A New Believer in Mazere
November 12, 2024
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It’s Thanksgiving month and we have much for which to be thankful. You are on our Thanksgiving list.
Last week at our Bible Study in Mazere, a young man testified that He had put his faith in Christ the previous weekend. I mentioned this career soldier in army special forces in my last letter. He just recently started coming to the Bible study. It is great to see his interest and commitment to the Lord.
Once a month, we have a men’s prayer breakfast. This past Saturday there was a range of men from twenty years old to seventy-one years old present. It is very encouraging to see the interest that these men have in helping each other through fellowship, counsel and prayer. The ladies meet every other week for prayer.
Our Sunday meetings and other Bible studies in six other locations are going well and we are encouraged by what God is doing in the lives of the individuals who participate.
Patricia, a lady who lived not far from us when we met her in our former neighborhood, has been in long term hospital care for several weeks. We have witnessed to her as have others from our congregation over the last dozen or so years. Judy has picked her up and brought her to our church meetings. She shows greater interest now and asks for prayer, but has never made a clear commitment of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Barbara, one of the ladies from our congregation, has done a lot to help her. Your prayers for Patricia are greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your prayers and support. May God bless you and your ministry.
Your fellow servants,
John and Judy Hatcher
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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An Awesome Trip to Brazil
November 12, 2024
As we prepared to go to Brazil this month, we also had to make another type of preparation. We were told that a hurricane was slated to come right over our town, so we needed to prepare our trailer for this destruction that we were told was coming our way. So, we prayed and prepared what we were told to prepare and put our 7 bags in the car and started on the 3-hour trip to Miami airport.
On this trip, we were unsure even when we arrived in the airport if it would be open or shut down because of the hurricane. About halfway to the airport, we looked out the right side of the car and saw what we thought was a tornado looming there. Believe you me, we upped our prayers, stepped on the gas, and kept one eye on the twister and one eye on the road. By the grace of God, we outran it and got to the airport; it was open and we flew to Brazil. As we were waiting for our flight, we saw on the news that the tornado passed across the road we were on and wreaked havoc as it passed across Florida. This was my first time to see a tornado up close and personal and hopefully my last.
This trip to Brazil turned into an AWESOME trip. Not only was the Bluegrass Baptist Seminary business conducted but we were able to do much, much more. The first part of our trip was to expose the church where we attend in Florida, with the Pastor, his wife and two young adults to the ministries in Brazil, the church plants, mission, and the Guarani Indian group that we have worked with in the state of Rio. Then we had the fun privilege of helping the Church in Caraguatatuba to host the Children’s Day festivities where we did face painting, popped popcorn, and made cotton candy and hot dogs. Amid all this fun, the church pastor, his wife, the youth director, his wife, and the youth brought several skits that told the children of the love of God and the plan of salvation. A GREAT TIME was had by all!!!!
In those 7 suitcases we carried shorts and t-shirts for the Indian children and another group of children that the missionaries work with. Also, we carried lots of American candies, many school supplies, paint supplies, and wooden things to paint. All of this was given to the children in Caraguatatuba to help with their school needs and for their fun activities for Children’s Day. God is so good all the time and all the time God is good. Just the looks on the faces of the children when they received these things were without a doubt too precious to imagine. Thank you to all who contributed to this trip.
One of the purposes for this trip was to meet others who have an interest in the Seminary. We also met with some churches with the same interest. The churches were interested in how they could be involved as a church. I also met with a friend who has given his life to the ministry and will be ordained this month. He wants to enroll in this upcoming semester. How AWESOME is the God we serve?!?
While we were there, we had a small glitch with our communications systems in the Seminary. As the students were taking one of their exams, their test scores became scrambled, and the computer crashed (the students were in a panic). The problem was solved in about 45 minutes. All’s well that ends well.
Next summer’s trip will be involved in much traveling to several other Seminaries in Brazil. It looks like we will be going there at least 3 different times. Pray for the future students and for our health and for the Bluegrass Baptist Seminary. We also ask that you pray for one of our Pastor friends in Brazil; his name is Pastor Markus and he has been in the hospital for a week now with heart problems.
