Odessa Mission
October 2004 Newsletter
Nasha Pomeshenya UMENSHAYETSA! (Our Building Is Getting SMALLER!)
Since we began holding services in our new facility, it just seems like so many
good things are happening at Kind Road Christian Church. Activity at KRCC is
certainly increasing at what seems like a supersonic pace and that's evident to all.
Naturally, activity without genuine results is essentially useless. Thankfully,
though, we are seeing both and we give God all the praise and glory for that!
Let me just paint a quick picture of our current weekly schedule. On Sundays,
we meet to worship and break bread together. We are also seeing success in a
rapidly expanding kids' program due to Ira's great work with the children,
coupled with our new ambulance driver who is bringing patients from the
hospital to our services. That gives us all the opportunity to pray for
them during our worship time and minister to them, regularly reminding
our congregation of the need for relevant service in all of our lives.
On Mondays and Fridays, we have English classes for beginners and advanced
students, basing our lessons on biblical principles. We are probably
serving between twenty and thirty people in these classes. We also have
a drama ministry developing and they are meeting each Monday evening after
our English lessons. On Wednesdays at 7 p.m., we are offering children's
programs during our adult Bible study hour, and we follow that up with an
extensive prayer time beginning at 8 p.m. On Fridays, following English
classes, we have our Christian video program for adults, and on Saturday
afternoons we have our children's video program. We are definitely seeing
some new faces and feeling an unmistakable sense of enthusiasm and momentum
at this stage, and ask for your continued prayers as we keep seeking His
will for our new church. Our situation seems to have some of the
ingredients needed for success, but unless we're wholly relying on
Him and doing exactly what He wants us to do in His way, then we
will fail miserably. So let's all agree, like never before, to put
God at the helm by praying for His perfect will and our perfect
submission to it every step of the way. Do I hear an Amen?
A couple of Sundays ago, I made one blunder several times throughout the course
of my sermon. As you probably know, I preach without a translator. I had been
preaching about how we often stress ourselves out by erratically searching for
potential solutions to our problems when, in reality, if we'd just seek His
face more diligently we would eventually come to realize that a closer walk
with Him is the only real answer, period! However, the Russian word for "solution"
that I kept using refers solely to chemical solutions. So I said we "...stress ourselves
out by erratically searching for potential chemical solutions to our problems...."
In spite of all the confusion, though, we still apparently have a dynamic
church in Odessa because God, the MIRACLE WORKER, is building it His way.
So, in addition to our "interesting" messages each Sunday, He is surely
giving us a lot more to smile about these days.
Praise God there is still more good news. Two women were recently baptized
[October 3rd] into Christ at KRCC. Valya, a grandmother at the cancer ward,
after gradually coming to realize that she just cannot handle her sorrow alone,
decided to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and place her seven-year
old granddaughter, Katya, into God's hands instead of just depending on the doctors
at the ward. It was a decision that literally took several months, but we're
grateful to Him that she finally made it. Please do remember both of them in
your prayers at this time. Also, Victoria was another addition to the Kingdom.
In fact, both Valya and Victoria were baptized on the same Sunday. We look
forward to seeing them grow in His grace and thank you for helping us reach
them with the good news.
Finally, on October 8-10, KRCC is having its first official Christian conference.
On Friday evening, October 8th, Rick Deighton [from Nampa, Idaho and first mentioned
by John in the May 2004 newsletter] will preach about how to cultivate strong
and healthy relationships. On the 9th, Rick will talk about restoring romance
in marriage, and on the 10th he will explain the biblical approach to resolving
conflicts. We will also be showing "The Passion of Christ" on Friday evening.
On Saturday evening, we will have Lena Osipchuk present a Christian concert
for us. [Lena is the new contemporary Christian artist John wrote about in
the May 2004 newsletter.] During our Sunday morning worship, Lena will
discuss the plans for her upcoming mission trip to Macedonia. In fact,
we're even planning to take up an offering for her then. It's very
exciting to think about how our church is gearing itself up for the
purpose of supporting missionary activities abroad, and I'm sure you are
thrilled to hear that the results of your ministry in the Ukraine are
already beginning to produce results in other parts of the world.
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine,
according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in
the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever
and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).
We love all of you and praise God for your prayers and support of our work
here in Odessa. To God be the GLORY and may His will be done through us.
John and Ira Murphy (KRCC)