Working on a Communication System for Seminary
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
July 12, 2018
Friends and family,
As I am writing this letter we are working on our system of communication through the computer for Caragua Baptist Seminary. For example, the students want to know what their grades are from the tests they have taken, the courses that are being offered, the locations where they will be offered and the time frame for the courses. Sounds easy, right? Well, put language difficulties and translation into the mix, add having to go through multiple people, the desire to have the correct spelling, grammar correctness and correct sentence structure……now you can see the problems. We are also hoping that my third language (hillbilly) won’t interfere much with what we are trying to do. SOLUTIONS: We are forming a group of pastors there and here, mixing them with several IT professionals and we are off and running. So here is a BIG prayer request, that we will be able to integrate all these different folks together to jump one more hurdle so that we can have an AWESOME Seminary.
One of our students has put the roof on the building that he and his members are building. They need the doors and the bathrooms to be able to occupy their building. But in the meantime, they are meeting in his home. As we continue to help these church starts we need two things: prayer warriors and financial help. As in any place, they encounter many problems when trying to do something for God. Workers for construction are few and the money for material is even less. So I know all of you are prayer warriors, so please put these Brasilian pastors on your prayer list and if you can spare some financial support, please send it to BFM and mark it “Church Starts in Brasil”. The seminary is helping three pastors who are starting mission works but our ability to help is small. But with many of us giving a little, it amounts to a lot. And we all know that a little is a lot with God in control.
My health issues as of today are good. I have a major appointment the first part of August. I request that you pray for me that I will have improvement in the cancer battle and maybe have a “vacation” from the medication. Over a year and a half ago I was told that the choices that I had were surgery with 38 radiation treatments with follow-up medication or expect 6 to 9 months of life. Well here it is almost 2 years later and I am looking forward to a vacation from meds. How AWESOME is the God we have!!!
One of the Pastors and his family that are planting a church in Brasil. He is a student of Caragua Baptist Seminary.
Our next Seminary classes are in October. On that date we will be having four classes: two in Orlandia and two in São Paulo city. Our plans had been to have classes in June but the trucker strike in Brasil almost paralyzed the country. In Caraguatatuba they went almost 3 weeks with no deliveries to their town. There was only gas for the emergency vehicles; the grocery stores and the farmers markets had very little stock—and what they had was price hacked. You know what I am talking about, the merchants raised prices because they could. Now the strike is over, but guess what…the food prices have not gone back down. Go figure!!!! So needless to say, Mary and Walmir and all the other Brasilian pastors are struggling to make ends meet. Keep them in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for our endeavors as we continue the work that God has provided for us as we live in the USA for my treatments and work in Brasil as Missionaries representing Jesus Christ because of your support through Baptist Faith Missions.
As we have the Seminary classes, we constantly watch for the men of God who are anxious to work for the Lord. These are the ones whom we will chose to be the next church planters. We cannot forget the Pastors and their churches here in the States. The pastors who give of their time to come to Brasil to teach in the Seminary for FREE and the churches that support them as they come. Without them our dream for a Seminary to help the Brasilian pastors would have never gone as far as it has. Praise God for all those who have a hand in this endeavor.
We are working toward establishing 3 permanent locations to have the Seminary classes. From these locations we can meet the needs of many Brasilian pastors. Please pray that God would lead our search.
Here is one of the Pastors and his family that are planting a church in Brasil. He is a student of Caragua Baptist Seminary.
In His Service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
Planning for More Seminary Classes
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
June 14, 2018
Dear friends and family,
Sometimes you think you don’t have a lot of things happening and then you turn around and see all the things that have happened. We have finally gotten all the results of the two classes mailed out. It takes some time to translate and grade these tests and then get them to the students. The professors of these two classes were AWESOME. We can tell because the test scores were high.
Now we pray for the students (pastors and church workers) as they start putting their training into practice. I have already heard from three pastors and they are very appreciative of the class and are asking if they may help us find more locations for more classes. They want to help us find more locations in larger cities so that we can reach more pastors and church workers. I think this is AWESOME. The more help we receive the faster we can have established seminary sites in regional locations and this will help facilitate our class schedules. We have already been in São Paulo two times this year and have two more planned.
