On Monday, May 12 I visited Richard in hospital. He was not doing well and didn't not talk as much as he had the day before. However, one thing he did say very defiinitely was "I'm going Home" and that night at 9 pm he did just that. His passing was peaceful for which we are so thankful. Over the past months he had struggled with pain in his back and legs, walking was difficult and he was relying on a wheelchair for most movement. His daughter and son-in-law, Hilary and Pier Van Netten, had moved in with him at the beginning of the year and had cared for him so well. However, as people visited and came to pray for him, he would often respond and pray for them. He was still vitally interested in what we were doing and what was happening in the church. He called Sue's parents shortly before going into hospital, just to encourage and pray for them. This past Tuesday, a Celebration Service of his life was held at CityLife Church with over 1200 people in attendance from all across Australia. Tributes and flowers poured in from around the world: Indonesia, New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore....and the list goes on. Several of Richard's family and friends shared at either the graveside or in the church and I have attached my comments. The church did film the service, and there was a wonderful collection of photos shown. If you would be interested in seeing the dvd, please contact me. Richard was a unique person - a man of great passion, vision, faith and compassion; one of the people whose face shone with the love of Christ. I will never forget him, never stop missing him until the day when it will be my time to 'go home'.
[Photo: Richard with daughter Hilary and myself]
Check out Mark Conner's blog (go to http://www.citylifechurch.com and click on Mark's blog) to read his comments on Richard, plus Hilary's memories of her dad. There is also a link to a newspaper press release I put together.
Also check out my blog entry on Richard - January 25, 2007
Memories of Richard: Carolyn Boyd
THE HOLY SPIRIT:
I first met Richard when I was 19 and he came to speak at the teacher’s college I was attending in Frankston.
A Christian, I was seeking something more, and when I met Richard, saw the light in his eyes and the enthusiasm he had for ,His Lord I knew I wanted what he had. There is head knowledge and there is heart knowledge, and I soon discovered that Richard knew not only God the Father, and Jesus, he had a vibrant relationship with the Holy Spirit and that made the difference. Travelling home from a Bible Study one night the Holy Spirit came and touched my life as Richard prayed, and yes, I was filled with the Spirit in the PINK Falcon! HOO 708 Richard had a tenacity for the things of God that wouldn’t give up. Interestingly, during that time five students at Frankston were impacted through Richard’s ministry and dynamic enthusiasm and today all five of us are still serving God. I started to attend the church he pastored in Dandenong and his daughter Hilary became a best friend. I should say that Rob and I became “Verbal Swordsmen” and practiced sharpening our wit. I think he won.
CHARTS: Richard was a CHART MASTER! Any surface that could be written on was fair-game and many charts began their life on the back of a serviette or paper tablecloth! I remember once when he was teaching using a chart in an outreach church in Seville. Families gathered in a farmhouse and kids were everywhere. (This being before the time of children’s programs). Richard made sure all the kids were involved, and this night as the taught on the words of Jesus to the seven churches in Revelation, he called out seven children and gave each of them the name of a church..”You are Ephesus, you are Smyrna” and so on. At one stage, he turned to the little girl who was Ephesus and asked "Now which church are you?" Startled, she blurted out “Church of England”. Richard had the ability of drawing in and communicating with people in all stages of life, and those kids never missed a meeting.
FAMILY:
Richard and Garry took me into their family as another ‘daughter”. He called me Shorter Daughter in those days! My parents became best friends with Richard and Garry, and we would often holiday together. Those of you who know Richard know that he didn’t like to sit idle for too long, and so whenever we went away, I would become the Tour Guide and dutifully produce an itinerary with almost every hour accounted for. I would be sure to include “Rest Hour” somewhere in the afternoons for everyone’s benefit and he would reluctantly comply, appearing one hour later walking up and down outside our rooms and looking at his watch. It was time to go again.
