Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [January 2012]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
January 17, 2012
Great News About the Building in Assai!
On January 4, fifteen men from the New Chapada Baptist Church in Manaus arrived in Assai to finish the new building. Manaus is about 3,000 air miles from Assai. The prefabricated basic structure and roof you saw in the last Mission Sheet. The men left Assai on Sunday, January 15. They worked almost around the clock. What they accomplished in ten days is a fabulous feat. The few pictures I am sending will tell you a little about their love and dedication to the Lord and to the work in Assai.
John & Alta Hatcher with the beloved brothers from Chapada who came to help build in Assai.
They built up the four block walls; they poured the floors, sidewalks and entrance; they installed lights, water system, and toilets with tiled floors and walls. The walls inside the building and the front of the building were plastered and painted.
Various views of the work.
The Chapada Church was the first church plant God gave us in Brazil fifty-six years ago. Our son David was the youngest founding member. He is now pastor of the church which has an attendance of about 3,000 persons each Sunday.
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude to our Lord for what He has done and is dong in Brazil; and that He has permitted us as a family to have a part in this work. For you who have prayed and given as our supporters—this is your work.
Front view of the building almost finished.
Our hearts are filled with love and thanksgiving for the Chapada Baptist Church who sent these volunteers and, also, paid for the material used in the construction.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Chapada Church. Thank you, brothers that came and did such a great work of love.
Bro. Carlos Chaves from the Chapada Baptist Church in Manaus coordinated the mission team.
Sincerely,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [January 2012]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Friends,
Well, we had an awesome Christmas here in the States. We spent it with Barb’s mom and our son Bryan and his famil, and our Brasilian daughter and her family. We were anticipating a white Christmas but we got fall-like weather. Oh well, things and times are changing.
We traveled some in December visiting two churches in Virginia Beach. We stayed with dear friends Lonnie and Barbara there in Virginia Beach. We also got to spend some time with Jerry Flug, one of the first youth pastors that visited us in Brasil. He has been a big help for us printing our prayer cards and banners for us to use at some of the conferences we will be attending while here in the States.
We also spent time with Pastor Thomas and the folks at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church where Barb’s mother is a member. There I had the privilege of preaching the morning and evening services on the first day of the year.
While here, Barbara and I have been getting some exams done. They have found a cyst in my kidney. Pray for me as the Doctors work to decide what action to take in treating my problem.
In our absence the Church is going and growing. As we were leaving Brasil, there was plans for another baptism. And we are praying about starting another mission work on the other side of the city. One of the couples who regularly attend our services has offered us access to a hotel that they own as the building for us to begin the meetings. Pray for this project that God would supply the person to preach there and the persons that need to hear the gospel.
It has been an AWESOME year in ministry in Brasil for us. Lots of construction on the Church and plans being made for the up-coming year. The vocational school has progressed very well and we are hoping this year we will complete the dorm house.
As we have told you in other letters the most pressing need for us there in Brasil is transportation. As we were leaving, we had to put the van back in the garage for more repairs. This time it was the power steering and it took over 3 plus weeks and $1,800 reais to get it back. The Church in western Kentucky had just sent us an offering and it covered the cost. Isn’t God great? He knows your needs and He provides. While we are here in the States, our pick-up is being worked on. Hopefully a lot of maintenance will be done—wheel bearings, minor body repair, oil change, filters, tire alignment and balancing and some suspension repair. This sounds like a lot but with the age of the truck and the mileage, that is not really much work. I told you all this just for you to see that we really do need help with transportation here in our work.
As we enter this New Year we are totally thankful for everyone that has been involved in our mission work both financially and prayerfully. We ask that you continue praying for us in the coming year.
I hope that you are planning to come down to see what your mission dollars are doing in Caraguatatuba, Brasil.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
Caixa Postal 1511
11672-300 Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brasil
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [January 2012]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil for 36 years. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
Dear friends,
Another year is ended. This one went by so rapidly. We are grateful to God and rejoice in his blessings and mercies.
The Lord blessed; the missions (church starts) had a great year. In October, six of the missions were ready to organize and incorporate as Baptist churches. At the same time six new Baptist ministers were ordained to the gospel ministry. The legal paperwork was a little complicated, however, all was completed. The following month of November, an additional eight churches were organized and properly registered with the government. Six additional pastors were ordained to the Gospel Ministry. Certainly this is reason for us all to rejoice in the Lord. You share in these blessings through your prayers and contributions to missions here in Brazil. Together, we are making friends for eternity. It is certainly a priceless hope to have eternal life. Imagine the joy of being received by friends in eternity – Brazilian friends you never knew in this life time – friends you made by sending the Gospel of Jesus Christ; they believed and now are children of God even as you and me.
Wanda and I thank you, too. Thanks for being prayer partners and giving friends. Jesus Christ has promised “Great is your reward in heaven.”
Now, a news update regarding our family. Wanda and I are doing well. We have great joy seeing our children walking with God and serving our Lord. We are enjoying our wonderful grandchildren – two boys and four girls. All the children, spouses and grandchildren are doing well.
We ask that you remember us in prayer, here are some special requests for the year: that the gospel will continue to grow and those who believe will grow in the Lord. Pray that the door of opportunity for the gospel will stay open. Pray that we will be wise stewards of our time and resources to achieve maximum amount sowing and reaping of the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that God will strengthen us in faith, love and persistence.
