The Best Job
May 12, 2024
Dear friends and family,
In one month, we will be looking back to the month of June when we stepped off the plane in Brazil to begin the journey of a lifetime. I will be the first one to admit that I was the reluctant part of this couple. We started our service for Christ in the town of Garça and are serving out of Caraguatatuba now. There have been 28 years and they have been the most fulfilling years of my life. We started helping Odali and Kathy Barros with an orphanage and I fit in there because all my young life I always had more children around me than was normal. So, working in the orphanage made me just at home.
I think I can say I have received more Happy Mother’s Day greetings on this Mother’s Day than the normal mother. Not only from the orphanage children, but from each church where we have served. The children adopted us as mother and dad.
I have continued for these years to gather children like a piped piper. Not only caring for them like a mother but nurturing them in the Lord which has more lasting effect.
I want to thank my blood children for being willing to share me with these children around the world. I have often heard AJ say that if he were choosing people to be missionaries, he would not have chosen him. I am here to confess that I would not have chosen me either. But He has been able to use us in spite of ourselves.
As this is the month of Mother’s Day, I can say that being a mother has been my best job and I am glad that He chose me for this job, not only for my children, but for all my Brazilian children.
Here are some pictures from our time in Brazil with some of the Brazilian children.
Thank each of you all for trusting us to do the job God called us to do.
In His service,
Barbara Hensley (Missionary Wife of AJ Hensley)
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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Depending Entirely on God’s Grace
April 18, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am glad I can write you in this special month, when we all take a special time to recognize and thank our mothers for who they are in our lives, for everything they taught us, and everything they did for us. My mother is someone I treasure very much; she has been an example of a faithful servant, a woman of prayer who depends totally on her Savior. I am so thankful for her life.
I am also thankful because in the last two months we celebrated four birthdays: my dad turned 80 years old, I turned 46, Sarah turned 16, and Benjamin turned 13. Now we have officially 3 teenagers at home, a little bit crazy at times; but in general, they are wonderful kids 😊.
The bad news is that Jud tested positive for COVID-19 on April 12, and I tested positive five days later. Our kids did the CPR test today, and we should receive the results in 48 hours. We are doing relatively well; we do have symptoms but nothing we cannot treat at home. The interesting thing is that for us not to develop severe symptoms, we must medicate ourselves, since here in Brazil most doctors only prescribe fever and pain meds. We suspect that is the reason so many people are losing their lives. In my appointment yesterday, when the doctor asked me if I was taking medication, and I answered, she got mad, told me to throw it all in the trash can because it would not do any good for me. But, my oxygen saturation was 100% and my lungs were totally clear, and I had no fever. We know, even among doctors/infectologists there are distinct opinions about prevention and treatment. Honestly, I believe we depend entirely on God’s grace and mercy and plan for our lives; we have no control about our outcomes, it is in His hand, and we must trust Him that no matter what happens He is going to be with us and provide for us and for our family.
One good news is that in the past year, God has opened doors for me to be part of an organization which works with Foster Care in families. Foster Care in families here in Brazil is something relatively new. It was only in 2004 – 2006 that it became a national public policy, and it was made a priority over institutional care. However, only 4% of children and adolescents are living with families, 96% are institutionalized. In 2018 there were 33,146 children and 8,686 were between 0 -6 years old (26%). In countries like US, Canada, and England, the statistics are the opposite, 96% of the children are placed in families, and only 4% are placed in institutions. Our desire is to change this sad reality, and open new services to offer kids the chance to have a family and to participate in community, since it is one of their most basic civil rights. Having said that, my prayer requests are a) that God give us human and financial resources to start new services in our city, b) Our family health c) and our children’s online education and all it involves.
I am so thankful for BFM, for all the churches involved, and for you who are reading this letter. Thank you for your support, for your prayers, your love, and your financial contributions. It means a lot to us, and it means a lot more for Jesus Christ.
Love,
Raquel Hatcher
Contact Info:
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
São Paulo, Brazil
judsonhatcher@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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‘MOTHERS IN ISRAEL’ SPECIAL EDITION!
During this Month – read, honor, and pray for our Missionary-Wives…
“MOTHERS IN ISRAEL” Judges 5.7
Deborah, the judge, called herself “a mother in Israel”. She was not referring to her biological children because we don’t have written record, at least, that she and Lapidoth had any biological children. But, she was ‘a mother in Israel’ because of the spiritual leadership and nurturing she demonstrated during this time of spiritual declension. She provided the leadership of conviction, moral courage, and inspiration to trust and obey God – and she influenced and strengthened many.
So have our missionary-wives who have as faithfully and valiantly served with their husbands to be mothers, not only to their own children and families, but to countless others also. So, in keeping with the Mother’s Day tradition we observe here in the States, we have asked our beloved missionary-wives to write this month’s letters from their own distinctive perspectives. This is our way of recognizing them, honoring them, and rising up with their husbands and children to bless them! Proverbs 31.10-31
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