Blessed by Team Visiting from Virginia
September 3, 2024
Dear Friends,
I really wanted to wait a few days to send my report last month because our visiting team from Virginia had just arrived and we were only beginning our week of ministry together in the schools and streets of Curitiba, Brazil. I can now share with you that it truly was a blessed few days of sharing the gospel with students and school staff. We were thrilled at the way the Lord moved in the hearts and lives of those that heard the gospel, and those that shared it. Pastor Jared Via has done a fantastic job of teaching and training his church what it means to be a follower of Jesus. His team of youth and their leaders boldly spoke in front of crowds, and one-on-one, about what it means to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. With the help of our volunteer translators, teens from 14 to 19 years of age were very intentional, yet perceptive in approaching the students who watched their gospel skits and listened to their personal testimonies and who seemed moved by the message. Only eternity will reveal exactly who and how many surrendered their lives to Christ through their efforts, but there were over 150 who publicly professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior during the course of our days of ministry together. We know from the Scriptures that there is rejoicing in heaven over the repentance of each lost person (Luke 15:7), but we’re also happy that these young witnesses of Christ had the privilege of being used by the Lord to have a part in that spiritual birth.
Our Projeto Vida team of evangelists loved the time spent together with their American brothers and sisters. They only knew from a prior visit a couple of the teens from the group of 18, but before the week was up, they seemed like lifelong family members. There was a lot of sadness and tears on the day of departure, but they know that goodbyes come with the territory of mission work. Our team of 13 missionaries went straight from their week of work with our Virginian friends to begin another week of outreach in a couple of coastal towns a little more than an hour from their home base. The Lord continued to bless and use their efforts in sharing the gospel. Hundreds of teens heard the Word and many came to know Christ.
Our missionaries to Portugal, Yago and Manoela, continue faithfully teaching and sharing the Word there. Portugal is definitely not “white unto harvest” like much of Brazil, but they are being obedient to preach the gospel to the “uttermost parts of the world.” Please remember them in your prayers.
Next week, Charlene and I are returning on another mission trip to Brazil with a small group of dedicated soul-winners. We have partnered with some of them on several occasions and we rejoice at the opportunity to do so again. Our ministry plan will be very similar to what we did with the group I mentioned earlier, but there are no teens in this group. What is evident is that the Lord can, and will, use anyone who is willing to offer themselves to Him to take the gospel to the lost and needy. Some of these volunteers are grandparents who are having the most fruitful times of their life. Why don’t you come too? There are no limits to how God can use you.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from 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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Celebrating 25 Years of Sharing the Good News in France
September 2, 2024
Dear Fellow laborers,
We are back in France following a good trip to the USA for the wedding or our oldest granddaughter, Abigail. It was great to see friends and extended family members. Judy and I spent the last couple of weeks in Chicago where we had great moments with our children, their good spouses and eight grandchildren! God has abundantly blessed us in more ways than we could ever count. Both of our children who live in Chicago celebrated 20 years of marriage this summer. Their children range from 9 to 16 years old and are very enjoyable to be around.
David and Dulce celebrated their twenty years of marriage by spending a week in Mozambique. Judy and I got to enjoy their children and Lydia and Adam’s children during this time. It was wonderful. But, “ya just gotta do whacha gotta do”!
Four days after our return we had a great baptismal service at the encounter of two mountain rivers. Blandine, the hostess for our Bible studies in the city of L’Union followed the Lord in baptism. She is the only person in this Bible study with “seekers” who has made a profession of faith. All of the participants are very interested. All of them drove nearly a couple of hours to be at the baptism. There were about 50 people at the baptismal service. Most of these were not believers. We tried to give a clear Gospel message, and all were very attentive.
After the baptism we had a picnic with those who attended. Judy, Philip, Amanda and I spent most of the afternoon discussing spiritual matters with those who were there. One lady, who started coming to the Bible study at Blandine’s home about a year ago, is delighted with what she is learning about Christ. She has not made a public profession of faith, but I would not be surprised if that happens soon. On March 15th (less than 6 months ago) she began reading her Bible. She has read the entire Old Testament, the Gospels and a good number of the epistles! Jesus declared, “Seek and you will find”!
