Fellowship with Disciples, Meals & Studies with Seekers
November 14, 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
It’s Thanksgiving Season and we are very thankful to our Heavenly Father that He has given us many years of fellowship with you. Thank you for your faithful support.
Thanksgiving is not a holiday in France but we always celebrate it as close to the US National holiday as we can. This coming Saturday we will be having Thanksgiving dinner together with Philip, Amanda and their two younger daughters. Camille is in her first year at a University here and Emily is a Senior in High School. We have also invited two couples who have been friends for a long time. Neither of these are believers. The primary way we share the Good News is in encounters and meals together. One couple are parents of Pascaline who trusted the Lord and followed Him in baptism several years ago. She is now doing University studies in the city of Lyon.
Friday night we were surprised by the visit of Marie Theophile. She was a part of our assembly for about ten years along with her parents and siblings before going to University. She is now completing Law School in Northern France. Many young people from our congregation are now in Universities in other regions and countries. Thomas just moved to Italy this past Friday to attend Medical School. We hope and pray that each of these disciples will follow the Lord faithfully where they are.
If you have prayed for our newest Bible study in L’Union, we have encouraging news. God is definitely at work in these meetings. Attention and participation has been great. Please continue to pray for the salvation of the seekers who need Christ and are attending these Bible studies. Since the good majority are lost and have practically no familiarity with the Scriptures, we are reading and discussing the first few chapters of Genesis and then moving to the Gospel of John.
These are some of the highlights of what God is doing here. We thought you would like to know!
Serving Christ along with you,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, 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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Life in Kitale
April 29, 2022
Greetings from Kenya!
I pray this update finds everyone doing well. This is Carrie writing this month for the annual missionary wives’ prayer letter. I hope the weather is getting warmer for all of you. I’m sure you’re ready for nicer weather after the winter months. Here in Kenya, we are finishing dry season and entering rainy season. The dry season was long this year and especially hot (up to 90 degrees and no air conditioning anywhere). Everything became very dry and dusty and lack of water was a concern. But thankfully, the rains have started and things are beginning to turn green again and the temperatures are cooling down a bit.
Currently there is a fuel shortage in the country. The suppliers are trying to increase the price, but the government is refusing to pay it, so there is a stalemate. The government is working to get the suppliers to lower the cost, but it’s taking a while to do it. There have been reports of people waiting in lines at the gas stations for up to 8 hours to get just a bit of gas for their vehicles. This is really affecting the livelihoods of people such as taxi drivers and piki=pikis (motorbike taxis). In addition, there are fewer supply trucks to bring goods, such as food, from Nairobi to Kitale. We’ve had extremely limited milk for the past couple weeks, and the price of goods is also increasing rapidly, which causes a huge burden on all families and businesses here. The people are struggling to buy the food they need for their families. Please pray that the fuel situation gets resolved quickly and that prices reduce for the people of this country.
Homeschooling continues to go well. The girls really enjoy their classes and are doing a great job working diligently. We’ve been doing some PE activities as a family, such as morning exercise, which has been really nice. Cami enjoys learning to cook and Kenna has taken some drawing classes online, which has been a huge blessing. We’ve gotten a new kitten who is an endless delight for the girls. He’s a snuggly little guy and such a blessing for us.
Please pray for the girls as they are needing friends. We had a family with some girls their ages here, but they’ve moved to another part of Kenya. This has been a big loss for our girls as they were close and played a lot together. There have been a lot of changes in our community with families leaving and we’re all struggling with it to some extent. Please pray for us as a family. Missions can be so difficult with all the goodbyes we say. There are very few “wazungus” (westerners) left in our town. Please pray for strength and for new families to come.
Thank you all for the encouragement you send and the prayers you say on our behalf. We appreciate them more than you know. Each of you is a blessing to us and we’re thankful for you. God bless you all as you head into the summer months.
In Christ,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
naterad[at]yahoo.com
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 30200
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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Back in France!
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are back in France! A week ago, we stepped off the plane in France. What a delight to walk out of the baggage claim area to find Philip and three of our granddaughters waiting for us. Amanda and Camille were at our house putting finishing touches on cleaning and preparing lunch. We are thrilled to be back to the place that God led us to 22 years ago.
Though there are still many restrictions here because of the Covid virus, within a couple of days we encountered many of our neighbors. However, Sunday crowned our joy as we sang in person with the members of our congregation. Though we have been meeting online with the church at Tournefeuille, we could not hear each other singing. Sunday was a very small foretaste of heaven where numberless multitudes will be praising the Lord together.
Yesterday, we had lunch with the Veuillet family from our church. Jean-Luc is one of our teaching leaders. We had an excellent meal and time of fellowship together. This family is a great blessing and encouragement to us as musicians, teachers and committed believers. They just bought a house that is further from our meeting place by about 20 minutes on the road. However, this a small city that desperately needs a gospel witness. I am hoping that this could be the beginning of a church in that community.
