Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [November 2012]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making,”
October 31, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
There are no “big shots” in God’s Kingdom, only little people with a big God. So, I want to start by thanking each of you who participate with us in the mission to which our Lord has called us; each one who gives, each one who prays, each one who blogs, each one who works in the editing and distribution of the Mission Sheets, each one who posts on or designs internet sites related to the mission work, each one who places a Mission Sheet in the hands of each person who meets with their church or their friends, each one who serves in a conference. There are many other activities that happen which contribute together for the propagation of the Good News of Jesus Christ here in France and in many other locations. We thank God for moving each one of you to be involved!
That is really how it works here and elsewhere. Together we reach others. One of our desires is to help each disciple of Jesus Christ here in France reach their friends. This is at the heart of the being a disciple of Jesus in this present world. Disciples follow and seek to be like the Master. Our Master came to “seek and save that which was lost”. As His followers, this becomes our responsibility and privilege. This is how it worked in Judea and Galilee, in Antioch, and how it works in the USA, France and elsewhere.
On Sundays and in our Bible studies we emphasize the question, “How can we live what we have learned about Jesus this week?” We pray for our friends who need Christ. We try to encourage each other to love and help those whom we have contact with each day. We give the disciples opportunities to tell about how God has blessed them and given them opportunities to be a witness to others in words and actions during the week. Friends, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbors, and sometimes enemies come to know Christ as each disciple lives out Jesus where they live.
There are now six ongoing regular Bible Studies in four different locations. A couple of these are one on one. The others are groups. We are encouraged by new people who are participants in these Bible studies. Judy and I are also very happy about several new neighbors with whom we have good relationships. These give us opportunities to share about our faith. Word spreads. I was encouraged a while back when someone at the Sunday morning meeting for the first time told me about an incident that happened as they were on their way. The person got lost in the neighborhood and stopped to ask someone they saw if they knew where the church met. Remember, our church meets in our home. The person, from several blocks away, indicated the way. They said, “I am sure it is there. That is were a pastor lives.”
A couple of weeks ago, a church member whose children go to the public school where Philip and Amanda’s children went before moving 3 yrs. ago said, “It is wonderful, the parents that I meet at school know your grandchildren, Philip and Amanda and you the grandparents. They mention that you are all very nice and kind.”
Next week is Vacation Bible School. The six teachers are in the last throes of preparation. The children who are coming are schoolmates, friends, children of friends, neighbors. Those who come, come because they know and trust those who lead. That’s how it works!
The Youth Meeting this month was excellent. Since we had a bonfire, Philip collected a lot of combustible material, divided the youth into “work groups” whose goal it was to construct the most durable object. They then tossed the products of their work into the fire. Of course, sooner or later, all the creations were gone. He then spoke to them from I Corinthians 3 about a life that lasts for eternity. I had an excellent conversation with one of the young men who has been very skeptical in the past. He seems to be more receptive now.
Someone wrote to ask me if the the young man in the picture with last month’s letter was Samuel. It was not. The young man in that picture comes on Sundays from time to time. The candid shot was taken by Judy after Theo’s baptism. I have had many personal conversations with Him about the Lord over a period of several years. He has never made a profession of faith. By far, not all who hear trust Christ. But we are still praying for him and others on a regular basis. We would love to have you join us in our prayers.
I usually do not mention names in my letters because of laws of privacy in France and because people really want to protect their privacy. We also do not want to them to think that we are using them for our means.
Well, I must stop. Hope to see those who are able to attend the Thanksgiving Conference at New Hope Baptist Church. Judy and I will be jetting to Chicago in a couple of weeks to help our daughter Lydia and family following the birth of her third child. We will return to France, the Lord willing, on New Years Day. This trip will allow me to be at the conference. It is only my 2nd time to be able to attend in the 13 years we have been serving in France.
May you enjoy Christ and let it show today!
From France for Christ,
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
Click here to donate to BFM.
Read more
Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [November 2012]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Life is going on here in Kenya. Josiah turned 11 years old this month. We had a small party for him with some friends (mostly grown ups because there are very few children his age here). The radio controlled car he received from his grandparents in the mail keeps roaming around the house. I also have a birthday coming up in ten days. I will turn 43. And, just a few days before my birthday, I will attempt to run my first full marathon. Why am I attempting this? It’s hard to explain. But, maybe the Kenyan runners inspired me. Too bad they will be so far out in front of me when we run the race.
