FRESNO – “God is awesome!” Richard Vera declares. “I have faith that anywhere God places me, He will do a work.”

Richard joined the California Southern Baptist Convention (CSBC) Healthy Church Group as multiethnic evangelism specialist in 2005. Last year, he logged 32,000 miles crossing and recrossing California ministering to CSBC pastors.

“I came to California because I have a real, real burden for the world,” Richard commented. “And the world is made up of so many of us – so different. As we minister to the world’s diverse people right here in California we are directly and indirectly affecting the world.”

Richard feels that pastors are the key to a strong statewide ministry of evangelism. Pastors can stop the ministry, or they can allow it to flow. Consequently, Richard pours himself into CSBC’s pastors.

“A long time ago,” Richard said, “I heard Dr. Stephen Olford say, ‘When you minister to ministers, you minister to multitudes.’ So, when I pour my life into the lives of pastors and Bible teachers and missionaries, when I help them in the areas of healthy discipleship and evangelism, then, in turn, I am affecting multitudes.”

Born in San Antonio, TX, Richard’s life quickly turned to chaos. His father died when he was 13 years old, and he began making wrong decisions. In 1968, at the age of 19, he came to know the Lord through the testimony of a young woman, Noemi, who later became his wife.

“I wanted to date Noemi,” Richard said. “I invited her to a party, and she invited me to church. For the first time in my life, I heard the gospel proclaimed in a way that was clear and powerful. God used the warm handshakes, the good singing and the biblical preaching to melt the chaos within me. I realize now that the Word of God is alive and powerful, and, if it is alive, of course, it produces life. It is powerful because it produces change, and that is my testimony.”

Richard felt called to ministry shortly after he became a believer, but was discouraged in his pursuits by well-meaning Christians. However, God used 12 months of active duty with the U.S. Army in Viet Nam to crystallize Richard’s gift of evangelism and the Holy Spirit’s leading into ministry. Even though not officially assigned as a chaplain, Richard served in that capacity as many soldiers came to him for a word of comfort and counsel.

“I always tell people that it was not Uncle Sam that sent me to Viet Nam, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who sent me and the Holy Spirit who prepared the way for me. I found favor with the company commander, and he gave me free rein to move about and talk to the soldiers. I had the joy of leading many wounded soldiers to faith in Christ. Some of them were ushered off into eternity, but one day I anticipate seeing them again in Heaven.”

Discharged in February 1972, Richard wanted to return to Texas, but he felt the clear call of God to start a church in Ogden, UT. Four months later, at the age of 22, Richard and Noemi started a Bible study in their Ogden apartment. 

“At first, there were five of us studying the Bible, then it grew to nine, and then to 17. We rented a basement room from the Second Baptist Church in Ogden, which was an African-American church, and we made a makeshift pulpit of plywood. The church, Primera Iglesia Bautista, began to grow. The gospel is the power of God to salvation. He can grow a church anywhere regardless of circumstances.”

During his ministry, Richard has had people say, “You are going to find out that things are different here.” That is a spiritual challenge to pastor-evangelist Richard Vera.

“We moved to a remote area of Colorado,” Richard recalled. “A pastor in Denver told me that churches didn’t grow there like they did in Texas. But I had seen God do a work in Utah. I had seen God do a work in Arizona. I had seen God do a work in Texas, and I just believed that I served the same God in Colorado. Two years later, that remote Colorado church had become one of the largest Hispanic Baptist churches in the area. It still exists, and other churches have come into existence as a result. God is awesome! God is awesome!”

Richard and Noemi are committed to the CSBC ministry. They often travel together, with Richard ministering to men and Noemi ministering to women. They have two adult children living in Denver and are blessed with four grandchildren and one on the way.  

Both are graduates of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where Richard earned a bachelor’s degree with a double major in psychology and sociology. He has a master’s degree in theology from Criswell College Graduate School of the Bible in Dallas, and an honorary doctorate from the University of the Rockies in Denver. 

Richard’s message to California Southern Baptists:
“For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NKJV).

“The Word of God is living; it produces life,” Richard says. “The word of God is powerful; it produces change. It is effective because it can discern. God knows how to take His Word and apply it to a specific need.

“We say that we believe in God – let’s believe God! Is He the God that can do an awesome work, yes or no? Can He change lives, yes or no? Can He turn situations around in your church, yes or no?

“We have to settle this in our hearts. We cannot give people what we do not have, and we are going to be contagious either for the good or for the bad. I choose not to fret but to share the Word of God. Remember, we are the aroma of God – the fragrance of life.”

Prayer requests:

• Pray that God will keep His spiritual leaders attuned to what He is doing.
• Pray that God’s children will pursue intimacy with Him daily.
• Pray that God’s people will become intentional witnesses; God still saves people.
• Pray that God’s people will be diligent in praying; God still hears His people.
• Pray that God’s shepherding hand will guide and protect our families.
• Pray that God’s mature children will invest in youthful believers who will be tomorrow’s evangelists, missionaries, church leaders and pastors.
• Pray that God’s people will look past cultural differences to reach the whole world for Christ.

Have you read this?
Richard recommends The Power of the Call by Henry Blackaby and Henry Brandt to pastors and others called to ministry. “It is a passionate book,” Richard says.

Written by a leading pastor and a seasoned biblical psychologist, this practical and uplifting guide reminds the reader that success in a church is not what we think it is, it is what God thinks it is. Are you depressed or on the verge of burnout? Take time to experience afresh God’s wisdom and love through The Power of the Call (www.lifewaystores.com).

Did you know?
CSBC churches now preach the gospel in 72 different languages, reaching more than 96 ethnic groups. Of the 38+ million people now living in California, some estimate that 33 million need Jesus (2009 Report to California Southern Baptists).

Contact information:
Richard F. Vera
Multiethnic Evangelism Specialist
California Southern Baptist Convention
678 East Shaw Avenue
Fresno CA 93710
559-229-9533, ext. 233
rvera@csbc.com