Dear Family & Friends,
I'm sure many of you are wondering what in the world is up with the Richter family and The Nashville Center for Faith & Culture (NCFC)!
We apologize for our silence these past few months. We have tried many times to write you, but the truth is we just haven't been able to find our words. So we waited. Then this past week we finally came to a point where we felt we had found some things to share.
You see, on March 14th of this year, we received some devastating news. That morning the Allen family had taken their four-month-old daughter Amelia to the pediatrician because they thought she was having an allergic reaction to their cat. However, as a precaution, their doctor decided to send them on to the emergency room to do some tests. And through those tests, they discovered that Amelia had Leukemia.
As you can imagine, this news was an absolute blast in the gut. We were hit so hard that it felt like all the air was sucked from our lungs. And we found ourselves crying out, "Oh God, Oh God Oh God, how could this happen? This is not the way it's supposed to be!” And ever since then we have been reeling from the awful reality of this news.
On August 2nd Amelia turned 9 months old. We continue to praise the Lord for each day of her life. Since March she has been through four very difficult rounds of chemotherapy, endless medications, was on a ventilator for a long time and has had several surgeries to remove extra fluid in her brain. She is just now recovering from a deadly infection that attacked her brain. An infection, that we have just recently been told, has done an extensive amount of damage.
The Lord has given Amelia a very sweet temperament and an instinct to fight! We praise God that He has brought her this far and also for the comfort He has given Steve and Jen during this time. They have endured suffering that reaches so deep down into the soul that it is difficult to even imagine. One of our board members, Katy Hutson wrote an incredible song about how only the Lord can comfort "all the way down here…past where other comfort ends…past where I am known by friends…man of sorrows where else can I go…”. And this is true, so true as we all consider our sweet Amelia.
A few weeks ago Steve wrote a thoughtful piece about suffering on Amelia's blog (ameliaallen.wordpress.com):
"After reading the comments [that people wrote on their blog] this evening I was struck by this thought (which one
can actually read about in Ecclesiastes– found in the Old Testament): much sorrow can follow an increase in
knowledge
Now this is in part referring to the fact that although we may strive and strive to look behind the curtain as it were to
discover the meaning to life, we will not be able to because we are not the Creator but creatures. Thus, while we
seek answers to why this or that event occurred, it is only the great orchestrator that can see how all things come
together.
But another application occurred to me the other day. Ever since Amelia was diagnosed we have become aware of a
whole new world of pain and suffering. We are seeing many sick kids come in and out of here. Now logically we all
know that sick kids exist, but to actually see these kids is another thing. Jen and I have become keenly aware of sick
kids, and thus sorrow has increased. Now this next statement for some might be counterintuitive- especially in a
culture seeking to escape pain at all costs– sorrow is not all a bad thing. I do not want to make light of Amelia’s
suffering, but sorrow has actually made Jen and I realize that we have a pulse– that we are alive. Maybe the
proverbial “love hurts” is not simply cliché but encapsulates a chunk of reality. Instead of escaping or becoming numb
to our situation, Jen and I have chosen to be present and have therefore never hurt so much in our lives. Feeling pain
and sorrow has made us aware of our humanity. Pain and suffering is a part of the world in which we live.
Now, I do believe there is hope in the future– that some day pain and suffering will subside, and beauty and glory
will reside. This renewal of sorts is forthcoming, and yet has already begun. What we are praying for Amelia (and
others) is that restoration would occur for
her right now. In other words, that God’s restoring salve (which is being applied all over the place– one needs only
hear one story from someone who has overcome devastating circumstances to see this salve) would be applied to
Amelia’s broken body. This may not happen in this life. Obviously, this would not be the preferred outcome. We would
have to wrestle with God if Amelia did not recover. We are not naive; the effects of disease are catastrophic and
expansive. But one day disease will not have the last word– one day it will be no more. I suppose this future hope
gives us the capacity that we need to endure another day– that coupled with the fact that God is able, if he chooses,
to heal Amelia here and now. Please know that we continue to pray that God would not allow disease to destroy one
of his creations, and we ask you to do the same."