Ministry goes on as well. At Shangalamwe we are very close to beginning a newer phase in that new church’s ministry. Up to now, Nathan and I have done all of the teaching and leading of the new church. We are about to enter a phase where we will begin to gradually hand these responsibilities over to the believers and members of that church. This is Paul’s method in the New Testament and we want to emulate his methods as much as possible. Sometimes he would stay in a city for a year or two teaching and other times he would be run off after only a few months or weeks. But in every place that he went he tried to leave a strong church led by strong leaders. We want to begin teaching the leaders of the Baptist Church of Shangalamwe to take over teaching the Word of God, leading the worship, and leading the church in general and in spiritual matters. We have tried to model much of this for them over the last few months and hope and pray that they will follow this leading. Nathan and I cannot stay here at this church forever and in this culture it would be far too easy for them to become dependent upon us to do everything for them. This transition might not be easy for either them or for us. Change is always hard. However, this young church has the Word of God and the Spirit of God to lead them, help them, guide them and empower them to continue and persevere and to do the work of the kingdom in the village of Shangalamwe. May God bless all their efforts in doing his work and will.
Also, the young man, Titus, who we are discipling on a weekly basis is doing just a fantastic job. He has started five Bible study / worship groups all on his own without any direct intervention from us and all of these groups are thriving. This is what we encouraged and trained him to do and he is running with the training and doing a great work for the Kingdom of God. His groups continue to grow. In fact, one of his groups is no longer able to meet in the original house they were meeting in because they have outgrown it. The 32 people coming simply could not fit in the small house where they were meeting. They had to meet outside and sit on the ground. I cannot begin to tell you how excited that makes me. His other groups are doing almost as well. We have trained and modeled for Titus how to start groups and teach them the Word of God. Now we have begun to train him on how to turn these groups into churches: What the Bible says about churches, what a church is, how a church is organized and started, what needs to be done, steps to be taken, etc. Our prayer and goal is that some day these groups will have the necessary “Biblical ingredients” and take the necessary Biblical steps to become churches of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, & Josiah)
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
Click here to donate to BFM.
Read more
October 2012 Mission Sheet [PDF & Flip-through]
Your October 2012 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
BFM Mission Sheet October 2012
[link updated to include all pages]
You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below:
(click on the thumbnail once you get there)
The original Mission Sheet we encouraged you to flip through only published one page. The link has been updated to include ALL the pages you can now flip through. Sorry for the confusion!
Read more
Thank You!
Our Secretary, Dave Parks, expresses personal thanks on behalf of our missionaries to all of our faithful and generous contributors.
Read more
FaithWORKS Report [October 2012]
KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING – AS IT HAPPENS!
You can keep up with what is happening in BFM as it happens by logging on to our website regularly, and especially the FaithWorks blog page. As our missionaries write their monthly newsletters, they are immediately posted there as we receive them.
ALSO OUR FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/baptistfaithmissions
We are making daily posts there not only with our missionaries newsletters, but also with daily developments and updates. Bookmark the page and be in the know!
BFM EMAIL NEWS – we want to include you in our email bulletins. If you have not
signed up to receive our email reports, please do so by subscribing either through our
Facebook page, or by sending us an email at baptistfaithmissions@gmail.com.
ADVANCE PDF COPY OF THE MISSION SHEETS – This Mission Sheets issue
will be posted on our website before it goes to the printer. We will post links to the PDF
Mission Sheets on Facebook and also via emailed BFM NEWS.
NEW BFM BROCHURE
We have produced an attractive and informative brochure to present our missionaries’ ministries. It will serve well as a centerpiece presentation to introduce, define, and distinguish the faithful missionaries who serve in partnership with BFM. It is professionally designed and produced in full-color on a three-8½x11-pages spread-out format. To view and flip through an animated version of the brochure, click here. You can help us reach out to introduce others to BFM by using this brochure when you tell them about us.
If you want copies of the brochure for yourself or to distribute in your church, contact the Secretary, Dave Parks, with your mailing address and the quantity you want. You will find his address on our Contact page.
2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
Please pray to the Lord of the Harvest concerning what you can give to our
THANKSGIVING OFFERING. The THANKSGIVING OFFERING supplies the funds
to provide for the many benefits and services we give our missionaries over the course of
the year such as furlough expenses and the support services required to meet their needs.
PLEASE PRAY, CONSIDER, AND COMMIT TO GIVE AS GENEROUS OFFERING AS YOU CAN!
MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS
We also continue to need increased and faithful MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS to supply their monthly Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT]. Those essential commitments amount to more than $45,000.00 every month.
$20,426.00 for their salaries;
$10,950.00 for their standard housing and ministry allowances;
$11,918.11 for their monthly hospitalization premiums;
$1722.50 for the printing and distribution of their monthly newsletters and reports in The Mission Sheets. These disbursements must be made every month. They must be supplied through your monthly GENERAL FUND offerings, or else we will be required to reduce either their salaries or expense allowances to make the monthly GENERAL FUND supplies/disbursements balance.
YOUR FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS ARE SUPPLYING THESE NEEDS so they can maintain their daily ministries unhindered by shortages of funds and undistracted from their service by wondering what they will have to curtail to keep their ministries going.
