We are the Richards family! Sean and Jinny both graduated from the University of Arkansas and Jinny received her Master’s degree from John Brown University. We are die-hard Razorback fans, but even more die-hard for God and the unreached peoples of the world.
Sean grew up in Lawton, IA and moved to Arkansas to attend college. It was in his Humphries Hall dorm room where two upperclassmen shared the Gospel with him for the first time. Soon after putting his trust in Christ, Sean began to feel a strong desire to go into full time ministry. It was at a summer discipleship project that Sean asked a pivotal question. He asked, “What happens to the tribal people who never have an opportunity to hear the truth.”
Claude Hickman fielded this question and led him through scripture. Claude started with Revelation 7:9 where Sean saw that in the end, there will be people from every tribe, tongue and nation present worshiping Christ. Then he showed Sean Romans 10:13-15 where Sean realized that people can only be saved by believing and can only believe if they hear and can only hear if someone goes to tell them. Then Claude showed Sean the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 where Jesus tells the disciples to make disciples of ALL nations. Then Claude showed Sean Acts 18:6 where the apostle Paul states that their blood was upon their own heads, which insinuated that before he shared the truth with them, their blood was on him.
After this, Sean knew that he wanted to be a missionary and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It was on his journey to actualize this dream that he met Jinny.
Jinny grew up in North Little Rock, AR and attended church her whole life. She knew at a young age that she wanted to be a missionary. She had heard many missionaries speak and was inspired to take God’s word to the ends of the earth. She went on many mission trips as a teen and spent 6 months in Bolivia during college. Jinny’s parents were not surprised by this, though they never told Jinny, they had prayed and dedicated her to the Lord’s service before she was even born. They are very proud to have their daughter a part of reaching the least reached of the world with the Gospel.
They met in Fayetteville, AR and when they started dating, it didn’t take long for both of them to know that they would spend the rest of their lives together serving God overseas. Less than a year later, they were married and a few months later entered into training with New Tribes Mission, first in Waukesha, WI for Bible school and then at the Missionary Training Center.
The Richards family is now 5, with 3 little boys, Zeke, Gabe, and Ash, and is now living in the mountains of Papua New Guinea. They have learned the national language of Tok Pisin and are praying through options to move into an unreached tribe. Their hope is to learn the tribal language, teach and translate the Bible, and plant a mature, indigenous church! Please pray for them as they seek out a team of families and discern which people group God would have them work amongst.
