CHURCH PLANTING SPECIALIST
JOINS BBI/PARTNERS STAFF.
Latvian Office Broadens its
Nationwide Influence
By Chuck Kelley
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The newest member of the BBI/Partners staff
team, Maris Dupurs, points out a small city in
Western Latvia where his young congregation
is starting another church. |
RIGA, LATVIA - Reformed Church pastor, Rev. Maris Dupurs, from Riga, joined the BBI/Partners staff as Director of Church Planting. He will oversee and coordinate the efforts of the church planting work group of the Latvian Evangelical Alliance.
Maris grew up in a non-Christian home as an only child. His father, who spent seven years in Siberia, was opposed to his conversion to Christianity. After his compulsory service in the Soviet Army, Maris gave his life to Christ in 1990.
His early Christian development took place in the context of an unregistered Russian Baptist church in Riga.
Maris loves to study. He is a graduate of Riga Technical College with a four-year degree in Telecommunications. For three years, he studied at the Riga Bible Institute, focusing on Pastoral Ministries and Church Planting. He is currently a student at the Riga Reformed Seminary, which has a strong link with Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Maris has always valued mentoring relationships. During his Bible Institute years, he met regularly with Reformed Church pastors Alvis Sauka and Ungars Gulbis. In recent years, he has benefited greatly from the mentoring of Monte Erwin, a recently retired missionary with the International Mission Board (Southern Baptist).
In 1999, in conjunction with Hope '99, Monte and Maris founded Marupes Reformed Church in Riga. The small congregation meets in a brand new high school. The vision of the church emphasizes evangelism, discipleship, training and church planting. According to Maris, "A good new church is one that trains people to impact society. It helps them understand their calling".
The Marupes Church has a strong discipleship emphasis centered around small groups. Most church members are in small groups. The focus of the small group ministry is evangelism impact. The congregation has a manageable goal of reaching 10% of its neighborhood for Christ.
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Chuck Kelley (left), Maris Dupurs (center) and Gary
Ramey meet in the Partners office in Riga to develop
the basic structure and plan of the church planting
working group of the Latvian Evangelical Alliance.
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As Director of Church Planting, Maris will coordinate demographic and sociological research for all of Latvia. IMB missionary Gary Ramey, a church planter with an engineering background from Houston, Texas, is working alongside Maris to develop the most effective and helpful research product possible.
Maris, who is 32 years old, will also coordinate special training events for Latvian and Russian church planters. These seminars and workshops will feature specialists from the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting, of which BBI is a member organization. Maris will oversee the development of resources for church planters. This includes books, manuals and presentation materials.
Maris will also help train church planters in how to gain the maximum benefit from evangelistic projects in their region. It is hoped that in the next four years, 20 new churches will be established in Latvia, each one undergirded with reliable research, effective training, special outreach opportunities and prayer support. BBI will attempt to link an American sister church with each new church plant.
As the leader of the Church Planting Working Group of the Latvian Evangelical Alliance, Maris will be working alongside pastors with a passion for church planting from Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal and Reformed denominations.
Maris is a busy young man. He not only pastors his church in Riga, but also is leading two new church plants in Western and Eastern Latvia. His position with BBI/Partners is for 10 hours/week.
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