Encouraging Brazilian Pastors, Evangelizing Students, & Youth Camp
July 15, 2024
Family News
Everyone successfully completed their school year and was promoted to the next grade. Sarah graduated from high school and two weeks later was accepted into ESPM, a Brazilian university. She plans to study communications and publicity. I (Judson) celebrated my birthday with dengue fever. The fever lasted for almost a month. Thankfully, the cold sweats, brain fog, and constant itching are over! Raquel is in excellent health and is actively engaged in serving others.
Evangelism, Five Decisions at Camp, and Ministry At Large.
The soccer school allows us to evangelize students every week and build bridges with the parents. Our teams participated in a one-day tournament, winning half of the matches against other teams.
Through Rede Convivencia (Togetherness Network), under the leadership of Pastor Eliezer, we had a youth camp with 40 students, which rendered five salvation decisions. Benjamin (my son) traveled 6 hours to join the camp and also made important decisions during the camp.
Last week, I visited several pastors and their families in our Rede Convivencia. We made stops in São Paulo state in Pompeia, Marilia, Vera Cruz, Alvaro de Carvalho, Fernão. In Paraná state, we visited pastors in Cornélio Procópio, Assaí, and Urai. Pastor Elieser joined me on this journey to minister to pastors and their families.
The one-year-old church plant in Marilia, which meets in Américo and Paula Pinotti’s garage, celebrated three baptisms and their first Lord’s supper last week. Américo was mentored by Pastor Gilberto Steffano during his formative years. Recently, Américo requested my mentorship for pastoral ordination and guidance in organizing the new work.
Pastor Raimundo Pinto, the lead pastor for the church plant in Aracajú (Northeastern Brazil), inaugurates the new building at the beginning of August.
Our student ministry evangelism gathering drew several new students and made new connections. We played volleyball, indoor soccer, and foot-volleyball.
Foster Care
Raquel actively works in recruiting, training, equipping, and networking couples and families to serve as foster care parents to attend to the immense need of at-risk children in São Paulo city. She is a strong advocate and voice in one of the world’s largest metropolises – São Paulo city is still learning what foster care means and how it benefits children and society. The court system recently inspected Raquel’s foster care intake facilities and received high marks from the city officials. We are grateful to Jason and Nikki Estes for their encouragement, mobilization, and partnership in significantly impacting the lives of precious children in foster care.
Prayer Requests
1) The purchase of a car.
2) Finances for Sarah’s first year in a Brazilian university.
3) The new school year is starting soon for Laura (12th), Benjamin (10th), and Melissa (7th).
4) Family health.
5) Evangelism and church growth
6) Judson’s doctoral studies and dissertation on pastoral succession in Brazilian churches.
Grateful always,
Judson and Raquel Hatcher
Contact Info:
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
São Paulo, Brazil
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
(872) 400-6522
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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Bluegrass Baptist Seminary Prepares for Graduation
July 5, 2024
Dear friends and family,
As we here in the USA are getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July, Barbara and I are making our final plans and travel arrangements for the First Pastoral Graduation. This graduation will have 11 Pastors receiving their Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministries. This is such an accomplishment! These Pastors have been in class since before the Covid pandemic, which is the reason for the delay in this graduation. The first master’s class graduation was this past year and it was for the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. In this graduation we had many church leaders and others who just wanted to extend their personal Bible knowledge, AWESOME!!!
These Pastors who will be graduating in July have had additional classes they were required to take for the Pastoral Ministries Degree, those being: thesis writing, Greek and Hebrew, and the completion of their chosen thesis. I send a hearty congratulations to them and thanks to all who helped sponsor, and for the many prayers sent up for this ministry. AWESOME is the God we serve!!!
I am trying to keep this letter short because the next one will be filled with pictures of this labor of love and the Pastors who have stuck to the plan. Bluegrass Baptist Seminary has many things planned for the rest of this year and the next! So as you go to your prayer closet, remember us in your prayers—the students, the professors, the translators, the volunteers, the facilitators, BFM, the many supporters of BFM, the AWESOME God and prayer warriors who make all this happen.
Barb and ask for prayers as we go. There will be many challenges on this trip. Also pray for our health as we are no longer in the spring of our youth. Pray for connections as we travel over the country of Brazil. There is one more request regarding our travel: we have just been informed that there will be a change in the cost of additional baggage. It has always been $100.00 for each additional suitcase but now they will be charging $400.00. And if you know how Barbara packs, you can just imagine that she has three we will be needing to carry and pay for—things the churches need, Seminary needs, and personal requests from Pastors and our family. This will add a great cost for this trip, but we know that God is in control.
Thank you in advance for the prayers.
In His service,
AJ and Barbara
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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Upcoming Seminary Graduation
September 4, 2022
Dear friends and family,
AWESOME is the Lord we serve. I am starting this letter a little different, because He is the One who is in charge, and He will carry us through. We will have the first graduation on schedule, and it will be on September 17th. How AWESOME is the God we serve. After so many attempts, it is really happening; however, not without some difficulty, but God is in charge. Some of the students are not able to attend this graduation because of conflicting schedules. Please pray for them as we go forward.
