Pastor Joseph Richards
Pastor
Joseph Richards was born in Brooklyn, New York, 1974. Both of his parents
are from the twin islands of Trinidad & Tobago. His mother was very
influential in his life and when he received his calling from God, she
ministered grace to him. According to Pastor Richards it was his mother who
encouraged him to receive water baptism in 1991.
However,
his journey was not an easy one. He explained, “After believing and
confessing my belief in Jesus Christ, I began to develop my relationship
with the Lord. However, along the way I struggled with demons and ancestral
curses which I had picked up before giving my life to Christ.”
He
continued, “I thank God for the Spiritual Baptist faith, because I was able
to go to the threshing floor, where I could commune with the Lord in a
personal way.”
Pastor
Richards added, “Through the time spent in the Lord’s presence I received
deliverance and peace in my “inner man”. This has enabled me to become a man
of God. As a result of enlightenment through The Holy Spirit various
spiritual abilities were able to surface. I don’t believe that this would
have been possible without the time spent in the prayer room.”
In
September of 1999 he was ordained, an Arch-Priest, in Mt. Horeb Spiritual
Baptist Healing School, Inc. Archdiocese in Queens, New York where he served
as an assistant pastor. In July of 2002, he received a certificate for
‘Christian Worker and Evangelism’ from Christian Gospel Mission, Inc. Bible
Institute of the Trinity International Biblical University in June of 2005,
and a Bachelors degree in Theology.
What
caused him to journey from the comfort of his New York surroundings and
decide to set up church in elsewhere? Pastor Richards explained. “ In the
beginning of 2003, I received instructions which said, “….get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land
that I will shew thee: And I will make thee a great nation, and will bless
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; And I will
bless them that bless that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” It was a verse from
Genesis 12:1
He added,
“I could not understand why God wanted me to leave from where everything
seemed to be going well and make such a drastic change.” He was referring
to the satisfaction of his social condition in New York City.
Pastor
Richards continued, “I prayed diligently for guidance through what seemed to
be a confusing time. It seemed to be a coincidence that the instructions I
received was being preached every place I went. I also had the experience
where the message was again prophesied to me by someone who did not know the
instruction I was given. All this was my confirmation that my instruction
was one ordained by God.
Pastor
Richards also revealed that obeying the instructions and beginning his
journey was not to be one easily forgotten. He said, “Within that year, I
went through periods of sorrow and joy. I lost my mother in April and got
was married to my wife, Mother Suzanne A. Richards, in September. Three
days after our marriage we were living in the state of Florida. God made
the wonderful transition in our lives, and began to define the vision that
He had for us in Florida. In December of that same year we founded the
Spiritual Baptist Church called ‘New Covenant of Faith Ministries’ in Fort
Lauderdale Florida.
