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.

January 5, 2016
Dear friends,

Thank you for your faithful support and prayers, for they are greatly appreciated.

Family
Melissa is sick. She woke up last night with an awful laryngitis cough – she sounded like a dog barking. We pulled out the vaporizer we brought from Brazil to provide the much needed relief. She cried and breathed in the medication for 20 minutes. In the midst of her struggles, Raquel and I were encouraged to hear her say: “Jesus is going to help me get better.”  Certainly a healthy dose of applicable theology in her statement. I was reminded that we must trust Him for salvation, but we must also trust Him in times of need. We must have childlike faith, every day, every time and all the way. He cares for us.

Everyone else is in good health.

Sarah, Laura and Benjamin’s English has progressed extremely well. Every time I hear them speak in English I am surprised by their diction and ever expanding vocabulary. I am thankful for all the teachers at school and folks around us who instruct, chat and encourage each one of them as they catch up on their language skills.

I am recuperating successfully from the fracture to my right fibula and from the damage to my ankle’s tendons. The physical therapy is helping regain full movement and muscle confidence.  Raquel is always healthy. Overall, I am thankful unto the Lord for taking care of our needs.

Jud with Dave Adams, Quincy Thomas, and Sam Stone

São Paulo, the 7th largest city in the world with 29 million people, is where the Hatchers plan to relocate in July 2016 to plant churches.

Liberty University
The partnership with Liberty is a tremendous blessing. I am truly grateful to my dear friend, Dave Adams. Without him and the support of BFM directors this wouldn’t have occurred. The first semester was a great success. I was involved in five courses and am individually mentoring several students. I was blessed when Dave Adams thanked me in front of the freshman class of pastoral leadership students and received a standing ovation. I am grateful for the opportunity to be involved in the lives of future senior pastors, for the connectivity with other professors, for meeting area pastors, and being introduced to pastors from across the country as they visit the university. I am also grateful to pastors Jonathan Falwell, Matt Wilmington, Charles Billingsley and Scott Phillips at Thomas Road B.C. for their ministry into my life.

Traveling
During the month of December we drove to Clermont, FL to be with my parents (Paul & Wanda) and with my grandparents (John and Alta Hatcher, and Willa McGary) during Christmas break. We enjoyed the time with them and my mother’s exceptional cooking. While we were there we visited Chapel Baptist Church, where Chris Lupino is senior pastor. We also enjoyed visiting with Pastor Doug and Ramona King. To this day, I remember a deeply moving conversation I had with Bro. King concerning missions/ministry while sitting in his silver Lincoln TownCar, I was twelve years old at the time.

From Florida we drove to Virginia Beach, VA to visit some dear friends and supporters, and to attend Atlantic Shores Baptist Church’s first Sunday service of 2016. It was good to see pastors Scott Dishong and Jerry Flug. I was ordained at this church.

We are back in Lynchburg, VA now and the kids have returned to their regular school routine.

Fire at the Estação Luz subway station in São Paulo.

Church Planting in São Paulo City
I am excited about what the Lord has planned for us upon our return to Brazil. As you may already know, we plan to relocate to São Paulo city upon our return in July 2016. São Paulo is the 7th largest city in the world with 29 million people. Two weeks ago fire broke out at the “Estação Luz” subway station. According to the local newspaper, the station receives 200 thousand people into the subway each day and houses the Portuguese Language Museum. This is a historic site in central São Paulo built 148 years ago. A firefighter died of cardiac arrest due to smoke intoxication.

We plan to church plant within the area of the subway network stations, “Estação Luz” being one of the 67 sites. Please pray for us as we make plans and raise additional support to reach this city.

Facebook
Let’s stay connected. Please, friend me on facebook.com/judsonhatcher.

Grateful,
Jud Hatcher

Furlough Address:
216 Mill View Ln
Lynchburg, VA 24502
(859) 608-4742
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
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