We love you in Christ Jesus. May God richly bless you with peace and grace in Jesus Christ.
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
Avenida J. Carlos Antony, 172
65063-150 Manaus
Amazonas, Brasil SA
hatcher[at]argo.com.br
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Missionary Update: Mike & Bev Creiglow in Brazil [January 2012]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. They serve at First Baptist Church in Cruzeiro do Sul, which Mike has pastored since 1978
January 9, 2012
Dear Brethren,
Home, at last! It has now been just over 3 weeks since we returned to Cruzeiro do Sul. I won’t bother you with the adventure that it was to get back home. It might scare some of you away, those of you who are considering a visit. We need your visit, so just let’s pretend that getting here is just a walk in the park.
The Christmas program was a huge success. The day after our arrival I was at church saw and hammer in hand. It was 10 straight days of long hours to get the stage and lighting ready, but we made it with a few hours to spare. We had overflow crowds for the 4 presentations. Although we did not have a public invitation, we still had 4 professions of faith, at least the ones that I witnessed personally after services.
A week later we had our New Year’s Eve service. Another overflow crowd. After the service, which ends sometime after midnight, Bev and I got together with family and friends for a meal. We finally got home after 3:00AM, tired and happy.
I have had 2 meetings with the leadership. The guys did an outstanding job and the church continued to grow. However, being away as long as I was, let a few things get out of focus. We will be working on getting things fine tuned again over the coming weeks and months.
In the last 27 days, since getting home we have had only 1 day without torrential rains. The river is almost out of its banks. Even so, we have had really good crowds in most services. On January 1 we had 3 professions of faith and last night we had 5 more. There had not been any in November and early December, so we are relieved that things are picking up again.
It has been 5 or 6 years (maybe more) since we started having an afternoon service to try to free up more space in our outgrown building. We have been trying all this time to get our regular members to make the switch to the afternoon service as to free up space for our visitors that come mostly to the night service. It has been a slow process. At first we had less than 100 people coming in the first service and always standing room only at night. Finally we are having about 500 in the afternoon. It is still full at night, but not always turning people away, so at long last we are getting a little relief. We had dozens of visitors last night. It crossed my mind that many pastors never spend 5 years in one place, yet they want things to change over night. Much prayer, patience and TIME is needed to see positive changes. A pat on the back to all you pastors who stick it out for the long haul. For those who are just getting started, hang in there, pray and be patient. The results will eventually come.
Last week was spent getting some of my equipment rebuilt, repaired and ready for the coming river trips. Tomorrow Hudson and I head up the Moa River. I’m pumped!
Please consider the 2 financial needs I mentioned last month: the renewal of the satellite phone and the purchase of the jet drive for the 25hp motor. The 2 items cost just over $2,000.00.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher of Brazil [December 2011]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
December 1, 2011
Dear Brethren,
We thank the Lord for each of you for your prayers and support for the many years we have been in Brazil. We thank the Lord for the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren He has given to us. Every day is filled with His blessings. In spite of advanced age and some physical problems on my part, “Jesus is the sweetest Name we know, and He is just the same as His precious Name and that is why we love Him so.”
Building in Assai
Last week Brother Carlos Chaves and his wife, Linda, were guests at our home. They are from the Chapada Baptist Church in Manaus, the first church plant we made in Brazil. He came here to start the preliminary work on finishing the building in Assai. I went with him to Assai the first day to introduce him to certain persons and places where materials can be bought, room and board can be planned and the City Hall.
During the month of January a group of ten men are coming from the Chapada Church to finish the building. Praise God for the generosity of that church who is sending the men and paying the expense of materials and building. Praise God with us for their gift.
Personal News
Alta and I are rejoicing for the success of her cataract operations. She never stops. I have had some problems with dizziness. One morning I fell two times: One getting to the bathroom and another in the bathroom. The fall in the bathroom was bad and I hit my head on the tile wall, but, praise the Lord, no broken bones, just a few bruises.
Kathy was down to visit us for a few days and that is like a breath of sunshine. Her son, Jonatas, came with her. She came on our wedding anniversary and said she wanted to take us to McDonald’s for lunch. That is in the city of Londrina and I do not drive there, so that was a joy. My three earthly loves are: McIntosh, McDonalds and McKeehan (Alta’s maiden name). Alta and I were married sixty-four years on December 20th. God has blessed us beyond our faintest dreams. All glory and honor to Him!
Great News From Children
In France, God has shown special blessing in new contacts in the work there. We rejoice with John Mark and Judy in His blessings.
This end of the year the Tabernacle Baptist Church, where Paul is pastor, has established about fourteen new churches and ordained twelve new pastors. Paul and Wanda will be arriving December 29th. He will be the speaker at our annual camp in the first week of January.
The Chapada Baptist Church presented for twenty-two days a Special Drama starting with Creation and ending with the resurrection of Jesus. During the presentations over 50,000 persons attended the event and 2,523 persons made professions of faith in Christ. The largest TV in Brazil gave them a three minute coverage on national TV. There is a follow up on those who trusted Christ as Savior.
Rejoice with us as we begin the year of 2012.
Sincerely, in His Name,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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