CROSBY – Vision is simply seeing but faith vision is seeing what can be and Richard Michael Amadour is certainly a man of faith vision.
Soon, his sojourn here is over and he will venture out West and North to seed churches for Okcha Ministries. Okcha is the Creek Nation’s work for aware.”
The Star-Courier caught up with Amadour at his comfortable, unostentatious office at Son Harvest Church founded February of 2004 by Richard and the devotion of members for the outcasts to teach anchoring in Christ, restore joy, change the lives of those around us and love Jesus.
“I was with Pastor Jerry (Hovatar) in 1994 when we founded Crosby Church. So there are two churches in this community that I have been a part of from the ground level up. I was at Crosby Church for about 10 years,” Pastor Amadour smilingly recounts a personal history this reporter was confused about.
“So, I was fasting for 31 days and the Lord said, ‘Pastor,’ so we started Son Harvest Church and we met in homes. From homes to La Petite, right there at Newport, from La Petite to the old American Legion Post from there to the white church there on FM 2100 that has been torn down now. And then from there to here, and we have been here for twelve and a half years. Taking my post is Jason Henry, 44 years old and quite capable, he loves the lost like I do.”
“He has been out there and we built a church out of the lost because I didn’t want to build a church out of churches.”
“We want to train up the kids in their twenties and thirties to be leaders among their own people. We have set out to build up a church for the Creek Nation. Native Americans are just a whole other country, and mentality. They are not going to come out and be open, they speak if they are spoke to, they just quietly sit back and observe and every nation is different. So God called me I would say 24 years ago when I got introduced to my tribe, the Chactow Apache of Ibew, Louisiana. At my family reunion they opened up the headquarters and signed me up. At that time, I knew nothing about that part of my linage. I had no idea at the time what was coming but for the last five years we have been introduced to Lakota, Navajo, Chactow, Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw.”
“I am learning a lot about Native American culture, the ceremonial heritage, what is good medicine and what is bad medicine; there is a large amount of culture to absorb. I grew up in the Mexican Culture and understood that but now I am 66 and I see the times the way they are and I need to do what God wants me to do. I have become passionate for Native America. It is a different way to present the word, you have to know the people first, I can’t go into their church and try to make them like us.”
“I can’t be an Irish church in Mexico you have to experience the people where they are. And, let me tell you, you eat great. When you know the people it is different and they are different to you.”
“I see a lot of young people excited about learning a new way. So we need to train them to become pastors.”
“The way that they grow is planting new churches out in the middle of nowhere. A lot of times in the mission field establish the works out there in the mission field but they trained up the Native People to pastor the people in Native America. I hope in the next ten years we can make a difference that is my next call. We are going to be traveling. A trip I have to make is to the Hemas, Pueblo to visit the Hopi and Navajo.”
“There is still a lot of resentment and they pass things down to their children that they do not openly speak of. I love it, there is a difference and it is my calling.”
“I am truly encouraging home churches, a group of about 20 people where you can hold one another accountable, you send leaders to another home church, we can lift each other up, instead of putting money into buildings and electricity and being a business when people tithe we can put that back into building up our people, back into the neighborhood, back into where it is supposed to go.”
“So December 27 will be my last church service here before I go off into my next calling. We are going to reminisce with pictures and videos of times like when we honored David McNerney and brought the Vietnam Memorial Wall to Crosby, it is to be an exploration of the past calling before I go on to my next.”