Maranatha Life
Churches We've Ministered At

Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

When we were at our home church in August 1999, God woke Debbie three nights in a row to pray for a pastor in McAllen called Jim Vinita. We didn't know Jim, but found him and called him. He asked us to come meet him whenever we were in the area.

Just after Thanksgiving, 1999, we were at our headquarters in Austin, Texas, and thought it was time to meet Jim Vinita.  So, we showed up at his church office on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  He asked us to minister Wednesday night at his church, Abundant Grace Community Church.  Rich preached on "Seeking First the Kingdom of God."  

Through Jim Vinita, we met a couple of missionaries in his church, and started ministering in Reynosa, Mexico.

This ended up being the first time in our ministry we remained in one place for more than two weeks.  We ministered in the Rio Grande Valley and especially in Reynosa, Mexico for six months.  During the month of April 2000 we preached 29 messages, and in May 32.  After that, we felt it was time to go north for a while, with the intention of returning to minster in Reynosa in the fall of 2000.  WE scheduled a series of conferences for pastors during the fall and winter of 2000.

 Living Cell Church - Harlingen, TX - 12 & 17 Dec 99 - Met the pastor, Ronnie Longoria at a Messianic Jewish group we'd been taken to by a missionary couple from Jim Vinita's church.  Shared the "Eye of the Needle with him.  He asked us to come minister at his church sometime.

Didn't have anywhere to go for Sunday the 12th, so went to visit.  The pastor immediately asked us to minister.  In the morning, Rich preached on "Seek First the Kingdom."  In the evening, Rich taught on dance in worship.  The church was in the process of entering the river of God, and we helped springboard them in deeper.

They asked us to join them for their Christmas party on the 17th.  Rich preached on "Living Under the Shadow of the Cross."  The Holy Spirit fell in that place and people were out on the floor.

20 Jan 00 - Got together with the Longorios and some of the people from their church in the evening. After dinner, we worshipped and the Holy Spirit fell. Ended up with a bunch of holy laughter going on.

11 Feb 00 - Ministered at a Valentine's banquet held by Living Cell church and three other churches at the Best Western in Harlingen, TX. The worship leader from Trinity was doing music. The Spirit fell while he was playing, and people were eating. The presence of the Lord was so strong that Rich couldn't eat, and felt his hands tingling. Rich ministered on marriage. After preaching, Rich called up people to receive more from the Lord. The people were falling out in the Spirit just about as soon as we laid hands on them. Rich had prophetic words for several people.

9 Mar 00 - Ronnie Longoria stopped by to say hi. He asked us to come minister at his church that night. Before the service really started there were people prostrate on the floor, getting in God's presence. Rich preached on "Being Continually Filled with the Spirit." At the altar call, he asked for people to commit to being with the Lord for one hour each day, and doing whatever the Holy Spirit says. Almost everyone stood up. We prayed for everyone, and almost all of them went down in the Spirit. Rich had prophetic words for a couple of people.

16 Mar 00 - Had to go to Harlingen to run some errands. We had been planning on going to a Hispanic church in Donna for the evening service, but we didn't feel like it. We felt like we needed to chase God with the Longorias. So, we went over there, and he asked us to minister. The Holy Spirit fell in that place and we were on the carpet for about three hours. Rich preached a short message about the purpose of coming into God's presence, in Isaiah chapter 6.

18 & 20 Apr 00 - Ministered to them for "passover prep." Rich preached on "The Bride."  On the 20th, we did the Jewish Passover celebration with them.

9 - 10 May 00 - Spent two days mentoring the pastor and his wife.  Helped them with some problems in the church.  While we were doing this, we made a welcome pack for the church, and supplied them with brochures, and other things to help them as pastors.

In the evening, Rich preached on "Adding to the River."

 1st Assembly of God - Mission, TX - 22 Dec 99 - Met the pastor and associate pastor through the couple we were staying with. He had taken me to their men's breakfast. Rich preached "On the Altar." At the altar call, about half of the people came up. Prayed for a bunch of people, and had prophetic words for some.

