Dear Friends & Prayer Partners;

Once again, it has been way too long since I have written you all to tell you what is going on here on the Texas/Mexico border. I actually started this newsletter just before Christmas, and am finally getting around to finishing it. So, for all of you we haven’t talked to, we hope you had a Merry Christmas, and that this year will be one of blessings for you.

With what is happening in the world economy and politics we are entering into a time where the people of God should stand out from the world. Firstly, we should stand out for our convictions and morality. Secondly, we should stand out by what God is doing to keep and protect us in dangerous times. Both of these will help us to be a witness to this world.

-- IN THIS ISSUE --

• CONFERENCE
• ON THE RADIO AGAIN
• INTERNET VIDEO BIBLE SCHOOL
• WELCOME TO STEVEN ENSLOW
• MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE
• UPCOMING TRIPS
• FAMILY NOTES

-- CONFERENCE --

Deborah and I were able to take a week off from the ministry and her teaching, in order to be ministered to ourselves. This is the first time, since Jenni was born, that we were able to get away by ourselves, other than to go somewhere and minister.

The conference we went to was put on by a ministry called Be In Health, located at Pleasant Valley Church in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Thomaston, Georgia.

The conference dealt with the spiritual roots of sickness. I won’t go into detail about what they taught, because it was 50 hours of teaching. However, the teaching was excellent, and the ministry has had incredibly good results. I would unconditionally recommend the conference to anyone.

You can find out more about this ministry, and see five hours of conference online at: beinhealth.com

-- ON THE RADIO AGAIN --

As of January the 5th, we are back ministering on the radio. Radio Cadena Manantiel, the Hispanic arm of the World Radio Network has us on a daily five minute program going out over their 25 Spanish radio stations throughout the United States. Additionally, the program is picked up and rebroadcast by the station Charisma, in Caracas, Venezuela.

This program, which I produce in conjunction with some of the pastors in the ministerial alliance where I am president, is unique in that it isn’t focused on just one minister, or ministry. Instead of being a program that lifts up one ministry, it lifts up Jesus.

-- INTERNET VIDEO BIBLE SCHOOL --

I can finally report that our entire video system is up and functioning. I ran some tests with the new computer a couple of weeks ago, and have even recorded a couple of skits at one of our churches. There are still a few bugs I’m working out, mostly in the area of lighting; but these could more accurately be described as improvements, instead of making the system functional.

It appears that God has been watching for me to finish fine-tuning the system and getting it usable; because as soon as I had it done, He started moving. I’ve had a meeting with a representative of Enlace (TBN’s Spanish network) about producing a television program (their initiative, not mine); a couple of pastors have asked me to “consult” on setting up systems for their church; and, best of all, I might have an actual television studio to work out of.

World Radio Network, which has 25 stations around the country, two of which (English & Spanish) are here in our area, has its main offices in the area. Since I’ve been working with them to put out our radio program, I am in the studio every week. When their building was built, there was included in the plan a small television studio. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for me, the person who was going to use this studio left them, before construction completed.

Apparently, they have rented out spaced which they are not using to other ministries in the past. I have talked with the CEO of World Radio Network about renting this studio. He liked the idea, and liked what I wanted to use it for. He asked me for, and I provided a proposal for my use of the area, so that his board could review it.
Please pray that they make a favorable decision on our behalf. As part of that prayer, please pray that the rental price they offer me is low enough that we can afford it.

In the mean time, I’ve been working with some excellent teachers to set up a recording schedule for classes. Our current plan is to begin recording classes in April, with commencement of classes to start in September. This will give us a chance to build a “bank” of classes before actually putting them on the Internet.

-- WELCOME TO STEVEN ENSLOW --

We have another blessing which ties directly in to the Video Bible School of the Internet. For the last several months, I have been teaching a video production class to a group of homeschooling teenagers. My purpose in this, besides serving other homeschoolers, has been to interest some of the youth in working with me as volunteers. When I announced the class, I told the parents about my “ulterior motive.”

Well, my time investment has paid off better than I hoped. Steven Enslow, my best student in the class has just joined me as an intern for three days a week. He will be working on the production of the video bible school and other video related projects.

Steven’s desire in this is to learn video production, with the idea of possibly opening his own business after graduation. His parents are in agreement that this be part of his schooling, and are supporting him by having him work with me for the next couple of years.

-- MINISTERIAL ALIANCE --

In November, the Hispanic Ministerial Alliance had elections for its board of directors for the years 2009 – 2010. I was unanimously elected to continue as president of the alliance.

