loved and served so well. Be assured of our earnest prayers for you all. We send our warmest love in Christ. May the Lord graciously bestow His comfort and peace. Eric and Dorothy
Dear Ruth and family,
It is with deep regret that we will miss our beloved pastor but we know that is suffering is over and he is in Glory with his savior who he served many years.Though we will miss him we can look forward to someday greeting him in Paradise.
Ruth now that you and your family has passed through a traumatic experience we are sure that the Lord will give you rest and precious memories of your beloved.
May God bless you Ruth and your family
In His Love
Alfred Barrettqmrhm
Dear Mrs. Raws and Family,
Pastor Raws was a wonderful example of a Christian life. I was in for my dad's heart surgery several years ago, and was so impressed that Pastor came in to visit with him. Daddy doesn't attend Church on a regular basis yet there was your loved one reaching out as Christ would.
In Christian Love and Prayers, Janice Jahns Burk
As we are sad for your loss, we are rejoicing that he is in Heaven and not suffering or hurting anymore. I hope he was able to greet Lindsay and give her a big hug from all of us. We will be praying for you Mrs. Raws and your family.
With much love,
~Julie and Garrett Houston
Pastor Bill is Home and there is not doubt that he heard "Well done, good and faithful servant"
Heaven is rejoicing. Praying for the family and many friends who will miss him so very much.
May you all know God's loving comfort in the days ahead.
God bless you,
Miriam
Dearest Ruth & family,
As saddened as we are that we will no longer see Pastor Bill here on Earth, we rejoice because we know that one day we will all be reunited with him in Heaven! Thank you so much for sharing him with all of us! We will continue to uphold you in prayer.
Evonne & family
Dear Ruth, Karen, Jan, Judee & Cherri,
Jesus said,
"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" - John 14:27
May the Lord comfort your hearts during your difficult time of loss, knowing that this is Pastor Bill's time of great gain.
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" - Phil. 1:21
So thankful to the Lord for Pastor Bill and you, his family. May the Lord wrap His loving arms around each of you in this time of sorrow.
May joy come in the morning because of the hope that we have in Christ.
In Christian Love,
Bob & Linda West
Hi Ruth
My heart and prayers are with you.
May the Lord Jesus comfort you and strengthen you and your family.
Love you, Mary
We are praying for all of you at this time. We are saddened by his passing but know he is rejoicing in the presence of our Lord.
Bill, although quiet, was a tower of strength to many. He was a quiet man but showed love to all who crossed his path. His love for the Word of God was always very evident. He served God and his family well.
We are praying for the family that each one will feel God's encouragement, comfort and peace.
Fred and Carolyn Mackey
Dear family, Words prove inadequate at ths time. This man of wisdom and quiet strength will be missed by so many of us whose lives he has touched. May the God of all comfort embrace you now in this time of separation. And may you find rest in His promises of all that lies ahead. With much love, cindy and marc
Mrs. Raws and family,
Pastor Bill was a man who truly understood and lived out victory. He was a model of Christ to watching eyes in his humility, graciousness, love, gentleness, kindness and encouragement. We will miss him dearly and I, his hugs that he always seemed to know just when they were needed.
I have been greatly blessed by Pastor Bill and am a better person having known him.
As I imagine him in the presence of Jesus,I am filled with awe as I consider what it must be like for him to be looking in the face of the One he loved and served so faithfully. I suspect Pastor Bill will be one of those that is there to greet me when it is my turn. I look forward to seeing him again.
My heart and prayers are with you. Diane Hunt
A job well done, by a good and faithful servant. He ran the race to completion.
Praise the LORD!
We will miss him.
Love and Peace,
Chris and Kathy Hughes
Dear Ruth and Family,
Remember the Promises: I Thes. 4:13-18. Our gracious Lord is faithful.
