--- IN THIS ISSUE ---

• - Citywide Prayer

• - Other Cities

• - Deborah's Testimony Update

• - Ministering to the Pastors

• - Conferences

• - Bible School

• - Radio

• - Web Site

• - Motorhome Update

• - Prayer Requests

--- CITYWIDE PRAYER ---

On January 22nd, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, we had the first citywide prayer gathering in Reynosa, Mexico. This was the cumulation of several months work, and the birth of what we are believing will be a new movement to change the city of Reynosa. We've given this movement the name "Despierta Reynosa" which means "Wake Up Reynosa" Using 2 Chron 7:14, and Joel 3:9 for our main rallying scriptures.

This was the first time in the history of Reynosa, that the city allowed a Christian group to use the central plaza for any service of any kind. We went to them under the auspices of one of the radio stations, which immediately got their attention, and the gave us permission. Not only that, but they didn't charge us anything to use the plaza!

As with anything that involves different churches and believers, there are always different ideas about how it should be run. But, praise the Lord! When we sat down to put the schedule together for what we'd pray for, and how we would run the prayer gathering, it went exactly according to the plan that God gave me. When we were talking in generalities, everyone put their two cents worth in, but when it came time for a specific schedule, everyone was quiet, allowing me to put the schedule together the way the Lord showed me.

We ended up with between 500 and 700 believers gathering together for the time of intercession. Amongst them were 35 pastors. Considering how hard it is to get the pastors here in Reynosa together for anything, that was truly amazing!

Of course, there were a few problems, but overall, the whole prayer gathering went exceptionally well. Even those things that people did to try and change the plans put their own agenda forward didn't hurt the event. Either their changes fell flat, or God used it in some way to bring greater unity in the prayer gathering.

The core group of pastors we are working with has grown as well. Through this, some other pastors have stepped forward, stating that they want to see the city changed through prayer. We're hoping and believing that they will receive the vision, and truly work together to bring about the change that God desires in this city. At this point, our greatest work is to guard the vision, and make sure this doesn't become another point of division within the Body of Christ here.

As of right now, we're working on plans for two more prayer gatherings; in March and May. Each of them will be in one of the plazas of the two major colonias (kind of like a suburb) here in Reynosa. There's also talk about a citywide series of evangelistic campaigns, happening in 100 churches at the same time for this summer. And, by the end of the year, we expect to be using the baseball stadium for 10,000 believers interceding together for the city.

For all of you who have been praying for us in this time, thank you!!! But, please don't stop. The work is far from over, and the enemy still wants to stop us. Please continue to pray for us in this work.

The prayer gathering in Reynosa has sparked interest in the pastor's group in the nearby town of Rio Bravo. They are asking us how they can get a similar movement started in their town. So, we may have Despierta Rio Bravo going soon as well.

God is starting to spread us out from Reynosa. We've targeted two other towns here in Mexico that it seems God is going to have us working in. One is Rio Bravo, which is only about 10 miles from Reynosa. The other is Matamoros, about 40 miles down the road. Both are border towns, but they have a much more "open" spiritual climate than Reynosa.

We were asked to speak recently at a conference in Matamoros. This was through the church we recently created a web site for. The pastor of that church has just taken over acting as the covering for six churches in Matamoros, and wants our help in giving conferences to disciple these churches. Between that contact, and the Bible School there in Matamoros, it seems that we're starting to receive open doors to minister there.

God had shown us to start working in Rio Bravo as well. As soon as we started talking and praying about it, we met the pastor who's the head of the pastor's group in that city. He heard us preach and is working on setting up a date for us to speak to the pastor's group.

I've got to share this with you. Remember the testimony of "The Night Deborah Died?" The same day that we were in that accident, one of the Hispanic churches we minister in on the American side had a meeting to organize an fund raising dinner for us. This is the first time in our ministry that a church has had a fund raiser for us.

Had they had the fund raiser one week earlier, the Mexican lawyer would have probably ended up with that money as well. As it was, they held it a few days later, giving us the money to continue ministering after the accident.

One of the Mexican churches also had a special offering for us. They gave us 1,800 pesos out of the 2,000 pesos that the accident cost us. That's a HUGE offering for a Mexican church. God always provides!

We know this is what God wants us to do, but we'd really prefer a better turnout. The problem is three-fold. On one hand, there's a severe apathy on the part of many of the pastors. They really don't want to know any more than they currently do. They really don't want to move out of their traditions, they're happy just the way things are. This even goes to the point where many of them don't want their churches to grow, because that would mean more work for them.

Another part of the problem is that we aren't "missionaries." The church here along the border is so used to Americans coming and giving them food, clothing, money, etc. that that's the focus of many of the pastors. When we come to give them spiritual food and gifts, some of them feel as if we've cheated them! They're more interested in receiving physical things than spiritual things.

