“Richard Poor”
Computer Instructor
Last Frontier

When God called Richard Poor* and his wife, Susan*, to be missionaries, they were willing--but Richard thought it was an awful waste of his computer skills.

He obeyed, though, and God has given him more than he ever dreamed of.

At work in the States

Prior to his appointment, Richard worked as a computer instructor at the junior college level and also as an instructor for "expensive seminars for business professionals."

He was laid off from one job and fired from another, which led him to work multiple jobs teaching computer skills, English and math to young people who had dropped out of high school. He knows that the young, tough audience helped to prepare him for God's plan.

"I was forced to rely on God to pay the bills and turn to Him in prayer. After I began to humble myself and listen carefully for God to speak, He provided a good job--teaching with a computer consulting and training company."

This new job required him to travel frequently, flying to a different part of the country each week. In one of his stays at home, the associational missions coordinator approached Richard about a two-week volunteer trip to Africa.

"I said, 'Sign me up,'" Richard recalled. "I thought no more about it for three months. Then he called back to say, 'I've got your reservations; all you need is $1800, and you're ready to go.'"

The call

With the help of his church, friends and relatives, he raised the money for the two-week trip to do survey work in the mountains of Southern Africa. It was during this trip that he was called to full-time missions.

One evening during worship, Richard felt a hand on his shoulder, but when he turned around, no one was there. He did not hear an audible voice, but the thought came into his head as if God were saying, “I want you to do this.” After the second time, Richard responded, “Yes, Lord, I’ll do it.”

He related the experience to the missionary, who e-mailed Richard’s wife, Susan, telling her they had been called to missions.

“As soon as I returned home, we started the application process, assuming we were going to Southern Africa.”

Computing for Christ

He and Susan worked under that assumption until the time of the candidate conference, when a candidate consultant asked if he would “prayerfully consider” using his computer skills to establish a computer training center in the Last Frontier.

“I was overjoyed,” said Richard. “Susan and I talked it over, and after a five minute discussion, it was prayerfully considered.

“When I accepted the call, I assumed it was Africa. I said, ‘God, you want me to ride around the mountains on a donkey carrying a Bible and doing survey work? I’ll do it, but what about my computer skills?’ It seemed an awful waste of training.

“The bottom line is this: God wants your obedience and willingness to go. After that, He will give you the desires of your heart. My desire was to serve God using my computer skills.”

*Names were changed for security reasons.

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