faculty 151 Before coming on as a full-time teacher in 1995, Dr. Bill Richardson, the Director of the Center for Advanced Ministry Training, and his wife, Holly, were missionaries for seven years in several Latin America countries, such as Guatemala, Argentina and Chile. Richardson’s dedication to sharing the Gospel through missions caused Dr. Shawn Daggett, Director of the Center for World Missions, to describe him as “a great leader, hard worker and man of vision.” As a faculty member, Richardson was not out in other countries doing mission work, but he was still very much a missionary in Searcy. Richardson worked closely with a Hispanic ministry, the “Casita,” which was set-up by Downtown Church of Christ. During the summer, Richardson also led a group of students to Bolivia and Peru. “Bill is one of the hardest working people that I know,” Daggett said. “He also takes groups of students to Latin America on survey and research trips to target new mission points and form teams to return to the field.” Richardson was inspired to be a missionary by several people in his life. A visiting missionary and youth minister, Jerry Hill, was one of the first. “[He] put a very human face viewpoint on missions,” Richardson said. “He was very humble.” Richardson graduated from Abilene Christian University, which was where the teacher of his very first missions class impressed upon Richardson how many people were lost and needed God in their lives. “They say missions are better caught than taught, and that was the case for me,” Richardson said. Having a Christian education, Richardson took several aspects to the mission field with him. He took all the Biblical knowledge and training he received, but Richardson thought he learned more in the first year as a missionary than he ever did in school. Richardson also believed that he mainly took “the love and support of others” from school to the mission field. Through his extensive mission work, Richardson had many types of cultural experiences. “To see the power of the Gospel penetrate hearts is an experience,” Richardson said. “Just to see that and interact with people who are out there seeking to become brothers is an experience in and of itself. It’s very gratifying.” While many good opportunities and experiences came from his time as a missionary, Richardson said that going to another country and presenting the Gospel was difficult at times. “You want to take God and what you know about Him and present it in such a way that is divorced from our own culture,” Richardson said. Richardson went into the mission field thinking he would be teaching others, but he found that God taught him more than he ever imagined. He came away with more blessings than he knew. “What Jesus said is so true,” Richardson said. “If you leave your earthly homes, the blessings, even here [on] this earth, are so great.” Christie Cronk Serving\ director reaches out to nonbelievers\
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