Dear Faithful Prayer Supporters;

We have been back here in
since June, but it seems like we just returned here a week ago!
However, if one has been reading our bi-monthly prayer letters with
minimal comprehension (All prayer letters posted on www.ecuamurray.org
), one has observed that the LORD has done some incredible things in
just 7 months! We are so privileged to simply be His instruments here
in this wonderful, marvelous, yet spiritually difficult city of Cuenca, .

Recent Ministry Headlines:

•New Believers Witness to others/Bring them to Church

•New Names Written Down in Glory!

•Church Plant Growing Stronger than Ever!

•The poorest of the poor helped at Christmas/hear the Gospel

•Building Fund Growing!

•Attempted Kidnapping of My Nephew/Danger in the Barrio

New Believers Witness to others/Bring them to Church

It
is such a joy to see people we have led to Christ start to do what
every believer should be doing-witnessing to their friends and family.
In my understanding, the Bible teaches that this is a natural event
after one truly experiences the forgiveness and the release of bonds
which occurs when one truly accepts Jesus Christ as his personal
Savior. It is so exciting to see what God is doing for example in
Sylvia’s and QuiQue’s lives, along with various others who are new to
the faith.

Examples:

•Over
a month ago Sylvia and QuiQue (Enrique) had us show a movie about the
Rapture and teach about this subject in their home. They invited their
neighbor, who accepted their invitation. As I was teaching and asking
for feedback, I really got the feeling that their neighbor was
uncomfortable. (Never trust your feelings: Jeremiah 17:9) However, the
contrary was true! Sylvia has had more contact with her neighbor, and
has been witnessing to her…and her neighbor has been very receptive.
Please pray for her salvation…and for Sylvia as she shares the eternal
life giving message of the Gospel.

•My
hunting buddy,Cesar, was first invited to church by Qui-Que. Cesar has
been coming rather faithfully on Wednesday nights, along with his wife
and son. I was privileged to receive an emergency phone call by his
wife, Lorena, when her grandmother passed away. I was surprised,
frankly, that they had called me for spiritual guidance. There I met
the whole family and was able to minister to them in a limited way.

The
next week Cesar and Lorena brought her mother and her brother to our
Wednesday night service. They were fascinated with our plain/normal
interpretation and expository delivery of God’s Word, and asked for
more! (Because they actually understood what was being taught. People
here are used to listening to format sermons based on the established
religion’s dogma, and understanding absolutely nothing.) Lorena’s
mother asked me if I would be willing to witness to her husband and to
teach the both of them concerning the Rapture and the End Times. I
think you can guess how I responded. I am excited to think of what God
will do through this! 

New Names Written Down in Glory!

.

Praise
God for new people accepting Jesus Christ as their one and only
personal Savior from their sins and the consequences thereof! Both
Cesar and Lorena (Mentioned above), and my friend, Santiago N., asked
Jesus into their hearts during our service the week previous to
Christmas! What an unexplainable happiness it is to see them make their
decisions after such a long time witnessing and sharing! Please pray
for Sonia and for me as we attempt to lead them to higher spiritual
ground (Discipleship).

Church Plant Growing Stronger than Ever!

As
one may read above, things are happening! We praise God for the steady
growth in our little church plant. As I mentioned in a previous email,
many of our former church people who transferred from another church
“to help us out” have decided to go to the bigger church I partner
with. And others have chosen to go the Charismatic route. Although I
did not want to lose them, this has proven to be a healthy
change…because we are now focusing on what we wanted to focus on all
along: leading new people to Christ, discipling them from scratch, and
forming a brand new church with them! Now we actually have more people then we did originally as we have who have stayed with us, and new folks who have come aboard! Rom 8:28
reads “And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” I am
just thrilled to see God work in great and mighty ways as He plants His
church here in Cuenca. He knows what is best, and it is so evident that He is in control.

The poorest of the poor helped at Christmas/heard the Gospel.

Our
church plant has the Christmas tradition of helping the needy during
the Christmas Season. Brand new believers, and those who have a few
years in the faith contributed 100lb bags of rice, lentils, noodles,
flour, sugar, and clothing, along with a box of canned tuna, and candy,
so that we could distribute them (after we divided it up) to the
poorest of the poor. We headed out to “Soldados”, a rather remote area
in the Cajas Mountain
region. This is a possible target area for planting a church amongst
the Quechua speaking Indians. The Trooper was full of the goods and
Gospel tracts. We gave everything out, sharing the Gospel all the
while. We gave to children and women who were shoe-less and hungry. And
we gave to men who work with their hands in the soil yet have almost NO
Earthly means of sustenance. We gave to the fatherless and
motherless-literally children who have no parents to care for them! And
we pray that God will provide more opportunities to do this and to
plant a church amongst them, as we lead individual after individual to
Christ.

