Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [September 2012]
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 Fellow-Workers,
Greetings from Brazil. We are happy to greet you once more from the land where we have labored for more than fifty-five years. We are thankful to our Lord that He has been pleased to use our children and grandchildren in the work of His vineyard in many parts of the world. At our age we are aware that we soon will be in His presence forever.
URAI- The work in Urai is going well. There is a fine group of young people in this Church who are dedicated to the Lord and busy in His work. Along with the Congregations at Rancho Alegre and Sussumo there are some that do visits from door to door distributing Gospel tracts.
This past week Kathy, one of her sons, and Maria were here for a two day visit. What a joy these visits bring to our lives. Sometimes we are so homesick to see them; it is hard.
ELECTIONS- This is the time of electioneering for the offices of State and City officials. It is a very noisy period with loud speakers on, what seems to be, most of the cars.
ASSAI- This month the second son of Dona Maria passed away. He had suffered with cancer for nearly ten years. The sad part is there is no assurance he was saved. Sunday morning, his widow came to service. Her name is Jirlene. She has two children, a girl and a boy. Please pray for her and for her children. Alta and I go to Assai each Sunday morning and we praise the Lord for health and ability to go these sixty miles each week.
CAR PROBLEM- Rather, owner problem. Three weeks ago I failed to put the radiator cap on and coming home the engine overheated and cracked the heads. The heat melted the wires but the car stopped on a curve in front of a small business. The man who lives there was able to fix the wires enough for us to arrive home. The two mechanics who do my work have put our car in first class condition and I am trying to remember the radiator cap.
In all of our years of experience, this city of twenty thousand is the most difficult we have encountered. Pray for God’s mercy on Assai.
On September 14, Alta will have her eighty-seventh birthday, the Lord willing. She is in good health and her eyes are great.
In His Love,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [September 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.
September 2, 2012
Hope all of you friends and supporters are doing great and enjoying the Lord’s blessings. We are doing great. We want to give a special thanks to all of you who have faithfully supported our ministry and BFM. We are very grateful for your faithfulness. Our ministries would be impossible or very difficult without your help. We also are very thankful for those who pray for our ministries. Knowing that someone is lifting us up to the Lord is so comforting.
We have had a great month here with those we work with and the adults that we have been helping and especially in the church. We have helped several families for short period of time. We are especially excited about our Sunday school. God has given us a special group of kids to work with. It is very hard to get teens to come to church just about anywhere. Even those kids that have been coming to church since they were little, when they become teens, they usually quit. Well, our biggest number is exactly teens that range from 12 to 16 yrs old. We are not even doing visitation. They are bringing their friends. It’s like having Alpha and Omega back for a day.
They arrive here at about 9:15 AM and leave here about 1:00 PM. How would you like a Sunday school that last 4 hours?!!! If they could, they would stay longer. These kids live in a poor part of town but worst of all right in the middle of drugs and prostitution and everything else that goes along with that. Not too many options right! That is why we try to spend as much time as we can with them. Last week we had 56 that came, not counting the adults.
Sunday Morning Service
SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE
We have two people that are coming almost every Sunday. Please pray for them. I will tell you just a little about each one. The lady is probably in her forties. She looks like she is anorexic, but is actually an alcoholic. She became that way after she killed her husband. Our prayer is that she will accept the Lord and Savior and receive forgiveness. So that she can live a new life. The other one is a teenager about 16 years old. A few Sundays ago I was driving the bus and got stuck at the bottom of the street where there is a big dip. I go down that street every Sunday and that had never happened. I believe that God had a purpose that day. When I got out to see what I could do and if I was going to need help, the teen came my way. He was drugged. He asked what I was doing, where those people were going and if you had to pay to go, and last if he could go. I answered all his questions and invited him to come. He said he would go but was going to get a friend. Well then I thought he wouldn’t be back. There probably is no friend. I was wrong!!! He actually got the friend and came. Watching him in Sunday school is so gratifying. I don’t think that he ever went to Sunday school. He is like a little kid. He wants to get involved in all the activities. Please pray that he will understand God’s love for him and accept Jesus as Savior also.
Tito (14), Odali and Kathy, Gabriel (12), Jonas (13)
We had a meeting with all our members and made plans for the church and made groups for the different activities that each one could and wanted to help in. Our son Tito age 14, who already helps in the toddler’s class offered to help with visitation and to make an invitation pamphlet to hand out. Yesterday none of the group had done anything, so he started making the pamphlet and asked Loran who is here form the US to help him. They got the pamphlet done and he went to hand them out. Loran offered to go with him and they went. We praise God for Tito. And pray that he will continue to let God use him.
