Richard Leigh - Associate Of The Month

CFNA ASSOCIATE OF THE MONTHI was born in 1947 in Pasadena, California to unchurched parents, though my mother was a closet Christian having answered an altar call less than a decade earlier. With no objections from my father, she followed her parents’ practice by sending me to the nearest Sunday school in the neighborhood. This, however, did not last beyond my ninth year. Shortly thereafter I decided for atheism, while a small urge for Christ still remained somewhere in my heart.

I was as yet unbaptized and having been encouraged by one of my cousins, I began to read the Bible. I was finally to come to faith when at the age of eleven my mother took me and my two sisters to the nearest church, St. Paul’s Lutheran in Monrovia, California. There I heard the call to baptism, which I heeded. After marriage and the start of our family, we transferred our membership to a neighboring LCMS congregation.

My college education began at a community college, followed by a B.A. degree in behavioral science from California Polytechnic University. Later I received an M.A. in historical theology from the Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago (LSTC). Throughout my college career I enjoyed working with foreign students, and assisted several with English as a Second Language instruction, so that they might better prepare their class lessons.

While working as a case manager for Preferred Family in St. Louis I formed an instant relationship with Rev. Eddie Mekasha, who introduced me to CFNA. After my retirement in 2013 I began working with this mission agency on a steady part time basis. Because CFNA serves many nationalities, this has been an excellent place to further utilize my case management skills – primarily by assisting New Americans with medical assistance and government paperwork issues. I also help them resolve problems with utility companies and landlords, and from time to time I help provide transportation.

I find most fulfilling however, opportunities to help teach home Bible studies, and anything else having to do with the growing relationship between many New Americans and Jesus Christ.