As for now, those who will attend stands as follows: nine (9) for the Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministries and eleven (11) for the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. The difference between these two is that the Pastors who choose the Pastoral Ministries have an additional three (3) classes: Greek, Hebrew, and Thesis Writing. This course is only offered to Pastors. In addition, there are seventy others who will receive certificates for the classes completed until now. We are hopeful that these students will be able to complete the studies they have started. Many of them are very close to completion. Everyone seems to be excited, especially the Professors and I.
Barbara and I will be traveling on September 6th and will arrive in Brazil on September 7th. Pray for our trip. After the graduation, Pastor Derek, Pastor Marcos, and I will be visiting with the Pastors and students and future students to get them enthusiastic about the upcoming classes in 2022 and 2023. This will be lots of traveling and we will need prayers for safety.
COVID has set us back and rearranged our focus. So now we will begin to see how we can help the students with different aids. We are hopeful for the new semester and the new students. We are planning new ways the students can participate by rearranging the classes and offering more classes on Zoom. So, prayers for the students are greatly appreciated.
As we are waiting to make this next trip, we have been participating in the congregation at the First Baptist Church here in Florida. We help with their feeding the hungry program. Barbara took her haircutting equipment and cut one head of hair, and that started a line for haircuts. So, we see that no matter where we are, we serve the Lord.
Thank you for your continued prayers for our family and our seminary work.
In His Service,
Aj and Barbara
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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H. H. OVERBEY SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
Amy Tate is our latest recipient of the H. H. Overbey Scholarship for the upcoming 2019-20 academic year. Amy is the daughter of our missionaries, Roger and Julie Tate. She has served with her family in Kenya since her childhood and will be entering Cedarville University in August.
The HHO Scholarship awards each recipient $1000 per academic year to continue their post-secondary education in a field that will further train and develop them for Christian service.
The H. H. Overbey Scholarship is named in the memory and honor of H. H. Overbey. Brother Overbey loved the children of our missionaries and contributed personally and generously to many of them for their Christian education and training – as well as others who are still today faithfully serving Jesus Christ. This is just one more way we can carry on his legacy of generosity.
Amy Tate with her parents, Roger & Julie
Amy Tate
We encourage you to pray for Amy and also for her parents and family as they are separated from one another.
And, if you wish to contribute to the H. H. Overbey Scholarship Fund to assist Amy and others of our missionaries’ children in future academic years, designate your contributions for “H. H. Overbey Scholarship Fund.” These funds are supplied only through your designated offerings.
You may read Amy’s personal salvation and service testimony here:
In a world so full of hate, is there room for love? In a world lost in darkness, is there a place for light? In a world consumed with affliction, are there moments of peace? In a world shattered by sorrow, is there hope?
I’ve been a pastor’s kid and a missionary my entire life, and yet I’ve been asking these questions for as long as I can remember. It’s too easy to look at the world and wonder where the beauty of life is. I didn’t have an easy life growing up, and I remember looking at my life and thinking, “There is no purpose.” Why was I still living through each and every day without reason, and why was I going through all of those hardships alone?
It wasn’t until God helped me really understand the joy and the hope that comes only from Him, that I was able to understand the light and the truth and the love and the joy in this world. The most spectacular thing, however, was when I finally understood the hope that was given to me, even in the darkness that I was enduring and living through at that time. I still lose sight of it sometimes, but that hope has, time and again, been a steady assurance to me, as I remember that things will not always be as they were, or even as they still are.
After that, I realized that as a follower of God, my calling- what God asks me to do- is to reach out to the people of this world and to serve them and love them. I want to show them, as God showed me, that there is more to life than just living through it, and there is more to life than the darkness that presents itself. There is more to life than the despair and the hopelessness that we daily feel when we don’t have anything better to look to. I realized that I didn’t want to hide that and keep it to myself, but I wanted to share it. I wanted to proclaim it, show it, and be an example of it. And that is still to this day what I want.
I will be entering and attending Cedarville University in Cedarville OH this fall of 2019. It is close to my home church, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Bellbrook, OH where Darrell Messer is my pastor.
I have no idea what my future will look like. I don’t quite know yet what I will major in, what kind of career I will have, or even where I will live. But what I do know is that it doesn’t matter, because wherever I am and whatever I’m doing,
I can always trust God with my life. What I believe He asks me to do stays the same, and that is to dedicate my life to bring glory to Him and to serve His people; the people that He loves, and the people that are still lost in darkness.
I want to serve. I want His light to be seen shining through me. And in this world of hate and darkness and affliction and sorrow, I want to bring God’s hope to the people of this world, by showing them His love. ~Amy Tate
Click here to make a donation to the HHO Scholarship Fund now.
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