Thanks again for your love prayers and support. God bless each of you.
Love in Christ,
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
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August 2012 Mission Sheet [PDF & Flipthrough]
Your August 2012 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below:
Flip through BFM Mission Sheet [August 2012] (click on the thumbnail once you get there)
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New BFM Brochure!
You can now preview our new BFM Brochure! You can either flip through the pages by following this link…or download the PDF version here.
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FaithWORKS Report [August 2012]
READ YOUR ADVANCE COPY OF THE MISSION SHEETS! [PDF ALSO]
When we receive our missionaries’ monthly newsletters for publication in these Mission
Sheets, they are also posted immediately here on our website on the FaithWORKS blog page. When Mission Sheets is composed and sent to the printer, we also post the same copy in PDF on the FaithWORKS blog page. Look for it around the middle of the month and read your advance copy!
You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below:
Flip through BFM Mission Sheet [July 2012] (click on the thumbnail once you get there)
URGENT VEHICLE NEED FOR THE TATES IN KENYA
Roger and Julie Tate have lost their vehicle due to fraudulent registration processes long
before they obtained it. They have played by all the governmental rules and processed
their purchase through all the legal channels – but it has proven to be fraudulently
registered from its entry into Kenya and original registration. The government has
confiscated it and they are out of the money used to purchase it. They are in dire need to
replace it. Your designated contributions toward this need will be greatly appreciated.
You can read for yourself the history of these developments by going to their
blog at www.tatesinkenya.blogspot.com.
2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
Please be making your plans right now to give as generous and liberal Thanksgiving Offering as the Lord enables you. The needs are great and on-going…and God is faithful! Remember, when you support the General Fund of BFM, you are supplying the essential needs of 12 faithful missionary families to obey Jesus’ Great Commission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel, baptize those believers, establish New Testament Baptist churches, and teach those churches to believe and practice everything Jesus Christ has commanded us. You will not find anywhere on this planet more Scriptural, committed, and fruitful missionaries than those who serve in partnership with BFM.
Here are just some of God’s inspired instructions on giving:
1. Purpose in your heart what you believe God wants you to give [2 Corinthians 9.7]
2. Plan your giving and your gift well in advance of the occasion [2 Corinthians 8.10- 11; 9.2]
3. Trust God to give you something to give back to Him [2 Corinthians 9.8-11]
4. Lay something aside every week or month in prospect of the offering [2 Corinthians 9.3-4]
5. Give generously and hilariously…with thanksgivings to God [2 Corinthians 9.6-7]6. Give in obedience to God and His Gospel…and to express your love to Him [2 Corinthians 8.7-8; 9.13]
7. Give to God and His Glory [2 Corinthians 8.5, 9; 9.11-15]
8. Give for the telling of His Gospel in all the regions beyond you [2 Corinthians 10.16]
9. Give to Christ’s Gospel servants to be like God [3 John 5-7]
10. Give to participate and share in the fruits of the harvest [3 John 8; Philippians 4.17- 20]
LABOR DAY MISSIONS CONFERENCE
September 2 – 3, Sunday through lunch Monday
East Keys Baptist Church, 2150 East Keys Ave., Springfield, IL 62702
For questions or directions contact Pastor Dan Hillard
(309) 265 – 2974 | dhillard51 [at] yahoo.com
www.eastkeysbaptist.com
Sunday
10:00 a.m. – Evangelist Bob Jones
11:00 a.m. – Teaching Pastor, Dr. David Mitchell
6:30 p.m. – Missionary Sheridan Stanton
7:30 p.m. – President of Board of Directors for BFM, Dr. Randy Jones
Monday
10:00 a.m. – Pastor Doug Armstrong
11:00 a.m. – Dr. David Mitchell
The recommended motel is Howard Johnson Springfield
1701 J. David Jones Pkwy. | Springfield, IL 62702 | (217) 541-8774
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [August 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.
Dear friends and family,
These last 6 weeks have been totally AWESOME. We have had Americans visiting with us from July 28th til August 2nd. They were a great help in the work. We have lots to tell you about. First we got three young men from different Baptist Churches and they came to spend 6 weeks to experience the mission field. With them, we began to prepare for the month of July. The second group arrived and we began the work that we had been planning. Our first Bible School of the month was in a very poor neighborhood.These children had never had contact with a group of Americans (North Americans) before so this created a stir in the neighborhood. I am sure that helped with the attendance. The children loved to hear English spoken. While one group was doing the Bible School another group was helping construct dividers for the office in the Social Center. Also they built an area where medicine could be stored waiting to be distributed at a later date. Lots of doors were opened for future ministry.This work lasted two days.