The third part of the problem is the division that exists between the pastors here. Because of that, if a conference is in the church of one pastor, some others won't come. Other pastors won't be involved in something just because it isn't in their church, or doesn't have their name on it. I think you get the idea.

However, even with these problems we are seeing some great results. Several people's lives have been changed by the teachings we have been able to give in these conferences. We are seeing growth, and we are seeing change!

We're also having great results with the lady's conferences. Pastors are coming to us know and asking us to put on ladies conferences in their churches. It seems that there aren't women speakers available (mostly because of the machismo attitude), and they're thrilled to have Deborah available to minister to their women. We have three ladies conferences in three different churches scheduled in the next six weeks. In all three cases, the pastors came to us, it wasn't a conference we were setting up on our own.

This is supposed to be an Old Testament survey type of a class, the whole OT in six three hour sessions. My main focus is to teach the students that the Old Testament applies to the believer today. So far, it's been going great, and the students are scribbling furiously, trying to keep notes on everything.

So far, I've taught them on covenant, Genesis, and the history of Israel. Next week, I'm teaching them on the Tabernacle, and worship. The following week, I'm going to cover the Biblical Festivals, including doing a Passover Seder with them.

One interesting thing is that I've been teaching it bilingual. That's a first for me. Every time before that we needed to do something bilingual, I've done it in English, and Debbie's translated. This time, I'm doing both. Thank God for His grace!

Another interesting thing is that we've already received one invitation to minister from one of our students. It's amazing the variety of ways God can use to open doors for us.

There's still a question of the legality of this that I haven't gotten an answer to. Technically, we can't preach in public in Mexico, although it really isn't a problem when we're in a church. I need the answer to this question before we can continue. A "NO" doesn't necessarily mean we won't, but I want to know beforehand.

This will be the first pure teaching program on the radio in Reynosa. So, we believe it's an important work. All we've had is a delay, it isn't by any means canceled. Just need to get the details worked out.

Just got a report from our web server. We had 4,313 "sessions" on the web site for the month of January. A session is someone looking at any part of our web site. Some of those sessions are for only one page, and others are for several. That number is up from 2,700 in December. It seems we're ministering to more people on the web than we are in person!

Our web site stands at 181 pages as of now, with almost 100 of them containing teachings of one sort or another. We keep adding, and apparently it's working.

I've just added some more banners to that part of our web site. If you have some time, check them out at: http://www.MaranathaLife.com/banners/bnr-indx.htm

For any of you that missed it, the teaching on "Vision, Direction and Obedience" is online at: http://www.MaranathaLife.com/teachings/obey.htm

Also, if you want to share the testimony of "The Night Deborah Died" with anyone, it's online at: http://www.MaranathaLife.com/nws01-1a.htm

If you're ever checking out our web site, and are wondering what's new, we have a index of our latest additions at: http://www.MaranathaLife.com/what-new.htm You can access this page from the main page. There's a link from the question mark on our logo graphic, and also from the test immediately below our logo.

--- MOTORHOME UPDATE ---

The motorhome is running great right now. Although, I will have to confess, my confidence in it isn't real high. There's still a smell of smoke coming from the engine whenever I accelerate, and I'm not sure why.

The car isn't running yet, so we're having to use the motorhome to go everywhere. Although we've been doing this for four years, it would be much easier if we didn't have to take the motorhome every time we had a meeting, or needed to visit a store. I need some wisdom from God on exactly what's wrong with it.

We plan on leaving this area and traveling "up north" in the USA during the summer again. Our biggest concern with this is our motorhome. Please continue praying for the bus we've been believing for. It is possible that God wants to move us into another motorhome before that. We're open to that possibility as well... whatever God wants. We just want it reliable, and hopefully a little bigger than what we've got now.

1 - There is an incredible spirit of poverty over the Hispanic churches on the American side of the border. We have been teaching the people, and coming against that spirit, but it's a real stronghold in the lives of the people.

2 - Continued provision for us. There have been some times lately where the money coming in and the money going out haven't exactly looked the same. Our God is more than able to supply all our needs, and we believe He will. We just ask that you keep this up in your prayers for us as well.

3 - Continued open doors. Every time I look at the "schedule" for the next month, I wonder what we're going to do with all those open dates. Before I know it, all those dates are full. I love how God opens doors for us. We continue to leave that in His hands, and expect Him to provide places for us to minister.

4 - Our children's teeth. All three of the kids need the attention of an orthodontist, especially Joshua. We can get the work done much cheaper in Mexico, but we haven't been able to afford it yet.

5 - For unity in the Body of Christ, especially within the pastors.