What's our story?
Pastors Corey and Rose Erman started out in ministry in 1996 and founded Turkish Revival Ministries in 1999 to fulfill the vision birthed by God in their hearts to bring revival to the nation of Turkey and the regions beyond. In December 1999, they established a mission base in Istanbul, Turkey consisting of River Istanbul Church, River Bible Institute of Turkey and TRM Media for broadcasting the Gospel over TV and Internet. They have travelled to 25 nations carrying revival, impacting thousands of people, raising up hundreds of believers and ministers through their training programs and establishing many churches and Bible Schools in the nations.
Church History
The River at Istanbul is a fruit of the vision God placed in the hearts of the Founding Pastors Güçlü Corey Erman and Gülben Rose Erman. The church and its related ministries are under the Apostolic covering of Turkish Revival Ministries (TRM), which was founded by them as a result of the vision, fire and purpose God placed in their hearts.They were sent by God to Istanbul, Turkey with an Apostolic calling to plant a church in the heart of Istanbul that would carry the fire of revival to this nation and beyond. They started doing revival services in a hotel in Taksim in November 1999.Within a few weeks the crowds grew from 8 to 105 people. The first Sunday service of the church was conducted on December 5th, 1999.The church met in several hotels in Taksim area until it moved to the current location on Cumhuriyet. 175/6 Harbiye in April 2000. In January 2000, The River Bible Institute of Istanbul (RBI) was launched with the purpose of “Training revivalists for the 21st Century.”This is a Bible School where the Word and the Spirit come together. The school is designed to impart the Word of God and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to help every student discover their gifts and callings, and to equip every student to fulfill the call of God.
Church Vision
In simple terms, The River at Istanbul is “A Ministry of the Word and the Spirit of Revival.”The VISION of The River at Istanbul (aka Turkish Revival Ministries) is: “To see one million souls come into the Kingdom of God through evangelism, equipping and church planting.”
Church Mission
To bring revival to the church and mobilize the Body of Christ to labor in the harvest fields and bring in the end-time harvest of souls. To equip believers with the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to be effective and fruitful in their divine callings. To plant churches and raise up Ephesians 4:11 five-‐fold ministry offices in the Body of Christ. To accomplish the MANDATE given to our local church we have the following three priorities in everything that we do:1.Evangelism 2.Equipping 3.Church planting