We then took the group to the state of Rio de Janeiro where we had heard of an Indian tribe that we could take the gospel to. This tribe is the Guarani Indians. We arrived at their village by driving about 10 miles on a dirt road (that day it was mud). We did not have trouble getting there because being from Owsley County, Kentucky, we had experience on these kinds of roads. This tribe has been placed on this mountainside by the Federal Government and told to survive the best way they can. Needless to say, they have many, many needs. So knowing some of these needs beforehand we asked the Americans to bring warm clothes to distribute to the children as we are in our cold season. We united in the community Church and made bags of these clothes and hygiene supplies (soap, toothpaste, brushes, etc.). We then went to the village where we met with the Chief of the tribe, we gave him blankets for the cold and a special gift for him. We gave him a leather man knife with all the bells and whistles. This sealed our friendship. He then gave his permission for us to enter the village and work with the children. But now to add another twist–lots of the children did not read nor write in their language (Guarani) nor in Portuguese. And just some of the adults speak Portuguese. Their language is Guarani. This was a challenge to say the least.
Well we were able to get past all these problems and the Bible School was AWESOME with the help of the group from Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and the help of the three young men that had been with us since June. One of the young men is from First Baptist Church in Centerville, Georgia, another is from Second Baptist Church in Warner Robbins, Georgia, and the other is from Garça, Brazil. God put an AWESOME group together to do this special project. While part of the group was doing a Bible School, the others were able to help in the construction of a widow’s home. They were able to build two major walls on the home and left some materials for another group to continue the work. We have heard that another Baptist Church from Rio has come this weekend to finish the house. While there, we discovered that there are at least 2 believing Christians. What an opportunity to tell people that do not know about our Lord and Savior about what He has done for them. I also found out that there is a Bible printed in their native language. One of the young men that was here called his Sunday School class and they received an offering on the spot for about 10 Bibles for this Indian tribe. I think we need to start a “drive” for Bibles for this tribe. What about 100 Bibles? That would cost about $1,000.00 dollars. Are you in for this? These Indians need lots of prayer–for personal health and housing just to start with–and all of but 2 of them for their personal salvation.
When the Porter group left, the parents of Ross, the young man from Centerville, came to spend a week before taking their son back home. They were able to finish some drywall in the office/school room at the School. While here, they purchased food baskets and were honored to deliver these baskets with them to the needy families in our Church.
Well, we have said “Good bye” to our three young men . They have made an AWESOME impact on our youth here in Caraguatatuba at Igreja Batista Novo Tempo. They are already missing them.
So we have an empty nest again. So if you want to come see us, the beds have been changed and everything is clean with a mint on the pillow. “So come on down!”
In His service,
Aj and Barb
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: Sheridan & Anita Stanton on furlough from Peru [August 2012]
Sheridan and Anita Stanton have served the Lord in Peru for 28 years. Their main ministry is church planting and they have helped establish churches all over the country. Sheridan also works to train pastors and Anita works with the ladies’ ministry and developing children’s material.
August 9, 2012
Dear friends,
Spending time with grand-kids, family and friends is the highlight of furlough, and visiting our supporting churches is also a joy. However, traveling to the churches is the hard part. The term “furlough” generally means “a leave of absence from work – to lay off from work,” but for missionaries “on furlough” usually means more work and travel.
The month of May was truly a month of rest for us, and June and July have been fairly busy for Anita and me, but starting with August, “the race is on.” We now have every Sunday booked up between now and December; most of those Sundays we will be in two churches. Several missions’ conferences are on the schedule also. We will be travelling to Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. We have already visited churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. We love to see everyone and renew old acquaintances and make new friends, but, like everyone else, we are getting older! Your prayers would be very much appreciated for our safe travels. Thanks.
Week days we have had medical check-ups and dental appointments. My blood pressure is up again and the doctors are working on that. Anita is having trouble with her knee again but is managing. We will both be having dental work done off and on between now and the time we leave in January. Please pray for our continued health.
I am studying to be licensed for administering a few types of personality profile tests and will be attending a three day conference of the National Association of Christian Counselors in November. I like to learn and I really enjoy teaching and preaching, but as I said, “it’s the travelling I could do without!”
