Randy Starkey has served in gospel ministry since he was 18 years old. Shortly after being transformed by the gospel, Randy determined to pursue ministry. He attended Fruitland Baptist Bible College in Hendersonville, NC where he attained a A.A. in Pastoral Studies & Church Ministry. From there, Randy attended Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, MO where he attained his B.S. in Pastoral Studies & Youth Ministry.
Early on, Randy's heart was in youth ministry. Discipling young people to grow passionate about the Lord was his passion. Randy served as student pastor in two churches from 1996 to 2005. During his last few years serving as student pastor at a church in Winston Salem, NC, God began to awaken Randy toward a more serious consideration of what gospel ministry was really about. His transformed outlook produced an evident change in the way he approached ministry. This new adventure led Randy to desire to continue his education and deepen his knowledge of God's Word. In 2005, Randy enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he pursued a degree in Advanced Biblical Studies. It was during this time that God grew Randy's understanding of Biblical Theology and exegesis and Randy grew passionate about the teaching ministry. Randy graduated from SEBTS in 2010.
During his years in seminary and beyond, Randy pursued ministry in churches that stood in need of gaining a biblical healthy church perspective. It was his desire to serve as a catalyst to move complacent churches to passionately pursue Christ and function in a biblically healthy way. This created many dilemmas at times, as churches don't always embrace the changes that are required to truly pursue biblical healthiness.
In addition to Randy's growth and passion for the teaching ministry, God also created a passion in Randy for missions. Randy made his first trip to Haiti in February 2004 during the rebellion that had just erupted there. During this trip Randy gained a deep concern for the Haitian people. Randy recognized the great amount of evangelism that was happening in Haiti, but also saw the great lack in discipleship which produce spiritually confused churches. It was during this time that the idea of 1mission was born. Randy wanted to create a ministry around discipling the Haitian church and training leaders who could go on to plant other healthy churches. Over the years, 1mission has conducted numerous training seminars in the church in Haiti. After the earthquake in 2010, 1mission had to give attention to rebuilding efforts. 1mission rebuilt their partner church in Port-au-Prince and began construction on a mission house in Croix-des-Bouquet that would would serve to house mission teams and to conduct weekend training seminars for pastors and church leaders.
During the development of leadership training and discipleship in the church in Haiti, Randy began to recognize how we often do things quite different in the States. The question was, "but why?" If the solution to the Haitian need was to conduct focused leadership training and plant churches, then why wouldn't that be that same in the States. From this realization, Randy began to place a greater emphasis on teaching and discipleship through the local church in order to help serve the process of healthier churches.
While Randy understands that the gospel is more than just words, Words are the foundation. If believers develop a more robust understanding of the gospel communicated throughout the entirety of the Scriptures, it will give way to a greater passion for mission and ministry to the needs of a lost and dying world.
Randy served in pastoral ministry for 26 years and now serves as the Administrative Director for Founders Ministries located in Cape Coral, FL.
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