Love in Jesus, Ken & Betty Mick
Dear Ruth and family,
I am so grateful that our beloved pastor and friend has no more suffering and that God has taken him home. As one of my favorite authors, Hannah Hurnard, described it, the Eternal Life himself, Bill's Lord and his heart's beloved, has come for him and taken him into his Father's world.
As joyful a time as it is for Pastor Bill, we know you will miss your beloved husband and father. My prayers are with you. I pray our Lord will hold you close and give you comfort.
With gratitude and warmest love in Christ,
Candy (Moffett) Peterson
Dear Ruth and Family,
We are praying for you during this time. Bill was an outstanding man of God and greatly used by the Lord. As some have said I know that he has heard the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant". Truly he has entered into is rest. Diane and I have enjoyed our relationship with you and Bill. We love you all deeply and count it a joy to serve the Lord with you. It has been my prevelege to serve with Bill in a number of capacities at PBU. It was allways a joy to be with him and see the reflection of Christ in his life.
I am so glad the scripture say we sorrow not as others, it doesn't say we don't sorrow, we can't love someone and not miss them. Yes there is sorrow but it is not the empty sorrow of the world but the confidence that one day we will be reunited and what a glorious day that will be.
Once again we are praying for you and love you all.
George and Diane Nichols
Dear Ruth and family,
Gail and I have been following the news about Pastor Bill's sickness and have been praying for you all. Our contacts over the years may not have been as frequent as we would have liked but for us they always were a time of encouragement and challenge. We praise God a life lived for the glory of God and one that has impacted the lives of a countless number of people, including ours. We love you all and are praying for you.
Jim and Gail Christian
Words may fail us at this time, but
JESUS NEVER FAILS.
He will wipe away the tears of sadness, and fill our hearts with songs of gladness, for this is not
"Good Bye", but, "Till we meet again". Diane Nichols
Dear Mrs. Raws and girls, we are praying for you at this difficult time. Pastor Bill will be greatly missed, but we look forward to the great homecoming we will all have when we, too, go home. Praying that God will give you great comfort, and that His peace will fill you. Know too, that you are loved by many people, and that God will continue to use you to be a blessing to His people. Continuing to keep you in our prayers, John & Joan Romero
Dear Ruth,
The NEWS of Bill's Home Going was certainly a "Bitter-Sweet" announcement.
I have always Treasued Bill's Friendship. We first met through our Trio's singing at Keswick for a Bux-mont Men's Retreat in about 1980. Bill asked me to consider & Pray about being part of the Ministry through serving on the Board of Trustees.
Over the years, through
"Thick & Thin," I had the privilege, not only to work with Bill, but to enjoy the Friendship of both he and his Family.
We served on many committees together.
Through Bill, God gave the Board, much needed advice and Wisdom on a myriad of tough Issues though out the years.
Beryl & I have appreciated his gentle way of presenting God's word. Bill will be greatly missed by all.
We Praise the Lord for Bill's PROMOTION and Home Going, as he joins Addison, Bill and many Friends and Family which have gone on before!!!
We will continue to Pray for you and the Girls. May you feel God's SPECIAL comfort and presence.
With our Love & Prayers,
Sincerely,
Your Friends,
Because of Calvary,
Jim & Beryl Becker
Dear Ruth, Judee, Karen, Jan and Cherri,
We send along our deepest sympathy and love to each of you. We know that your sorrow is mingled with joy. We praise God for the example that Bill left to us of a life well lived for the Kingdom of God. Psalm 92 comes to mind when I think of Bill. "It is good to give thans to the Lord, to sing praises to yourname, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faihfulness by night..." This Bill did well. It goes on to say, "The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him." Bill was fruitful until he took his last breath. He has left a legacy that will keep the glory of the Lord before many in the years to come at the ministry of Keswick. I will miss his hearty handshakes whenever we were on the Keswick property and came across him.
We trust that the God of all comfort is descending upon you all and you are able to imagine what he nows sees what we all long to see.