Being president of the alliance allows me another avenue to minister to the pastors and help them in their ministries. In the last two years, we’ve hosted a number of combined events, held training seminars for pastors and leaders, and continued to minister to them through both written and recorded teachings every month. Additionally, various pastors have come to me for counsel and prayer over their problems.

The ministerial alliance is growing through these various activities. When I took over, we had dropped down to only 12 members; currently, we have over 40. Most of this is due to the various activities we’ve done in the alliance.

-- UPCOMING TRIPS --

Last year, I did very little traveling in the ministry, unlike 2007, when I went on 16 separate trips. I attribute this, more than anything, to all the time I spent on building the video system, and preparing for the Internet Video Bible School.

However, doors seem to be opening again for more travels. I currently have three trips scheduled; one this month to Toluca (near Mexico City), and two to Tabasco in March and May. These are all to minister in churches that are under our covering, or nearly so.

I guess I’m going to have to get even better in using my time and not allowing any of it to go to waste. The video bible school in and of itself is going to be a time challenge. To add traveling to minister on top of that will make things very interesting. However, ministry is about people, and if I ignore the people, in order to do the work, I won’t accomplish anything.

-- FAMILY NOTES --

As per usual, the whole family is very busy, and probably will be until school lets out. Deborah and Jenni both tell me they can’t wait for spring break to get here. Josh and Rebekah haven’t said anything about this, but I’d be willing to bet they are in agreement.

The biggest family news is that Jenni is no longer living at home. She’s 22 now, and has decided to move out. This doesn’t mean that she’s living on her own though; she’s moved in with her pastor and his wife. Since she is very involved with the church, as both the assistant worship leader and assistant youth leader, being in close contact with the pastor helps her out.

In January, she had her senior recital. This was essentially a one woman concert, which is a requirement before graduation for all music majors. She did absolutely excellent, even though she had a sore throat. Actually, we couldn’t even tell she had any problem whatsoever.

Josh has been working like crazy at his job at Starbucks. An additional benefit of this is that we always have plenty of coffee in the house. They want him to become a shift leader, then later an assistant manager. The problem, just like in most retail, is that it doesn’t pay as well as he’ll make as a teacher. I keep telling him to tell them, “The magic number is $40,000.00.” Since they don’t want to pay him that, there’s no worry about him giving up the music. :-)

He’s also going to have to do a recital to finish out his degree. For a while, it looked like he was going to have it in the summer, but the current plan is to do it as soon as school starts in the fall.

Rebekah is of course really busy with her ballet and diving. Her swim team took first place in the district finals. Now they’re getting ready to go to regionals. Since Rebekah hasn’t been swimming and diving long, she really wasn’t a major contributor to the total points the team needed, in order to win. But, as part of the team, she still gets to bask in the glory of winning.

There is a Christian ballet company, called Ballet Magnificat, which Rebekah is interested in. They have a couple of ballet camps in the summer, which she is trying to go to. The issue isn’t paying for it, although there is some cost involved, it’s getting accepted. They have an extensive application process, including videotaping her doing certain combinations of ballet steps. Since this is a professional company, they don’t want to open their camps up to just anybody, only to those who are ready to receive what they are going to teach. Please pray for her to get accepted.

Deborah has been struggling the whole year to restart the bible club in school. Either the district or the school itself has been putting up a lot of roadblocks. Finally, the pastor she was working with got so busy; he couldn’t work with her any more. However, she hasn’t given up. Instead of having a bible club, she’s just opening up her classroom for the students who want to come in and “hang out” after school on Mondays. The teachers are supposed to build relationships with the students, so she’s doing just that. It’s not her fault that all the students who decided to come are Christians who want to sing, hold Bible studies and watch Christian videos.

As always, we covet your prayers and support. We are constantly going before the Lord to ask for more wisdom and more finances to complete the work of the ministry. I know that everyone is worried about the economy, but we’re not letting that slow us down here. This ministry is growing, moving out into new areas, and expecting the provision of God to arrive in time.

There was a report online, I think from the 700 club, about how missionaries are cutting back, due to lowered support funds. The funny thing to me was that the day we were hearing this report, I was building the console for my video production suite.

I have always believed in God’s provision. But, I have never believed that provision comes like rain from heaven; instead it comes through people. We pray over every offering we receive, that God will multiply blessings and provision back to those who are being used as a provision to this ministry.

Blessings in Jesus,

Rev. Rich Murphy
Maranatha Life