Rich was born Richard Marvin Barnds on February 16, 1944, to Campbell Craig Barnds, Jr. and Lennea Pearson Barnds.
Rich lost his father to cancer, when he was only 6. His mother struggled, as a working mother, to raise him. During summer months, when child care was not available for Rich, he spent time on his sister-in-law’s parents’ farm, in Sedalia, MO.
He also spent time at Howard and Nelle Nash’s (his father’s sister) home in Houston, TX . He began spending more and more time there and in 1956, when he was 12, they became his legal guardians. He loved Houston and especially loved going to their ranch in Northeast TX.
He loved animals, especially cows. He thought a cow was the most beautiful animal in the world. In high school he belonged to the Future Farmers of America and raised two champion steers. He had his own horse named Billy Star. He began working when he was 12 in another family members “feed and hardware store” and was able to obtain a hardship driver’s license at 14. His first car was a, 1954 Plymouth 4-door. His uncle believed Richard wouldn’t get in too much trouble with the car, since it was the color of tomato soup.
Richard met the only love of his life, Paula, when he was only 17 and she was just 15. They met in a snow storm in Houston, TX in 1962. Schools closed at noon and Paula had no way home from school. A friend of Richard’s encouraged him to give her a ride home. That began a two-year courtship, which culminated in their marriage, when Rich was 20 and Paula was 18.
Rich’s marriage was not without a cost. He was told if he married Paula he would be written out of a large inheritance. But such was his love and commitment to Paula he married her despite the threat. If Rich and Paula were going someplace, where Paula had to dress up, she would ask Rich “How do I look,” and he would always answer, “Baby, you look like a million dollars”.
Rich and Paula had 3 children and were living the “American Dream “, when Rich was transferred to San Antonio, TX. Rich had always wanted to start his own business and in 1980, he started Barnsdale Equipment Company on Eckhert Rd.
One Sunday when they were out for a drive on Guilbeau Rd, just 2 miles from their home, they drove past a building site and saw a steeple in a crate. Seeing the beginnings of construction on a church, Rich commented “If that is anything but a Baptist church, I think we should start going there.” Sure enough the sign went up “future home of Crossroads Baptist Church. The door was closed at that moment, but due to the sovereignty of God, did not remain closed. The Lord used their daughter, Lisa, to create an opportunity for the pastor of that new little Baptist church, Jimmy Towers, to come to their home and share a clear gospel message with Rich and Paula. They accepted Christ and began growing leaps and bounds.
They both attended Bible college in San Antonio for 3 years. It was during that time, in 1985,that they heard a message preached by Dr. Stan Ponz, pastor at Christ Community Church, entitled “Acres of Diamonds”, in which an invitation was given for anyone feeling called by God to go into missions. They committed to the Lord at that time to go wherever the Lord would lead. Then the process began to find a mission board.It was not possible to go through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program, because they did not meet the 3 criteria necessary.In 1987, they were appointed to a non-denominational mission board. They were sent to inAustria for 6 years where Richard served as the Administrator of the Eastern Bible Institute. The school offered a 4 year biblical education to anyone coming from an eastern European country, but primarily Serbia, Croatia and Romania. His first official duty at the school was to do all preparations for closing the school in Vienna and moving it to two different countries, Serbia and Croatia.
God called Richard to serve in Croatia from a smoke filled mountain top, during the Serbo-Croatian War, on the Croatian and Bosnian border. They could not move to Croatia until the war was over, but spent the entire year of 1994 traveling back and forth from Vienna to Sisak, Croatia. In 1995, they were able to move there, to serve for 11 years. Two churches were planted through there ministry there. The tool they used was EFL (English as a Foreign Language). God used it to bring many, many people to the Lord during their years there.
In 2005, their visa was rejected for Croatia. After prayer and counsel from the mission director, they were called to England to serve in a town called Littleport, for a church restoration. Rich became the pastor of Littleport Evangelical Church, where he served for 8 years.
In 2013, they returned to the States. San Antonio had been their home since 1972, so they chose to return there and to the church where they were saved, Crossroads Baptist Church. There have been numerous subsequent trips back to Croatia during these last 5 years. They have also held quite a few ESL classes around San Antonio, as well as in Crossroads. He ministered in several Retirement or Assisted Living Homes also.
Rich was a gentle soul, a very forgiving, kind, and loving person, who would give someone the shirt off his back if they needed it. One time he hired somebody at Barnsdale’s who was down on their luck and had been living on the street.They had just gotten a house and the husband needed a job. Richard trusted him and gave him a job. Paula was at home preparing for guests for dinner. She went to vacuum the carpet and their brand new vacuum cleaner was gone! When she called Richard, he said his new employee needed a vacuum, so he gave away ours!
Rich felt it was his God given responsibility to make sure his wife could be all that God intended her to be. He always encouraged her in evangelistic efforts, no matter the time of day, where or when.
Rich was a visionary. One thing about a visionary they can see where God might be working, or possibilities for different types of ministries, where others cannot see. These visionaries have to be very careful they don’t get so far out ahead of their coworkers, that they don’t mistake him for the enemy and “shoot” him.
Because Rich and Paula were responsible to raise their own support, they spent their first 3 years raising needed funds to go to the mission field. They traveled far and wide speaking in many churches and staying in many different homes around the country. They were supposed to stay in the pastor’s home Colorado and speak in the church the next day. However, upon their arrival and calling the pastor to ask directions to his home, he gave them some “bad news”. His entire family had the FLU! So Rich and Paula were rerouted to a family who was brand new to the church. On Sunday morning, they came down to wait on the sofa till everyone was ready to leave. The 11 year old daughter was playing the piano. She stopped to come over and sit with us. Long story short, she accepted Jesus as Savior and before the day was over, the entire family of 5 had trusted in Christ. Two weeks later they were all baptized and a year later the father became an elder in that church and still is today! What appeared to be bad news turned into a “Divine Appointment”.
Rich also had a passion for aviation, in particular, commercial aviation. He would often take his children and grandchildren to watch airplanes land and take-off at the airport. His aviation interest carried over into model building. He both collected and built model airliners. His collection includes over 50 he has built with over 300 unbuilt kits he has collected over the years. He also used his hobby in his mission work. In Croatia he started a model building club, giving many of his unopened kits to the kids. They got together once a week to build models, have fun, and share the Gospel. Some of those seeds planted sprouted into professions of faith.
Rich also enjoyed classic cars having owned a few in the past including Mustangs and vintage trucks.
He also enjoyed traveling. Whether by road or by rail, he enjoyed taking in the places, scenery, and people along the way. Through his life he has probably driven over a million miles!
Rich is survived by his wife Paula, three children: Richard Marvin Jr (Lisa), Lisa Marie (Ralph), and William Prescott (Erin), brother Campbell Craig Barnds III, 9 grandchildren: Philip, David, Victoria, Lennea, Andrew, Kelsey, Abigail, Ariana and Alexander,9 great grandchildren: Briana, Nathan, Alphonse, Lincoln, Kaylee, Maurice, Charlize, and Oliver. His quiver was definitely full!!!