Speaking of celebrations, in a couple of weeks Judy and I will complete 25 years of sharing the Good News in Southern France. Philip and Amanda have been our partners in ministry for 23 years. Time passes fast. We thank God for the privilege of serving our Savior here. What a delight to see God change lives. Thank you for your participation with us.
Thankfully in Christ,
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.
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News & Reports – September 2024
The Online Edition of the September 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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Servants of the Lord Helping in Ministry
August 22, 2024
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We pray and hope that all is well with each one of you. We are doing well, thanks to our Lord and Savior.
We are excited that we are being able to start back the remodeling of the church in the village of Cacau. We want to do as much as possible on the part that is on the outside while it is not raining so we can start using the church building again. Also, we are excited about the camp. With the help with finances, we are going to be able to get more accomplished.
This month is Father’s Day in Brazil. The ladies and the teens had a celebration for the fathers. It was a great time together.
The Lord has put men in our ministry who had problems with drugs. They are really nice guys and really good and enjoy helping with what they can. One helps in the ministry of Ubim and has been a great help. The other helps here at our house and does anything that is needed. Please pray for them. They really want to change their life and serve God.
Kathy and other ladies in the church are working with the youth in working with children and in the music ministry. Pray that they will encourage them to serve God more.
Thanks for your prayers and support. God bless each one of you and the churches that support us. You are an important part of the ministry.
Love in Christ,
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.
Read more
Boat Trips Building Dedication, & Baptisms at Nukini Indian Reservation
August 22, 2024
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from….Lexington, Kentucky? That’s right. I am back in the States for more cancer surgery. Was under the knife for 4 and a half hours a few days ago. All is well and I am recovering nicely. Hope you will be patient with me and continue to pray. One extra blessing is that I get to go over and see Dad every day. He just turned 98 and is in pretty good shape. Also, I am getting rested up and I am already desperate to get home and back to work. Patience is needed though as I still have 2 weeks of recovery before I can go back home.
Just before coming Stateside I was able to get one more river trip in. Missionary Geverton used our latest addition of boats to take me to the Nukini Indian reservation. Francisco (our canoe builder) just finished a new 8-meter aluminum canoe for the church. We took the 22HP Honda tail motor off of the much bigger 10-meter canoe and put it on the brand new boat for this trip. The river is at record low, so this new boat was just what we needed. It took us just 10 hours to get to the reservation.
We were there for just 4 days. We did a special service to dedicate the new building. It was full for all services and people who could not get in were standing outside. They are getting ready to do a 10-foot extension to their brand-new building. Rather than interpret this as lack of vision, I prefer to see it as “surprise” growth!
For the regular Sunday morning service Pastor Amós preached. He is pastor at the Poyanawa reservation at Barão. He brought a nice group of the church members from Barão for the weekend. While he was preaching, I taught a group of 9 candidates about what scriptural baptism is. Right after all of this I performed the baptism in a little creek down the hill from the new church building. We had a cold front come through a couple of days earlier and the water was COLD. The candidates were all young. The youngest was 8 and the oldest 13. It is still a thrill to be able to go to these places and serve these wonderful people.
You know that I don’t do this often, but I have a couple of projects that I need your help with. Of my 5 long river trips this year I have had to pull people, resources and equipment from the church here for 4 of these trips. Our missionary Geverton has taken time from his busy schedule to take me to places that I needed to go. He has been a huge help and made my life, in old age, much easier. He has been a God send. Hopefully this arrangement will last for a long time. However, I don’t like to take the church’s boats off their regular trips to cater to me. I am buying a 35HP tail motor and am ordering the materials to build a 20-foot jon boat for these hard-to-reach places. The motor costs just over $1,500.00 and the aluminum also costs $1,500.00. Andrew is going to help me with the plans. Francisco will help me with construction. I will build the tail and cover paint, labor, prop and whatever other expenses come along. I need your help with the engine and the aluminum. Please pray and give as He leads.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@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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Pastor from Angola Blessed with Seminary Textbooks
August 6, 2024
Dear friends and family,
What a fast month this has been! We have now completed our first graduation of the Masters of Arts in Pastoral Ministries. What an AWESOME accomplishment, congratulations to our 9 graduates! I can only imagine their accomplishments to come and the lives they will influence. To God be the glory!
