Recent Events

PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE PHOTOS LOAD

April 3-12, 2002 AD.

Arkansas, East Texas, Shreveport, LA

Pocahontas, Arkansas

The Murch Family accepted a gracious invitation by the pastor of Little Children of Jesus Christ, a small rural fellowship of believers in Pocahontas, Arkansas, to visit on our way from Virginia to Texas. Chris Barr and his wife Connie, and sons Ryan and Brady not only hosted us for two days, but vacated their home for us, sleeping in a cottage owned by the church while we stayed in their house. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and rest. On Thursday, they held a cook-out for us, and folks from the church came to meet us. It was a blessed time. They sent us on our way with a gift, but more importantly, the blessing and fellowship and love that can only come from brothers and sisters in Christ.

Photo At Left: Chris Barr, undershepherd of Little Children of Jesus Christ; Bruce; Eldon Orr, church member. We three first met at a preacher's convention in Newark, Ohio in 2000 Photo at right: Sister Connie Barr and son Ryan prepare the hardwood BBQ

Mount Enterprise, Texas

We were invited to the Annual Campmeeting of Heritage Baptist Church and Pastor W.N. Otwell. Pastor Otwell and I stood with many other pastors during the siege of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple against U.S. Marshals. That church was seized February 13, 2001, the first time in American history that a mainstream  Christian church was seized by the federal government. The battle forged many lifelong friendships between the Murch family and others around the nation that stood with us during the almost three-month-long siege. Many of those were present at this campmeeting, as they traveled from all across America to gather together.

The Murch Family joined the Heritage Baptist Church for their weekly protest at the abortuary at Shreveport, Louisiana. Each week they bring about 35 people from their church to be a public witness against the slaughter. With our family present, there were 50 people on the street to witness for the babies.

Shreveport, Louisiana: Witness at Abortuary

We arrived early after an hour-and-a-half drive. Our family set up close to the entrance. With fifty people present, we had all four corners of the intersection and both entrances to the abortuary well covered.

Left: The Murch Family lines up in front of the main entrance of the abortuary Right: Beverly calls out to a woman, begging her not to kill her child.

Police arrived quickly. A plainclothes officer demanded to Pastor Otwell that he remove the small crosses that he drives into the ground on the grassy strip next to the road each week. The officer had been threatening to confiscate them for a couple of weeks. After Pastor Otwell argued with them, Bruce demanded to see the City Ordinance that the officer claimed prohibited the planting of the crosses, which are always removed at the end of the picket each time. The officer matter-of-factly stated he would return with it, but alas, never returned. Rather, another officer returned apologizing for the first one, and assuring Pastor Otwell that they supported his right to do exactly what he was doing.

There were also Marshals present, escorting abortuary personnel and women about to kill their children into the building.

Ah, yes. Your tax dollars at work.

Just a few more scenes from the Shreveport event:

Youth from Heritage Baptist man the corners with signs reading: "Say No to sex outside marriage" and "Baby-killers will Burn in Hell"		Marshals retreat to the very back of the property to avoid hearing and seeing Bev rebuke them. Brave guys, eh?
	Bruce, Bev, Elijah (5), Evan (8) and Josiah (4-hiding behind sign). Bruce's sandwich board was a donation by Bible Jim Webber of Portland, OR, who gave the Murch family signs, tee-shirts and buttons for the work of the ministry. God bless you, Jim!

Nacogdoches, Texas: Campus Preaching!

During the Campmeeting, Bruce and another preacher decided to do some street preaching at a nearby state university, about 20 miles away. We mentioned the idea to a few of the other preachers, and before we knew it, we had 20 preachers and another 20 lay people joining us to go to the university, Steven F. Austin State University. It was a wild time that began with confrontation with the Nacogdoches and Campus police. It seems that they were planning to prohibit our preaching on a state (public) university without a "permit". We already have a permit. It's called the First Amendment to the Constitution. They appeared to be unaware that it applied to public property. We tried to help them understand.

From top left: Aaron Murch (19) carries a sign on the sidewalk in front of the campus. Police stop Bruce from approaching students in front of a dorm on campus.. As the University Police call for City Police, the crowd of students builds. We begin to preach the gospel to them and call them to repentance. The NPD Public Relations Officer comes on the scene (bottom left). He explains to Bruce and the other preachers about the "necessary permits" and asks Bruce to come back up to the sidewalk on the main street to meet the Nacogdoches Police Chief. Bruce insists to them (center) that the preachers have the right to preach on public property and do not need a permission to do what they already HAVE permission to do. They forbid Bruce to return down to the campus. Determined that they came to preach to students, not simply have a sidewalk picket, Bruce yells down to the students, challenging them to come up and hear the Truth. No takers. 

