Jeff Riddering and thousands of others were shocked and grieved in mid-January, 2016, to learn of the murder – the martyrdom – of his brother, Missionary Michael Riddering in Burkina Faso (former Upper Volta), Africa.
This very fine missionary was one of 30 murdered by terrorist, and the only American.
Each murder was a source of grief to their loved ones wherever they were. But Jeff Riddering is a longtime personal friend and servant of God, overseeing with his wife Tammy the Gateway House of Prayer in St. Louis, Mo, making the tragedy much closer to home.
The story of Michael Riddering is a gripping story in many ways. Nearly aborted by his biological mother, but sparred, Jeff’s parents adopted Michael in his first days of life. Growing up he entered into a “wild” and very risky lifestyle.
But God the Holy Spirit showed great mercy by bringing very real Holy Spirt conviction — awareness – of Michael’s deep level of his sin. As a young man he once said to his brother Jeff: “I’m going to Hell!” But instead, he came to Christ in dramatic fashion.
Rather quickly Michael and his wife, Amy, moved to Burkina Faso and had great impact in honoring Christ and helping the people. They:
· developed an orphanage for about 500 children,
· created center for care for abused and rejected women, and
· drilled 25 wells to produce fresh drinking water – all in Jesus name!
Upon the shocking news, Jeff Riddering traveled to Burkina Faso – he had been there with short-term mission teams many times — to minister to Michael’s wife following Michael’s murder … and do whatever he could to help in those conditions. The local pastors asked Jeff to officiate at Michael’s African funeral, providing him a public opportunity to comfort and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. 5,000 people attended! Upon returning to South Florida … Michael’s home church in Hollywood, FL – Jeff Riddering provided leadership for the 1,000 at that memorial service.
And in the process of all this, we learned that Michael Riddering’s wife is staying in Burkina Faso and – bravely, courageously – continuing their great work. Contact Jeff Riddering to find out how to make donations to this ministry: (314) 842-8679 or jeffriddering@gmail.com.
A 10-minute radio conversation recorded with Jeff Riddering just after Michael’s death titled … “STL’s Jeff Riddering’s missionary brother, Michael murdered by terrorists in Africa; Jeff reports” … is available for anytime listening by clicking on … http://haroldhendrick.com/content/view/737/5/.