 The Lighthouse - Donna, TX - 9 - 15  Jan 00 - Melvin Leslie (missionary) suggested that we go over and meet Melvin High. So we went. He asked us to minister on Sunday night.  Rich preached on "Totally Sold Out." At the altar call, about half of the people came up. The power of God fell. Rich had prophetic words for a number of people. They asked us to come back Tuesday.

Tuesday - Rich preached on a variation of "Desperate for God," bringing the fall of Adam, and Haceed into it. After praying for people, he felt like there had been a definite breakthrough in the Spirit.  The pastor said that we had revival.

Wednesday- Rich preached

Thursday - Rich preached on "The Fire of God." About half of the people came up for the altar call, to receive the baptism of fire.  Rich then started picking people out of the congregation that the Lord directed him to prophesy over. We did a second altar call for people who needed a healed heart (emotional). A number of women and a few men came up and received. The Holy Spirit fell on them, and they were healed.

Friday - Rich preached on "The Art of Repentance." During the altar call, almost everyone came up. The Holy Spirit directed Rich to ask who in the congregation wanted a word from Him. Then, He said that the Lord would give a word to everyone who had raised their hands. The Holy Spirit also directed Rich to tell people that Saturday night would be healing night.

Saturday - Rich preached a combination healing and salvation message. We started praying for healings with backs. Six people gave testimony of healing. We then prayed for other healing needs. Several people gave testimony that they could feel a difference. One Hispanic lady started crying when we prayed for her arm that was hurting. Debbie told her to flex her hand and she cried more. Rich moved her elbow and she cried even more. She wasn't crying from the pain, but from the fact that the pain was gone! One boy (about 10 yrs old) gave his heart to the Lord.

At the end of this week, the pastor announced that they would be taking a few days break, and then continuing with somebody else ministering.

11 Jun 00 - Before heading north for the summer, the pastor asked us to come back and preach one more time, so we did.

 The Lighthouse - Weslaco, TX - 19 Jan 00 - Rich preached on "The Bride." At the altar call, everyone came up. God gave prophetic words for several people. When we prayed for the people, almost everyone went down in the Spirit.

 Spirit of Praise - Harlingen, TX - 20 Feb 00 - Went to Spirit of Praise church in Harlingen, TX. The pastor recognized that we were ministers, and asked us to come minister there that night. Rich preached on "Successful Christianity." Everyone came up for the altar call, and many went down in the Spirit. We received the largest offering we'd ever received for one service.

12 Mar 00 - The pastor was gone for the weekend, and asked us to come minister. In the morning, Rich preached on "Overflowing with the Spirit of God." In the evening, Rich preached "On the Altar." During both services, many people came forward for the altar call. We prayed for many people, most of who went down in the Spirit.

 Church of the Living Word - Weslaco, TX - 1 Mar 00 - Rich preached on "Fully Committed to God" (2 Chr 16:9).

 Spirit of Victory - Pharr, TX - 19 Apr 00 - We had seen this church on the way coming out from Mexico, and stopped in to fellowship with the pastor.  He asked us to come back and do the Jewish Passover celebration with them.

 Proclamar al Salvador - Weslaco, TX - 30 Apr 00 - Didn't have anything scheduled for the morning, so we went to Proclamar el Salvador in Weslaco. We had passed the church several times, and had been intrigued by it.  The pastor is a black man from Haiti. He asked us to minister, so Rich preached on "Changed by the Presence of God" (using Jacob's encounter with God). He asked us to come back and teach every Monday night.

1 May 00 - Rich taught on "the Bride."

15 May 00 - Rich taught on "the Tabernacle of Moses"

22 May 00 - We did an "And God Created Sex" mini seminar

29 May 00 - Rich taught on various Jewish customs.

 Nuevo Templo Emmanuel - Edinburg, TX - 16 Apr 00 - Met the pastor at one of Jessee Duplantis's services and he was disappointed that we couldn't come any sooner.  We had picked up some type of bug in Mexico, so we were very weak, and running to the bathroom a lot. Because of this, we preached sitting down. In the morning, Rich preached on "The Bride" and in the evening, Rich preached "On the Altar." We had a great response to the altar call.