We
want to go back! (It is not very far, although it is somewhat rough
riding) I plan to do this again soon. If you would like to be a part of
this, please simply send the funds. We will do the footwork for you. We
have plenty of tracts….we need to buy food for the lost. (*Please be
sure to designate what you are sending your funds for, specifically ie.
Murrays: food and tracts for the lost project. Again,
we will only use the funds you send for buying food to give to the
poorest of children and families-100% of it will be used in this way
only. We will share the Gospel with those we give food to.)

Building Fund Growing!

We
are getting closer to our goal! We may be only at 10%.....but that is
fantastic compared to 0%....which is where we were not too long ago!
Ecuadorian individuals have contributed all they can. And they will
continue to do so! American individuals have come alongside and have
contributed generously. Sonia and I contribute sacrificially every
month. And American churches have been a huge blessing in donating to
this great and very necessary and essential need.

Will
you become part of the solution? We need you as we cannot accomplish
this without your help. God uses people and churches to work together
to further His Kingdom.  And perhaps He would have you be a help to this growing church plant.

Where
are we meeting presently? We are meeting in the house we are renting
right now and we are loving it! But we will outgrow this area, Lord
willing, soon!

Attempted Kidnapping of My Nephew/Danger in the Barrio

The Lord has comforted us in this dangerous area. Cuenca
has changed quite a bit. It has grown drastically in population. The
country has been dolarized. And with this numerical and monetary
change, the crime rate has risen. People from the countries of Columbia and have illegally migrated to
for the chance to earn American dollars rather than the currency from
their own country. Many have come to work hard (Nevertheless
illegally), but others have come to destroy the peaceful atmosphere
which was once common here.

We
have been awakened at night by gunshots in the neighborhood many, many
times. People have tried to break into our house at night. We witnessed
the arrest of two Peruvian thieves just a block away from our house. My
car has been broken into more than once. But the most frightening thing
which happened was the following: Criminals tried to kidnap my
wonderful, beloved nephew, Cristian. We praise God he is alright! He
helps out here at church and is growing spiritually, so please pray for
him.

Note: Kidnappings are a very common, very dangerous measure criminals use to acquire ransom money. Just last Saturday in Guayaquil there were 10 kidnappings!

I
have installed alarms, welded rings to the doors for padlocks, and have
added steel security to our garage door. Numerous other measures have
been taken. But I have no confidence in these things (Ephesians 6-it is
a spiritual battle). God is my comfort and confidence. And we will
joyfully remain here planting churches and leading people to Christ,
and discipling as we trust the Almighty, Omnipresent One’s protection.

Prayer Requests:

Website being overhauled to serve you better…… www.ecuamurray.org

Bldg. Fund: Praise for growth / request for more growth

NEW CONTACTS: Salvation (Fernando Palacios, Luzminda, Miguel, Bairon, others) 

Discipleship: Cesar, Lorena, QuiQue(“kee-kay”), Sylvia, Andres, Santiago, others.

Please pray for my good friend Fernando Torres and his wife Doris. Their marriage needs much prayer.

Paul Naranjo, my brother in law-spiritual growth.

Please pray for our safety.

Praise God for our good health! What a difference!

We are hosting an evangelistic camp for our church on Jan 7^th.

Wisdom in leading BMM in Cuenca, and our church plant.

**We thank God and all of those who contributed with Christmas gifts. THANK YOU!!!!!**

Thanks again for your much needed prayers and support. May this New Year be the year  in which you are drawn closer to the Lord than ever before. And may He shower you with His blessings!

Your Missionaries;

The Murrays

(David, Sonia, Dave, Andrea, Joshua)

Mail:

Mr. David Murray

Casilla 01-05-1842

Cuenca,

Sent By:
Merrimack Valley Baptist Church, Merrimack, NH

www.mvbc.org

Mission:

Baptist Mid Missions

Po Box 30801

Cleveland, OH, 44130-8011       

www.bmm.org

NEXT MONTH: SONIA’S MOTHER CONTINUES TO STAND UP FOR JESUS AT WORK/ ANDRES TAKES A STEP OF FAITH/  BELIEVERS PREPARING FOR BAPTISM……… and more!