Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher from Brazil [June 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
May 29, 2014
Dear Brethren and Friends;
We (Alta and I) want to thank all of you that made our short visit to Lexington so pleasant and happy. Especially, we want to thank Brother Dave Parks and the people of Thompson Road Baptist Church for all the preparation of the Mission house. We lacked nothing and had more than enough. Thank you, Brother Parks, and your people!
As you know by now, our son Paul and his wife, Wanda, are caring for us in our traveling and housing. (It is not a sin to grow old, but sometimes it shows our weaknesses and inabilities.) Thank you, Paul and Wanda, for your care and love.
New Life Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, was blessed to have the Hatchers visit on Mother’s Day.
We are sorry that there was not enough time to visit churches as we have always done. We thank the New Life Baptist Church and their pastor, Steve Wainright, and his wife for the special fellowship they shared with us.
MOVE TO FLORIDA. The Lord willing, we will spend the rest of our furlough in Florida where Paul arranged living quarters. Our address for a couple of months is:
615 Key West Ave.
Davenport, FL 33897-3600
The plan is for us to be at this address for about two months. Anyone desiring to write us can use this address. We will notify you of any future change of address.
INVITED TO PREACH. Brother Dave Parks invited me to preach on the next Sunday before we left Lexington. He did not think Paul would arrange our move before the end of that week. I had two sermons prepared, but we traveled on that Friday, and I did not get to bring the message. However, I decided to include one of the outlines in this letter. I hope it will be a blessing to someone.
THREE PSALMS TO GUIDE OUR LIVES
1. The Secret of Personal Spiritual Success. Psalm 1
(Verse 3 has one of the greatest promises made to man)
2. The Secret to having a Happy Family and Their Children. Psalm 127
3. The Blessed Future of a Godly Home. Psalm 128
Every word in this Psalm offers future hope and blessings for the Godly family.
May our Lord Bless each of you is our desire and prayer. We love you and thank you for all you have done for our ministry in Brazil.
Sincerely,
John and Alta Hatcher
615 Key West Ave.
Davenport, FL 33897-3600
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher [May 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
Dear Brethren and Friends,
Greetings to each in the Wonderful Name of our Savior. We are enjoying our furlough time here in the States. The Mission Conference sponsored by the Thompson Road Baptist Church blessed us this week. (You who were not able to attend missed great blessings: the warm Christian hospitality of the TRBC, the fellowship of pastors and people from other churches, and edifying messages from God’s Word brought by missionaries and pastors.) I would like to encourage each pastor and your people to plan to attend this conference next year, if at all possible. It was a great joy to see friends and pastors who have been our constant fellow-workers for many or all of our sixty years in Brazil. They are still going and pressing on with the missionaries.
Alta and I have been blessed to see some of our grandchildren and grandchildren. God has blessed our family and we thank and praise Him. All of our fifteen grandchildren are serving the Lord in very special ministries. Eight of our great-grandchildren have trusted the Lord as Savior.
At the end of May we will be moving to Florida for the rest of our furlough, the Lord willing. Work in Brazil continues and seems to be going well. Pray for us. I do not drive much any more so all of our travels will be with Paul and Wanda.
We hope to see many of you our dear friends while here in the States. Thanks to each of you who have been our prayer and providing force for many years,
In the Name above all names, we thank you,
John and Alta Hatcher
1012 Balsam Drive
Lexington, KY 40504
859.277.3716
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher of Brazil [April 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
March 31, 2014
Dear Brethren and Friends,
Alta and I greet you from the Mission House in Lexington, KY. We arrived in the States on the 28th of March. Paul and Wanda had made arrangements for us to come to Manaus to bring Alta and I home for furlough. David came to Urai and helped us on the trip to Manaus. We were in Manaus for eight days. On our last Sunday before leaving Urai, the Church in Urai had a special service for us with pastors and people from all their missions and churches we had begun. It was an emotional experience.
The next day we flew from Londrina to Manaus. On the 28th of March, we arrived in Nashville where Paul rented a van. We arrived in Lexington with all our baggage on the 28th. We are living in the Mission House that was prepared and waiting for us. We plan to be in the Mission House for at least two months and to attend the Spring Missions Conference at Thompson Road Baptist Church on April 28, 29, 30.
On our first Sunday home, we attended the Bible School and morning service at the Thompson Road Baptist Church where Brother Dave Parks is pastor. That night we attended the services at the New Life Baptist Church where Brother Steve Wainright is pastor. We were blessed to have fellowship with the dear people of these two faithful churches.
Paul, our son, and Wanda are on furlough, also. They are caring for us. We will probably be living in Florida part of this year also.
WORK IN BRAZIL – Praise the Lord, the work in Brazil continues to grow and reach out.
Alta and I thank you for your prayers and financial support through our sixty years as missionaries in Brazil. God bless you.
