Bill Richter
Email: Bill Richter
Bill Richter has concluded his service as a mission co-worker of with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2008. He is available to speak as his schedule permits. Email him to invite him to speak with your congregation or organization.
Bill Richter was appointed in January 2007 to serve as coordinator of the binational ministry, Puentes de Cristo in Reynosa, Mexico, and McAllen, Texas. Puentes de Cristo is one of six sites where U.S. and Mexican Presbyterians collaborate in ministries of evangelism, new church development, community health and development and mission education along our common border.
Bill’s work is to help PC(USA) delegations and mission teams be engaged in meaningful ministry along the border. Bill plans and coordinates the mission teams, helps them understand the cultural context, translates and then guides the groups in theological reflection.
Bill was first under appointment as a PC(USA) mission worker when he served as a Young Adult Volunteer in 2005 and 2006 in Guatemala. He was assigned to work in Suchitepequez, where he taught English and introduction to computers at the Colegio Juan Calvino, a school founded by the local presbytery of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG). Bill also worked with PRESGOV, a service organization of the IENPG that hosts visiting mission teams from churches in the United States.
“If you’ve spent any time along the U.S.-Mexico border,” writes Bill, “then you know how tense it has become. I feel that tension as God’s call to me to be present there and to help other people understand the causes of that tension. My experience in Guatemala got me interested in working with short-term mission groups. I came to see their potential for transforming people, and I wanted to be part of that.”
Bill has a bachelor’s degree in classical languages from Carlton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb, Illinois.
Birthday: November 28