There are times when in spite of all of your planning, praying, and doing schedules—things happen. That is the case for this month. I had my plane reservations to go to Brasil to do some research for locations for the next year’s classes, but I got a call from my daughter Mary Katherine to inform me that the truckers had gone on a strike. So, all the plans I had made went up in smoke because without the truckers there is no gas and no food being delivered. So within days, there was no transportation, food or cooking gas in Caraguatatuba and many other religions of Brasil. They advised me not to come because the traveling I was planning could not happen.
In the church there in Caraguatatuba we had families helping other families. So God was glorified in all. During this time people rode bikes and those who did not have a bike walked, but the Caragua Baptist Church did not close its doors. The strike ended in two-and-a-half weeks and things are slowly getting back to normal, so please pray for Brasil and its people. Also pray for the planning session that I missed as I do not have another date to go do this.
We are praying and planning for two more regional locations for the Seminary in 2019. Pray with us for God to give us the places where He wants us to go.
This year’s class schedule is full to overflowing because we had to cancel one class last year and are scrambling to put them into this year.
So please pray for the Seminary locations as this means more pastors reaching Brasilians with the gospel. And as you well know, praying is so important but so is your financial commitment to missions. So please pray for BFM and the missionaries that are on the field reaching people for our Lord and Savior.
Just a reminder why we started Caragua Baptist Seminary: I saw that there were many Pastors that did not have Bible training. So with this seminary, we are filling that gap. This way we can help these pastors to become more biblically trained and to be able to “preach the Word”. And for those who have had seminary training to add to their Bible knowledge. As you know we pick one of the students and help him with his expenses and one year in his starting a new church. So with that in mind, we at Gardenside Baptist Church are planning a Singspiration and silent auction on Saturday, August 4th. If you are close, come over and enjoy the singing and some Brasilian appetizers and bid on some unique items.
I have been to the doctors this past month and have another appointment in August. I am anxious for this appointment as I am praying that the exams will give a positive result and MAYBE I will get a vacation from the meds for a short time.
Our God is an AWESOME God!! So all we have to do is look around, count our blessings, and say, “Thank you God!”
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
Two Wonderful Weeks of Seminary Classes
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
May 16, 2018
Dear friends and family,
These weeks have been some real AWESOME ones. Weeks and months of preparation have come to fruition. We have completed two wonderful weeks of seminary classes. These perhaps have been two of our most fulfilling up to this point.
The first class taught by Dr. Derek Colman of Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky, was Systematic Theology. This class started opening the eyes of the students and created an atmosphere of excitement about Biblical learning.
This was our introduction to São Paulo City. I have been somewhat reluctant to go to this city because of its enormity. It is a challenge just to get from point A to point B. You see, the city itself is only 57 miles across. Yes, I said 57 miles. So, the challenges that the students had was not only studying, they had the challenge to get to class and—on time. The students have regular daytime jobs, so they had to face getting to the classes from their job sites, to face the congestion at quitting time, and all the other difficulties that Satan could throw at them. This alone made these students very special. Even facing these challenges their desire to learn has been AWESOME!!! Their questions have been great.
Then came Dr. Edge from 1st Baptist Church in Texas—he taught the Old Testament Survey class and just mesmerized the students.
Let me tell you about some of the students. There was this one very special lady in the class (among many others) and her story caught our attention. She was in her late 60s, still working—she is a medical doctor in São Paulo City. What brought her to our attention was her statement about our Seminary. She told us that she had been praying over 40 years for a Baptist Seminary where she could attend and learn more. Her desire is to know the Scriptures better so that she could be a more effective witness for Him. We all need more of her enthusiasm and dedication for learning more about our Lord and Savior.
Another student said that he was helping in a mission Church and had studied the Old Testament very little but after the class on the Old Testament Survey he was very enthusiastic to learn more and more.
As we were preparing for the class I was praying for 20 to 25 students. We had 23 pre-registered students, but come the night of the first class, we had 44 students. Oh me of little faith! I simply forget what an AWESOME God we serve. Sixteen of these students are Pastors. This fits right in with our desire to train Pastors and church workers to be more effective and better prepared to take the Word to their respective areas.