As we read this post, we were overwhelmed by Steve’s words. We felt that he so eloquently expressed the depth of what suffering entails.
Of course, many things are now very different than what we had expected or planned for our future. Our plans to move to Nashville in May just after graduation to begin our new ministry changed. Our plans to live in close proximity with the Allens post graduation changed. Our plans to celebrate Sam's 1st birthday in Nashville with all of his friends changed. Literally everything we had envisioned looks different than what we thought. But we know that in the midst of all of this we are called to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is faithful and who never changes. His timing is not always ours but it is always perfect.
In light of all of this change, you're probably wondering what is happening now. Well right now, the Allen's have chosen to remain in St. Louis for the time being. After doing a good deal of research, they decided that the St. Louis hospital system was a good place for Amelia to go through her treatments. Plus the fact that they have a good deal of church and community support in the area has been a real blessing to them.
As far as our family goes, we had planned on moving down to Nashville right after David’s graduation in May to work on raising support for the NCFC. I had interviewed for a part-time job to help pay our bills. And David was planning on working part-time at a local coffee house and spending the rest of his time traveling to raise support. My interview went very well. So well, in fact, that I was invited to make a special trip down to Nashville to tour the facility and meet with some of their board of directors.
However, three days before I was to make my trip, Jock McGregor (a worker at the Minnesota L’Abri and an elder at the local PCA church) called to ask if David would be interested in doing a short-term internship at Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Rochester, MN. Trinity had been without a pastor for a couple of months and needed someone to do pulpit supply while they searched for a new pastor. And on top of that, the position would include a part-time internship with L’Abri as well.
When we got this news, David expressed that it sounded like a wonderful opportunity, but we would need to pray about it as we had already made plans to head to Nashville. So we prayed that night that if the Lord wanted us to go to Rochester, He would take away my job. And to be honest, we didn’t give it any more thought after that. And why should we? After all it seemed obvious to us that the Lord wanted us to go to Nashville right away. Why else would He have provided me with the great job that He did.
But then the night before I was supposed to leave to go to Nashville I got a phone call and email from the new job saying they had decided to give the position to someone already settled in Nashville. As you can imagine, we were pretty surprised and shocked by this turn of events. Also, we were more than just a little overwhelmed by the way the Lord had decided to answer our prayer.
So, to make a long story short, we are now up in Minnesota until the end of November. David is preaching every other Sunday morning and every Sunday night at Trinity church. We are also both working part-time at L’Abri.
We feel that this has definitely not been wasted time. L'Abri and Trinity have been an incredible training ground for the NCFC. We have been greatly encouraged in our gifts and the fact that we are truly called to this type of work. Plus, the past few months have only served to solidify our strong desire to do this type of work. We thank the Lord for giving us such an incredible opportunity to learn and grow in the very type of ministry we hope to begin in Nashville.
We love L'Abri and Trinity but we would be leading you astray if we didn't express to you how deeply we long to be back in Nashville and start the NCFC. In the midst of all the unknowns and all the changes in our lives, we are excited and look forward to beginning the NCFC.
Also, we want to let you know that we were able to have our first annual board meeting at the Art House in Nashville this past June. At that meeting, we all met together to pray, eat and discuss the future of the NCFC. We all left feeling very encouraged about the future of the ministry.
We thank you for your interest in the Nashville Center for Faith & Culture. Even though we are not physically living in Nashville, we are still working hard on raising support and praying through all the details for our future ministry. In the midst of this time, we are very aware that we need your prayers and financial support if this ministry is going to move forward. Therefore, if you have any more questions about the migratory patterns of the Richter family, or would like to find out more about the NCFC, feel free to contact us anytime:
ncfcpost@gmail.com
www.nashvillestudycenter.org
Moreover, in order to make this ministry an ongoing reality we ask that you prayerfully consider becoming a regular supporter of the NCFC. Donations are received through the following address:
NCFC
PO BOX 128483
Nashville, TN 37212
I know this letter has been long, but we finally found our words and there's so much to say!
Grace & peace to you,
David and Kelly Richter
