Odessa Mission
May 2005 Newsletter
Novoe Mecto s Svezhum Agonum!
(A New Place with a Fresh Fire!)
Well friends, we finally found a venue that works! Praise God! We waited on
the Lord and as usual He delivered. I definitely don't say that lightly either
because two months ago it really seemed as though the wind beneath our sails was
becoming more like just a bunch of hot air. Satan was casting doubt in my mind
every time I got up to preach, and I had to convince myself that what I was doing
was actually worth while and what God wanted. We were stagnating and all of us
were overly fatigued from constantly rowing against the current of no facility
being available. In fact, I'm pretty sure that a couple of our people had dropped
their oars somewhere along the way and might even have considered tossing them
altogether. It was certainly a time of serious testing for our congregation.
Even Ira had been teetering on the brink of despair with all of this, which is
unusual for her and it became clear after one particular conversation we had
at home. She asked, "John, are you totally sure about this church being God's
will? To be honest, I used to be but I'm not so sure anymore." All I could
do was silently gaze in her direction. After she poured her heart out to me,
I tried to encourage her to the best of my ability. I also told her to read
my book again, which addresses the same kinds of issues we were all facing
as a church.
The good news is that we all came through it together, and about a month ago
we really began sensing God's activity and presence for the first time in
many months. At that point, we were stuck in that old cafe, but we started
sensing that the wind was starting to pick up some. Suddenly, new faces
were appearing at church and our Wednesday evening small group sessions began to
provide answers to some of our nagging questions. We even had baptisms [six]
for the first time in months. Natalie came to our mid-week small group at
our apartment and decided to give her life to Christ that very evening
[April 6]. Then, on the final Sunday in the old cafe [April 24], Galya,
one of my favorite 12-year olds at KRCC, decided to get baptized against
her mother's wishes. "I know that my Mom won't like this," Galya sighed,
"but I just can't wait any longer." Since her mother had given me a Hare
Krishna book for my birthday recently, I'm pretty sure that Galya was
right about her Mom's feelings. Galya also shared that whenever she turns
on the Christian music we gave her, her mother turns if off and tells her
that it is all foolishness. So please keep that situation in your prayers,
especially since Kostya, Galya's older brother, is also considering giving
his life to Christ. Then to top off the month, Natasha, her son David,
and her daughters Ksenia and Maleena were baptized [April 30]. This is
one of the Gypsy families that Rayeesa has been working with and is the
first fruits of her labor.
As you can imagine, our plans are to reinstate several of our former programs
and create a few others with the new facility now available. We are currently
meeting three times a week with our Sunday worship service, Wednesday evening
Bible studies for all ages, and our Friday evening video program. On Good
Friday (April 29th in Ukraine ) we showed The Passion of Christ movie and
actually had two people come off the street to watch it with us. I am also
thinking about establishing an English club for advanced students who want
to learn how to speak English better, but that dream is still in the works.
I have mentioned the club at the university where I preach [twice a week]
but I've yet to see any real interest. In fact, results from my preaching
at the university are tough to gauge because many of the former students
to whom I preached no longer attend chapel because of schedule changes,
slipshod organization on the part of the administrator, and probably
just plain indifference on their part. However, while some students
have stopped coming to chapel altogether, I am seeing new students
cropping up and attending sporadically. Since most students are from
an Orthodox background where people go to the temple only when they
desperately need to, I think that is also what's happening with chapel
attendance. In other words, when students get the answers they're
seeking, they tend to move on until another need or crisis arises.
Nevertheless, God has put me there and is influencing a variety of
students at the university, whether they are supposed to be in the
chapel program or not. Although we are not seeing any of the students
coming to KRCC yet, we are still faithfully planting seeds for the
Kingdom of God . In fact, two weeks ago there was a prayer session
initiated by the students themselves which was held directly in front
of the main building. Not only is that a first but also it evidently
involved a large percentage of the student body. So God really seems
to be moving at the university like never before. Incidentally, the
Campus Crusade church that is meeting at the
university is currently growing like never before.
Finally, we have some 'Prayer Requests': Please pray for Vika and her son
Daniel, who just started attending KRCC last month. Pray also for Alla and her
son Sergei, who are slowly beginning to show more interest in accepting Christ
by attending KRCC more regularly. Sergei has hemophilia but his condition seems
to have improved dramatically, which also plays a big role in their attendance
and spiritual growth. Pray for Natalie who is battling breast cancer. She
recently gave her life to Christ but her health has deterred her from coming to
church as frequently as she would like. Please pray for Tatyana and her daughter
Elvira, who are attending KRCC services but who still haven't submitted to the
Lordship of Jesus. Please pray for Oleg and Kostya who are two young boys in
our kids' program as they consider being baptized. Also be in prayer for
Rayeesa's husband Alexander who's begun attending regularly but still needs
to come to true faith and repentance. Finally, pray for Anya who is a
skeptic that appears to be earnestly seeking the truth. She is still
unable to quell her doubts enough to commit to Christ.
KRCC would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you wonderful Christian
mothers and hope that you had/will have a very happy Mother's Day! None of us
would be doing what we do were it not for your godly influence in our lives!
Blessings and Love,
John and Ira Murphy
The Odessa Mission