As we have shared with you in previous letters we are keeping our eye out for that one that God would have us help in their endeavor to start a church. Well I am happy to tell you that we have selected one from this class. He is a young man that is trying to start a mission in a needy area. His Pastor who is also in this class has high regards for this young man. We will be gifting him his books and seminary costs and will help him monthly. This help will be for one year to give him time to build God’s work in this area. He says that he has around 20 in his mission at this time and all are needy. Not only physically (very poor) but also spiritually. His name is Ricardo Posca he is married and has a little girl. Please keep them in your prayers. If you would like to be a part of his ministry, please send donations to BFM marked in his name in care of Aj Hensley.
Continue to pray for the Seminary, the professors and the continuing students and the future students. I will be returning in June or July to look into more sites for the seminary, but when I find them we will need God to send more qualified professors. Please put this on your prayer list.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
Training Pastors to Reach Brazil
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
February 16, 2018
Friends and family,
When I was diagnosed with cancer, I started praying and searching for a way that I could continue to serve my Lord in Brasil because I did not feel that God was finished with me and my service in Brasil, knowing that the main emphasis for Baptist Faith Missions is to open new churches—so I began to think in that area. You know that sometimes the answer to your question is right in front of you and you just have to open your heart and eyes.
For several years now, we have been working with seminary training for local pastors. This Seminary training began in Caragua because we saw the need for the local pastors to have more Bible training. So, we began in our church and invited some of our sister churches to join with us for the first of many seminary classes. Before we knew it, other Pastors were calling us to see if we could do the same in their areas. With Dr. Coleman, myself and Pr. Jason, we organized the Caragua Baptist Seminary. Our first distant classes were in Orlandia, São Paulo, with 35 students. Although our goal was to train Pastors, we also included church workers in the classes. We did a lot of trial and error at first, making the occasional mistakes, but with the Lord’s leadership we have evolved. This year not only is Caragua Baptist Seminary accredited, we have also added a Master’s Program.
Although our objective is to train Pastors, it has grown even beyond our dreams and expectations. Training pastors is an AWESOME way to reach Brasil.
The way God revealed to me that I can continue to serve Him in Brasil is to continue to work with the Seminary training Pastors and sending them out to begin new works all over Brasil. You see, it was right under my nose—it just took God to reveal it to me.
So, I will continue to work in the Seminary, just from a distance. Each year I will go to Brasil 3 or 4 times for the classes to help with them and also to seek out other areas that need our Seminary.
As we teach these Pastors I am keeping my eyes out to see those Pastors who show a desire to begin new works. I meet with them and listen to their hunger to serve the Lord. Then I will encourage them during the time that we spend together to follow God in whatever they do. At this time, we have begun to help three pastors in their endeavors to start new Churches. One is in another country: Paraguay. His church start is in a rural area where there is no electricity. They have around 7 to 9 in attendance. The next two are in the state of São Paulo. The first of these two is having their services in the garage of their home with about 7 adults and 12 children. The other has a foundation dug for the Church building and they are having services in their home. To be able to get started they stepped out on faith and borrowed the money for the land and are building as God provides. How AWESOME! The Pastors we select to help start a church, we will give them an offering for the first year. We also pay for their seminary classes at Caragua Baptist Seminary.
The foundation for the third work
Talking about this calls back memories of how we started our last work. It began on the front porch of a widow’s home. After four years that work now has its building and a Brazilian pastor. What a blessing. AWESOME is the God we serve.
So, this is what God has laid before me as my way to serve Him in Brasil as I live in Lexington, Kentucky. This is so I can be close to the doctors. I have been to the doctor this month and the blood test that they did showed undetectable counts for cancer. Praise Him! The doctor said that if everything continued the same that I might be able to take a vacation from the injection that I am taking every 6 months.
So please pray for the Seminary as we are expanding into other cities and continue to pray for my health to continue to improve. HOW AWESOME IS HE WHO WE SERVE!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