In grace and love,
Tim and Pat Bowditch
Ruth and family, we can only begin to imagine just a tiny glimpse of the celebration taking place in heaven as one of God’s dearest children is welcomed home. Thank you so much for sharing Pastor Bill with so many. Only when we get to heaven will we begin to have any idea of how many lives God used him to touch.
It truly was a great honor to know him and be associated with him. His humble spirit and unwavering commitment to the work of Christ were evident in every encounter with him. We were truly blessed and honored to have been privileged to know him.
May God grant you a peace that can only come from Him at this time.
Love,
George and Joyce Hutchison
Dear Mrs.Raws and Famliy,
I would like to thank you and your family for sharing your husband/father and property so selflessly.It is because of Americas Keswick that taught myself and my husband the truth about our Lord Jesus Christ. Because cause of this, our love and marriage is renewed, and our children experienced the Lord's greatest work. It was an honor and a privilage to have my husband graduate from the colony 7/20/08. May God comfort you all with his peace and love at this difficult time.
Dana & Robert Gardiner
Dear Mrs. Rawls,
My deepest condolences go out to you and your family at this time. What a man of God Pastor Bill was. He had a profound impact on my life at a time when I started listening to a certain man's teaching on the radio... I remember my dad asking Pastor Bill what he thought of this man and Pastor Bill answered most defininitively "he's a heretic!!" (double explanation point).
One thing I'm reminded of is how he would always go out of his way to say hi when I would bring the kids out to wait on the tables in the dining room. What an encouragement you two are. I know he's touched the lives of many a man and through tears now I just want to say that I will miss seeing him in the dining room... his smile was always so comforting. I can only pray that I can make just a fraction of a spiritual impact that he's has made in so many lives. My prayers go out to you and your family and may God grant you a great peace, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, knowing that your husband has finished the race and is the glorious presence of Almighty God.
God bless you,
Scott Furushima
Dear Ruth, Karen, Jan, Judee and Cherri:
Know of our love and prayers and sincere appreciation for your friendship and all you have meant to us and thousands of others through the years.
We will always remember, until we forget everything else, the gracious ways you welcomed us during our times at Keswick. It is a joy being "a part of the family."
I (Robert Lewis) will see you Thursday and Friday. Amelia will see you in a few weeks when we will travel together for another Keswick week.
With Our Love and Thanks,
Robert Lewis
Dear Ruth, Judee, Karen, Cheri & Jan,
We were very saddened to hear about Pastor Bill. He was such a dear man, and we know he will be greatly missed. Please know that we are praying for all of you...that God would wrap His loving arms around you, and that you would moment by moment feel His presence, His comfort and His peace.
Love, John and Kathy Noel
I will always remember Bill's smile as he walked around making people feel welcome. He was an example of a man whose life mirrored His Lord.
We will miss him, One thing we know he is up in heaven welcoming others home. I know one of the friends he said hello to was Russ Thompson who loved him very much.
We are in prayer for everyone in the family. They will miss him but while it is graduation from here there is celebration in heaven.
Pastor Bill Vogt
Dear Mrs. Raws,
It is hard to believe it was 37 years ago I met Pastor Raws and you, when I was a server in the dining room during weekend retreats. Warmth and genuine caring was written in your eyes and smiles. I have nothing but joy when I recall my times spent at Keswick. It has been amazing to watch it grow over the years.
My father, Harvey Brown, was delighted to bring men to the Colony of Mercy, knowing that they would be loved and encouraged as they surrendered their addictions to Christ. He cherished the comaraderie of the men at Gideon breakfasts and counted Pastor Bill as a dear friend.
I will always remember Pastor Raws as a gentle man with a giant heart for the work of the Cross.
Please know that my heart is heavier today, because I am holding you in it. May the blessings of Heaven and sweet memories of times shared replace the sadness of his absence from your side.
Much Love,
Ruthann Brown Disotell
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