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Marveling at God’s Creation in Celebration of Good News

Posted on 29Mar CATEGORIES: General, Jud & Raquel Hatcher [Brazil], Letters Tags:Tags: Addyston Baptist Church, aquarium, Bellbrook, Benjamin, cancer, cancer free, creation, Darrell Messer, David Pitman, Emmanuel Baptist Church, God's creation, healing grace, Imago Dei, Jud Hatcher, Philip DuBarry, Raquel Hatcher, Sarah0

Jud and Raquel Hatcher are third generation missionaries serving the Lord in São Paulo, 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.

March 29, 2022

Dear friends,

March was packed with excitement for our family. My parents came to visit us in Wheaton, IL from Florida. It was short but sweet! Truly blessed by them. Melissa received the school district’s superintendent art award. This month we also celebrated Benjamin´s 14th and Sarah´s 17th birthdays. The Lord blesses us to see our children grow physically and in their knowledge of Christ with the desire to serve Him. We thank the Lord for them. What made this month particularly unique was the confirmation from my oncologist (based on the imaging and blood exams). I am cancer free! We bless the Lord and thank Him for His healing hand. Thank you for your prayers during this treatment time.

So, how did we celebrate? Raquel suggested that we marvel at God´s mighty creation handiwork by going to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. We love admiring His creation. We especially loved visiting the “Amazon” display. Seeing the variety of fish, fauna, and flora common to us felt like home. Four of us were born in Manaus, a city in the heart of the Amazon basin. We saw the largest fish, the pirarucu (which can grow more than ten ft. long) to the most vicious of fish, the piranha. (All of which we have stories to speak of and know what they taste like.) We watched the beluga whale show, the dolphins and the penguins, the seawater fish and the freshwater fish. It was a special day to admire the details of God´s fancy work within His creation. We were impressed! Part of our discussion that day contrasted what we observed with mankind, which was created in the triune God´s image. Yes, we are Imago Dei. Dolphins may be more intelligent than other mammals. But we are much more; we were designed in His likeness. Furthermore, He made us His chosen people through Christ Jesus. What a way to celebrate birthdays and cancer-free news!

This month three people surrendered to Christ in São Paulo. Preparations are underway for an evangelistic campaign during April. Pray with us and the leadership teams in Brazil for success in pointing people to Christ and people within the community to surrender to Him. This month I also was privileged to speak at the Addyston Baptist Church men’s retreat at West Harris, IN. Several churches participated in this marvelous weekend. Thank you Pastors Philip duBarry and David Pitman for organizing this event. I was also honored to share about our ministry and to preach at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bellbrook, OH. What a wonderful weekend with church people, Pastor Darrell & Mrs. Messer. By invitation of Jarell & Beverly Sill (second cousins of mine), I managed to squeeze in a visit with my great Uncle Joe and Aunt Jessie Sills in Cincinnati, OH.

Grateful always,
Judson & Raquel