The story of Tuckton Christian Centre begins long before Bournemouth became the great town it is now, to the time of the English aristocrat Granville Waldegrav, who later became Lord Radstock. A member of the ancient Waldegrav family, whose roots go back to William the Conqueror. Granville, who was educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford, was sent to the Crimean war in 1856 at the age of 23.
In Britain, God-fearing parents had told their sons to pray before they sailed for the Crimean War.
Protestant clergymen had blessed them. Victoria, the Bible-loving queen herself, had praised them for their bravery and patriotism and wished them God-speed.
The soldiers left these islands, among them Granville, to fight for Queen and country in far away lands. But this war in the Crimean, Granville felt certain, was not God’s work. It was hell.
After falling seriously ill, Granville prayed in desperation “Lord,” he cried in his heart, amid the groansof suffering men in the night, “If you give me life I will come back to Russia with your Gospel instead of a gun!”
God heard his prayer and…
Read the fascinating story of the Russian colony in the South of England at the turn of the century. Please contact us to order a copy of the new booklet called: ” To Bournemouth from Russia with Love and Hope ” by Rev. W. Oder
£4.99 plus shipping.