As we were concluding the trip I became sick with what they call “grip” (a bad cold) and when we got back to the States, Barbara also became sick. It turned out to be pneumonia and she has been sick for over 2 weeks. She has been to the doctor’s office twice now. Pray for her recovery.
Just to complete our trip, we came home with no damage to our home, just the loss of everything in our refrigerator and freezer, but we have a good friend who came and cleaned out everything so we did not have to come home to a stinking mess. Thank God for good friends.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
30524 Mimi St
Sebring, FL 33870-0530
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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Teaching How to Study & Tackle Difficult Passages of Scripture
November 11, 2024
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
We are nearing the end of our first term of this academic year and things are progressing well, although we are tired and a little worn out. The Christmas season is just around the corner, and I am looking forward to it, although the Christmas season in Kenya is nothing like the Christmas season in the States.
I am teaching three classes this term – 1) General Principles of Interpretation, 2) The Pentateuch, and 3) Hebrews and General Epistles. I would like to focus this month on just the third one – Hebrews and General Epistles. This has been an excellent class so far and I have had good opportunities to have many great discussions and learning moments with my beloved students. If you have ever read through Hebrews and the General Epistles, and I know you have, I’m sure that you noticed there are a lot of difficult and challenging passages in these books. There have been lots of disputes about some of these passages over the last two thousand years and challenges about some of these passages have been presented from both unbelievers and those within Christianity. My students will soon be in churches preaching and teaching from these passages and they not only need to know what they are talking about and teaching, but they also need to know how to defend their teaching from possibly obstinate and even hostile opposition. I want to give them experience on studying and teaching these challenging passages and experience in facing “hostile” opposition. (In case you were wondering what kinds of challenging passages I have in mind, consider 1) How can Jesus be made perfect through suffering in Hebrews 2:10? 2) Is it possible to lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6:4-6? 3) Are people saved through faith or action and is James 2:14-25 in opposition to Paul’s teaching of faith alone? 4) Does the prayer of faith in James 5:13-15 always heal the sick and if the sick person is not healed does that mean someone is lacking faith? 5) Does baptism save us according to 1 Peter 3:21? 6) In what way has the Lord “bought” the false prophets of Peter 2:1? 7) Do believers reach a state of sinlessness according to 1 John 3:5-6 and 5:18? 8) Who are the angels who did not keep their positions of authority in Jude 6 and what exactly happened to them? 9) Why does Jude quote from Apocryphal books? And others). So, each student is going to get an opportunity to teach in class on one of these or other challenging passages and then field tough questions from the “hostile” and “opposing” members of the audience (meaning myself and the other students who are being tasked with being “obstinate opposers and schismatics”).
There is a definite purpose for this assignment. Not everyone that they will be speaking to in their churches, or in seminars, or even in people’s homes will agree with them. Some will oppose them vehemently, and my beloved students need to know how to deal with such situations and scenarios. Here is what I want them to learn. 1) I want them to learn how to deeply study the Scriptures and to be able to tackle and understand difficult and challenging passages. Not every passage of Scripture is easy to understand, and a good interpretation doesn’t always pop out at you when you first read it. Sometimes it takes a lot of work and sweat to understand a text. 2) I want them to be able to logically organize the defense of their position and to understand other people’s positions on those passages as well. 3) I want them to experience teaching through a passage that might make them feel a little uncomfortable. 4) I want them to experience opposition and hostility in a friendly environment and to learn how to lovingly and Biblically present and defend their position on the Word of God in a Christ-like way. Not every environment they encounter will be friendly and resistance can be hard to face. Better to learn how to face it amongst peers than amongst true enemies. 5) I want them to learn and then defend the truths of Scripture. 6) I want them to learn that they are not perfect followers of Christ, perfect Bible students, or perfect interpreters of Scripture. They could end up being wrong in their interpretation and presentation of their teaching and if they are wrong, I want them to learn to be open to the truth of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, bless my beloved students and teach them the truths of Your Word and how to present and defend this truth to Your people and to the world.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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198 Profess Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior
November 9, 2024
Our traveling missionary team, Projeto Vida, experienced an amazing month of outreach in three different cities! In all, the team shared the gospel with 4,831 people. Of those people that heard the gospel, 198 made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Oh, how great is the love and mercy of the God. Our team of missionaries returned to Curitiba, our home base, overflowing with gratitude and joy with how the Lord used and blessed their efforts. They had to spend a few days doing maintenance work and cleaning on the vehicles and equipment they use in their ministry, but they are now ready and excited to depart on what will be their last mission journey of the year. We pray that this next trip will be greatly blessed with many more individuals coming to know the Lord as well.
