Meet Oakseed’s Africa and Dominican Republic Ministry Liaison

Dr. Rick Horne has over 30 years of experience in Christian school counseling and has served on the board of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) for 20 years. He is a graduate of Philadelphia Biblical University (BS), Reformed Educational Seminary (MDiv), West Chester University (MEd), and Westminster Theological Seminary (DMin). He has developed, in association with CCEF, a curriculum in pastoral counseling for urban church leaders and serves as Site Coordinator for The Urban Ministry Institute in Chester, PA. Rick has served in bi-vocational pastoral ministry in three Philadelphia area churches over the last 38 years. He is the author of six books for students, teachers, and parents and has taught related topics in schools and conferences in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North, South, and Central America.

I met Oakseed Director Tiffany Crosley at our church quite a few years ago, and we started discussing interest in missions. As she explained the vision and mission of Oakseed to me, I was drawn by the opportunity to meet with indigenous leaders of ministries in various places, take some of my biblical counseling training and ministry experiences, and serve some of these under-resourced brothers and sisters in ministry. That’s a large part of what got me involved with Oakseed.

It has been a privilege to be able to work with Oakseed for the past 10-12 years. God has given me wonderful opportunities to travel and meet with brothers and sisters seeking to serve Christ, many of them in very needy situations. The Lord has been providing great opportunities – these people love Christ and His word and, in His providence, have just not had the opportunity to receive training in biblical areas. They are seeking to work faithfully with accountability and responsibility to serve Christ in areas with prostitutes, drug addicts, Christian schools, orphanages, and a variety of ministries that need support and meet the profile that Oakseed has for the people and ministries that it partners with.

One of the most rewarding features of being part of Oakseed is seeing the gospel of grace being embraced by the brothers and sisters with whom I have the privilege to work and seeing them take these things and then teach them to their churches. Paul says in Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” This is exciting – being able to testify to the grace of God. Biblical counseling frees people, and Oakseed has opened many doors of opportunity to take this kind of training to people – churches, pastors, and ministry leaders – so that they can teach the biblical principles of how the freeness of the gospel opens people to the rich work of God in their lives, to the freedom that Jesus Christ came to produce. His truth sets people free. And so, it’s a privilege through Oakseed to take these truths to those areas.

Oakseed’s ministry liaisons are the hands and feet of Oakseed worldwide, bringing about more fruitful and authentic relationships with our ministries. Please visit our blog for more information about this vital role .