A Special Visit to Garça
November 21, 2022
Dear friends and family,
While in Brazil for the Seminary graduation we took a few days off just to go back to Garça to visit old friends, pastors, and churches there. This was where our ministry in Brazil started with Pastor Odali and Kathy Barros in the Alpha and Omega Children’s Home.
We spent time with Pastor Serjio and he took us to visit Pastor Epitacio in the old Orphanage property where he pastors the church Igreja Batista da Fe. During this visit we found out that Pr. Epitosio and Fatima will be going back to the northern region in January to start another mission. Then Pr. Serjio will assume the pulpit there. Pr. Serjio was the pastor in the Church where we held the Seminary in Garça and we discussed having our next seminary class for them there.
While in Garça, we met with some of the children who were in the orphanage from the time we were there. Luiz, one of the young men, now lives in the orphanage building and he is now a lawyer. He helps in the buildings and takes care of their legal business. Another young man, Edson, will be graduating in January as a veterinarian. He still lives in Garça where he goes to Veterinary school. How AWESOME is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They call Barb and I mom and dad and we are very proud for them to have been afforded the opportunity to study and advance themselves. Some of you have helped in their educations as you have given to BFM and that was passed on to them.
The Seminary classes are now being planned for the year 2023. We are planning trips in January, March, July, and September. Some of those trips will be classes and others will be meeting new Pastors and churches where interest has been expressed for new classes.
We are planning our holidays a little different this year. We are living in Florida between trips to Brazil so we are bringing our two families to spend Christmas with us here. Our Brazil family is excited but sad because there is no SNOW. But the Kentucky Family is looking forward to coming to the warm weather in Florida. What is the saying? “You cannot please all the people all the time”? But Barbara and I will be pleased because this will be the first time in many years that we can spend the Christmas holiday together.
Speaking of the Holidays it would be remiss of me to not thank all our donors at Baptist Faith Missions for your support all year long. Your prayers and donations are what keep us going in Brazil.
There are no words big enough to show our gratitude so I will just use my favorite one – you are AWESOME!!!!
Continue praying for us and God’s ministry that He called us to do.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Edson, Barb, Luiz, & AJ 
AJ & Barbara 
Igreja Batista da Fé
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
30524 Mimi St
Sebring, FL 33870-0530
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.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.
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Using a Home to Reach People
February 12, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hope and pray that you all are doing well. We are doing well, thank God. The virus was in our area and even some people from our church got it this time. Until last month, things had been pretty calm around our area. Thank God, this week things have calmed down. We canceled the church services for a few weeks. This week we were able to have service again. We just asked each one to be careful and used the mask.
This last year we took on a missionary from here in Manaus who went to the state of Maranhão. Many of you helped brother John Hatcher and Brother George Bean who also started works there. We are happy to help a Brazilian pastor that has given his life to missions. For several years, the pastor Francisco helped in one of our mission points, the one in the community of Multirão. May God continue to guide and bless him and his family.
The training we are doing at the church is going well. We are trying to prepare more leaders for the different communities we go to—that way, we can reach more people. Pray that God will help us more and more each day with wisdom and strength.
Our home has been used to reach people for over 32 years. Paulinho, one of the first boys we got 32 years ago, was here to visit us this week. We have always had someone in our home. Right now, we have 3 boys that live with us. We also are helping 3 men that did a recovery treatment for drug from a project called “Projeto Vida” (Project Life). They work with men with drug and alcohol problems. We pray that we can help these people look to God and know how much He loves them and gave His life for them.
Kathy is in the United State for a while to care for her father. Paul had to have surgery. While she cares for him, she has some time with her brothers.
Thanks for your prayers and support. May God bless each one of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Paulo catching the fish. The two young men holding the fish are the two new boys who live with Odali & Kathy Barros. 
Paulo is the first boy Odali & Kathy Barros helped. They taught him many things, but it looks like fishing was well learned 
The mission in Maranhão. 
This is the Saturday Bible School in their home at the mission in Maranhão.
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.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
Training Church Leaders, Fruit of A&O
January 20, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We pray and hope that all you are doing well. We are doing well thanks to our wonderful Lord. I have been ill with cold symptoms but thank God I’m feeling better.
The virus problems seem to be increasing some so we are having the care we need to have. But we still are having services.
On Sunday we are doing training for church leaders and for music and children’s classes. We are having services in homes since everyone lives far away from church and many people do not have a car. So, we want to prepare more leaders to be able to have services in more places.
We had a wonderful time in Garça at the Alpha and Omega Home. There are several who were from the home who are married and live there. The fellowship was fantastic and a blessing. We also went and visited one of the young men that lived in the home and today he is a mayor of the city he came from.
One of the things that we need is to get a van that can carry more people than our truck and safer and that can go into the villages easier than our bus.
We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support! God bless each one of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
This young man is the one of the first kids Odali & Kathy Barros brought into their home. Today he is a minister of music, a lawyer, and takes care of all the Alpha & Omega things. 
We hope and pray with them that God will also use this young teen they have taken into their home now. 
This man was also at the A&O Home, now he is mayor of a city near Garça. 
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.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
Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [January 2014]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
Manaus, Brasil
January 2, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope each of you are doing well and that you had a wonderful time with your families during the holiday season. We had a wonderful time with our families. We spent time with my brothers and their families, and also with Kathy’s brothers and her parents.
We are slowly getting settled in. We are working on the house on some major things that needed to be done. Of course things are a little slow during the holidays. The Lord willing, we will have things finished soon.
Our boys are getting settled in and making new friends. We thank God that they are adapting well. They did not have much contact with the uncles, aunts and cousins that live here. It has been fun watching them get acquainted with every one.
I have been talking to my brother who is a pastor here in a town not far from Manaus. He mentioned how many new roads had opened and that there are many new villages. We plan on visiting these places soon to see how many people there are and if there are no Baptist churches.
While we are getting settled, we have been helping my brother at his church. They are building a new building. We have started to paint the trusses and will be putting them up next week, Lord willing.
We have had some pleasant surprises. For so many years we invested our lives in the lives of many children and teenagers. We have some scattered in many places. We have some here in Manaus also.
One of these young men was one of the first ones we worked with in Vera Cruz. They live not far from us. I went to visit his home the other day. While I was there he showed me his boat. Guess what he wants to use it for? That’s right!!!! River ministry!!!!!! A while back he tried to sell it but the sale fell through. So he decided he would use it for the Lord. What a blessing to have a helper with a desire to serve. Also we had another young man that came from Garca to help in the home here in Manaus several years ago. After the home closed, he and his wife continued in Manaus. He came over and fixed the air conditioner and our microwave. We are blessed to be part of their lives. To see what God has done in their lives is just a wonderful privilege.
On New Years, we had some teen boys to sleep over. During the evening I told one of our boys I loved him. One of the other boys looked at me and said, ‘‘My father never told me he loves me’’. Wow! How sad, but like him there are many others. Let those around you know you love them. God loves us so much. Let us show our love to God through others. May God richly bless each of you this year and may God’s will be the center of our plans.
In Christ,
Odali, Kathy
Titus, Jonas and Gabriel
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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