Jesus Ministry International

MIKE RICHES

My dad spent his career in the U.S. Air Force; therefore I lived in different places as a child. The younger years of my youth were spent on the east coast of the United States. My teenage years and subsequent adult years were lived on the west coast of the United States, specifically in Washington State, where I became a Christian at 16 years of age.

As a young adult I had a strong desire to be used by God for His kingdom work but never had aspirations for full-time, occupational ministry. Before I began a career in the construction industry, which included owning a small business, I spent one year at a Bible college to gain a biblical foundation. During my time in the market-place I continued taking bible courses.

It was during this time, after meeting and spending time with Cindy for several years, that we married. We served, led, and ministered together in a local church for many years. Also during this time we had two daughters, Heather and Charlotte, who are now adults and very committed to the Lord. They both live in the Tacoma area. Heather is a high school French teacher while Charlotte works in the travel industry for an airlines company.

In my late 20's I began sensing a draw to serve the Lord in occupational ministry versus being in business. After a couple of years of discerning what we were being drawn to and counsel from others, we finally sold everything, to plant a church in Spokane, WA. A year later we were called to a small country Baptist church in Tacoma, Washington at 29 years of age.

	God used this small country church to teach us a lot. In the first 8 years God grew the church from 100 to 170 people with a lot of spiritual and kingdom lessons. We then sold the church's small building and 1 acre to buy 12 acres of property and build a new building. During all this time the Lord was teaching us more and more about Him self, His kingdom, and subsequently ourselves. Consequently our ministry was reinvented several times over. In the second 8 years we saw the Lord grow and develop us in many ways, including numerically as we grew from approximately 170 to 1700 people in that 7 year period of time. Then approximately 16 years into our tenure at Clover Creek Bible Fellowship, January 30, 2000 God invaded our church and dramatically transformed our church and most importantly Cindy and me (read the article on our web page "When God Invades"). The next 8 years were life changing as we began to experience God's power in unprecedented ways for us. We were changed, never again to be the same. In January 2007, our ministry changed after 24 years as the senior pastor of Clover Creek Bible Fellowship (which changed its name to Destiny City Church after we moved as a church family 30 minutes from the suburbs to downtown Tacoma in July 2006). I have stepped down as senior pastor of Destiny City Church and now Cindy and I minister to the Church at large through Jesus Ministry International. We still serve out of Destiny City Church. During the years of ministry I continued my seminary studies earning a Masters of Divinity degree and in June 2007 I earned my Doctorate of Ministry degree. On a more personal note, we have been greatly blessed to live in the part of the world we live in. We love the natural beauty that surrounds us and the opportunities we have in the outdoors. We love to ski the mountains in the winter. All year round we enjoy the hundreds of miles of waterfront that our region affords and we enjoy regularly visiting the city of Seattle. I love all sports (I am actually a sports nut) but as my body reluctantly succumbs to getting older I find real enjoyment and recreation in my life long interest in golf. If I had a choice of where I would spend our holidays it would be tropical, with lots of good beach, and several great golf courses. In my down time I love to read and watch a good movie. Cindy and I both are intrigued by different and new cultures and people groups, and we love to travel. This coincides well with the ministry in which God now has us.