Our missionaries to Portugal, Yago and Manoela, called us a few days ago to share some joyful news. They are expecting their first baby! We rejoice with them at this news. Along with their ministry of Bible study and outreach in Portugal, they are working diligently on the translation of their children’s Bible study lessons into English for an upcoming mission effort in Egypt. The Lord has not opened the door for them to move there, as yet, but the ministry that called upon them to provide these Bible lessons is still in need of the material. They remain open to God’s direction in how He wants to use them. Please keep them in your prayers.
Charlene and I are traveling tomorrow to the annual Thanksgiving Missions Conference on behalf of Baptist Faith Missions at the New Hope Baptist Church of Dearborn Heights, MI. We hope to see some of you there and will miss those who can’t.
Thank you for your faithful love and support of our ministry. May the Lord bless you greatly.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside ministering to Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
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News & Reports – November 2024
The Online Edition of the November 2024 BFM News & Reports is available at the link below.
*Remember you can click on any headline to view the post/letter on our website.
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Celebrating Children’s Day in Ubim
October 21, 2024
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Pray that all are doing well and blessed by our Lord and Savior. We are doing well thanks to our Lord. We thank each of you for your prayers and support. You are an important part of the ministry.
We have had many blessings. The prayer program we mentioned in our last letter has been really great. More and more of the members are getting involved. We have had more visitors coming to the church. We are encouraging the members to get involved in different ministries in the church. Several of the youth are helping Kathy with the kids’ program at the village of Ubim. Last week was kids’ days here in Brasil. The group put together a party for the kids. Also, a friend of one of the youth donated toys for the kids. We had 60 kids. The party was great. Then at the mother church we had a party on Sunday night. They had a great time. Two of the ladies at the church and 2 teenagers planned the party.
The last few months we have had lots of problems with our cars. Thank God, we are getting them fixed and working.
Odali and Kathy Barros
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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Evangelism, Shepherding, & Training Across Southern France
October 17, 2024
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you for serving with us. God is changing lives in wonderful ways. Our ministry is quite broad, challenging and encouraging. It is a mixture of evangelism, shepherding and training. Judy and I spend time in personal counseling of individuals on a regular basis. We are driven to pray for wisdom, patience and the work of God in people’s heart. So, in the process, we grow in our relationship with our Father and Savior as well.
There is a new regular participant in our Bible study in the city of Mazeres. This young man is a carrier sub-officer in the army. This Bible study is made up of individuals who have already placed their faith in Christ. We are presently studying the Gospel of Luke.
We are starting a new Bible Study in the city of Auterive. A family from our church moved there a couple of years ago and are excited to host this Bible Study.
The Bible study in the city of L’Union is going very well. It is exciting to see the way God is touching the lives of the seekers who participate without missing. One lady seems to have trusted Christ though she has not made public profession of faith. The husband of the Iranian couple who fled their country years ago always thanks me with a great smile at the conclusion of each study.
Our three other studies are going well, and we are very encouraged by the way God is working in the lives of the participants. The regular Sunday meetings here in Plaisance du Touch are also going well. Philip is now doing the teaching as we study through the book of Acts. One young lady who trusted the Lord about a year ago is very involved in the study of the Word and church activities in addition to her Engineering Studies and job. She is the only believer in her family.
