Redemption Fellowship of Fall River

Hi, my name is Tom Cabral. God planted the desire to start a new church in Fall River 11 years ago, but in any story there is a history to it. So here goes. I’m an average ordinary guy who has done some real stupid things in life. I was born in Fall River Massachusetts, in 1963, moved to Somerset, MA at the age of two, grew up in an average middle class family and had some pretty good things going for me. I loved sports, did pretty good in High School baseball and basketball, yet in the summer of my senior year I started to drink almost every night. I didn’t know how to handle the pain that a life absent of Jesus Christ served me. To deal with an assortments of inner pains, I chose this pain killer. Little did I know at the time, this struggle would haunt me for the next 13 years.
I went to College and my one desire was to play baseball. Wherever I went, I played, but the repercussions of drinking alcohol were starting to damage my ability to follow through and complete lots of tasks. I was arrogant, and incredibly self centered. My main goal in life was to be the best I could be in Sports and take advantage of anyone in my path. I wanted to be happy, but the avenue I took to get there was damaging everyone around me. In the interim I was arrested twice for drunk driving and things weren’t getting better
By the grace of God I was able to graduate from Bridgewater State University in 1989, but things weren’t improving. Eventually while continuing in a life of self centeredness, even while destroying good relationships around me, I was introduced to Jesus and the gospel, and God’s grace overpowered me. In 1994 everything started to change. After spending a night in a Fall River jail for the third drunk driving incident in September of 1994, I finally realized my sins were not just problematic but offensive to God. Finally, I repented of my sinful lifestyle and trust alone in Jesus Christ for salvation. Amazingly, God took the desire for alcohol right out of my life as I chose to follow Jesus to the best of my ability. Sometimes God removes the obstacles that keep us from hearing his voice when we decide he is worth following. BUT, he didn’t take all the struggles away. This work would and has continued to this day. I like to tell people that God is slowly cleaning up my life. I am not sinless, but I do sin less. Slowly over time he has shown me how wicked my heart can still be. I still struggle with selfish desires. This is why I need to live in community. I can’t live the Christian life alone. I need others to help me with my selfishness.
God found me a beautiful woman and in 1998 at the age of 35 I was married to Deb Vaillancourt of Somerset. . This was my second marriage ( my first was to Jesus). In the midst of many life changes, I moved to North Carolina in 2004 to pursue Seminary education. That’s when things got worse. In fact I was separated from my wife for 6 months in 2006, but God wouldn’t let us go. He used a church community (Open Door Baptist Church)and the power of his word to bring us back together. During these years I was a PE teacher at Wake Forest Rolesville High School in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He was molding me through my job and preparing me to plant a church. I had to learn to deal with HS students and lots of conflict and animosity for 10 months a year. It was the best training ground for being a Pastor. Deb and I were also raising 2 girls (Tiffany-10 and Bethany-7)who are currently in Tansey Elementary School in Fall River.
This past spring God completed the process of moving us back to Fall River, MA. I went through a church planting missionary process in the spring of 2011 and in the midst of the process chose to come North by faith. I resigned from my position in June of this past year. The church planting commissioning process was completed in October of this past year (2011). I have been commissioned as a church planting missionary to Fall River, MA by the North American Mission Board and the Baptist Convention of New England.
We arrived in Fall River on October 15th and plan to live in the city for many years. We are looking for three types of people to gather. First, we want to dialogue with people who have never heard the message of JC. Some have heard bits and pieces of the gospel, but not the gospel of repentance in faith in Jesus Christ alone. Second we want to throw out an olive branch to those who don’t have a church home or don’t feel comfortable in the one they are currently in, and third, to those who want another opportunity (second,third…) at church life. We will declare the name of Jesus throughout the city of Fall River, trusting that our strong, powerful God who does abundantly beyond what we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20) has many people who want to worship a God who is a life changer. You’d be amazed how powerful he is and what he is doing in our universe. You are welcome to come to our bible study or outreach events that we will be doing over the next year. We want Fall River to see we love the city and it’s people. Therefore we will love them in the power of the gospel. Pray for us and feel free to come and share your lives with us. My phone number is 919-761-3671 . I look forward to hearing from you.