Odessa Mission
August 2008 Newsletter
New Prospective Family
For six months now, two new kids have been attending KRCC regularly. Andre Jr.
is thirteen and his sister, Zhana, is eleven. Sometimes they're extremely
interested; at other times, they're just barely holding on. Unfortunately,
our experience tells us that most people are like that. You just never know,
from one day to the next, whether they'll come back or not. Ray Comfort states
that between 80-90% of Christian “converts” will eventually leave the Church.
In 1991, a particular denomination allegedly reported seeing 294,000 decisions
made for Christ. Subsequently, however, they discovered that only 14,000 of
them attended worship for any real length of time.
In any case, Andre Jr. had decided, in early July, to be baptized at KRCC.
But his parents then began stalling because their Orthodox friends were opposed.
Eventually, their friends gave the green light for Andre Jr., yet refused to do
so for Zhana. Of course, what escapes me is what these friends have to do with
anything! Sadly, that's the grip that Orthodoxy and its propaganda have on this
culture. In fact, Andre's Mom recently invited a woman to our church and the
first question out of the lady's mouth was: “Now, you guys don't steal people's
apartments, do you?”
You may have read in the paper that Ukraine is now trying to establish the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the State Church. So that gives you a minor hint at
what we're up against. Nevertheless, we're confident that “no weapon forged
against us will prevail” (Isa.54:17).
Especially noteworthy is the fact that KRCC has been successful in helping wean
Andre Sr. off of his lifelong alcohol addiction. He even got vaccinated against
the use of alcohol entirely. Just one slip within the next two years will send
him straight to the morgue. Thankfully, at the end of July, Andre Sr. also
announced his decision to be baptized, as did his wife, Tanya, and Zhana.
Please be praying for this family because the Devil hasn't been and surely won't
idly stand by watching all of this happen.
New Vision for KRCC
When we initially started KRCC, our vision centered around planting a healthy
Christian Church in Odessa, which would reproduce itself in the surrounding
communities. This was very important to us since no other Independent Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ existed in this particular region of Ukraine. The
stark reality is that considerably less than 1% of Ukraine's population is
Protestant. Just by driving down one street in Hampton, Virginia, one will
easily spot more Protestant churches than the number that actually exist in the
entire province of Odessa. So, we've only just begun to till the soil.
It's been both very frustrating and extremely rewarding. I've learned quite a
bit about spiritual maturity in the last four years and I've changed a great
deal as a result of it. And, as crazy as it may sound, I probably wouldn't have
changed a thing. I used to be so naïve that I'd automatically assume that if a
church was struggling to grow then it simply meant it was stagnant. I formerly
tossed that “dead” word around like a frisbee. I now realize that many of those
“dead” churches are more spiritually alive than a lot of the “successful”
churches. Now, I clearly see that small is often synonymous with maturity,
perseverance, and fortitude.
Somewhere along these lines, I recently wrote in my blog about significance,
which is something Satan valiantly tries to blind our eyes to. For instance,
many people notice the SIZE of a church while missing its INFLUENCE. Sometimes,
the size of a church has very little bearing on its overall importance in the
grand scheme of things. Regrettably, it's typical for NUMBERS to eclipse IMPACT.
This is another area in which I've grown. Consequently, our vision continues to
expand. KRCC doesn't just want to become a large church that plants other
churches in the surrounding region. It also wants to own and foster the
development of a vision fixated on SIGNIFICANCE. Rather than just focusing
inward on ourselves and on the surrounding region, we also want to be focused
outward on the world at large. Put simply, we want to have a GLOBAL IMPACT
instead of just a local one. And,.friends, I'm happy to say that it's already
happening.
New Global-Impact Ministries At KRCC
KRCC is now translating and dubbing into Russian a powerful film called: To Hell
And Back. It's a documentary sharing multiple testimonies from several former
atheists who experienced the horrors of Hell while clinically dead. After their
experiences, they immediately decided to give their lives to Christ and devote
themselves to warning others of the impending danger awaiting the unrepentant.
KRCC intends to show this film in as many venues as possible. Some possibilities
are as follows: medical schools, colleges and universities, high schools,
hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons, etc. Moreover, we plan to make our
finished product available to Christian media outlets for free worldwide
broadcasting and distribution purposes.
In July, KRCC began its first daily prayer ministry. We gather at 7:30 AM every
morning, except on Sundays, to pray for both local and universal concerns.
Rayisa is currently heading up this ministry. And, because Rayisa painfully
endured thirteen abortions before her conversion to Christianity, she also
intends to create a new crisis-pregnancy ministry at KRCC. Miraculously, the
Lord still blessed Rayisa with two children after her final abortion. Rayisa's
daughter, Nastya, now leads our worship, while her son, Oleg, prepares Power
Point slides for our worship services. God is truly AMAZING!
Finally, Oxonna plans to enroll in a two-month intensive course in Kazakhstan,
designed for training people to produce professional media programs and
presentations. She hopes to use her knowledge to reach the lost and minister to
the saved via television and the Internet, which could potentially target all
of the the existing 200 million Russian speakers on the planet.
Thanks To You,
John, Ira, and Stefany Murphy