By Lloyd Mackey

TUESDAY evenings at Courtenay’s vintage Train Station have collectively become a time and a place for Christian outreach.

Each Tuesday for the past four years, said Murray Coulter, some 35 to 45 people have gathered at the picturesque structure.

Built around 1914 as the northern terminus for the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E & N) Railway, the station still serves that purpose, for the Via Rail Dayliner that makes the trip several times a week to and from Victoria.

But the Train Station has become a community centre and gathering place as well. So, when Murray and Rita Coulter sensed a need for an informal Christian presence at this ‘hub’ location, one more gathering opportunity was created.

Gospel music, with instruments such as banjos and guitars, helps prepare the crowd for the worship, fellowship and sharing of faith information each Tuesday.

Occasionally, a special occasion draws an even bigger crowd. Coulter said there were 116 one evening this past summer for a barbecue on the station platform.

The Coulters became involved in outreach and care ministry about ten years ago.

“I was a logging contractor, mainly involved in commercial thinning and low impact forest harvesting. Then I had a liver transplant. I escaped dying, but could see how the healing process took place,” he recalled, adding that he and Rita “felt called” to put that experience and the insights they gained from it to good use.

Once the decision to leave logging was made, the logging trucks were put up for sale. Some were bought by British Columbia operators and some by outfits in Alberta. Some remained in logging, and others went into the oil patch.

Rita meanwhile had worked for 20 years at Glacierview Lodge, a seniors residence. In that work, “she showed a lot of compassion,” something that would prove useful in the Stepping Stones ministry.

Stepping Stones is an outreach to women in need that the Coulters also instigated. It operates with assistance from the provincial housing and social development ministry, out of a six-bedroom Comox Valley house.

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Stepping Stones was a way for the Coulters to help the Christian community reach out. About a dozen churches are involved in providing the volunteers and paying the extra costs not covered by provincial grants.

Among those churches are Northgate Foursquare Church and River Heights Church. The latter, pastored by Paul and Lisa Hansen and meeting at the Rod and Gun Club, is where the Coulters worship.

Trinity Christian Centre in Victoria has helped along the way as well.

The Coulters have five children – all in ministry themselves – and ten grandchildren.

Stepping Stones is a “recovery house.” Many of the women who go into the residence are able to recover from alcohol and drug-related issues, Coulter said. He gave credit to prayer as a big factor in helping those recoveries to take place.

The Coulters work with a dozen or more women volunteers.

Noted Rita: “We offer these women a 90-day recovery program with volunteer supervision 24/7. We have someone with them all the time so they feel safe and secure.”

She said the ministry takes a “holistic approach, addressing their physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs.”

At the Train Station, similar “recoveries” take place, albeit on a less intensive level.

“A lot of homeless and addicted people come out [on Tuesdays]. And others come, who don’t go to church. Some give their hearts to Lord and want to get baptized. If they get serious about it, we help link them up with one of the churches,” Coulter reported.

Do they feel their ministries are worth the effort?

The reply is in the affirmative.

“The Holy Spirit is moving,” the 61-year-old Murray replied, adding modestly: “It is not revival, but the Lord is returning soon. And he said, ‘If I be lifted up, I will draw all men [and women] to me.’”

For Murray and Rita Coulter, that is enough.

An ‘Elvis Gospel Concert,’ featuring Steve Elliott, will be held at Courtenay’s Northgate Church November 26, to raise funds for Stepping Stones. For information, call 250-334-2433. 

November 2010