We love you and thank God for each one. All our offerings working together will keep them GOING AND GROWING for the Glory of God!
THANKSGIVING CONFERENCE
Please make your plans to attend November 19-21. You can find the program and
other additional information in this post.
Read more
Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [October 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,
We send you greetings from the north and northeast of Brazil. The past three months have been very busy. We are thankful for all that God is doing. We rejoice that many are coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and receive believer’s baptism. Our prayers are for the millions who have not heard or have not believed in Jesus.
Wanda and I have travelled across most of the states in the north and northeast of Brazil in the last six weeks, organizing eleven missions into churches and ordaining eight pastors for the newly organized churches. It is great to see the growth of the gospel and the spiritual maturing of God’s children in each mission. Our desire and prayers for each new church is that they will continue growing and take the gospel to other places.
Churches were organized in the following locations: three in Manaus, in our home state of Amazonas, one in Belem, state of Pará, three in Boa Vista, state of Roraima, one in Fortaleza, state of Ceará, one in Parnamirim, state of Rio Grande do Norte, one in João Pessoa, state of Paraiba, and one in São Luis, State of Maranhão.
I taught a sixteen-hour training seminar in most of these locations prior to the organization. We have also been helping them with all the red tape to get their legal paper work, and the transfer of the property deeds to the new churches, usually a three to six month process.
The Lord’s mandate is still before us. We have visited a great number of small cities and towns with no Baptist churches; pray that the lord will grant us sensitive hearts and wisdom to make best usage of our time and energy.
In the last ten months the Lord has added two wonderful grandchildren to our family, Melissa to Judson and Raquel, and Noah to Leigh and Michael. We now have a total of seven grandchildren. Pray they will all grow in the nurture and grace of our Lord Jesus. The three oldest ones have already trusted the Lord and been baptized. Praise the Lord.
Thanks for your prayers and faithful support,
Paul and Wanda
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
Avenida J. Carlos Antony, 172
65063-150 Manaus
Amazonas, Brasil SA
hatcher[at]argo.com.br
Click here to give.
Read more
Missionary Update: Jud & Raquel Hatcher [October 2012]
Jud and Raquel Hatcher serve the Lord in Manaus, Brazil. They are part of the “SeedFactory” church planting initiative, which is a movement to plant churches in all 26 Brazilian capitals. Since 2006, 43 churches have been started in 5 states.
October 5, 2012
THANKFUL HEART
Thank you for your faithful prayers and investing in missions.
Thank you Bro. David Pitman & Addyston Baptist Church, Addyston, OH for
taking us on for support. Thank you also to Atlantic Shores Baptist Church,
Virginia Beach, VA; Friendship Baptist Church, Bristol, VA; New Hope Baptist
Church, Dearborn Heights, MI; Darwin & Cathy Smith, Lexington, KY; and Ron
& Judy Logan, Lexington, KY. WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL!! Now, let me tell you about family news and some exciting moments of our latest church plant.
FAMILY DETAILS
Everyone is doing well. Sarah is 7 years old and studies hard on her math. Laura is 6 years old and is reading and writing amazingly. Benjamin is 4 years old, is learning to read and knows all of his numbers. Melissa is 11 months old and has 4 little teeth. At times, Raquel and I feel overwhelmed with family and ministry, but wouldn’t change a single moment of God’s plan for us.
CHURCH PLANTING: INITIAL PLANNING
On January 7, 2012 two couples, a lady, Raquel, the children and I went on a
van ride to pray and discuss where the Lord would lead us to start a church in
Manaus. I invited each one to make a personal commitment to join us and plant
a church. Everyone in the van that day committed wholeheartedly to start a
new church. The following weeks were filled with excitement as we visited six
different churches on Sundays and met from 5:00pm until 7:00pm to pray, study,
brainstorm and plan. During this time we also selected our name – Ativa: Uma
Igreja Batista (Active, a Baptist Church).
EVANGELISTIC COOKOUTS
During the weeks to come we organized several cookouts in homes where family
and friends were invited. Our contact list grew tremendously. Our fifth event was
a one-day camp where 95 people participated. Several people heard the Gospel
and made decisions.
MEETING AT HOME
Our first Sunday service was March 18, 2012 and met at our home. We had no
music, but the great food led to tremendous fellowship. A sense of belonging
began to grow amongst the team members, the newly saved and the unsaved
attendees. Excitement grew every week as people asked questions and decisions
were made. By the end of April, we had 30 people attending our home services.
During this period a member of the congregation asked “Where should I give
my tithe?” It is worth noting, we did not have a specific moment for tithes and
offerings during the service. We didn’t have a treasurer either. That week we
selected a treasurer and a vice-treasurer, and a box was placed on a corner table
during Sunday services. Those who attended began to give generously, even
though we never spoke of the matter. Six weeks latter we purchased a simple
sound system, three microphones, an acoustic guitar and a two-tone percussion instrument. With low monthly expenses our new congregation was able to save towards what the Lord was about to do.
