Dear Friends & Prayer Partners;

I just want to be sure you know that contrary to what the world may say, our God is still on His throne. He is all powerful, all loving, all knowing, and looking out for your and my best interest. We can always be assured that while we are facing the enemy, God is guarding our back, making sure that some sneaky demon can't come from behind.

We feel we are at the point of a great breakthrough here. I can't tell you what kind of a breakthrough, or when it will come, but I can feel it in the spirit. We are praying and fasting that God bring it forth in His perfect will (and we're hoping that perfect will is soon).

-- IN THIS ISSUE --

• SALVATION TESTIMONIES

• TRIPS

• CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE

• BIBLE SCHOOLS

• MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS

• MISC. NOTES

• FAMILY NOTES

-- SALVATION TESTIMONIES --

Benjamin Vivas, one of the pastors under our covering in Reynosa, Mexico is doing a great work for the Lord. He is a psychologist by training, and has opened up his "consulting office" free to the public. When the people come in with their problems, he listens to them, and tells them they have two options, one is quick, and the other is slow.

Of course, everyone goes for the quick solution to their problem, which is to give their life to Jesus. He has won over 20 of his "patients" to the Lord this year alone. The great thing is, they're people who want to do more than just warm the pews, they want to work for the Lord. Not only that, but they're bringing in other unsaved people to hear the gospel.

Recently, a new patient came to see him, and received the Lord. The next day, she called him, and asked, "You're my pastor now, right?" He of course replied in the affirmative. She then asked him if he would come and pray for her and her husband's business. He readily agreed and went to meet her and her husband at one of their eight business locations. This location, like all of their others, was a strip joint!

After receiving Christ, this woman had gone home and told her husband what had happened. Together, they decided to close the eight strip joints they owned, and turn them into restaurants. So, not only was this woman saved, but the enemy lost several strongholds in the city!

Another man who was saved in the same way was a promoter of "lucha libre" which is the Mexican version of WWF wrestling. They asked Benjamin to come and pray for their business, and the fighters. One of the fighters that he prayed for was named "The Devil's Henchman." Benjamin slapped his hand on that man's head and prayed, "Oh, Lord, touch this man!"

Another of our spiritual children, Luis, has had some real breakthrough in their church, ministering to children. One couple in their church felt the burden to reach out to the children in the area, and so they did. Now, one Sunday a month is dedicated to the children. They are ministering to each other, and the adults. Since they are "performing" their parents come to see them and hear the gospel. God is using the children to minister to their parents!

-- TRIPS --

Rich's trip to Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico was, like usual, a very busy time of ministry. Because of the heat, we had made the decision that Deborah would stay at home this time. It's a good thing we made that decision, because the heat was really bad.

For three days, I ministered in a small fishing village, alongside a river, near the coast. Both the temperature, and the humidity were over 100 the whole time (yeah, I know, the humidity can't go over 100, but it sure seemed like it did). Two of the three days, there was no power, so we couldn't even turn on a fan. Not only that, but without power for the pump, there was no water to take a shower.

However, even if it was a little rough, God moved. One night, as I was preaching "What's Your Capacity to Receive?" (see teaching on our web site). As I was getting to the end of the message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the time when Peter had been fishing all night, without catching anything. But, when the Lord told him to cast the net on the other side of the boat, there were more fish than he could pull in!

Here I was in a fishing village, teaching about faith, and God drops that into my spirit. I got excited and told the people that there was no limit to how God could bless them if they would just obey and believe. I used that illustration to show them what God could do for them. I won't say that all of them got it, but some did.

In another church, there was a girl who was seriously demon possessed. During the ministry time at the altar, the demon manifested, knocking the girl on the ground kinking and screaming. She knocked over half the chairs in the church before we could minister liberty to her. Unfortunately, at first, she didn't want to be set free, but later she did, and our Lord was victorious in her life.

Our trip to Toluca, Mexico had to be postponed from September, to February of next year. The pastor who is our contact there didn't have things well organized, and needed more time. However, when we go in February, we'll be having a city-wide marriage conference for the churches, and also specific times of ministry to the pastors.

I don't know if you heard, but there was a hurricane that hit Central America, and Southern Mexico. Although it wasn't a high wind storm, it dumped over five feet of water on Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas in 24 hours. This caused serious flooding and mudslides. The Guatemalan government has declared that the entire country of Guatemala is a graveyard. There are entire cities buried under 20 or more feet of mud, killing all the inhabitants. Obviously, due to this, Rich's trip to Guatemala has been cancelled.

Deborah will be leaving shortly to spend just about the whole month of November in England, visiting family and friends. We are also believing that God will open doors for her to minister to people while she is there. Praise the Lord, that someone there is paying for her ticket. Please pray for her trip; that God be with her, protect her, and use her to minister to the people of England.

-- CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE --

On December 26th of last year we were able to bring a blessing to the children of one of the garbage dumps of Reynosa, Mexico. Working together with one of the churches under our covering, we brought toys, candy, food, and clothing to the people living and working there.

