A Man of Faith

Richard Holland has been a spiritual father, mentor and friend over many years. His daughter Hilary and I go way back, and he was the founder of my home church, CityLife Church in Melbourne, Australia. When Richard started the church 40 yrs back this year, it was called Waverley Mission, then Waverley Christian Fellowship and now City Life. As you see from the photo, Sue Carpenter is back in town as of yesterday, and the first person she wants to see is Richard. A tremendous man of faith, Richard has seen many thousands of miracles, healings and lives changed and renewed by the power of God. He is also a man of great vision - when my father (who served as an elder in the church) found the land that the current church in on, Richard immediately saw it all: the church built in several stages, a school, community centre and a retirement village. In 1981 when the land was purchased there were 350 in the church but now almost all of that vision has come to pass - a church of more than 6000 in attendance every week, a school with over 1000 students, a community care centre with qualified counsellors, medical services, social workers and more. Only the retirement village did not eventuate [many of us older members of the church may regret that!] We thank the Lord for the "fathers" in the church today - godly men who can be trusted to walk the way they talk! We love you Richard!