BUILDING QUEST
Children singing on Sunday (building still under retrofitting)
In May, we began to search for a building to lease. We wanted a building on an
easy to find street, with good visibility. As we looked around the city we ran into
a serious problem – the outlandish cost of rental property. The reason? Manaus
is a host city for the World Cup 2014 and buildings are now exponentially
expensive to lease and/or purchase. Our small budget only allowed us to commit
to $1,000/mo and we needed a location to accommodate at least 150 people
(projecting growth over the next years). The cheapest we could find was $7,500/mo and with little to no parking. I even found a place that could accommodate 200 people and had six parking spaces for $15,000/mo. That’s right, fifteen thousand per month! And yes, that is the cost in US currency. To put the price absurdity into full perspective: the minimum wage in Brazil is currently at US$297.00/mo. Not encouraging… but we sure prayed and searched.
Despite the challenges, the Lord blessed! He gifted us with a small warehouse
to seat 140 people, with two small rooms, and a bathroom. The location is on
one of the main throughways of the city. Guess how much? Yes, $1,000/mo.
Unfortunately, it only has one parking spot. Yet again, the Lord blessed us.
Around the corner, within a hundred yards we found a walled parking lot for 30
cars! We met with the congregation and agreed to lease the lot at $25/Sunday.
BAPTISMS, ORGANIZATION & RETROFITTING
On August 12, 2012 we baptized 13 people (including our daughters Sarah
and Laura) and were organized with 37 members through Tabernacle Baptist
Church. It was an exciting Sunday for us all. We continued to meet at our home
while retrofitting the warehouse for services. Everyone came to help scrape the
old paint of the walls, repair the roof, clean, paint, and install doors and curtains.
Tabernacle Baptist Church donated the needed metal and the welder to build
and install a sign for on the front of the building.
Church building inauguration night with 102 people (84 adults and 18 children)
BUILDING INAUGURATION
On September 23, 2012 we had our inaugural service and kicked off a six-week Evangelistic message series. That evening we had 102 attend (84 adults
and 18 children). The Lord also gave us two salvation decisions that evening.
On the second week a tropical storm hit hard, and most of our invited guests
stayed at home. Despite the downpour of rain, we still had 63 attend and one
reconciliation. Pray for us this coming Sunday, it’s our third week.
PRAYER
Please, invest time in prayer for all of those who will need discipleship. Also,
pray for each one of us to continue in good health. Consider coming to visit us in
Brazil. And, continue to give generously to missions.
Grateful,
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
judsonhatcher@hotmail.com
Website | Twitter
Click here to give now.
Read more
Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [October 2012]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run “Alpha Omega Family Development,” which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings! Hope all is well with all of you. We are doing great. God has been good to us and we are all in good health. I got to go visit my father in Manaus. My brothers took him to Manaus to take care of him. He is now 92 years old. Actually doing good for his age. Hope that I can see him again soon and enjoy him while I can. Our hope is that he actually has accepted Jesus as his Saviour.
The church here is doing great. We have had new adults coming and on Sunday mornings many kids and teens are coming. Every week we have new kids that are coming and we are not even doing visitation. The kids are bringing other kids. It has been such a joy to see the kids growing and changing each week. It is wonderful to see them with a desire to learn more about God. What is so fantastic is that about 70% of them are in their teens. The drug addicted teen we mentioned in the last letter is still coming. Pray for him. His name is Clayton. We run the bus pretty much just in to neighborhoods. And these neighborhoods are enemies and have been for years. Each Sunday we see and improvement in their behavior. Pray for us that God will give each one of us wisdom to work with these children.
We have been working in getting each member involved in some area of the church ministries. Some have really taken action and are growing and others a little slower. But we praise God for those that have made the difference.
Here at the home we have 5 mothers with their children. The last mother who came for help has 3 children. The little boy who is 6 years old has cancer. He has been in treatment for 2 years. Hope that he will along with his family look to the Lord for salvation.
We want to thank all of those who have been faithful in your giving to BFM and for your constant prayers for each missionary families and our ministries. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. God bless each one of you.
We do not have any permanent plans for our furlough at this moment. We are still waiting for our children’s documents to get back to us. But I think that the documents are going to go all over the US before they get back to us. We first sent them to Chicago where we were told to send them, from there they went to California, and this week we got a letter that they went to Missouri. Well I guess we will have to be patient and wait on the Lord.
We will keep you informed on what is going on and our plans.
God Bless,
Odali & Kathy
**Please be sure to visit the BFM Facebook page to view a video of their kids at church singing. It’s a blessing and a half!**
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
Read more