In the Name of our Lord Jesus,
John and Alta Hatcher
1012 Balsam Drive
Lexington, KY 40504
859.277.3716
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [March 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
February 24, 2014
Dear Brothers, Sisters and Friends of Baptist Faith Missions,
It is a great blessing for an old man to be able to write another letter to dear Friends like you. Alta and I are eighty-eight years old and you have been our dear supporting and praying partners for over fifty-five years for our ministry here in Brazil. It is a very emotional moment for me.
As I was preparing to write, the phone rang. Sebastian Oliveira, a blind person from birth, was calling from two thousand miles away to greet Alta and me and to thank us for the blessing we had been to him. Sebastian was saved in the interior village of Mira Aua, about 1960, when we lived in Manaus and traveled to the interiors on the launch you dear friends helped to build. He has been a Baptist pastor for over thirty-five years.
Our first church plant was in an area called Chapada. It was in the boonies. It was begun through the Tabernacle Baptist Church where we were members. It was started with 24 members. Among the 24 were four future mothers of pastors; there were five future Baptist pastors, including Paul, John Mark, and David Hatcher. The mothers of Baptist preachers were Alta, Guilermina, our daughters, Lynn (now in heaven) and Kathy. We praise God for His promises and unfailing faithfulness.
God touched the Chapada plant in a special way with its pastors and work. On February 23, 2014, there were 5,000 persons in morning services and 6,300 persons in evening services. In the evening services there were over 300 decisions. Praise the Lord for the ministry of church planting!
Our praises to the Lord for His blessings to our family. Alta and I thank Him for our parents and homes who taught us the fear of the Lord and the power of His Word. God has blessed our dear children: three sons are Baptist pastors, two daughters are wives of pastors and mothers of pastors. We have fifteen grandchildren, all of whom are serving the Lord with their partners in definite church planting projects. We have 26 great grandchildren, and eight of those have trusted the Lord as Savior.
WORKS GOING WELL – The mission points are going well here. There are congregations in Assai, Urai, Sussumo, and Rancho Alegre. There are several faithful young pastors. Some are not married; please pray for God to give them the right partners.
The Lord willing, we hope to be at the Spring Missionary Conference in Lexington. Our son, Paul, is planning our trip with him and Wanda. We may be in the States by the time this letter gets to you.
God bless you each one. We love you in the Lord,
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John and Alta Hatcher in Brazil [February 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
February 7, 2014
Dear Friends and Brethren,
About two months ago our son David and his wife, Pennie, took Alta and I on a cruise of eight days on the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. I was there during the Second World War as a seaman and it was just as beautiful as the first time I saw it.
During the cruise I had asked the Lord to open opportunities to witness of the saving Grace of Jesus Christ. One morning we were up on deck and I asked a young man what were his thoughts about Jesus the Savior.
“I am an atheist,” was his answer.
“Sir, two minutes after you die, you will not be an atheist,” was my reply. Why? Because the Bible tells of one who was an atheist or lived as one. In the sixteenth chapter of Luke, verses 16-31, we have the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. If the rich man was not an atheist, he lived like one. Lazarus died and was carried by the angels to Heaven (Abraham’s bosom). The rich man died and was buried; in hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in Heaven. When it was not possible for Lazarus to bring a drop of water for his burning tongue, he asked him to be sent back to tell his five brothers about Jesus.
I quickly told the young man about Lazarus and the rich man. I pray for his salvation each time I remember him. If God brings him to your mind, pray for him, also.
WHAT WE LEARN FROM THIS IMPORTANT STORY
- A person must hear the Gospel of Jesus to be able to believe.
- Each person who believes that Jesus died for them will be saved.
- After Death there is no second chance to be saved.
- He who dies in Christ will have eternal Joy.
- He who dies without the Lord will have eternal suffering.
- The most important task we have as Christians is to tell people that Jesus saves.
- With Jesus in our hearts, we should have at least as much zeal to tell the lost about Jesus as the rich man had as he suffered in Hell.
Sincerely yours in Jesus’ Name,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [January 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
January 1, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy New Year to each of you. May God bless you this year and give you a blessed year for His honor and glory.
Alta and I have had some great blessings in the final month of 2013. Our son, David, and his wife, Pennie have made these days unforgettable. David came to Urai and took Alta and I for a trip to Florida to visit with my sister, Neree and my sister, Jessie, and her husband, Joe Sills. While there we enjoyed eight days on a cruise. This was a delightful time. I was able to relive some of my Merchant Seaman days.
Returning to Brazil, we went to Manaus to David’s and Pennies’s home. Paul and Wanda, Kathy and Odali live there so we were able to visit our children and grandchildren. It was a marvelous time.
SPECIAL SERVICES AT NOVA IGREJA BATISTA
During the month of December, the NOVA IGREJA BATISTA, where David, our son is Pastor, presented a beautiful drama, THE CHRISTMAS DREAM, a story that takes place in a toy factory. The presentation is one hour and a half duration, and uses nearly two thousand persons. It tells the wonderful story of Jesus, from the angel’s announcement to Mary until the resurrection of Jesus. The presentation is breathtaking.
The drama was presented thirty-one times. 92,000 attended the drama and 8,500 persons made decisions, the majority of these were trusting Jesus as Saviour. The story of this church, originally the CHAPADA BAPTIST CHURCH, is one of the greatest works of God’s Grace that I have seen.
