Richard's Testimony

At the age of 14, I was struggling after my parents had returned to the United States on furlough. My father had been serving the Pentecostal Church of God as a missionary in Mexico for the past 5 years. In Mexico, I had mastered the Spanish language, interpreted for teams coming from the U.S. and was heartbroken when I found out my parents were not planning to return. At a youth service, I was spilling my heart out to God when I heard His audible voice speak to me. God was calling me to be a missionary "behind the iron curtain." Although there was no specific country, I held this in my heart because in 1976 there were no missionaries allowed in that area of the world.

Following high school, God opened the doors for my studies at Ferris State University in Michigan where I earned my bachelors of science degree in nuclear physics and nuclear medicine. I thought maybe God would lead me through a unique set of circumstances. Unfortunately, nothing ever materialized. During the next 10 years, I worked in nuclear cardiology in Lansing, Michigan. I had started my biblical studies through Berean University and took a position as youth pastor serving under my father in St. Louis, Michigan. I spent the next 12 years there as youth/associate pastor.

In 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall again reminded me of God's call and I felt the urgency to finish my bible studies. My wife, Lori, and I became senior pastors at Evangel Life Assembly of God in Bad Axe, Michigan in 1996. I was ordained with the Assemblies of God in 2000.

While pastoring in Bad Axe, Michigan, I was asked to accompany an A.I.M. trip to Poland. Honestly, I declined the first time I was asked. As a pastor, I was in the middle of a building project at our church and it seemed to be out of the question. God knows the answer to every question! God provided the time and finances, and I arrived in Poland for the first time in 1999. As soon as I stepped out of the plane, God began speaking to my heart, "This is where I called you to back in 1976." For two weeks, I could only cry and embrace the love God was placing in my heart for Poland.

When I returned home, I shared what God had placed on my heart for Poland with my wife, Lori. She reminded me of our position as pastors and that we had made a promise to the church not to leave them with a financial burden after the building project was finished. God's timing is always perfect and within the year the building was finished and the finances were available to pay off the mortgage. In 2001, my wife and I were approved as fully-appointed missionaries to Poland with the Assemblies of God. After a short 10 months of itineration, we arrived in Warsaw, Poland on April 25, 2002. Like Abraham, it was 25 years after I first heard God's voice calling me to missions.

We are now serving our second term as missionaries with the Assemblies of God in Warsaw, Poland. In 2008, on our 26th wedding anniversary, we received permanent resident status