Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [December 2012]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil for 36 years. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
Dear friends,
We send you greetings from the north and northeast of Brazil. Brazilian school begins mid-January and ends the first of December. Seminary and Bible classes had finals and end-of-year parties the last week of November. The Christian school also finished the year. Preparation for the upcoming year and enrollment is at full throttle. This is most important for the success of the coming year. Teacher and staff recruiting and training are also underway.
Leigh Samples, our daughter, is principal of the Christian day school and Pastor Michael Samples, our son-in-law, is Dean of the Bible Institute and Leadership Training. We had a good year and are very thankful for the impact the Word of God is having on all the student body. Pray that many laborers be prepared and sent out to harvest ready fields.
The new churches are doing very well, and the Lord is adding the saved to the churches. The paper work necessary to incorporate with the government and the transfer of facilities is taking about one year to complete. The everyday business and running time seems to fly; often it’s so easy to get caught up in the details and problem solving that we forget the great things God is doing. It was refreshing to be reminded by one of the pastors that twenty-three churches were organized, incorporated to meet government requirements, and properties transferred over the last twelve months.
This caused a swelling emotion of joy and gratitude to Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven. The Lord has done great things. It’s precious to know Him, to trust Him, and to be filled with His love for Jesus Christ and His children.
We ask that you pray for us that God will encourage and embolden us in the coming year. All the family, Wanda, the children and grandchildren are doing well.
Thanks for your prayers and faithful support,
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
Avenida J. Carlos Antony, 172
65063-150 Manaus
Amazonas, Brasil SA
hatcher[at]argo.com.br
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [December 2012]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
December 1, 2012
Dear Brethren and Fellow-Workers,
At the age of eighty-seven a person talks a lot, usually about things that most do not want to hear. It is a little more difficult to write. I will do my best. Alta and I are doing well. Her vision is perfect after the cataract surgeries. We are thankful and praise the Lord. My health has suffered some in a weaker body and some mental anguish. I am still able to drive and tie my shoe strings. Alta does her own cooking and has a great appetite.
THE LORD’S WORK – Alta and I go every Sunday morning to Assai. The work is still at zero with only one lady who is saved and baptized. We meet each Sunday for Bible study and Alta’s class. It is wonderful to have the promise that where two or three are gathered in His Name He is with us. With joy and thanksgiving we make the trip and worship together. The city of Assai has 20,000+ inhabitants. Many false churches. In our years in Brazil it is the most difficult place we have worked. This city was founded by Japanese 104 years ago. Ours is the first Baptist work in this city. We continue because we know it is God’s will to do so and one day He will bless the seed to His honor and glory.
URAI – This work is doing well and there is a group of great dedicated young people who are serving the Lord. Three of them work in two Congregations. Five study in the Seminary. We are encouraged for the future with this group.
One of the Seminary teachers, Sonia dos Santos, had cancer of the breast. She had surgery last week, removing the breast. Her husband, Valdir dos Santos, is pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cornelio Procopio. Please pray for Sonia and the family in this trying experience.
FAMILY – We are expecting the births of three new great grandchildren: One from Kriston and John Victor McGary, one from Lydia and Adam Reese, and the other from Amelia and Ivo Oliveira. We praise God for His work of grace in the lives of our grandchildren. All are serving the Lord; some in the States, some in France, and some in Brazil. Our hearts a filled with gratitude that our great grandchildren are being saved and baptized. How rich we are in His eternal blessings.
VISITS – David and Pennie plan to visit us for a few days the last of December. Paul and Wanda will be with us the first of January when he comes to be the main speaker in the annual Family Camp that Valdir dos Santos and Tabernacle Church sponsor.
Pray for our health and ability to continue active in His Work until He comes or until He takes us. Thank you for your many years of financial support and prayers. We love you and realize that what we do depends on your help and love.
In His Name,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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