Richard Oostra was born in Holland and came to Canada as a single young man following World War II. A three-year Bible School course he took after arriving in Canada was a very formative event in his life. However, his involvement in church life was ritualistic rather than a real relationship with the Lord. Richard's true spiritual journey into a life of serving God began in 1963 during crusade meetings conducted in Red Deer, Alberta, by the evangelist twins, Ralph and Lou Sutera. Immediately following his own full commitment, Richard was used by the Lord in helping many of his own country people come to Christ. One of the outcomes of that revival was Richard's volunteer involvement, along with Rev. Walter Boldt, in coordinating lay teams for ministry (at their own expense) returning to Holland, Richard's land of birth. Over an 18-month period thousands of people there were impacted spiritually in conversion and revival. In 1995 Richard left the business world to become the U.S. West Coast representative of a well-known international missionary ministry. He served with real distinction in that capacity for 10 years, visiting hundreds of churches. As he observed what both his study of Scriptures and his personal experiences led him to perceive as shortcomings within many congregations, Richard was inspired to begin writing and sharing his concerns with a desire to see revival and positive change come to the church at large.

The book Church on the Rocks is primarily a compilation of such writings over a period of years. These concepts come from the heart of a man who has devoted his life to serving the Lord, and who has had a vast amount of experience in many aspects of Christian ministry.
Richard and his wife of 48 years, Betty, are the parents of four grown and married children, and the happy grandparents of ten. All of the extended family are following Christ, with some of the grandchildren having already served the Lord abroad. He is currently retired and living in Surrey, British Columbia.