“I will go on ahead and meet you there.”

That was one of many sentences from my dear friend and mentor, Rick Eisemann. We were taking a team to Ethiopia to share the good news of Jesus, and Rick left a few days before us to make more contacts in the Northern part of that country that he loved so dearly. Rick was my pastor, my mentor, my role model, and I hope he had become my friend. I was a fourteen-year-old, insecure teenager who had moved from Pennsylvania to California. I will never forget the day our family began to attend my aunt’s church, of which Rick was the pastor. I began to follow Jesus that summer under his teachings.

He Shaped Everything

His warm smile, kind eyes, and gentle spirit were coupled with a passion for God’s Word and a fire for world missions. Rick became our family pastor who performed the ceremony for both of my sisters’ weddings. His alliteration of three-point sermons always ended at the cross of Jesus. Rick’s conviction that God’s heart is for the nations has shaped my entire life as a follower of Jesus.

My Pastor, My Mentor, My Friend

It was Rick that I called whenever I planted a church. I asked him where we should focus in the world of missions. He introduced me to Global Missions Fellowship, which became E3 Partners. We took teams to India together, and when Ethiopia opened up, Rick recruited me there. He sneakily gave me an Amharic Bible and asked me to shift from India and focus my efforts there. I remember his stories each morning of “God being a missionary God” and the stories of mission movements throughout history. It was Rick’s stories that got me into the study of the Moravian missionary movement. Anyone who spends time with me will eventually hear a story from that incredible movement of God.

Rick purposely brought me into leadership meetings to help me learn how to lead on my own. Eventually, we would lead different trips to Ethiopia. Once, Rick joined a trip I was leading and I was so nervous that my mentor was now watching me lead. It was like watching an R-rated movie with my parents. But he was gracious, as always.

He would often refer to Northern Ethiopia as “my part of the Great Commission.” He was truly faithful there. But the beautiful miracle of Rick’s authentic discipleship is that he influenced so many people. And that influence continues today, still impacting the Great Commission. It has been a privilege to be just one in a line of many discipled by Rick Eisemann. 

Gone On Ahead and Will Meet Us There

I share these things about my interactions with him to point out some of the many ways this man of God served the Kingdom. Rick would often make comments on these newsletters, encouraging my work. A comment from Rick went quite far in my life. There are so many of you who read these updates and pray for the work. It’s something I don’t have words to tell you how much that means to me.

Thank you, Jesus, for Rick Eisemann and for all that he impacted for Your Kingdom. Rick has “gone on ahead and will meet us all there.” This time, he will meet us in glory.

Amazed by Jesus,

JT

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