The month of July we had the privilege of sharing with several churches about the Work of the Lord in Peru that HE has allowed us to be involved in. We were with the Calvary Baptist Church in Dickson, TN; the Elliot Baptist Church in Elliot, MS; the Victory Baptist Church in New Salisbury, IN, and last Sunday with the Immanuel Baptist Church of Cold Spring, KY. The Calvary Mission continues faithful as well as all the other works that have sent me reports. We look forward to having the opportunity to share with the rest of you when we get to your churches.
Anita and I thank all of you for your continued prayers and monthly support. We are looking forward to visiting with many of you in the next several months. Until next time.
In HIM by HIS grace,
Sheridan and Anita Stanton
Furlough Address:
1012 Balsam Drive
Lexington, KY 40504
(859) 277-3716 – mission house
(859) 490-5370 – cell in States
(614) 500-8823
sestantonperu[at]hotmail.com – Sheridan
arstantonperu[at]gmail.com – Anita
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [August 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,
I suppose that if I am going to be an honest missionary then I need to report the good with the bad. Last month when I sat down to write my report I was excited and everything I wrote was good, uplifting, and encouraging. Unfortunately, what I have to write about this month I am not so excited about. It is not as uplifting or encouraging. I still hope you spend the time to read it, though, as true life and ministry is filled with ups and downs, with evil and good, with blessings and hardship, with encouraging times and not so encouraging times. Don’t get me wrong, I am not discouraged, depressed, nor down. It’s just that in the course of any ministry and work for God there are mountains and valleys.
Let me start with the church that we organized just last month (Kanisa la Baptisti la Shangalamwe – Baptist Church of Shangalamwe). It is still going strong and I still have high hopes for it. The people there love the Lord and love to worship and fulfill the commission of Christ. But what I have been waiting to happen has now happened. You might have guessed it. It has to do with money. The patriarch of the church finally approached us for help. He told us he didn’t have any food and that he needed our assistance. We have been dreading this from the beginning and the start of the group because we know well the two most likely outcomes from this scenario. Outcome #1 looks like this: We organize a group of Kenyan believers into a church; After some amount of time they begin to ask us for money, aid, and help; Having compassion on their needs we help them with monetary gifts, food gifts, etc; This begins a vicious, downward, irrevocable cycle that ultimately leads to DEPENDENCY and PATERNALISM; The church is ruined. Outcome #2 looks like this: We organize a group of Kenyan believers into a church; After some amount of time they begin to ask us for money, aid, and help; Knowing the problem of dependency and paternalism that is the sure outcome of us giving them money and gifts, we spend great amounts of time teaching them why they should help each other, depend on the Lord, and not beg the missionary for money; All the members of the church begin to realize that they will not be receiving money and gifts from this missionary (what they were probably expecting from the beginning) and slowly begin to drift away and make themselves scarce until they are no longer around; Those who have been “spurned” begin to tell everyone in the village that these are stingy missionaries that are selfish and unloving; We are left with no members in the church; The church is ruined. Those are the two scenarios that I keep seeing played out over and over again. After much prayer and wisdom seeking, Nathan and I decided to help the family by providing them with food. It was a very difficult decision because we never really know if we are getting the whole truth and because we are quite familiar with Outcome #1 above. We fear Outcome #1 even more because when we tried to ascertain the families’ financial situation we found out it is bleak. The patriarch of the family is 70 years old and has no job and supposedly no retirement. They have no farm or land to farm. Their children and neighbors are not willing to help them. They are taking care of four orphaned grandchildren. And, they have no hope for any future income. I kept asking them, “What are your plans for the future”? Ultimately, they have no plans for the future. Actually, Julie may have hit the nail on the head when she told me later, “Roger, YOU are their plan for the future”? I’m afraid she might just be right. I hope that we have made the right decision and yet can still stay off the path of dependency and paternalism. We will only know as things unfold in the future. On the bright side we do have two additional people who would like to join this small church. Nathan and I are scheduled to head out to Shangalamwe later this week to talk to them about salvation and baptism. Please pray for Baptist Church of Shangalamwe.
Briefly, now, because I am out of space. Please pray for our car situation. I have found out that the car I paid a lot of money for a couple of years ago was not properly registered by the authorities in the Kenyan government when it was imported (This happened years before I bought it either by human error or corruption). Bottom line: The Criminal Investigation Department wants to impound my car (which, if they do, I will never see it again). When I refused to hand it over to them they threatened to arrest me. I would like to avoid being arrested as well as having my car impounded and stolen from me. Please pray about this situation as well. (You can read more about this situation on Julie’s blog.)
See, I told you this month’s report wasn’t as uplifting as last month’s. Hope you read it anyway.
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
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