Aug-Sep 2009
FAITH OF OUR FAMILIES
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tribute to my Dad
Free Will Baptist missions pioneer Raymond Riggs died Monday, April 13, 2009, surrounded by his family. The following tribute was submitted by his son Ken following his death.
For more information about Free Will Baptist International Missions, visit www.fwbgo.com.
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Dr. Ken Riggs recalls the remarkable life of his Father, Raymond Riggs.
Tribute to My Dad
by Ken Riggs
In March of 1999, my mother, Winona Riggs, died. My Dad asked me to preach her funeral. In that message I stated that she had enjoyed a full life, exhibited a faithful love, and extended a fruitful legacy. I can easily say the same three things about my Dad. However, my tribute doesn’t stop there. You see, Daddy’s character had a profound influence on my life, and He left a legacy of faith for all of us to follow.
He Enjoyed a Full Life
Daddy died at age 93. That’s a long time in anybody’s book. His life was anything but dull. He started his career as a schoolteacher in a one-room schoolhouse (where he taught eight grades). He was married to three different women. His first wife Tina Staten died after only two months of marriage. Before long, however, he met and married my Mom, Winona Gates, daughter of well-known Free Will Baptist preacher N.P. Gates.
Grandfather Gates was not only a preacher; he also taught music. Perhaps that is where Mom got her musical talent. However, Daddy was a singer as well. After his first wife died, Grandfather Gates asked him to sing in a gospel quartet he had organized. Daddy moved to Michigan, found a job, and began to sing in the quartet. That’s how he met my mother.
They were married 62 years and had six children—Charles, Ken, Ramona Kaye, Patsy Anne, Randy, and Steve. I can assure you, there were few dull moments in the Riggs house! Visitors sometimes referred to our home as a “three-ring circus.”
Yet Dad’s full life included not only his family but also his ministry. In his early days, he preached in the streets from the back of a truck. Mother would play a pump organ, and Daddy would lead singing. He started his first church in a grocery store. When the church grew too large for the store, Daddy found a Muslim mosque for sale in Highland Park, Michigan, and the church bought it. He was a radio preacher long before it became popular. I remember from my early childhood that the old Highland Park FWB Church had a band. This was in the early 1950s!
His full life led him to what he became most famous for: getting the gospel to the ends of the world. In 1953, he became the first full-time director for the Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions Department. Only six missionaries were serving under the Free Will Baptist banner at the time. When he left the position seven years later, there were thirty. As the Director of Foreign Missions, Daddy was privileged to travel to Africa, India, and Cuba. Space does not permit me to tell you the stories he told us when he returned.
His full life included years of full-time evangelism when he and my mother would travel under the name Stateside Evangelism. They drove a motor home, parked it in church lots, and sang and preached night after night. Their lives were anything but dull!
After my mother died, Daddy married for the third time. He married Burnice Davis, widow to long-time friend Winfred Davis who also served as a promoter for Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions. If you are familiar with Free Will Baptist history, perhaps you remember Winfred Davis was also one of the founders of Free Will Baptist Bible College.
He Exhibited a Faithful Love
Daddy’s faithful love was seen in his love for his companion, his children, and his church. When his first wife died after only two months of marriage, he became very depressed. The depression was so great he was tempted to take his own life, but by God’s grace, he overcame the temptation.
His love for my mom lasted for 62 years. All six of their children will vouch for the fact our parents loved each other. I have no doubt that Daddy loved his third wife Burnice. In fact, if he had not married her, he might not have lived as long as he did. She helped to fill the emptiness he felt after the death of our mother. Burnice and her family accepted Daddy with open arms and made the last 10 years of his life enjoyable.
He loved his children, although there were times we wondered if he loved his ministry more. In all honesty, Daddy was not demonstrative with his affection, but we knew he loved us. As he grew older, he became more and more vocal with his love for us.
He Exhibited Godliness and Dignity
He was always godly, not just when it was spiritually expedient. He carried himself in such a way that you knew—just by looking at him—that he was a man of God. You knew you couldn’t say certain words, make coarse jokes, or use rude gestures in his presence.
I cannot remember ever hearing my Dad use a curse word. He did not permit his children to use common by-words like gosh, golly, or darn. By today’s standards, those words are mild, but they were never permitted in our home. Daddy carried himself in such a way that you knew he was different—not in a way that made you uncomfortable, but in a way that you knew he was a true believer.
He Was Dedicated to the Word of God
I never heard him preach a sermon that wasn’t based on the truth of Scripture, and we have shared outlines for years. While he was faithful to read commentaries and other helps, his main resource for preaching and teaching was the Bible.
Daddy could take a difficult passage of Scripture or a theological concept and communicate it in a way anyone could understand. Perhaps he is most famous for his illustration about the relationship between faith and knowledge, so intertwined they cannot be separated. To illustrate his point, he once said, “Knowledge is my wife knowing she has had six children. Faith is my believing they’re all mine.”
After the congregation got over its shock, Daddy continued, “That’s a good illustration because I have faith in my wife that I am the father of all our children.”
Needless to say, my mother wasn’t too happy with the illustration. Later that night when they retired for the evening, Daddy hugged her and said, “Goodnight, mother of six.” To which my mother replied, “Goodnight, father of five.”
He Loved People
Daddy had one other characteristic that topped them all. In 1966, he asked me to move to Norfolk, Virginia, to work with him. He planned to begin the very first Christian School in the Free Will Baptist movement, and he wanted me to help him. I told him I would come, but I did not tell him I had another motive. I wanted to learn what attracted others to him. What made him such a powerful influence in the Free Will Baptist denomination? Why was he invited to preach so many revivals?
As I worked with him, I was not disappointed. I discovered his secret. He genuinely loved people, and people knew it. He didn’t care about their status in life, the color of their skin, their political party, or where they came from. Daddy loved them all! I have seen him calm a tense crowd on the floor of the national convention with loving words of wisdom. I have seen him give an invitation after someone else delivered a mediocre message, and crowds would respond. One dear friend once told me that if he ever became backslidden, he wanted to hear Daddy give an invitation because he was sure he would come back to the Lord!
Daddy’s love for people cannot be learned in a classroom. It came from being alone with God. It came from not being afraid to get his hands dirty in the ministry—from getting in the grease pit of a gas station to mucking out a hog pen with a farmer. It came from sitting with someone in the hospital or watching a friend die. It came from experiencing life with all kinds of people.
At his funeral, it was noted that Daddy’s death marked the end of an era. I honestly pray this is not true. Please, God, give us people who have faithful love, godly dignity, commitment to Scripture, and above all, who truly know how to love God and others. That is my Daddy’s legacy.
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