Richard and Riekje Wallace
RICHARD AND RIEKJE Richard and Riekje Wallace, together with their four children, Joel, Caleb, Ethan and Jordan-Abigail (born 22 Feb 06) have been living in Madrid since March 2002 and in October 2005 assumed the leadership of Mountainview International Church.
Richard is British but spent his formative years living in East Africa and later in Fiji in the South Pacific. Richard graduated with a Bsc Hons in Horticulture from Bath University in 1988. After working as a horticultural therapist with Cornwall Social Services he went on to graduate in 1996 with a Masters of Divinity from Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam. Riekje is Dutch and graduated from the Nimeto College in Utrecht with an applied arts degree specializing in window dressing. Riekje and Richard were married in a windmill (seriously) in 1993.
Initially they believed God was calling them to return to Africa to be involved in church-based development. However, they became increasingly concerned about the spiritual poverty gripping Europe and joined Christian Associates International as long-term church planters in June of 1996. They moved in 1997 to Lisbon, Portugal to help establish Riverside International Church and were involved in a wide variety of ministries including: drama, multimedia presentations, preaching, leading Alpha courses and organizing large community events. They had the joy of helping Riverside grow, in just over 4 years, from 3 families into a church community numbering more than 200 people.
God has blended their diverse cultural backgrounds and gifts to make them effective church planters among internationals. Their dream is that Mountainview will become a community of faith and friendships that really do make a difference in life and in the world. They want to prioritise a spirit of teamwork at Mountainview and desire that all feel equipped, empowered and inspired to serve others within the church and outwards into the places in which they live (Ephesians 4: 11, 12).