We just learned that the house in which we live and hold our church meetings is going to be sold. The rental agent is to meet with us in a couple of weeks to discuss alternatives. Please, pray for us that God will direct our hearts in this matter. Or, if you would like to donate $500,000.00, we can just purchase the house. In case you are wondering, it is not a mansion. You can call Darrell Messer or Randy Jones who have been here for details.
We thank God for each of you and your faithful participation in what God is doing here.
May the Lord bless each of you,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, 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.
Read more
Enjoying Time on Furlough
Greetings from WV!
It’s so nice to greet everyone from this side of the US! We are all doing well and are enjoying our time on furlough. I hope and pray this letter finds everyone else doing well and enjoying the spring weather. It’s certainly been a lovely time of year for us. We miss the deep green that surrounds us here during the spring and summer months. Kenya is beautiful and has many gorgeous plants and flowers, but the leaves and grass aren’t as green as they are here. We are looking forward to the warm weather of the coming months.
Our time at home has been a blessing to all of us. It’s hard to believe that in a few months, another school year will be finished. Kenna is currently in 7th grade and Cami is in 4th. Next year is the last year of middle school for Kenna, and the first year for Cami. They are growing up so quickly! I’ve been busy trying to figure out Kenna’s curriculum for next year, knowing that she is approaching high school and that everything then “counts,” so to speak. We are trying to enjoy each day and not get bogged down in the details.
Nathan is working hard to keep up to date with everyone and coordinate the travel plans and present the ministries to churches. He is doing a great job trying to meet all the needs of our family with all the transitions involved in missionary life. The girls, while enjoying their time on furlough, have also been lonely and miss their friends and pets in Kenya. Nathan does all he can to support and encourage them. He is a great father to our girls.
This year has been different for us, as it has been for all of you as well. Covid has changed many of our “normal” furlough activities, but we are thankful to be home during this time. The people of Kenya are experiencing a return of lockdowns in at least 5 counties, including Nairobi, as Covid is spreading very rapidly there. While we can get vaccinated here, vaccines are very limited in Kenya and there are few ICU beds in the country. Please continue to pray for the country of Kenya during this time.
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and wishes and prayers for our family. We appreciate them more than you know! We are so thankful to everyone who has invited us over to chat or offered for the girls to join in activities with your churches and groups. We pray everyone stays safe and healthy during this time. Blessings.
In Christ,
Carrie (and Nathan, McKenna and Camille)
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
naterad[at]yahoo.com
Furlough Address
1126 Smith Street
Milton, WV 25541
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
46 Years of Marriage; Visitors from L’Union
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
March 11, 2019
Dear Brother and Sisters,
Last week Judy and I celebrated 46 years of marriage. As many of you would agree, the time passes quickly. Judy has certainly been a wonderful partner. We have had the opportunity to serve the Lord on three continents in very different settings. She not only is a model of encouragement, she has been a tireless worker.
Besides her continual zest in serving the Lord through in ministry beyond our family, Judy has truly been a great mother and grandmother.
This past week we also celebrated the 18th birthday of our oldest grandchild, Abigail. This summer Philip and Amanda will be taking her to Evansville, Indiana to begin her studies in Physical Therapy. We will certainly miss her in many ways. She is a good teacher, excellent musician and has touched the lives of many of her friends as a missionary. Among many other activities she is now leading a student Bible study with high school friends and acquaintances. She and another believer decided to do this and are now each leading studies on the High School grounds about the life of Christ through the Gospel according to Luke.
God has greatly used Philip, Amanda, Abigail, Nathalie, Camille and Emily in what He is doing here. We are so grateful for the partnership we have.
Yesterday, we had a great Sunday meeting with several visitors from L’Union, another city in the Toulouse metropolitan area. They are members of a family who are longtime friends of ours. Years ago, Wendy, a single missionary who works with us, and Judy taught English classes in Blandine’s home using Bible stories as the subject matter. Later, Blandine’s children were regular participants in our Youth meetings and brought their friends. This Sunday, the son, Kerwan, was here with his mother. He is now a 2nd year University student preparing to be a History teacher and shows a good interest in spiritual things. Blandine also brought a neighbor who was here for the first time. This lady expressed how much she enjoyed the Bible reading. I gave her a Bible and she was thrilled. When I suggested to Blandine that we would be glad to start a church meeting in their home, she seemed quite interested. This is something for which you can pray.
You might like to practice your French so here is part of an email I received this morning from Douceline (Blandine’s sister). She lives in Mazeres, about an hour to the south and in whose home we held Bible studies weekly for many years. She was also here yesterday.
Coucou John & Judy,
Un grand Merci pour ce repas, votre gentillesse et votre disponibilité ! Claude a été super contente ! C’était une super idée de lui donner la Bible… Merci aussi pour votre proposition concernant les études sur L’Union. Que notre Seigneur vous bénisse pour tout ce que vous faites pour vos frères et sœurs ! Que notre Seigneur œuvre dans le cœur de chacun et que ces études puissent voir le jour si c’est dans sa volonté !
We are here to let the light of Jesus shine through us so that others may know Him, trust Him and follow Him. There is no better life.
Your partners in France for Christ,
John and Judy
John Mark & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.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
