Testimony of Pastor Brother Richard Goodwin

As long as I can remember, my family has always attended church. One summer on my father’s birthday, he went forward and accepted Christ as his savior. My mother was saved as a teen. Then, my brother was saved. Many of the kids in my Sunday School class were also my public school classmates. During a revival, I went forward and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. When I was in High School, some of my friends drifted away.

After graduation from high school, I served a stint in the Army. Due to severe allergies, I was discharged and placed in the National Guard. My friend Jerry’s father who was also my Sunday School Teacher suddenly passed away. It had a tremendous impact on me.

I began a bus ministry at my church and then became a Junior Sunday School teacher. I realized that teens ask tough questions when my daughters became teenagers. I consulted my Pastor and enrolled into a small Bible College, majoring in Pastoral Administration. I later became a Youth Director, began preaching at my church, and for other churches as well.

Retiring after 41 years at L.T.V., I moved to East Texas where I continued preaching for various Pastors. In 2015, I lost my hearing, and went to Temple, Texas for a Cochlear Hearing Implant. While waiting in the prep area, a Chaplain came by and prayed with me. During that prayer, I told God that if he would let me hear, I would devote the rest of my life to fulltime preaching. Praise God, the surgery was successful. I can hear now with the help of the implant and the device that I wear.

In 2017, my church Pastor’s wife became gravely ill. I filled in while he spent months by her bedside. When she passed away, the Pastor then became ill himself. After he preached an amazing worship message on a Sunday morning, he passed away into glory that next morning. I was voted interim Pastor for over a year. Then my wife and I returned to our former church. I later accepted a fulltime call at Ebenezer Baptist Church in December of 2022. Since beginning as fulltime Pastor, God has blessed and continues to bless this church. The Lord has doubled our membership since joining this church. We just cannot outgive God. Both my wife and I have been so very blessed to have been called to this church where we feel the presence of God every time we walk into that church.