Organized about fifty years ago with 24 members it now has an attendance of nearly 5,000 each Sunday. The work was started in the boonies; today the area is the main part of a city of two million inhabitants. This church has also started other congregations in other cities and States. Praise the Lord for His Blessings!
The Lord willing, we will be returning to Urai on January 7. Paul will be taking us back since we are not able to safely travel alone. The TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH where Paul is pastor has done many church plants in Manaus and several of the northeast States of Brazil. This Church has made over sixty church plants. Praise the Lord!
Odali and Kathy have moved north to Manaus to begin works on the rivers and in new villages that are being developed with the development of new roads.
Once more Alta and I wish you a New Year with God’s blessings, as together we continue to go preach, baptize and plant churches.
We love you in the Lord.
John A. and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [October 2013]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
September 26, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in Jesus’ Name from Brazil. Alta and I are doing well for two oldies. Alta has so much energy that I have a difficult task to keep up with her. Our weather is still very changeable and if you do not like what you have, just wait about five minutes and what you like will be along. Here, when you are having winter in the States, we are having summer. At this time, you are having Fall and we are having Spring; changeable temperatures every two days. Oh well, variety is the spice of life.
URAI–The work in Urai is going well with services being maintained at Sussumo mission, and Rancho Alegre. Presently, plans are being made to begin a new work in Serra Morena and in Nova America da Colina. Seminary Classes continue on Tuesday and Thursday nights with seven or eight students.
CHAPADA BAPTIST CHURCH CELEBRATED 53 years of existence on the 25 of September. The Pastor of the church is David Hatcher who was five years old when the church was established. When the work was begun, it was out in the boonies. Today, that area is the most active center in Manaus. The church has an attendance of about 5,000 each week. Let me tell you of one marvelous work of the Lord that happened recently. The Church had two special days of an Evangelistic program. One young man invited his father to attend. He attended with his son. Two weeks later the man was returning home and had a car wreck. He broke his neck and died. What a wonderful joy filled the hearts of many when they discovered that the dead man had trusted the Lord as his Savior on the night he came to the special service!
ASSAI–The new family working in this large town is being a blessing to many. Daniel, his wife Leticia, and their nine year-old daughter Milena, are working hard and God is blessing. They have special services for children and young people and then regular services for all. Several have been baptized. Please continue to pray for this family and this city.
SPECIAL NEED–Please pray for Sonha dos Santos. She is starting her light treatment for cancer and Valdir, her husband, has to take her every day for thirty days to the city of Londrina. This is a trip of 100 miles every day. Pray that God will provide their needs and heal this dear sister.
Pray for Alta and me that God will be our strength, wisdom and peace as we at weakened old age try to serve Him in spreading the Gospel through personal witnessing and prayer. We thank you who have been faithful in praying for and supporting us these many years. We love you.
Sincerely in Jesus’ Name,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [August 2013]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
August 1, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We thank you and praise the Lord for your faithfulness in prayers and financial support for many years. Things have certainly changed since our arrival in Brazil in 1955. Today, there are more cars on our short street here in Urai than there were in the entire city of Manaus when we arrived. Praise the Lord, the spread of the Gospel has been widespread, also.
During the month of July we had a few days of very chilly weather; that has passed and now we are enjoying beautiful sunny weather with temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees. Alta and I are well with just a few physical and mental reminders that we are human and reaching an advanced age. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us and for the joy of serving Him here.
PRAISE THE LORD! The small mission in the suburb of Urai, Sussuma, has seven persons to be baptized at the next baptismal service. There are three young people from the Urai Church who work in this Mission: Wiler, Odete, and Jefferson. They are wonderful young people and have been faithful in this work. I am asking you to try to remember their names and bring them before the Throne of God in your prayers.
ANOTHER PRAYER REQUEST–In the Urai Church there is a large group of young people who are in the time of their lives to select a partner for life. This choice is vital for the continuation of their spiritual welfare. Please pray for them in this choice.
OUR PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER–Alta and I are eternally grateful for His blessings on our family: We have two in heaven, awaiting our coming: a baby boy born dead in Faro, and Lynn, our oldest. She left her bereaved husband, Ross, and five children. All are serving the Lord faithfully in special ministries. Paul and family faithfully serving the Lord and planting churches in many States of Brazil. John Mark and family serving Him in France with many doors recently being opened. David, who is pastor, and his wife, Pennie, work in the Chapada Baptist Church in Manaus. Kathy, our youngest, and Odali serve the Lord in Garca, Sao Paulo. We have 15 grandchildren, all of whom serve the Lord in special ministries. We have 26 great-grandchildren, seven of whom have been saved and some of these baptized.
EVANGELISTIC WALKING–Three or four days a week as weather permits I walk a few blocks for the purpose of talking to people about the Lord. The past week I was able to evangelize nine persons; Alta teaches a Bible Class for pastor’s wives the first Monday each month.
Pray for us. Thanks for your prayers and support.
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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