11 Jun 00 - Taught on Dance in Worship

Outside the United States:

Mexico

See our photo album of Minsitry in Mexico

 Chichuahua & Juarez Mexico - 1992-1993 - We were traveling into Mexico for short term missions trips on every long weekend, and vacation we could find.  God was moving miraculously in healing, deliverance, and teaching the people.

 Acuna Mexico - 7-14 Mar 1999 - God had Deborah a prophetic word that we'd minister in Mexico at least five times in the next two weeks.  We didn't know how he was going to do this, but we knew it would have to be Him, or it couldn't happen.  Arrived in Del Rio, TX and the first person we met was a Mexican lady who told us about Mission de Fe (Faith Mission) on the U.S. side of the border.  We went into Acuna, and met the pastor from the Assembly of God church in the central part of town.  He asked us to come minister on Sunday afternoon.

Met the people at Faith Mission.  We attended service, and helped in their warehouse for three missions days.  They are probably the largest mission on the border.  The associate pastor connected us with their native pastors, and we preached 8 times in one week.

Reynosa, Mexico - 11 Dec 99 - 7 Jun 00 -

See our photo album of Minsitry in Mexico

See information on prayer movement in Reynosa, Mexico.

Came to this area because we had been praying for pastor Jim Vinita (see above).  Ministered in 21 churches in Mexico in the six months we were there, many of them several times over.  Although  we don't know the full results of the churches we ministered in once, we saw some tremendous changes in the churches we ministered in several times.

We saw great moves of the Holy Spirit, and numerous healings, especially of diabitis.  The churches in Mexico are deeply steeped in tradition, and we were able to help bring them out of their tradition and into the move of the Holy Spirit.  By the end of the time we were there, the pastors were coming to the church we stayed at in order to ask us to minister in their churches.  They'd heard about what God was doing in our services, and wanted the same in their church.

When we arrived in the valley, Rich didn't speak any Spanish, other than a few memorized phrases.  This was even though he had studied Spanish in school for three years.  After the first three months, he was frustrated and prayed for God to give him Spanish.  Within a week, he was answering the questions of one of the bible school students (rough, but understandable).  Within a month, he started preaching some of the message in Spanish.  By the time we left (six weeks), Rich could preach just about the whole thing in Spanish.

Bob & Emily Mendez (Missionaries) - 11 Dec 99 - Went with Bob & Emily Mendez to their church in Reynosa, Mex. Rich preached on "The Bride Without Spot, Wrinkle, or Blemish."  Got the men to start dancing in their church.

17 Dec 99 - Went to the prison in Reynoso, Mex with the Mendez'. They had asked us to dance there, and were praying that as we (especially Rich) danced, the spirit of machizimo would break off of the men. We ended up with a bunch of the men there dancing.

18 Dec 99 - Went to minister in the Mendez' church in Reynoso. Rich preached on "Totally Sold Out." We prayed for the entire church, had words for a few people. Most of them went down under the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Center de Oracion, Alpha & Omega - Went to the church for a pastor's meeting.  We met the pastor through a missionary that had been on the field for 50 years.   Although we didn't minister in this church much, we ministered to the  pastor a lot.

26 Feb 00 - Brough this church and Templo Sinai together for a marriage seminar.

3 Mar 00 - Preached on "the Bride."

9 Apr 00 - Preached on "Faith."

 Belen de Juda - Met this pastor at the pastor's meeting at Alpha & Omega.  After we ministered there the first time, he asked us to minister every Wednesday night we weren't busy somewhere else.  Ended up becoming pretty good friends with the pastor & his wife, and spent a lot of time answering his questions about the Bible.

26 Mar 00 - Preached "Totally Committed to God."

29 Mar 00 - Taught on "Dance in Worship"

26 Apr 00 - Preached "Entering Into the Holy of Holies."

7 May 00 - Did the Jewish Passover celebration at his church.

17 May 00 - "The Heights & the Depths" & "Eye of the Needle."

31 May 00 - Preached on "The Condition of the Church"

Of the churches we ministered in in Reynosa, we saw the Holy Spirit touch more people in this church than any other.  At first, it was juts when we were praying for people, but by the end of our time there, it was happening when they prayed for each other.  The people were expecting the Holy Spirit to move in their services.

