by Ramesh Richard

On this sweltering, summer day in my hometown of Chennai, India, I am getting ready to address two hundred bright and young professionals in a 110 degree, 98 percent humidity environment. These men and women are about the same age as when God began to formally merge ministry into my life.

During my early morning battle with jet lag, I have been rehearsing Psalm 145:7—perhaps the most appropriate verse for RREACH’s celebration of 20 global years of ministry. It reads, “They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness” (NASB). The psalmist bubbles over in superlative speech on the “greatness of the glory of God’s goodness.

For 20 organizational years (as well as 30 marriage years with Bonnie and nearly 40 ministry years since my first proclamations in open market contexts like street corners and beaches), I have been a joyful victim of God’s abundant goodness.

“GOD’S REACH—20 GLOBAL YEARS” has been chosen as our year-long theme to reflect both the God of RREACH and the reach of God through a human instrument.

As I reflect on God’s stirring of individuals who need organizations to accomplish His work, I find the following to be distinct parts of the divine order that merges public ministry into personal life.

  1. God is the mission: His fame, His purpose, His goodness are reasons for any and all existence.
  2. Humans are the means: We are instruments of His mission. He assigns individuals to present His Son in a variety of ways. I exist to promote the Lord Jesus worldwide.
  3. Organizations are critical, but mere mechanisms: When mechanisms become means, we institutionalize them. When they themselves become the mission, we idolize them. It’s the main task fo spiritual leadership—especially of the main functionaries, the governing board, and senior staff—to turn an organizational mechanism into an effective organism that supports the means to serve the missions.

At our office entrance, you will read “ONLY GOD” on a large banner in eager utterance of God as our mission. Our purpose statement on a sidewall affirms the human means. And an entire organization of personnel, processes, policies and partnerships comprise the mechanism that supports the means to serve the mission. At this, our 20th anniversary year, in heightened mood and enhanced sensitivity to God, I invite you to join our families, staff, and board to “celebrate

[God’s] abundant goodness and joyfully sing of [His] righteousness.” (NIV).

This special year also provides the opportunity to update our log and refresh the look of the ministry. WeRREACH logo-color wanted a new graphic to convey important intangibles such as:

  • Uniqueness of identity—global proclamation portrayed by our Jesus’ cross reaching into the entire globe.
  • Humility of vision—our large vision is nevertheless bordered and bound by limitations of our particular interpretations of reality and our actual capacity for execution.
  • Clarity of mission—the subtle shadowed, double r should keep people from thinking we misspelled the word “reach.”
  • Spelling out our strategy mix—Ramesh Richard’s personal proclamation in Evangelism (evangelizing opinion leaders) And Church Health (strengthening pastoral leaders).

During sneak previews people commented on the fast, forward, and active movement of our new logo. Let me know what you see. I hope you like it and will soon begin to identify the logo with this organizational mechanism.

I invite you to reach IN, so I can reach ON, and together we shall RREACH IT—the world!