Philip and Amanda are self-supporting missionaries who work with us. A number of believers are passionately involved in serving the Lord and this is very encouraging to us.
May you enjoy God’s richest blessings,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Ministering to Families with Autistic & Neurodivergent Children
October 16, 2024
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
I would like to take an opportunity this month to focus on some opportunities that God has opened up for Julie recently. As you already know, our daughter Chloe is on the Autism spectrum, which presents many challenges in raising and rearing her and learning how to best deal with how her autism manifests itself – lack of executive functioning, emotional dysregulation, stimulation overload, meltdowns, and occasional violent outbursts. This has caused us to have to learn a lot about autism and neurodiversity, but, especially Julie has done a tremendous amount of research on the topic in the past few years. Julie herself is neurodiverse and it has taken many years for us to learn some aspects of how her mind works and interacts with the world as well. [“Neurodiversity is the idea that the human brain naturally varies in how it functions, and that these differences are normal and should be embraced. The term ‘neurodivergent’ describes someone whose brain processes, learns, or behaves differently from what is considered ‘typical.’” Most of us would thus be labeled neurotypical because our brains work and process in ways that we would consider “normal,” although that is probably a bad term to use because there probably is really no “normal.”].
Because of her growing knowledge and experience in autism and neurodiversity, Julie has had opportunities to speak and do presentations about the topic, specifically at RVA but also one-on-one with parents of autistic children at the Kijabe Hospital. There are many children in Kenya who are neurodiverse (as is true around the world) who need special ministry and care but who often fall through the cracks in families, schools, and churches because they don’t think, act, and behave “normally,” or neurotypically. These children need the love of Jesus and the love of His people and the ministry of His churches to make it in this world, which to them is strange and does not act or behave “normal.” So, Julie was tasked with speaking on the topic and helping people at RVA and Kijabe become more aware of the needs of these children and how they can better be ministered to and helped by people who love them and want to see them grow in the love of Christ. The first time she presented, it was very well received and people began seeing the need of knowing more about the need to minister to neurodiverse children. She was asked to speak again and expand upon her previous presentation. After the second presentation some people began pushing for her presentation to be mandatory for all RVA staff. She was then asked to do research on some past and present students and to present findings on how RVA can begin to better minister to these children.
In the meantime, as I have mentioned, she has met with parents of autistic children to offer some guidance and advice to struggling parents who don’t know what to do and don’t know where to go for help. As a parent of an autistic child myself, I can tell you that there are many times in life where I feel helpless, feel like pulling my hair out, feel like quitting and giving up, and feel completely alone in my parenting struggles. I feel isolated from God’s people and His churches and oftentimes face despair. Parents of autistic and neurodiverse children need the love of Jesus and the ministry of His churches as much as their children do. I think the work and ministry that Julie has been involved in is assisting children and families and will ultimately impact the Kingdom of Christ and bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus. Please pray that God would continue to use Julie in this way, for His Kingdom and for His glory.
Pray also that God would keep us safe in Kenya and safe on the roads. We have had a problem with very long delays in receiving work permits. This week I will have to file a second “temporary” extension for Julie’s work permit while we wait for her real work permit to be processed and approved. Without this we cannot stay in the country, so, this is actually a pretty big deal. Also, without going into much detail, Julie and I almost “bought the farm” driving to Nairobi yesterday. Driving in Kenya is always dangerous and the A104 highway (which we need to use in order to get anywhere) is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the world. We were on A104 when an incident occurred because of the reckless driving of another driver. Again, without going into detail, I thought we were dead and to this hour don’t really know how we are not dead. It took me a full ten seconds after the incident before I could breathe again and probably five minutes before my heart rate came back down to normal. I replay the incident in my mind and can only conclude that God protected us. Please pray that God keep us safe and ministering for His name in Kenya.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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