This trip was a multi-functional trip, the graduation and a Pastoral Conference in Manaus Amazonas. Dr. Derek, one of our principal professors, gave the first speech at the conference and spoke on the importance of Bluegrass Baptist Seminary and the impact it can have on the Pastors and Church leaders of Brazil.
In this conference I got to meet the Brazilian Pastor/Missionary we have previously mentioned who is serving in Angola, Africa. He was a very quiet, humble person and he will be returning to Africa in November this year. The four of us with BBS decided to bless him with textbooks for the classes he will be taking for the next seven classes. He was overwhelmed with this gift and could hardly speak of his gratitude without crying. You know, sometimes it is the smallest things that bless your heart. It is just AWESOME when you can be a blessing in another’s life. This was a present from all of you who support BFM who give for missionaries’ lives. AWESOME is the God we serve!!! We will never know the influence of this gift until we get to Heaven.
Now back to the graduation in São Paulo, Brazil. The families and Pastors were excited about their accomplishment. We were glad to hear how they have overcome the many moments that Satan had thrown at them. Please pray for these Pastors as they continue in God’s service.
Some of these Pastors who just graduated are beginning a new Seminary there under the auspices of BBS. This will be called ETEBABI. An acronym for Escolar Theolagical Bablical Batista Theological. English it is Biblical Baptist Theological School. This is an offspring of our Seminary which is AWESOME!!! Continue to pray for our Seminary and this new Seminary as we both endeavor to teach the Bible to the Brazilians.
There is a photo included of the Pastor from Angola. There was also a special presentation of an Honorary Doctorate Degree to me. I was taken by surprise and so thankful for this honor.
Pray for us as we continue this ministry and for all those who make this ministry possible. Also keep praying for us as we plan our next trip in October with our church here in Florida.
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.
Read more
News & Reports – August 2024
The Online Edition of the August 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.
Read more
Joy in Ordaining One Who Came to Christ through Soccer Ministry
July 30, 2024
Dear Friends,
Through the years of our lives and ministry, the good Lord has blessed us with varied and numerous blessings. Among them I can’t think of a single one that brought us more joy and satisfaction than the one we experienced last Sunday. I was invited to preach the challenge at the ordination to the Gospel Ministry of Valter Correa, a true man of God and a servant-leader. I came to know Valter first when he was a 12-year-old kid through a soccer school that my church offered to the neighborhood. He had no father and didn’t attend any church. Through the influence of our soccer coach, a friend of his who also attended our church, Valter started attending our Sunday School program. In the course of a year or two, he came know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It has always been evident that he had a strong desire to serve the Lord who saved him. Valter has served in many different capacities in the church and also on our travel mission team. When it came time to marry, he sought the Lord’s guidance and found a godly and gracious wife, Evelize. Together they continue to teach and serve faithfully. The Lord blessed them with a wonderful little girl (now nine years old) who has surrendered to Christ as well. To see how the Lord has blessed and used Valter and his family, my cup of joy overflows! And to participate in his ordination to ministry was an honor and a privilege. May the Lord use him greatly and grant that we get to see many others follow his example.
Charlene and I are in Curitiba, Brazil, awaiting the arrival of our friends and Christian brothers and sisters from the Hope Valley Church in Virginia. There are 18 members of youth and their leaders coming to minister with us and our Projeto Vida evangelistic team in the public schools and parks here. During the course of a week, we will have the opportunity to share the gospel to over 3000 people. This will be with many who have never stepped inside of a church building. Some will be hearing the gospel for the first time in their lives. It is our hope and prayer that many of those who hear the message will be convicted and surrender their lives to Christ. We also hope that those youths who come to serve will be touched by the Lord to commit themselves more fully even upon their return to their homes in the USA.
We are grateful to you who graciously pray for and give to our ministry.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from 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
Read more