These people, who work collecting, sorting, and burning the city garbage earn an average of $20.00 per week. On that, they are barely able to feed their families rice and beans, let along buy their children gifts for Christmas. To them, Christmas isn't a joyous time, it's just another day of the year.

Due to the generosity of a number of people, we were able to be a blessing to about 150 children living in that area. Unfortunately, there are 19 other garbage dumps that we weren't able to visit. This year, we want to be a blessing to more of these children.

We have so much in this country, and all too often we take it for granted. We have asked local Hispanic churches to collaborate with us on this project, doing a toy drive within their own congregation. For each family that buys and donates one $5.00 toy there will be one more child with a smile on their face this Christmas.

Please pray for this project, that God moves upon the hearts of the people to be generous. If you, or your church, would like to participate, we welcome your gifts with gratitude. If you would like to send money to buy toys, mark your check "toys" and we will be sure to spend every cent on buying toys.

We have prepared a 2 ½ minute Microsoft PowerPoint presentation entitled "Christmas in the Dump" with photos from last years event. If you would like a copy on CD to show your church, or even for yourself, let us know and we'll send it to you.

-- BIBLE SCHOOLS --

God is opening more doors for us to minister in the various Bible Schools in the area. Starting this month, Rich will be teaching a class in Isaiah at one Bible school on this side of the border, followed by a class on the Old Testament in the same school.

Starting in November, both Rich & Deborah will be teaching classes at a Christian University in Reynosa, Mexico. Deborah will be teaching on hermeneutics, while Rich teaches on theology. Since Deborah will be in England when classes start, Rich will have to do the first two of hers.

Then in January, another Bible school, on the Texas side of the border, has asked Rich to teach on the Old Testament. So, it looks like we'll be doing a lot of class preparation and teaching over the next few months. Don't think that this means we're getting rich off of Bible schools though. The schools on the U.S. side of the border normally give us an offering of about $30.00 per week, while the Mexican one pays us $6.00 per class. Not exactly a fortune. But, we're not doing it for the money, we're doing it to minister to the future ministers.

-- MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS --

We've received some very bad news about the property we've been trying to buy for the ministry headquarters. We were literally at the point of the last papers, before turning it all in to the county for approval. The brother who was helping us buy the property returned from a missions trip to Africa. Since we hadn't completed the process of sub-dividing the land, he canceled the contract.

So, now we are back to square one, without any land. We are believing that God is either going to change that brother's heart, or has something better in mind. Please pray that God show us His plan, and open the doors that He wants open.

-- MISCELLANEOUS NOTES --

• Deborah ministered at a ladies conference in Reynosa along with a team from The Potter's House (Bishop T.D. Jakes church). Her message was entitled "Woman, Wife, and Lover." The ladies from the potters house were so excited to hear it, that she had to have it interpreted into English for them. It was a great success.

• Two weeks later, Rich ministered at a pastor's conference, with another team from the same church. The conference was entitled "Leading While Bleeding." Rich's message was "Take Advantage of Your Bleeding." It became the pivot point of the entire conference.

• For those who've joined our dollar club, we give you our thanks. Please don't forget to keep sending your dollars. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, visit: http://www.MaranathaLife.com/dollar.htm

-- FAMILY NOTES --

• Rebekah will be working as an interpreter again for a few days at the end of this month. This is becoming a regular habit of hers. But, then again, the perfect job is getting paid to do what you want to, and there's nothing she likes to do better than talk.

• Speaking of jobs, after only two months, Jenni's become the top producer at the store she's working at. She's enjoying her job as well. The only problem is that it's a clothes store, and she wants to buy everything she sees.

• Josh has been doing great in college. He's a very serious student, and is working hard at getting good grades. There was a problem with his English teacher (a Hispanic woman) who is prejudiced against whites. She was turning the class into a political theory class about how the United States has mistreated Hispanic people. While her complaints had some merit (but not as much as she gave them) that wasn't the forum for it. Worse than that, she wasn't grading Josh's work, and saying he didn't turn it in. Well, Josh very meticulously put his case together and took it to the department chair. He won his case, and went from being in the bottom of the class, to the top! The whole experience became a great lesson for him.

• The first Sunday of October, Rich had to minister in a church in Reynosa. Because of the problems that Deborah was having with the heat he left her behind, and she visited the church of some friends. During the prayer time, before the service, the Lord touched her, and healed her!

• Coco as usual is being a dog. He lays around all day, barks at every noise that he hears outside, and otherwise acts like a dog. I don't think he'll ever change.

Well, as you can see, we're still keeping busy here. In fact, we seem to be getting busier and busier. Please add to your prayers our ongoing need for help in the ministry. This is the time when the "Winter Texans" come back to roost. We're believing that a few of them will be looking for something to do while they are here.

Don't forget to take time to give thanks to the Lord this Thanksgiving, and maybe you can become a reason for somebody else to give thanks to Him as well. Think about it.

Blessings in Jesus,

Rev. Rich Murphy