History of Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Health

Humble Beginnings

early RR headshotRamesh Richard started preaching during his midteens with church youth groups in the open markets of South India. His international ministry began at 19 as he traveled to neighboring countries, speaking and playing his guitar on India’s very first and only Youth for Christ “Teen Team.”

In 1975 five young Americans brought him to Portland, Oregon, to attend Multnomah School of the Bible. Before long he was encouraged to transfer to Dallas Theological Seminary on full scholarship, from which he graduated at the top of his class with a Th.D. in 1982. Dr. Richard accepted the call to be the pastor of Delhi Bible Fellowship in Delhi, India, from 1983–1987. During this time he enrolled in a Ph.D program at the University of Delhi and was invited to preach and teach in other cities and countries. As his itinerant ministry began to take shape, it needed a sturdy vehicle for implementation.

Dallas Theological Seminary invited Dr. Richard to return to teach across three departments in 1987, expressing a strong willingness to be the platform for his expanding proclamation ministry. Their Pastoral Ministries department went down on their knees with Ramesh in prayer about his heart and future. Also that year, six businessmen came together to form Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Helps International (RREACH International) to support his desire to reach into large numbers of desperate souls around our world with lasting solutions.

 

 A Developing Vision | 1988-1997

1991—100,000 people at the Maramon Convention in south India—the largest annual gathering of Christians worldwide.

1991—100,000 people at the Maramon Convention in South India—the largest annual gathering of Christians worldwide.

1988—With encouragement by an Indian missionary couple in Afghanistan, an International Prayer Circle of more than 1,000 international friends begins to cover Ramesh in prayer.

1989—Ramesh travels all over the U.S. and Canada, approaching friends with the idea of forming a financial and prayer support base for his travels. Soon after, the RREACH National Advisory Council is formed.

1991—Ramesh addresses more than 100,000 people at the Maramon Convention in South India—the largest annual gathering of Christians worldwide.

1992—25 prominent businessmen trust Christ at a Singapore Evangelistic banquet, one of RREACH’s first “opinion leader” events.

 

Ramesh's how-to book on expository preach,

Ramesh’s how-to book on expository preach, “Scripture Sculpture” is published and used widely to train pastors all of the world.

1995—Ramesh’s how-to book on expository preaching, Scripture Sculpture, is published and used widely to train pastors all over the world.

1995—Radio listeners across south central Asia hear for the first time, “Greetings, World! Ramesh Richard here. I welcome you to Reach for Life.” RREACH’s first radio broadcast airs across Asia and Africa.

1996—Ramesh begins speaking at Promise Keepers rallies in the U.S. reaching approximately 70,000 men.

1997—RREACH brings together 99 CEOs to discuss global pastoral training at the Billy Graham Institute in Wheaton, Illinois.

2002 telecast

RREACH airs its first annual international New Year’s Day evangelistic telecast on January 1, 2000.

 

An Expanding Vision | 1997–2007

1997–2000—RREACH founds T.O.P.I.C. (Trainers of Pastors International Coalition) to serve pastoral training organizations worldwide.

1998—Ramesh’s preaching seminar on Scripture Sculpture in Manila, Philippines, is videotaped for mass production and used as a curriculum guide for training pastors and a gift to seminary libraries worldwide.

2000—The world’s largest secular satellite television network airs a New Year’s Day evangelistic talk by Ramesh Richard internationally during primetime. The Gospel is seen and heard in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East on Y2K—the largest television-watched day in history—and becomes an annual event.

GPA Shield w RReach below 12005—RREACH hosts its first Global Proclamation Academy (GPA) to strengthen and connect the leading young pastors of the world. They are trained by world-renowned Master Coaches for three weeks on the campus of Dallas Theological Seminary.

2006—Dr. Richard speaks at the fourth annual African Union Heads of State Prayer Breakfast, addressing presidents/heads of state, secretaries of state, and ambassadors of state of 53 African nations in Khartoum, Sudan.

2007—RREACH celebrates 20 years of ministry.

 

An Exponential Vision | 2008-Present

2008—The annual New Year’s Day evangelistic message is shifted from television to the Internet, a move that exposes even larger numbers of pre-Christian individuals to the Gospel.

2008—Dr. Richard addresses 200 ambassadors and world leaders as keynote speaker for the United Nations’ 23rd annual International Prayer Breakfast in New York City.

2009—Scripture Sculpture (now Preparing Expository Sermons) is named in the top 25 most influential preaching books of the last 25 years by Preaching magazine.

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99 Dallas GPA grads and 63 of their wives from 53 countries joined us for a strategic reunion to launch the Global Proclamation Commission (2010-2020).

2010—A strategic reunion for 99 Dallas Global Proclamation Academy graduates and 63 of their wives from 53 countries is held in Dallas. This launches RREACHABLE 2020, a 10-year human capital campaign to connect, unite and strengthen 100,000 pastoral leaders by 2020.

2011—RREACH launches five pilot national Global Proclamation Academies, beginning with GPA Venezuela. These 10-day versions of the Dallas GPA take place in countries around the world and feature Master Coaches from their own regions.

2012—RREACH celebrates 25 years of ministry. Only God.

25th RREACH

2012—Planning commences for the Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers, to be held in Southeast Asia in 2016. This would be the first conference for trainers of pastors held on a global scale. 

2014—After super-typhoon Haiyan decimates the central regions of the great land of the Philippines in late 2013, a change in location for the Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers is needed. Bangkok, Thailand, is revealed as the official Congress location during the June graduation banquet for the 2014 Dallas GPA.

2015—RREACH hosts its tenth Dallas Global Proclamation Academy (GPA). 248 delegates from 80 countries have graduated from the program since its inception. At the graduation banquet on Saturday, June 27, RREACH launched the Year of the GProCongress.

overviewoverview

2016—June 15-22, 2016, RREACH convened the Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers in Bangkok, Thailand, to provide mid-decade momentum toward the GProCommission vision. More than 2,500 pastoral trainers from formal and non-formal training initiatives in more than 100 countries attended.

2017—RREACH’s media outreach Facebook page, LifeRocks, receives over 1,000,000 likes, initiated the first women’s GPA in the Philippines and the ministry celebrated 30 years of ministry.

RREACH 30th Logo

 

2018—RREACH is recognized as the only religious charity to receive a perfect 100 rating from Charity Navigator!

2018—Thirty leading Dallas GPA graduates from 29 countries are appointed as the President’s Global Proclamation Associates. They will serve a vital role in Dr. Richard’s ministry succession plan.

2019—The four-year follow up to the 2016 GProCongress to document training activities and initiatives of GProCongress delegates and others is ended a year early, having exceeded the goals, by God’s hand, under budget.

2020—COVID-19 strikes the planet. Ramesh Richard’s itinerant activity is suspended for several months, and an entirely new architecture for RREACH’s ministry is formed to deliver spiritual health worldwide.