 Nuevo Horizonte - This pastor was an ex-terrorist.  We met him through the pastor's alianca.  His church is a tarp draped over the area in front of his house with some chairs and a very small sound system.  But, God is moving in the life of this man, and he is believing for great things.  This was probably the most hungry, ready to receive group we've had in Mexico

21 May 00 - Preached on "A Worshipper Hungry for God."  During the prayer time, God touched a bunch of people.

24 May 00 - Preached on "Tithes and Offerings."  The pastor's don't preach on finances there because they are afraid of losing their people.  However, according to the bible, they won't get out of their poverty until they understand how God's principles of finances work.  At the end, we prayed for the tithers, and for those who wanted to repent from not being tithers.

6 Jun 00 - Did a mini Marriage seminar. Afterwards, a bunch of the women came to Deborah for prayer. One couple, who had been split up, and had left the ministry, came forward for prayer. Their marriage was healed, and they decided to obey God and get back into the ministry.

 Iglesia Sinai - Met this pastor through the pastor's alianca.  He asked us to come to his church and do a "And God Created Sex" marriage seminar.  It was so well received that he asked us to come back a month later and do another, on Sunday, for those who couldn't come to the first one.

 Templo Sinai - Met this pastor at the pastor's meeting at Alpha & Omega.  He was the most organized of that group of pastors.  We ended up using his church as our second home whenever we were staying in Mexico.  He had room for our motorhome, and put in hookups for us.  Spent a lot of time sharing with him, and became good friends.

This church was very traditional.  Every time we ministered there, we ended up doing something they weren't used to (dance, prophecy, people falling down in the Spirit, etc.).  This really shook up some of their traditions.  The pastor told us that before we came, the people weren't expecting much, but because of us, they weren't satisfied with their "religious christianity" and wanted more of God, especially more of the move of the Holy Spirit.

This pastor had been in the ministry for 30 years, and had been the head of a bible institute for a large chunk of that time.  Because of that, he knew a lot of other pastors.  A lot of the churches we ministered in was because of his influence.  He introduced us to the pastors alianca, and recommended us to several of his friends.

26 Feb 00 - "And God Created Sex" marriage seminar

27 Feb 00 - Preached "Being Desperate for God" in the morning, and "Totally Sold Out" in the evening.

5 Mar 00 - Preached "Getting the Victory" and "Taking Back the Ground"

26 Mar 00 - Preached "Being Continually Filled With the Holy Spirit"

22 Apr 00 - Preached "Living in the Shadow of the Cross"

This pastor, along with the others who are part of the group he's in, started a bible institute.  We worked to help them with organizational things, and started a lending library for pastors in the bible institute.

 Torre de Oracion - Met this pastor through the alianca.  He was a student of the pastor at Templo Sinai when he was in charge of the bible institute.  He had also lived in the United States for several years and spoke excellent English.  His attitudes in regard to the church were more Americanized too.  This is another pastor we became good friends with.

He asked us to come minister at his church every week on the area of worship.  The Mexican church is good at praise, but doesn't understand worship.  He wants the presence of God in his church, and understands that he needs worship in order to get it.

2 May 00 - Preached on "Being a Worshipper"

16 May 00 - Preached on "God's Favorite House"

23 May 00 - Taught on "Dance in Worsihp" and "The Eye of the Needle."  At the end, the whole church came to the front to dance before the Lord.  Gave them flags and streamers to use in worship.

27 May 00 - Preached on "Getting in the River of God"

28 May 00 - Preached "On the Altar" in the morning.  This is the first church in Mexico that responded well to the altar call on this subject.  In the evening, preached "Filled to Overflow" & "Baptism of Fire."

The dance that had started on the 23rd continued through the weekend. One of the young men looked like he'd been using flags for years. The pastor's daughter, who hadn't been a very committed believer, started doing prophetic sign language.  Several people were drunk in the Spirit.