About Us
Richard and Daphne Gaspard are no strangers to ministry life. Their relationship began while they both served in their church youth group and worship team. From early on, they knew that God would use them in ministry together.
Both natives of south Louisiana, Richard and Daphne were married in December of 1994, and began their life together in Tulsa, OK, where Daphne completed her degree from Oral Roberts University while Richard served as an adjunct instructor there, as well as the chief audio engineer at Oral Roberts Television.
When their oldest daughter, Kylie, was born, they knew they wanted to rear her near family and friends in Cajun country, so the three of them, along with their two dogs and their youngest daughter, Katie, on the way, packed up and headed home in August of 2000.
That decade brought their ministry life full circle, as they both served on staff at Crossroads Church in Lafayette, and their girls began to follow in their footsteps, serving in youth and music.
But, in 2015, tragedy struck.
Katie was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, requiring extensive medical treatment, including a bone marrow transplant. After months and months of suffering, due to complications from that transplant, Katie passed away on July 20, 2017.
Richard and Daphne, although crushed from the loss, have determined that they do not want what happened to Katie to be all for nothing. Their hearts’ desire is to tell her story and speak to those who are suffering, or have gone through tragic loss. Together, they authored a book chronicling Katie’s journey, while showing God’s hand in the process.
Richard and Daphne are both available for speaking engagements. Please use the Contact Us link on this site to inquire about bookings.
Richard Gaspard
Richard Gaspard is a 1994 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, with a degree in Contemporary Music Media.
A native of south Louisiana, he has served in many capacities throughout his career. As a bass player, he has traveled with Dave Roever, Darrell Evans, and the Acquire the Fire band. He has also performed with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, as well as several jazz, R&B, and Christian groups in and around Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. He has performed on numerous CD projects, and has also worked as a producer and/or audio engineer on several more.
Richard has had several positions within the technical arts. He was the Audio Production Supervisor at Oral Roberts Television, as well as the ORU Jazz Ensemble Director. He was the Audio Director for Holbrook Multi-media, an award-winning regional film and video production company based in Lafayette, LA. For over fourteen years, Richard served as the Media Director at Crossroads Church in Lafayette, LA.
Richard has been featured in a number of local, regional, and national television commercials, as an actor, producer, and writer. He has written theme music for ORU, Golden Eagle Broadcasting, and Oral Roberts Ministries, in Tulsa, OK, Crossroads Church in Lafayette, LA, plus many more local and regional jingle campaigns.
Richard now holds the position of Product Specialist for PreSonus Audio Electronics in Baton Rouge, LA, an international professional audio gear manufacturer. He is also a church media consultant, author, guest lecturer, and public speaker.
Richard enjoys spending time at home with his wife, his little Westie Terrier, Roxy, and two temporarily-adopted Rat Terrier mixes. He also loves home improvement projects and sending funny dad-pun GIFs to his daughter in Australia. Still an active musician, he loves learning new music styles, but his greatest passion in music is that of worship.
Daphne Gaspard
Daphne Gaspard is a 1998 summa cum laude graduate of Oral Roberts University, with a degree in Elementary Education.
Daphne is a native of Lafayette, LA. Throughout her professional career, she has served in many capacities, in several disciplines. She operated a preschool, taught at two different elementary schools, operated a private teaching business, all before going on staff full-time at Crossroads Church, where she worked alongside her husband, Richard, in their media department. She then moved into real estate title work, having occupied two different positions at one Louisiana company, as well as another in Houston, TX.
Just as her professional career been varied and vast, Daphne has been involved in ministry, in one form or another, since the early 1990s. She has written large-format productions, and functioned in key leadership roles in several ministry positions, most notably, a nine-year tenure as women’s ministry director of Crossroads Church in Lafayette, LA. Today, she is one of the featured worship leaders and singers at Crossroads.
Daphne loves spending time with her family, which sometimes includes lots of FaceTime chats with her daughter in Sydney, Australia. In her spare time, she enjoys exercise, Netflix, and trying new recipes, but most of all, she loves to travel.
Contact
info@wearestillrising.com