Brother Ray – From Meth, Prison, and Fentanyl to Faith, Family, and a Calling to ServeBrother Ray – From Meth, Prison, and Fentanyl to Faith, Family, and a Calling to Serve
Recovery On-Air
Brother Ray shares his story of growing up around addiction, guns, and prison before cycling through meth, heroin, and fentanyl use. He talks about how faith, treatment, the 12 steps, and community now shape his life as a husband, father, and man with a calling to serve others in recovery.
59:43•24 Jul 2026
Brother Ray’s Journey from Meth and Prison to Faith, Family and Service
Episode Overview
- Childhood trauma, parental incarceration, and abuse can set the stage for addiction, but they do not have to dictate the ending.
- Multiple treatment attempts, probation pressure, and a partner’s firm boundaries can all play a part in finally choosing sobriety.
- Honest accountability with a sponsor and fully working the 12 steps helps uncover shame, heal old wounds, and build new habits.
- Faith, church community, and prayer become central tools for Ray in staying sober and learning to love himself and his family properly.
- Serving others through ministry, outreach, and plans for a recovery home gives Ray purpose and helps keep his own recovery strong.
“If God can do it for me, he can do it for you.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with Brother Ray on Recovery On-Air gives a raw look at what that can actually look like, from meth and gang life to faith, family, and service. Ray grows up in some of Phoenix’s toughest streets, with parents in and out of prison, foster care, and an abusive home shaping his early years.
By his teens, he’s using and selling meth, running with older men, and caught in guns and gang culture. An armed robbery at 18 leads to a shootout with police and a long prison sentence, where his drug use escalates to heroin and his anger towards God hardens. On release, Ray tries to rebuild with his wife Ashley and their children, but cycles of meth, alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl keep pulling him back.
Multiple stints in treatment, a probation officer who gives him a final chance, and a wife who’s finally “done” push him towards real change. He’s brutally honest about domestic violence, overdoses, and kids watching their parents fight, saying, **“I really wanted the help… I just didn’t know how to get it.”** Things start to shift when Ray cries out to God in his car, connects with church, and later commits to 12-step work with sponsor Michael Bills.
He talks about the discomfort and healing of sharing his “deepest, darkest secrets” with another man, and learning to accept grace without giving up. Today, Ray and his wife run Be A Family Ministries, get involved in outreach, and are working towards opening a recovery home. He keeps it simple: stay close to God, stay connected to meetings, and stay around people who won’t co-sign the nonsense.
If you’ve ever wondered whether someone that deep in addiction can change, this story might have you rethinking what’s possible.
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