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Faith carries minister to Moscow
Allison Phillips
Randall Richards of Psalm 34 Ministries speaks Sunday to members of the Troutman Church of God about his calling to help start an English-speaking church in Russia.
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Published: November 10, 2008
A few months before his family is scheduled to depart for Russia, Randall Richards tried to get Troutman Church of God parishioners to renew their excitement in worshiping God.
Richards, a Church of God minister from Sophia, W.Va., will move to Moscow in February to take the post of worship director for the English-speaking Good News Church recently started by Minister Rick Renner.
The church opened its doors for the first time last week with 55 members.
Richards said his wife, Carol, and daughter, Lea, are accompanying him on the journey. When his wife agreed to move to Russia with him earlier this year, he considered it a great declaration of love.
Right now, he has about every emotion going through him about the upcoming move. Sometimes, he is excited and sometimes he is fearful of what might happen.
"I am taking my family to a place that is a little hostile in my way of thinking," he said. "There is such a hunger for spiritual things and the word of God. These people have lived in a religious strait jacket for years. If you want a definition of gospel, it is love responding to love."
Richards said he is thrilled to be in a place where people are excited about the Lord, and he hopes he will be able to foster those feelings overseas.
He wants people to know it's OK to lift their hands up in praise.
He resigned from Church of God Family Worship Center in Elkins, W. Va., in June and has sold all of his possessions. He said his wife is working for the first time in their marriage, and they moved into a trailer on her sister's property.
"It's just the sacrifices we've had to make," Richards said. "The Lord is doing something about priority and ego. I really believe that God is in it all."
Richards told the congregation that he believes that God is preparing his followers for the Rapture.
"I believe even in the elections that have taken place, we need to step back and remember God is in charge," he said.
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