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Ray & Rebecca
Curran
Spring 2001 Newsletter
| TAMBOV CALVARY CHAPEL
"Then I will give you pastors after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding." Jeremiah 3:15
SPRING 2001 NEWSLETTER Hello again to our dear family and friends from Ray, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Dara, and little Ray in Tambov, Russia.Well, a scripture comes to mind as I report what ’s been happening here with us lately. It’s 1 Thess. 5:24:“ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it" As you know, the Lord led us to leave the Khabarovsk Calvary Chapel last summer and come to this city of Tambov. We were to assist a Russian evangelical church organization and I soon began pastoring in one their churches in Kotovsk, a suburb of Tambov. Initially, things went well. The believers there appreciated the teaching of the Word of God. But after a while, our contemporary and freer style of worship and conducting a church service began to conflict with that of this Russian church. I finally resolved to acquiesce to their style when pastoring in Kotovsk, because I was still free to teach the Word of God there as I liked. But in addition to that, I determined I needed to also start my own independent Calvary Chapel-style church here in Tambov. I realized it’s simply who we are. We can only be who we are. I rented a movie theater hall here in January and began conducting my own Bible studies. Then at the end of January, we were kicked out of the movie theater hall. It turns out the theater is a government-owned facility and they have a local law here forbidding the rental of government facilities for religious purposes. We thus began a 2-month search for a new facility. Every place turned us down. It was a discouraging time. This city appeared very hardened to the Gospel. I even began to wonder if we made a mistake in coming to Tambov in the first place, since our original plan fell through. Maybe we should move to somewhere else in Russia. But Rebecca kept reminding me that God certainly called us here. That’s all that matters. And you know, when circumstances come against you, you need to keep trusting in that initial calling. That was all we had. We couldn’t leave Tambov anyway. A large Calvary Chapel Church Planting Mission evangelistic team was scheduled to arrive here the end of March to help plant this church. Well, they came last week. There were actually 5 pastors from American Calvary Chapels on the team. There was also a Christian rock band made up of pastors from the Calvarys in St. Petersburg. There was the entire CC Moscow Bible College staff and students here. There were about 15 other Americans from Portland and Seattle. Over 60 people in total, I guess. They were an incredibly capable, confident, enthusiastic, and encouraging group. There was standing room only for all outreach concerts (220-seat hall). Many Russians responded to the Gospel as they saw it for the first time presented in a contemporary and joyful way. Then on the very last day of the outreach, the Lord provided a permanent place here for us to have a church. At our first Bible study last Wednesday, 30 people came. In fact, another CCCPM evangelistic team is planning to come here in late June also. The Lord calls us all to something. The Lord is faithful. We must trust him to the end. Thank you so much all of you for your support and prayers. I have attached a photograph of our family that you may re-size, print, and post somewhere, so as to remember to pray for us. We covet your prayers! They have made a difference! I also attached a photo of pastor Wayne Taylor of CC Seattle preaching at one of the outreaches. We hope to have web site in the near future. Our future here and the future of His church here are surely in His hands. For we saw He alone has established this church here. He alone will bring it to fulfillment. To God be the glory! Ray Curran ************************** Russian home address: 392000, Russia phone/fax: 0117-0752-71-90-83 ****************************** Financial
support address: Son Light Christian Center |
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