Just as Bruce begins to walk down the sidewalk in defiance of Police orders, a group of students begins to walk up toward the preachers. Sergeant Johnson is rebuked by Bruce after he asks his superiors if he can chase the preachers off the edge of the driveway. Bruce calls him an enemy of the Gospel. The Sergeant obviously doesn't want to hear it. Top right, this young man accuses us of "hate" because we preach against sin. Bruce tries to show him that if this were about hate, he wouldn't bother taking the time to warn him of the eternal disater that will befall the young man if he doesn't repent of his sin and turn to Christ. Bottom left, this young lady with the pierced tongue wished to instruct Bruce in the Holy Scriptures, saying that he had no right to "judge" anybody. Many of these kids claimed to be "Christians" while acknowledging fornication and drug use and having running sewers for mouths. Bottom center, this young lady was incensed at Aaron's sign which read "AIDS, God's Judgment". She too, pined away about "judging others" and with Bible in hand, insisted that the Bible didn't teach such "hate". We turned to Romans 1:27 "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." She demanded to know what "version" of the Bible I was reading from, and when I replied, "the King James" she just stomped off. The young man in the bottom right photo claimed to be born again. I believe he was. I challenged him to shake off and separate himself from the prevalent sins of campus life and to be a stronger witness to his unsaved friends. If he would do that, he was told, "that would eliminate the need for us to be here, wouldn't it?"

The day would not have been complete without these folks showing up. The young "ladies" at left claimed they were "washed in the blood of Jesus" and proceeded to cuss us up one side and down the other for our "hate".  Pastor Bill Kermott (center) who had the original idea to go to the campus, talks to two sodomites explaining to them why they must abandon their abominable sin and turn to Christ, or they will burn in hell. To the right, one of the signs reads, "God Loves Everyone". Well, not quite. Psalm 5 says that God "hates all workers of iniquity". According to these "Christians", the loving, Christian thing to do is to simply allow these people to perish in their sins without a warning. Sorry, can't do that.

It was all in all a very fruitful day. The Word of God was preached. The seed was sown. Some responded in arrogance and anger, some in curiosity, and some in genuine concern. May God grant them repentance unto life.

Campmeeting at Mt. Enterprise, Texas

We can't leave off without sharing some photos of the Campmeeting. This was a wonderful time of spiritual refreshment for the Murch Family. There were about 35 preachers present from all across America. Many of them had been present with us at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, when Federal Marshals seized the 50-year-old church for refusing to collect taxes for the government.

Pastor W.N. Otwell treated us like royalty. They prepared a 70-foot mobile home for  our stay and fed us three home-cooked meals a day. There was preaching morning and evening, peppered with singing and special music. The afternoons were free time for fellowship and rest. The evening meetings were attended by around 200-250 people. The Murch Family was embraced by this group as if we were their own family, in spite of the fact that we are not Baptists. Bruce was the only non-Baptist speaking from their pulpit. They cared for us, and sent us away with a generous offering. Our deepest love and thanks go to Brother Otwell, the Heritage Baptist Church and all the preachers of the Unregistered Baptist Fellowship.

Left, Pastor W.N. Otwell delivers a fiery sermon on getting your own house in order. Bruce speaks on "provoking one another to love a good works". The Murch Family is unexpectedly asked to come to the platform and sing a song.

On this this trip, Bruce celebrated his 45th birthday, but the real highlight was Bruce and Beverly's Twenty-first Wedding Anniversary. Bruce made special arrangements and the folks at Heritage made it all happen. It was complete with a violin serenade by Pastor Otwell's granddaughter. After a beautiful Celtic sounding tune, she treated us to a lively Virginia Reel tune to make us feel at home. They made our stay a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding one. We look forward to coming every year.

New Plans:

As a result of this trip, we will be expanding the tour next year and every year thereafter, God willing. We will do a three-day event in Arkansas and southern Missouri with the Little Children of Jesus Christ; then join the Heritage Baptist group for three days of preaching, sign witness and literature distribution in Nacogdoches, TX and Shreveport, LA; take part in the four-day Campmeeting; then head south for four days of events in Houston, Texas. The Houston folks are crying for some support in this area, and we hope to be able to bring some fresh zeal and excitement interest in Christian activism.

Folks, if you like what you have seen on this page, would you consider helping the Murch Family continue this work? We cannot do it without your help. It costs thousands of dollars each season to do these events. We are currently trying to raise funds for a partially-converted school bus that we can finish into a motor home. This will dramatically cut our expenses and allow us to do even more life-saving and truth-proclaiming events. Please click on the "You Can Help" link to find out what you can do.