In the early days, Hilary and I would take notes copiously, and amongst those notes were some of the RJH bloopers. When praying for a very pregnant lady who had a severe headache, he said, to our horror “Lord deliver her NOW” to which she exclaimed – “No, not yet!” Another time was during communion when he asked the Lord to bless the broken bed. Hard to concentrate after that one.
I don’t think I knew anyone so generous. There are countless individuals and families that he has helped. That was his nature and both he and Garry enjoyed doing this. Richard gave not just of his finances, he gave of his life. I recall many times when he would leave in the middle of the night to visit a sick child or pray for a family in turmoil. It was never too much trouble. He beat the ambulance to my house the morning my mother collapsed and saw her ushered into God’s presence.
CHURCHES:
For some ten years, I had the privilege of serving on church staff, first as Richard’s PA. There was a steady stream of people making their way to his office for words of counsel, common sense advice, prayer and encouragement. He had a gift for believing for barren women to bear children – and there are many here today who would acknowledge the power of those prayers. [Sadly, he didn’t have the gift for finding husbands!]
Over the past fifteen years, I have been involved in travelling to many nations. I visit churches in Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, the US, and others who have been touched by his ministry. He believed fiercely in the miraculous power of God and his greatest desire for the church has been to see this restored. People in Seattle still tell me of the time oil appeared on his hands and he felt the Lord tell him to pray for the church leaders. He did so, and the Holy Spirit fell in an amazing way. That fervency he imparted remains in that church and amongst those leaders today. I also remember a time when he was in Indonesia and was asked to pray for an elderly blind lady. As he began to pray, the Lord gave him a different language. The lady was astonished – Richard wasn’t speaking Indonesian, he was speaking a village dialect, the dialect of that lady. In addition, yes, she was instantly healed.
I still visit a church in Boise, Idaho where Richard preached in the 60’s. There are people there who still talk of this man from Australia whose face shone with the light and love of the Lord and who brought healing and deliverance to so many. To quote Sue Carpenter “For Richard, miracles were the expected heritage of any child of God. Cancer, infertility, pneumonia, were not challenges to God's power, just vehicles to demonstrate it”. Only two weeks or so ago he and Hilary rang Sue’s dad in Idaho to encourage and pray for him. Sue says her family have been so ministered to over the years by his warm Australian voice and prayers at the end of the phone.
McDONALDS: As I said, my parents were great friends with Richard. He and Dad golfed together, argued politics together, prayed together. They visited the sick in hospital and saw many accept the Lord during those times. Perhaps one thing they also did together was vastly improve the coffers of a multi-national corporation. They bestowed their favour on this establishment, visiting several times a week, and in fact in Richard’s later years he carried on that tradition on a daily basis – yes, the establishment was McDonald’s – proving that it’s not just kids that like that place. Vermont South should have a plaque in the wall in his honour – the Friday morning Life Group continues!
FAVORITE VERSES:
Richard was an evangelist – pastor – teacher. He loved the Lord and he loved people and he lived a life of integrity. He often said “It’s not WHO is right, it’s WHAT is right”. In some ways, he gave his life for the people, the children of God, the church. He had a gift of faith and inspired many. Richard had many favourite scriptures, but the two I remember most are:
Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching.” He believed in the church unwaveringly and was never more distressed when he found people treating going to church as an optional extra in their Christianity.
The other: Hebrews 6:1 “Let us go onto perfection (maturity, completeness) not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God.” That was his prayer for the church – that we might become MATURE in the things of God, not babes, having to be spoon-fed.
CLOSING:
For me, Richard’s passing is bitter sweet – I know he is in the presence of His Lord and has entered into that joy that he spoke of so often. One of the last things he said to me the day he went was “I’m going Home”. However, the selfish part of me wants him to still be around, to hug, to call up and say “please pray” and to know that if Richard was praying then it would be all right. He was my spiritual father, my mentor, my friend, and I know there will never be a day go by without a grateful thought of him.
Thank you Rob and Hil for letting me share your wonderful dad.
Thank you Lord for sharing him with the church worldwide.
